This is an old-school café racer with new-school power and a $4.8k price tag

TopGear.com understands there are those of you out there who enjoy merrily freewheeling around on machines that feature only two wheels. Where are the other two! What have you done with them! Anyway, for those that enjoy such things, may we present a rather merry new machine with only two wheels!

It’s called the ’64, and it’s made by a company called Beachman. Yes, the ’64 represents the decade this machine draws its aesthetic inspiration from; those ‘iconic’ Sixties café racers that even non-fans of machines that feature only two wheels can get behind.

Just looks so damn cool. Quietly cool, too, because it’s a vintage racer filled with a very new school power source – electricity. Inside that body sits a 2.88kWh lithium battery capable of up to 55 miles of range, or the option of a 3.6kWh unit unlocking up to 70 miles of range.

Both versions gets regenerative braking and the ability to hose in 80 per cent of battery power in three hours. Three hours spent staring at the thing. Did we say it looks so damn cool?

Admittedly it’s not massively fast, but then it’s not that sort of bike. ‘E-Bike’ mode allows a top speed of 20mph, ‘Moped’ unlocks a 30mph vmax, while ‘Off-Road’ allows a heady 45mph “off the beaten path”. Yes, it’s technically a moped, so suffice to say you will not be chasing down speed records in one of these things.

Beachman instead urges you to “slow down, reconnect and savour every mile”. Speed isn’t the only burden it’s been shorn of – Beachman has removed “unnecessary tech”, opting instead for “elegant simplicity”. So no, there’s probably not an app.

There is a “performance tuned frame” and “strategic weight distribution”, and Beachman reckons the ’64 offers “impressive handling and on-road presence”. “The ’64 is engineered to deliver an exhilarating experience without overwhelming complexity,” it said. You know that thing about having more fun in a slow car than a fast one? Probably a bit of that in here.

“We’ve taken everything we love about vintage design, added real comfort and performance, and delivered a product that changes what people should expect from an electric bike,” said Beachman boss Ben Taylor. “We’re not just adding to the e-bike category, we believe that we are elevating it.”

Prices start from just $4,800, and Beachman can upgrade the performance and terrain capabilities to whatever you desire. If indeed, you desire merrily freewheeling around on machines that feature only two wheels.