On a beautiful Saturday in June I got on a train to Eindhoven. Visiting Magnetic Motors Holland for the first time: to pick up the CAKE kalk& electric motorbike! The people who built it says it can go 86km and if you look for it 2,5h recharging time.

Time for a challenge: riding this bike to Amsterdam.

Challenge number one: Eindhoven to Amsterdam

This is what I like the most: I know nothing. There is a 2.6kWh battery, it’s close to fully charged and I head out for a 130km+ trip home. Charger in my backpack. I will just take it slow and find some of the prettiest bike paths The Netherlands has to offer. ECO mode on!

Except there is no ECO mode, there are three ride modes: 1,2 and 3. They limit output power very precisely and your choice influences how much movement of your wrist is needed for acceleration.

When I started out the bike had 134km on the all time tacho. That is less than I was intending to ride today!

Leaving technology town Eindhoven

Heading north I ran into an open bridge within half an hour, not before I already noticed many heads twisting because when you start riding this baby, you can bet people will be looking! If you really don’t like attention, maybe this shouldn’t be your vehicle of choice.

The bridge was open, some added time for a photo shoot with the “USB petrol pump”.

It could be a long story to tell, taking you on my learning curve the days I had with the CAKE. Instead I will just share what I learned. After meeting some friendly people at the market of Zaltbommel (60km north of Eindhoven) I continued the ride across the river. Looking at the boulevard I thought it would be the perfect place for a picture. Some stairs were in the way. Somehow the CAKE got the best of me: I instinctively wanted to take on the stairs. The level of comfort and control cruising up the stairs took me by surprise. It raised the level of confidence and the idea that we could do anything together, CAKE and I.

I went up here for the photo.

There were a couple of moments during my days with the CAKE that I wished for the beauty of fast charging, mainly because I spotted Fastned in the distance for example.

Fastned on the highway, perhaps in the future!

The reality though is that you can fast charge anywhere with this vehicle. Riding around with a 2.6kWh battery. To me, that’s freedom. The Netherlands has a beautiful map of bike charging points that I used everyday with the CAKE.

Visiting a friend; charging up

A friend moved close to Nieuwegein recently. Sort of in the middle if you look at the path leading from Eindhoven to Amsterdam. we had dinner together and walked around the new neighbourhood while the CAKE was charging up in front of the house.

Before the night really started I set out for destination: home.

I admit: never even owned a mountainbike. Yet after spotting some kids riding around a piece of land earlier in the evening I couldn’t not try this out when everybody left. No I didn’t go all 360 style mad.

Yet the control also thanks to the wide handle bar, the way this vehicle absorbs any terrain you throw at it. Inconceivable.

The quickest way through the city of Utrecht ended up being some bicycle paths where I didn’t belong. Even though I was doing ebike speeds I almost met the cops in a bad spot: time to retreat and change into some more clothes with the sun going down. Mind you, all day I’ve been going at 35km/h. To feel comfortable on the shortcuts through the country (quiet bike paths). Along the river near Utrecht I even had a fast cyclist using me as a shield against the wind during a long straight.

During the weekend I went on an adventure to the beach of Noordwijk (some 40km away) with a friend and his Honda Grom (MSX125). He tipped me on installing my navigation kit on the CAKE and I didn’t regret it! It helped make the next days even more smooth sailing.

The stats, the specs & the goods

Most importantly this being an EV (even of a special kind) you came here to find out the truth. What can this bike do for or with you. Well, the so called WLTP on the box says 86km. This sounds mighty powerful and your daily mileage won’t even come close. That said, I hypermiled this baby at 35km/h all day. I always ended up charging before it was empty, pretty sure I could’ve pushed it to 90km or more. Mind you I was riding it like a pretty fast ebike. No peddling, of course.

On a quiet Sunday night in Amsterdam I went all out. Mode 3 (the most powerful), max regeneration enabled. Full on 0-50/60km/h sprints all night. Believe me, I don’t remember when i had this much fun on two wheels. Probably when I was writing my first blog, a year ago. You should’ve seen me racing around town. The looks I received. Bicycles at traffic lights must’ve been thinking: “Uhm, WHAT is this next to me?”. And gone, I was.

I learned quite a bit about charging the CAKE, I have seen it taking close to 4A when it would be low on power. Till around 70% (hard to measure) you can bring in around 0,9kWh an hour. Which makes roadtrips a possibility, in my opinion! Just stop when it starts throttling. The last 0,5kWh will take much longer.

Practicalities

I wasn’t sure about parking the vehicle. Same with charging up at my house. I just tried to move into the elevator: and it worked. Here I am, parked up and charging on the balcony (drie hoog achter in Amsterdam, so to speak).

It’s so easy to squeeze around corners and so on, the weight is amazingly light.

One more thing about the handling. Everything can be done. Want to ride at 31km/h? Do it. 54km/h? Go ahead. Depending on mode settings you choose. This is really a luxury and not a given using electric on two wheels.

The chain

Incredible sound, all thanks to the chain driving this bike. This is not the silent whizzing around experience you know from your average city scooter. No, no, you can hear and feel the power any second you’re close to it! When I went around Amsterdam, let’s be honest here: like a madman. I really tried to give it all. I think I could’ve made it to 40km. Constantly pumping the max. Yes I tried the empty tunnel passing under Central Station at full speed yes I won any traffic light battle, all weekend.

Really, it is hard to put into words the vibes that will come over you when you are in control of this freak of nature. You just have to try it. Get. It. On!

Yes, before I took the picture I actually rode those stairs all the way up. This is what happens to you riding the CAKE. It takes over. Who Needs Roads? — Yes, before I took the picture I actually rode those stairs all the way *up. This is what happens to you riding the CAKE. It takes over. Who Needs Roads?*

Airborne

As a sixteen year old I bought my first Aprilia 50cc many years ago. Some other Italian brands followed, I went crazy fast. I remember the city being much quieter though and in the middle of the night the town was mine so to speak. You might be aware that Amsterdam has some canals and to get around many bridges were built. Some of them are pretty steep. I still ride around town a lot and I have owned several motorbikes. A certain bridge is now even closer to my house than it was back in my Aprilia days.

I’m bringing that old machine up because weight was low, power was pretty absurd. (Gianelli racing exhaust helped, before the cops arrived). Blasting around downtown I remember this bridge next to Amstelveld as being the wildest of the bunch. Full throttle I would feel my whole stomach going upside down. Nowadays with my motorbike it’s less, because of the increased weight and I have to control my speed. As a grown up.

Using the CAKE kalk& though. You don’t need a lot of speed necessarily. There is so much power at the ready, at any given speed. I never expected it. I never saw it coming. I was just on the way to visit my dad. The bridge was there, mode 3 aka power was enabled. Before I knew it, both wheels were in the air. I was flying. So can you!

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A big thank you to Sam of Magnetic Motors Holland. Here you can experience the CAKE lineup yourself!

One day I had to return to Eindhoven of course, find the full mapped out trip at Polarsteps below.

100 hours of discovering Holland with the CAKE kalk&