ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Other Electric Motorcycles => Topic started by: benswing on June 10, 2014, 08:15:05 PM
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Public test rides for the Energica Ego electric superbike! Even if you don't go for a test ride, it would be sweet to have a critical mass of electric motorcycle riders around to answer random questions.
Sign up here:
http://www.energicasuperbike.com/where-is-my-ego-tour/ (http://www.energicasuperbike.com/where-is-my-ego-tour/)
WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR ITALY – 2014 MAY 18th, MODENA
WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR GERMANY – 2014 June 29th , Munich
WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR USA San Francisco – 2014 July 18th
WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR USA Los Angeles – 2014 July 20th
WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR USA New York – 2014 July 30th
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If I went it would definitely be to go for a test ride .. answering questions would be only a secondary consideration : P
But that's too far to travel.
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WHERE IS MY EGO TOUR GERMANY – 2014 June 29th , Munich (to be confirmed)
There are no possible choices [State, Preference City for test ride] - if you are not from the US >:(
What a stupid online form!
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Go anyway! Fortune favors the bold! Or maybe give them a call to sign up.
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Here is the latest regarding the 2015 Energica Ego: http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/2015-energica-ego-review-first-ride.html (http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/2015-energica-ego-review-first-ride.html)
and this report contains a short video: http://www.unfinishedman.com/energica-ego-worlds-first-street-legal-electric-superbike/ (http://www.unfinishedman.com/energica-ego-worlds-first-street-legal-electric-superbike/)
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OK, so I've been selected to participate in the Ego tour test rides down here in LA this Sunday. The only problems?
I'm stuck in a downtown LA Hotel with no car and no motorcycle gear and the test rides are at the Rock Store on Mulholland. To make matters worse, one of the ride sessions is right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon when I'll be singing on stage at the Disney Concert Hall, and the other is at the crack of dawn.
Any local LA riders participating and want to give me a lift from the downtown Hyatt early Sunday morning? I might be about 25% awake by 7am and I'll need to be back in LA by about noon to get ready for the concert...
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Asphalt & Rubber has a nice ride review of the Energica Ego up.
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/reviews/energica-ego/ (http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/reviews/energica-ego/)
Handling, acceleration, throttle control, overall riding experience are all strengths.
Braking and weight are detriments .. even with mega-buck Brembo monobloc brakes.
The Energica was originally announced for the US targeting a $25000 price point, which put it squarely between (for example) Brammo and Mission/Lightning. Unfortunately, the price for the production Energica Ego is now $34000.
I think a lot of the Energica's weight can be attributed to the cell chemistry; LiFePO4 can have fantastic power density but energy density is middling at best. A&R suggests that the motor (Parker? guessing) packaging also forced the rear shock to be mounted far to the side and required a beefier swing arm.
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I ride up to Alice's Restaurant every weekend and am sorry I missed seeing the Ego there. On the other hand, it looks so much like an IC sport bike that I might have not even noticed it in the parking lot. The Ego appears to be a very well designed motorcycle, but that price is going to make it tough to sell in any quantity. I sure wouldn't be willing to spend $34,000 on the bike, especially with a smaller battery pack than on my Zero. ??? That big motor is going to suck the watts out of that pack in short order when ridden briskly. ;)
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I see on the Energica sign up page that previous locations (San Fran. and LA) were "sold out."
I plan on going to Bear Mountain, but does this mean you have to pay for demo ride?
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I didn't pay, I just filled out the form and they sent me an email a couple of days before the ride telling me "Congratulations, ..." They also signed up at least one rider at the site (Rock Store in LA), but that may have been the result of a cancellation. They basically just run groups of 2 riders in 10 minute rides back to back as quickly as they can get them set up, so there will likely be some extra time at some point depending on how keen they are to have a lunch break and how much the batteries were run down.
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Thanks, flar. One last thing....did they rein in the speed of the bike or was that left to your discretion? (Hope you went fast to
get back in time for concert.)
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They didn't have to rein me in, it was the first time I had ever ridden on Mulholland and I wasn't going to push it. Actually, the second half of the ride was along wider sweepers, but I felt no need to go too fast. That, and the fact that I couldn't do kmh->mph conversions in my head fast enough to matter meant that I just followed along. I did do quite a few accelerate and coast, accelerate and coast maneuvers, though, just to feel the pull at "speed"...
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My report on the test ride over on the brammo forum:
http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2617.msg19693#msg19693 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2617.msg19693#msg19693)
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Thanks for your test report! Sorry for writing "reign" instead of "rein"...ugh!! I changed it. :)
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I'll be there, hopefully for the morning session, with my SR.
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Did you get an email indicating your time? I'll try to get there Wednesday and hopefully we'll get a chance to meet.
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I'm set for Wednesday morning, 8AM.
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Sweet! Just rode it today. You'll have fun! :-)
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I'm STILL twitching from riding that thing. What a BLAST! What Ben's not telling you is that we probably got them up near 90mph on one section... following our guide leader of course. ::)
I put together all my posts about the whole thing here: http://evmc2.wordpress.com/category/crp-energica-ego/ (http://evmc2.wordpress.com/category/crp-energica-ego/) - check it out.
I also got a chance to have a long sit-down with the CEO, Livia Cevolini, and ask her a ton of questions. The videos are busted out by topic, if you're interested - I'm not sure, but I think they're the only English-speaking interviews of her online. Everything I could find was in Italian, which sounds lovely to me, but I don't understand a word of it. :D
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Here is kind of an odd review of the pre-production Energica Ego published by RideApart.com. It seems as though they actually didn't ride the bike (or if they did, they didn't say much about the experience). One thing that bothers me is the bike's weight. 570 pounds is a little more than I want to push around my garage or up my sloped driveway. ::)
http://rideapart.com/2014/08/review-energica-ego-electric-superbike/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HellForLeather+%28Hell+For+Leather%29 (http://rideapart.com/2014/08/review-energica-ego-electric-superbike/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HellForLeather+%28Hell+For+Leather%29)
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That is a weird review. Looks like they read Waiting for Godot and decided to style their review after it.
Also, the Energica Ego has reverse, so you can always power walk it around backwards and forwards. :-)
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I've read several reviews that can only be described as "weird". It's had some great write-ups in the more mainstream press, too, but all slanted towards the non-EV audience, going into great detail about stuff most enthusiasts already know. One day, not too far away, maybe the bikes will be written up as... ... motorcycles? :D
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Here is a review of the Ego by Autoblog: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/12/energica-ego-first-ride-review/ (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/12/energica-ego-first-ride-review/)