Page 7 - 100% Biker (January 2020)

ZERO ACROSS AFRICA

While information surrounding Ewan
McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s
latest adventures in South America
has been rather scant—in fact,
REWACO AT THIRTY available they were riding Harley
although it’s clear from the few photos

Livewires, there’s been no official
confirmation of that—two riders have
Think of production trikes and Rewaco is the name that instantly springs to
been traversing another continent by
mind. This year the German company is celebrating a milestone in its history electric motorcycle.
with its 30th birthday. Obviously that’s the sort of landmark that couldn’t go In December, Thomas Jakel and
unmarked and so Rewaco is commemorating its achievement with the 30th Dulcie Mativo arrived in Johannesburg
Anniversary Edition trikes. after a 9500-mile journey which had
A limited number of 30 Edition versions of the ST, GT and LT Rewaco machines will started in Morocco. It took the pair
be available, with a choice of Comfort, Classic, Dynamic and Exclusive gear packages. six months and riding through twenty
Equipment highlights that will be exclusive to the 30 Edition will be real leather seats in countries to complete the trip which
a special ‘30 Edition’ design; lacquered ‘Star’ alloy wheels in the colour of your choice they undertook on a Zero DSR Black
from the Rewaco colour range; two tone lacquering in the Rewaco range colour of Forest. Thomas from Germany and
choice and, on Turbo models, the addition of Rewaco cruise control. Dulcie from Kenya wanted to inspire
Since they first appeared in 1990, Rewaco trikes have been popular with those young people with their Africa-X
looking for a safe, reliable and good-looking three-wheeler. Originally using a VW or project to make positive changes in
RevTech engine, Rewaco trikes now come equipped with a Mitsubishi 1.5 litre 4-cylinder their communities. They started out
in-line motor which provides both impressive speed and economic fuel consumption. with a back up car which served as a
All Rewacos are fitted with an EasyDrive 7-gear automatic transmission to make the transport vehicle for luggage, charging
most of the engine’s power. That makes the Rewaco ideal for cruising and touring, and video equipment. Unfortunately it
although if you opt for a turbocharged 140 horsepower version with sports mode, then broke down in Cameroon and had to
you’ll find that the Rewaco is suddenly a real street racer. be left behind, meaning that Thomas
For details of all Rewaco trikes, including the 30th Edition models, you can contact and Dulcie had to sell most of their
Rewaco Trikes UK, a family-run company which is the official UK Rewaco importer— equipment and continue on the Zero
and, incidentally, is celebrating its 12th birthday this year so congratulations to both on their own.
them and to Rewaco in Germany. You can find out more at www.rewacotrikesuk.co.uk The duo carried out much of their
or by ringing 01279 730695. charging during overnight stops, which
Thomas said was both convenient and
inexpensive. He added: "It requires
some planning to ride through Africa
on an electric motorcycle but with
forward planning and sufficient
charging breaks, usually overnight, the
low-maintenance Zero was a reliable
partner for the Africa-X project. We
got the electricity for free or included
in our hotel fees, whereas no one is
giving petrol away for free. It’s easy to
say that we would have saved a ton of
money even if we would have had to
pay to every time we recharged.”

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