Modular Utility e-Bike Shednought Proposes Unique Solution to Old Problem

Whether you’re customizing your two-wheeler because you have to (you need it for work, commuting, or family outings) or because you simply want to make it your own, here’s one electric motorcycle that aims to do all the heavy lifting for you. Instead of using aftermarket parts or buying accessories from your moto maker, how about you get exactly the bike you need from the start? Even better, how about you get a highly modular platform that can adapt to change easily at a later stage?

Shed Rides proposes a unique solution to the old motorcycle-modifying problem: the Shednought utility bike. And it’s electric, to boot.

It’s ok if the name doesn’t ring a bell. Shed Rides is a small company from Todmorden, “on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border – a small town with an occasional national newsworthy ability to flood.” Its founders are tinkerers themselves, and, having gone through the pains of always modifying their bikes, they came up with this idea. “We are driven to designing and manufacturing highly moddable electric motorcycles. That's it,” they write on the official website.

They have a prototype for an electric motorcycle called Shed One. Based on the Shed One platform and using the Shed One Core prototype battery, they’re offering the Shednought. The Shednought is basically a highly modular, highly versatile, and moddable e-bike, and it’s offered as a limited series of just ten examples.

The idea is simple and could turn out to be marketing gold if it works. Ten investors with money to spare can get their very own, limited-edition, numbered bike in the exact configuration they want or need. After discussing all the particulars of Shed Rides' designs and accessories, they can have the final product shipped completed at their home or can buy it as is and assemble it themselves.

“We are working towards the internationally recognised ISO9001 quality standard having procedures and a custom database to maintain all records,” Shed Rides says. They also promise lifetime support for parts, ease of maintenance and repairs, and overall an electric motorcycle that can be exactly what you want it to be.

Each Shednought would be hand-built and customized and include every feature its particular owner wants. Shed Ride suggests variations like the “Low Loader,” “Carry All,” and “Gone Fishing,” and the names are self-explanatory. There would power delivery, regen braking, reverse, and crawling modes for ease of use, upgradable slots, over-the-air updates, and online performance tracking and tweaking.

“From the outset, we decided that a short-range utility motorcycle with a top speed over 50 mph [80.5 kph] that evolves the tradition of motorcyclists customizing and maintaining their own motorcycles is where we wanted to be,” Shed Rides says. “The Shed One is the perfect commuter or utility motorbike – easily adapted to your specific personal or business purpose. Whether you want total reliability, a transport solution far kinder to the environment, or just enjoy fettling, because you can, this could well be your cup of tea. Our thing is to encourage long-term ownership and for it to be adaptable to a variety of uses. That’s how Shed One has been designed and built.”

Ride Apart notes that power will come from a 5-kW (7-hp) electric motor, powered in turn by a standard 4kWh battery pack with the possibility to upgrade it for an extended range. Speaking of range, with the base battery pack, it would be about 50 miles (80.5 km). The weight of the Shednought is listed at 244 pounds (110 kg) with the base battery back and no hardware accessories.

And now for the bad news. One limited-edition Shednought is priced at £10,000, which is roughly $13,940 at today’s exchange rate. You have to have over-brimming confidence in this startup for that kind of money, seeing how it’s comparable to that of a Zero motorcycle. Or a couple of Metacycles.