As Californians brace for record-setting rain and flooding in many areas, drivers are forced to be extra cautious on flooded roadways. In what may be a first for this particular bike though, we’re getting a look at a Ryvid Anthem electric motorcycle that was ridden battery-deep through flood waters and lived to ride back out.
The entire exercise underscores just how waterproof electric motorcycles can be, even riding underwater.
The Ryvid Anthem is a California-produced electric motorcycle that began making deliveries last year.
The new company has charted an unconventional path with an innovative frame and battery design.
The removable battery is mounted under the folded metal chassis, creating both a visually striking and highly utilitarian design that lets riders remove their battery and roll it inside for charging on the battery’s hidden built-in wheels.
It’s also the large black box that you can see going for a dive in the video below.
The ability to ride underwater isn’t one of the more common day-to-day advantages of electric motorcycles over their internal combustion engine (ICE) cousins, but it does add a unique benefit during extreme weather conditions. Most ICE bikes would have been swamped seconds into this scenario, with the engine becoming hydro-locked when its cylinders fill with water. It’s a common occurrence when traditional motorcycles attempt to cross rivers or deeply washed-out roads.
But without an air-breathing engine, sufficiently waterproofed electric motorcycles can basically ride underwater.
In the case of the Ryvid Anthem, the battery is IP67 rated, meaning it can spend an hour submerged in water up to 1 meter (3’3″) deep. You could toss the battery in the shallow end of a swimming pool, fish it back out an hour later, then ride off.
In fact, the entire bike is IP67 rated, except for the handlebar-mounted display itself and its connectors, which are IP65 rated (waterproof against water jets at any angle but not necessarily submersible).
I asked Ryvid’s founder Dong Tran if that meant the bike could basically be ridden submerged up to its handlebars. “Sure,” he said. “Or even higher, you just risk not having your display”.
So there you have it, you can ride the bike in water so deep you have to dump out your gloves when you’re done.
This type of riding is obviously not something that is recommended, especially in fast-moving flood waters where the larger danger is getting swept away, not water damage to the electric motorcycle. But it does go to show just how well-protected electric motorcycles can be and even points to real-world advantages in places like Asia that regularly suffer heavy flooding from monsoon rains.
And gritting your teeth to just ride it out sure beats dragging the bike out to then pull out the spark plugs and drain water from the cylinders!
