Traditionally, the midlands has been the hub of the British motorcycle industry with Triumph, Norton, BSA, Royal Enfield and Velocette all having established factories in this area. And now there is a new name to add to the list, Maeving. Based in Coventry, this start-up business was formed in 2017 by Seb Inglis-Jones and Will Stirrup with the intention of creating a retro-styled British-built electric bike with swappable batteries to take on the Chinese-built competition.

Now employing a 16-strong team of predominantly ex-Triumph engineers, the firm’s first model, the RM1, has hit the market. Only available directly from the firm via their website and delivered to your door, Maeving won’t have any dealer network as such however they will be opening a few ‘pop up shops’, the first of which will be just off London’s Oxford Street.

While Maeving are British, they have linked up with some big names for the electric tech. The hub-mounted electric motor has been built by Bosch while the battery is supplied by Samsung – both of whom have been heavily involved technically supporting the project from the start, so it is a very serious project and far from a flash in the pan.

However it is very much an urban electric bike and this means it does suffer when taken away from its natural environment, so any potential buyers really need to consider their intended use for the machine, which comes in two options – with a single or a dual battery, costing £4995 and £5990 respectively, although you can buy the second battery separately if you wish. Or more than one!

As well as looking stylish (you can’t ride it anywhere without people stopping you and asking about it...) the Maeving is superbly built with well thought-out features and a keen eye for the important details that add value to the ownership experience.

While undeniably feeling out of its depth when taken away from an urban environment and onto an open road, in a congested city its light weight really plays to its advantage and you don’t notice its lack of top speed or worry about the somewhat limited range.

It feels, responds, looks and rides like a carefully considered bike built by people who know their stuff. Although the ‘hipster’ movements seems to be slowing down slightly in the petrol-powered market, the stylish electric Maeving may well be able to tap into a new vein as its low power means it can be ridden on a restricted licence after CBT as it is A1 (AM is an option) legal.

In an urban environment the Maeving’s low 124kg weight (with two batteries) really plays into its hands. Incredibly easy to U-turn in the road with bags of turning circle, you can whip it around with virtually no effort and it has all the agility of a bicycle.

You can tell ex-Triumph employees have had a hand in its chassis’ dynamics as despite its boardtracker styling and skinny 19-inch wheels the RM1 is totally stable and corners well at low speed.

Thanks in a large part to its somewhat limited top speed, it is also perfectly well-mannered when on the open road with no weaves or wobbles at over 40mph. The brakes are adequate at best but you don’t miss ABS (it has combined brakes with two of the front caliper’s three pistons operating independently and the last one linked to the rear brake’s single piston and operated alongside the rear brake) and it is nice to have both the levers bar-mounted, which is a nod towards its target audience who are probably moving up from an electric bike or scooter rather than traditional petrol-powered motorcyclists as such. Not exactly the most comfortable of bikes, the Maeving is ok for short hops across town.

Maeving make no secret of the fact their bike is aimed at urban riders and that means range and performance are not really a priority, so this needs to be taken into the equation.

Producing a maximum of just 5.8bhp (rated at 3.9bhp continuous) the Maeving isn’t fast and its top speed is just shy of 50mph in maximum power mode.

However with 118ft.lb of torque on offer it zips away with about the same haste as a 125cc petrol powered bike up to 30mph and has a lovely throttle action. With just one battery the range is a claimed 40 miles with a charge time of just over four hours from 0-100%, however the optional extra battery doubles this range – as long as you are in town. Take the Maeving out of an urban environment and at a constant 50mph the twin-battery range is around 30-40 miles as it sucks the electrons.

You can order the bike to be A1 or AM licence-legal, however if you go for this ‘50cc’ option the bike is restricted to 28mph. The bike comes with three power modes however the lower two restrict top speed to about 30mph and 25mph, so are really only ever any use in a full-on low battery situation.

The analogue speedo has an LCD insert that displays your battery percentage (not range) as well as trip info, mode and a clock and there is the option of adding a GPS tracker system for an extra fee. Slightly disappointingly you need to remove the batteries to charge them but as they only weigh 12kg this isn’t a major drama.

The 1920s boardtracker styling certainly makes the RM1 stand out and its look is unique in the electric bike world. Not hiding the fact it is electric with the battery and motor very much at the heart of the bike is a great design touch and there is an overall impression that a real attention to the finer details has been paid.

The brushed aluminium parts are lovely, you get braided brake lines, good quality fasteners, neat switchgear and a very high standard of paint with even the tank’s logo lacquered over.

The ‘tank’ can be used as a storage compartment should you only wish to run one battery and that both battery compartments are unlocked via a switchgear-mounted button.

Maeving didn’t have to cover the batteries in stylish aluminium and give them a real bamboo wood trim, but they did so they don’t offend the eye when on charge in the corner of a room, and the stitched brown seat appears well made.

It feels a quality product, which not all lower-end electric bikes do. The Maeving comes with a two-year warranty with the batteries covered by a three-year warranty.

At £5990 (dual battery option, £4995 for a single battery) the RM1 is placed just above the lower end of the electric bike market and that puts it up against the Super Soco range, which currently lead the UK’s small capacity electric bike sales charts. Although there isn’t really a retro Soco model, the TC is the RM1’s natural competitor and costs £2899 with a single battery or £3399 with a dual battery, giving it 3.6kWh capacity and a claimed range of 78 miles. Far less stylish than the RM1, the Soco is also a lot less of a substantial-feeling machine.

As it is electric, running costs are minimal and so is servicing with the bike only requiring a cursory annual ‘check over’ (the hub-mounted motor means there is no belt/chain to adjust) to ensure all is well. Maeving are planning on offering this service themselves, probably operating through a mobile technician as well as from the Coventry factory.

You can retrospectively add a second battery to the Maeving for around £1000 (if you buy the single battery model) and if you opt for the dual battery machine you get a second charger, so you can charge both batteries at the same time. The only other option is a GPS tracker system and paint, of which there are seven colour options. The bikes comes with a second battery area that doubles up as a lockable storage compartment but lacks ABS.

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