ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

yeah, talk to any dealer and they will say they keep the lights on by selling used bikes and service.

The myth that EV batteries only last 5 years makes it tough to sell a used EV Moto, so there goes that revenue stream. And EV bikes require so much less maintenance that there is very little incentive to keep that revenue stream open.

I could see a direct sales model like Tesla or Vinfast coming to EV Motos sooner than later. Keeping a dealer network adds the overhead of a whole other business to cover in the profit margins. So Electric motos are a premium priced luxury for most people.

I predict the first sign will be over-the-air update capabilities. If 2025 Energicas have that, then I suspect dealers will quickly line up to drop them.

I turn my regen off when trying to maximize distance traveled on a charge. In my experience the energy not used by coasting is a greater benefit than the small amount of energy returned by the regen.

Regen is much more valuable as a way to save wear and tear on braking when doing more spirited riding. Saving the actual friction material on the pads as well as limiting the heat the brake fluid is exposed to extends the life of both of those consumable items.

If I were going to make an electric bike I would have the regen controlled by a lever where the gear shift is on an ICE bike. It's pretty intuitive for someone that already has experience on a bike with enging braking that "down shifting" increases engine braking. Just have the regen controlled like engine braking. "1st gear" is Max regen, "5th" or "6th" gear is minimum and "Neutral" is off.

There's signs. tight spots that stay kinked or loose spots that will make that ticking you started the thread with.

If you're worried about the master link, which is normal the first few times you do it yourself, put the bike up on a rear stand. Spin the rear wheel till the master link is in the 3 o'clock position on the rear sprocket. Try to pull it away from the sprocket. There should be very little give. (as someone else mentioned earlier, if you can see daylight between the chain and sprocket when doing this, change the chain)  Then do the same with the adjacent links on either side of the master link. You should get the same amount of resistance from all the links you try. Then spin the tire backwards and watch the master link when it comes off the sprocket. It should fall slack the same as the links before it. If it's too tight it will bind and stay kinked a little.  If it's wearing evenly compared to the rest of the chain it's in spec and doing it's job.

Did Apollo ever get his bike back? I've seen some advocacy starting to follow Lightning around on social media. Like a Lightning employee will post about their awesome bike and someone will pop into the comments with something along the lines of "that's great for you and imma let you finish, but did [Apollo] ever get his bike back?"

DSR/X is selling like hotcakes here in the states. That has to say something about it. The people I know that have one are happy with it. Even those with other electric motorcycles to compare it to.

If you were ever going to get a Zero, the DSR/X will probably be the one you would want.

If you're worried about depreciation, wait a few more months. When the new ones come out, the old ones will be discounted and used ones will show up in the sales spots.

All I'm saying is that the industry isn't moving in any direction for us. That is the pressure we can exert, electric motorcyclists with our less than 20KWH battery packs, aren't going to drive any trends for the general public.

Cars. Catering to the needs of cars is what people will be doing. Cars want 100kwh battery packs and 350kw plus charging speeds. 6kw to a vehicle with a 100kwh battery is soo, slow. It really amounts to premium parking and a reason why an electric vehicle owner would choose one location over another.

Don't get disappointed at AC charging speeds. AC is not for fast charging. AC is for attracting you to spend hours at a location to spend money. AC is for letting your bike sit in the garage overnight to be ready for tomorrow's commute.

If you want more than 3kw AC charging, then start hacking it up with Diginow and all the other home brew aftermarket options that Zero owners have be working on since 2010. Wanting faster AC charging on a bike that can take DCFC is like wanting to put a turbo on a supercharger because you want more top end power. Like, welcome to being an early adopter

I Know I'm lucky as I live in California. I never have trouble getting to where I want to go because DC charging is everywhere and my bike can take CCS. But looking at the the tea leaves of the future, you'll have an easier time trying to get your legislators to facilitate more DC chargers than you will getting makers of DC capable bikes supporting faster AC charging. Even vaporware makers, except Damon, (advertised as having up to 12kw AC charging as well as facilitating higher rates with  DCFC),  are spec'ing out their bikes with ~3.3 kw capability on AC level 2. (Verge TS, Evoke 6061).

It's just the state of the industry with DC capable bikes right now.

You can get up to 13.2 KWH charging in the DSR/X with the extra charger.  But not all charge stations can handle that. But I find the 6.6 KW charger to be fast enough and even that exceeds the capacity of many J-1772 stations that I use.


With some planning, such as a long lunch break, I can cover a lot of miles with the DSR/X even with the 6.6KW charger.


-Don-  Reno, NV

I frequently do 350 to 450 miles a day when I'm road tripping and I only want to ride during daylight hours. Even with the advanced charge rate on the Zero there just aren't enough AC chargers that can push that kind of current around the places I want to go. Maybe when there is a DJ Industries dual j-plug application for the DSR/X....it will meet my needs.

But right now I try to buy bikes that come stock with everything I need. My days of buying a bike that's close but then turning to the aftermarket to get it where I really want are over. I don't even put aftermarket mufflers or shocks on bikes anymore. Nor do I buy multiple bikes to have a commuter, a road tripper, a track bike,...etc.

I examine my use case, figure out what meets my needs, and buy it or continue riding the "good enough" that I have while I wait till it comes out..... and then buy it.

I was really happy with the 1190 but wanted electric after seeing how my wife lived with her Zero.

As soon as Zero comes out with a DSR/X type bike that can take DC charging I'll probably get it as it will probably have more and better capabilities than my Experia and be a more "finished" machine. But right now, this Experia is the bee's frickin knees.