The 2025 Land District Might Kick Off A New-Era Of American Moto

Yahoo

03-03-2025

While walking my 17-year-old Basset hound his constantly busy nose took us down a road we'd never travelled before. A nondescript brick warehouse on this undiscovered route was adorned with the simple signage for Land--an electric vehicle maker. Living in Cleveland, the city from which Land derives its name, I knew about Land and had previously met the company's CEO, but was completely unaware that the company was literally in my neighborhood. I'll admit that I'm a real homer for electric mobility, but I truly believe that life in America would be so much better if a greater percentage of the population commuted on a small electron runabout than a three-ton gasoline-burning behemoth. So I had to get my hands on one of the company's products. The America I love was built on supporting local manufacturing, so I wanted to see if we're still capable of building good stuff.
Full Disclosure: Land invited me to tour its headquarters and manufacturing facility on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. I was given a couple of hours to ride a District motorcycle around the neighborhood and into downtown, and free use of the electricity in the battery. I walked from my house and walked back when I was done.
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Let's get down to brass tacks: This is a $7,000 bike, which can be a lot or a little depending how you look at it. Sure, it's twice the price of a gas-powered mini-commuter bike like a Honda Grom, but the District is also capable of a lightning quick 0-60 time and the Grom isn't capable of 60 at all. In the same way a Grom does, I found the District put a smile on my face that even below-freezing February Ohio lakeshore weather couldn't wipe off. Even with my nearly-300 pounds frame onboard, which has the aerodynamic profile of a lengthways brick wall, this little pocket rocket can run with some of the quickest gas bikes out there, and most of the big electrics. Despite its relatively meager 23 horsepower, a dash from stopped to 30 mph feels about as quick as any other bike I've ever twisted a wrist on, and its 70+ mph top speed feels effortless. This machine incorporates different ride modes you can use to graduate from the just-above-walking-pace mode 1, which apes a typical stand-up mobility rental scooter, all the way to full-tilt bonkers mode 4. If you aren't confident in your skills as a rider, keep it limited to the lower power modes until you gain some experience.
Electric motorcycles don't have to look like gas motorcycles. It's something I've believed since the beginning, and Land apparently does, too. Land's founder and CEO, Scott Colosimo, was once a professor of design at Cleveland Institute of Art, after all. While this little machine does have a plastic "tank" shape, it exists mostly because you need something to brace your legs against. The long, low, and flat look of the District is fetching and quasi-futuristic. It's simple and pared back as a function of its price point and as a form of its unembellished aesthetic. There's not much to report about the visuals of this bike that you can't see for yourself. It's all on display with the aluminum-cased removable battery taking up most of the real estate. With an upright riding position, a standard 32-inch stand-over height, and simple controls, this is the kind of bike that just about anyone can get on and ride comfortably. It's functional design without being more of the same, looking forward without forgetting the functionality that made the past work.
The unpainted matte molded plastics are indicative of what makes this bike different than most. It's built to be used instead of looked at. Colosimo, pointed to a full-fairing Ducati sport bike as the antithesis of the District's ethos. If you were to drop a Panigale you'd be faced with replacing thousands of dollars in gorgeous Ducati Rosso plastics. Land wants its bikes to be seen as usable, durable goods, which can easily and inexpensively be repaired, and stand the test of time. The plastics on a Land are left rough finished to keep costs down and add to the durability and function-forward design of the bike. There's something to be said for preventative patina, especially when it gives the bike a more industrial and worn-in appearance. The steel tube frame isn't as light, stiff, or form-fitting as an aluminum subframe, but it's a hell of a lot more resilient to dings and scratches.
Outside of the drivetrain, the company works exclusively with local manufacturers in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania as a way to keep quality control and iterative manufacturing possible. If the engineers want to see a new revision to a part, or look at a new powdercoat, they can just go there and see it first hand instead of waiting for a part to slow-boat from China. This is where the startup mentality can help manufacturing, as Land can move a lot faster and make improvements from year to year. That's one of the things that I think sets the District apart is that Land has engineered it to be future proof. Not only can the batteries be removed from the bike relatively easily so you can carry them into your apartment or home to charge overnight, but the company is banking on developing battery technology to improve weight and range targets. If batteries keep getting better, the District can keep getting better. Most electric motorcycles these days mount the battery as part of the chassis, making upgrades much more difficult, if possible at all, and costly.
After spending a couple of hours at the manufacturing facility and in the saddle, I think Land has really figured out the formula. The District is the right blend of cheap and cheerful for an electric runabout, but unlike all of the other cheap electric machines I've ridden, this one can actually keep up with traffic, and it feels like it was built with substance. To summarize this thing, it's light enough to be a ton of fun to rip around the city, while being fast enough to run with traffic on your suburban commute. Too many electric motorcycles pick one or the other, but this straddles the divide, which is the real genius of it.
This is maybe the perfect beginner bike, which is another part of the Land mission. The company wants to open up motorcycling to be accessible to more people. Whether you're a teen rider slinging a leg over for the first time, or on the shorter side of the spectrum as many women are, for example, Land offers an even shorter version of its already pretty short bike. You can option the District with a 30-inch seat height if you desire two additional inches of crotch clearance.
The Land District can be a few different things depending on how you order it. The bike I rode was the "Street" model, which comes equipped with Pirelli Angel CT Street tires, lower suspension, and a low-mounted fender. You can option the District as a "Scrambler" as well, with Shinko Dual Sport tires, an extra inch of suspension height, and high-mount fenders. If you really want some off-road prowess from the Scrambler, you can order up a smaller rear gear to sacrifice top speed for some extra wheel speed. I think that's how I'd have mine, if I were looking to fill a spot in my garage with another electric motorcycle. Both versions of the bike can be had with three different battery arrangements. The standard single-battery model has just 1.8 kWh of battery onboard, which cuts weight significantly, but reduced range is a byproduct with just about 40 miles of low-speed city riding available. If you have a short commute and don't need the miles, go for it. You can get a second Land battery pack installed for 3.6 kWh nominal and a claimed 80 miles, and that's just $1500 more. But if you really need the extra range you can get Land to put a double-wide case in the bike to fit a full 4.8 kWh nominal for up to 110 miles of city riding pleasure. That's the one I was riding, and probably the one I would pick, It's a pricey upgrade at $2,000, but the range is probably worth it. The plastics are available in black, grey, or seafoam, and I would personally pick the colorful option for a bit more whimsy.
This isn't a bike for the kind of people who hop on a Harley Road King or a BMW GS and rip 800 miles in a single sitting, so all you dorks can shut up about that. If you are an average American commuter who lives in the suburbs and drives to a job 12 miles every morning through rush hour traffic, this little ripper will absolutely serve you wonderfully and add a good dollop of fun to your daily ride. You'll easily out-accelerate everything this side of a supercar and when the going gets super slow you can kick it down to e-scooter mode and take to the bike lane to subvert traffic altogether. This little bike might just be the sweet spot for just about every two-wheeled commuter on the planet, and most cagers. It splits the difference between something like a much more expensive Zero and a much slower Bosch electrified bicycle, but somehow feels better constructed and more cohesive than either. Ultimately I still like my own LiveWire better, but that cost more than twice as much as a fully-loaded Land and is hardly fit for newbies. This might be my new favorite bike under $10,000. Ride one, it might surprise you.
Read the original article on Jalopnik.