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ANY's LUV1 and the Blacksheep One both ship this summer. Both skip the cruiser register. Both come from studios that usually design other things.
Via Wallpaper*
May 15. Two electric motorbikes cross the desk this week, neither from a motorcycle house. ANY, a Brooklyn design studio that usually works on furniture, filed the LUV1. Blacksheep, a London outfit known for restaurant interiors, filed the Blacksheep One. Both skip the heritage-brand register. Both are built like product design, not powersport.
ANY's bike is a step-through frame with a 3kW motor and a claimed 60-mile range. The battery slots under the seat like a laptop bag. Weight is 110 pounds. The frame is welded aluminum with a matte finish that reads closer to Vitra than to Triumph. Price is $4,200, ships August.
The tell is the packaging. The bike arrives flat-packed in a single cardboard box. Assembly is twenty minutes with an Allen key. That's furniture logic applied to a vehicle. The manual reads like an IKEA insert.
Blacksheep's entry is heavier at 190 pounds, with a 5kW motor and an 80-mile range. The frame is steel, powder-coated in six colors. The battery is removable but not flat-packable. Price is $6,800, ships July.
The stance here is different. Blacksheep treats the motorbike as a city object, not a garage object. The bike has mounting points for cargo panniers, a front rack, and a rear seat pad that doubles as a backrest. It's designed to replace a car, not supplement one.
Both bikes skip the cruiser aesthetic. No chrome, no leather grips, no faux-vintage anything. Both use off-the-shelf Bafang motors, not proprietary drivetrains. Both are priced below $7,000, which puts them closer to Cowboy or VanMoof than to Zero or Harley's LiveWire.
The real tell is the source studios. ANY and Blacksheep are both known for interiors and furniture. Neither has a motorcycle division. The LUV1 and the Blacksheep One read as product-design entries into a category that's been dominated by heritage brands and startup tech companies. The register is closer to a chair launch than a vehicle launch.
Both ship this summer. Both avoid the word 'motorcycle' in their press material. Both call it a bike.
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