Revolt Against City Traffic

As a commuter motorcycle, the Revolt RV1+ brings a lot in its package at a competitive price. We hopped on this electric motorcycle to check its practicality around the city

- Anvay Mahajan

REVOLT LAUNCHED ITS FIRST electric commuter motorcycle, the rv1+, in september along with the rv1, its entry-level bike. at first glance, the revolt rv1+ seems to be a very sober design with some funky elements on the side. it is not flashy and it looks simple. the rv1+ isn’t equipped with the artificial sound available on the flagship revolt rv400. it also has a chaindriven transmission. the round led headlamp and the long and narrow single seat reminded me of some internal combustion engine (ice) commuters available in the market.

We had this motorcycle at our disposal for a few days, so we made sure to ride it to its full capacity. from groceries to shoots, we took it everywhere. revolt claims that the rv1+ can carry a maximum payload of 250 kilograms. although we were unable to find volunteers to validate this claim, we are positive about it, all thanks to its 2.8-kW (3.8-hp) motor. the motorcycle features three forward modes—eco, city, and sports—and a reverse mode. While we feel eco and city are best suited to city traffic, we recommend riding this bike in sports mode for urban cruising. in eco mode, it is capped at 45 km/h and if halfthrottled in eco mode, the power seems to fluctuate above 30 km/h. in city mode, you get some boost over eco mode, which is useful for overtaking. however, the real fun was cruising around town in sports mode. Meanwhile, the reverse mode is positioned very awkwardly. the slider must be kept pressed on the “r” while throttling to engage and use that mode. if the thumb slips, the bike goes into sports and in forward direction. since there is no artificial sound system, the dummy button on the handlebar serves no purpose.