• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

My new toy

DonTom

DonTom

Active member
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Location
Auburn, CA & Reno, NV (from the SF area)
Moto(s)
A dozen motorcycles, a half dozen of those are electrics.
Name
Don
Yesterday & Today, I went around looking at new bikes to replace my 2002 Suzuki DR200SE, which now has a hole in the piston during a ride two days ago but I am too lazy to repair. Owning electric bikes have made me lazy.

So I was looking at dual sport bikes yesterday and I went to all the MC dealers in Reno except for one and found nothing interesting. EuroCycles was especially disappointing with their very poor selection of Zero electrics, which was very good a year ago. But if you want a small, non-road legal dirt bike, they have several. I am not interested in those.

The only dealer I did not go to yesterday was Michael's Powersports which is way farther south and it was getting late

So I went there today, I did NOT expect them to have electric motorcycles, but, boy was I wrong! They had MANY! All Can-Ams.

I didn't even know Can Am made electric motorcycles but they had exactly what I was looking for.

A new 2025 Can-Am J8SE Origin.

Has a water cooled 8.9 KWH battery (never heard of water cooled battery on a motorcycle before). Also the charger and the inverter is water cooled.

Has a 6.6 KW charger.

Has a covered drive chain with oil to keep the chain lubed.

Has a reverse.

Top speed set in the computer to 80 MPH, which probably means it will go uphill into a headwind at that 80 MPH.

They deliver it here on Tuesday or Wednesday. It was $12,151.77 out the door (cash).

I ignore specs for range and charge times. I can do the math myself.

I will expect this 400 lbs bike to average 7 miles per KWH in average, normal riding in average normal temps.

The 8.9 KWH is supposed to be useable capacity. Unlike Zero, they do not even mention the max capacity.

So I will expect a range of 62.3 miles in my normal driving in the real world at average temps, average speeds, average hills, etc. for the all year average.

Just a little short of their BS claim of 71 miles mixed riding. Not too far off, IMO, for an electric motorcycle.

They claim:

52 miles at 50 MPH.
71 miles mixed.
90 miles city.

I don't care much about the range as long as I can make it to the next J-1772 charge station. I like to take breaks, I am in no hurry. A double KWH battery just means charge less often but for twice the amount of time at each stop. Not that much difference in total charge time for the day.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
Last edited:
can-am.brp.com

2025 Can-Am Origin - Dual-Sport Electric Motorcycle

Looking for a vehicle that excels on all terrains? The Can-Am Origin is built to perform on & off the roads.Looking for a vehicle that excels on all terrains? The Can-Am Origin is built to perform on & off the roads.
can-am.brp.com can-am.brp.com

Congrats! Please update this thread with how it works for you.
 
ThumperX said:
here’s even fireworks to celebrate!
Click to expand...
When I purchased my 2002 Suzuki DR200SE in 2003, it was on the same day in that year from the same shop.

I hope this bike works out better. At least I will not blow a hole in the piston!

BTW, it seems to me that electric bikes have way less electrics in them than do gas bikes.

No starter, alternator, ignition system, smog sensors & etc.

EVs, mainly just a battery(or two), inverter & motor and DC2DCC.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
It’s a Beta Explorer Hunter edition. My first one was stolen.
 
But. Looks like you made a great choice!
 
Yup Can Am has been making electric motorcycles for a bit now. 8.9KWH you might get around 50 miles of range with that.

Saw this one at Electrify Expo
0823251119_HDR-XL.jpg
 
HadesOmega said:
Saw this one at Electrify Expo
Click to expand...
That is the street version of the same basic bike.

HadesOmega said:
8.9KWH you might get around 50 miles of range with that.
Click to expand...

I assume perhaps 30 miles at 70 MPH. I figure around half the range every time the speed is doubled on electric motorcycle, with a 7 miles per KWH average.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
motoproponent said:
That's cool Don.
Click to expand...
Yes, even when it is 102°F! The other day it was 102°F in Carson City. This where I got stuck with a Zero that would not charge in the heat a couple of years ago, at around the same temp.

I rode the Can-Am hard, uphill fast and tried to get the battery hot in the heat. Then I charged up here with no problem, with the bike out in the hot sun shining on it.

I was in the lobby of the air conditioned hotel as I was waiting for my charge, playing around with my small notebook computer that I always bring with me, with a Verizon portable Hotspot.

I assume this is the first electric motorcycle with a water cooled battery. At 20% SOC, it charged at 4.8KW, so perhaps the heat slowed down the 6.6 KW charger just a little, but not enough to notice.

When I first connected, I was disappointed because it said it was charging at 1.5 KW. Then in around 30 seconds, the water pump came on and the charging starting to go higher and higher until 4.8 KW in a couple of minutes.

Sure beats being stuck with a bike that won't charge until night time!

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
DonTom said:
Yes, even when it is 102°F! The other day it was 102°F in Carson City. This where I got stuck with a Zero that would not charge in the heat a couple of years ago, at around the same temp.

I rode the Can-Am hard, uphill fast and tried to get the battery hot in the heat. Then I charged up here with no problem, with the bike out in the hot sun shining on it.

I was in the lobby of the air conditioned hotel as I was waiting for my charge, playing around with my small notebook computer that I always bring with me, with a Verizon portable Hotspot.

I assume this is the first electric motorcycle with a water cooled battery. At 20% SOC, it charged at 4.8KW, so perhaps the heat slowed down the 6.6 KW charger just a little, but not enough to notice.

When I first connected, I was disappointed because it said it was charging at 1.5 KW. Then in around 30 seconds, the water pump came on and the charging starting to go higher and higher until 4.8 KW in a couple of minutes.

Sure beats being stuck with a bike that won't charge until night time!

-Don- Auburn, CA
Click to expand...
Yeah, a couple weeks ago, I charged up at Redding. The bike charged OK, but when the charge session was done the battery was overheated and the bike was in limp mode from the get go. I had to park it in the shade for 45 minutes till it cooled down enough to ride.

I would love a water cooled battery on the Experia.
 
motoproponent said:
Yeah, a couple weeks ago, I charged up at Redding. The bike charged OK, but when the charge session was done the battery was overheated and the bike was in limp mode from the get go. I had to park it in the shade for 45 minutes till it cooled down enough to ride.

I would love a water cooled battery on the Experia.
Click to expand...
I DCFC all three of my Experias at 55 amps. Going higher than that heats up the battery too much. Once set (done while charging with the mode switch) it will stay at 55 amps for all other DCFCs. What current do you set yours for? The default is max charge rate and shouldn't be used except on cold days, and even that is perhaps not a good idea. I blew the DCFC use in my SS9, which is a big job to replace because it is located inside the battery pack and the very heavy battery has to be removed from the bike to get to it.

However, it is a lot easier to get to the DCFC fuse in the Experia as the battery does NOT need to be removed.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
DonTom said:
What current do you set yours for?
Click to expand...
I leave it at the default. I've tried lowering the charge rate to 60 amps but found the charge rate heat throttled regardless. Whether I left it at default max or started at a lower charge rate, I did not notice a difference in the overall heat in the battery or the time charging.

The bike might start at 75 amps for a minute and then start ramping down or start at 60 amps for 3 minutes and start ramping down. I still end the charge session at Zero charging speeds with the same amount of time spent charging.
 
motoproponent said:
I leave it at the default. I've tried lowering the charge rate to 60 amps but found the charge rate heat throttled regardless. Whether I left it at default max or started at a lower charge rate, I did not notice a difference in the overall heat in the battery or the time charging.

The bike might start at 75 amps for a minute and then start ramping down or start at 60 amps for 3 minutes and start ramping down. I still end the charge session at Zero charging speeds with the same amount of time spent charging.
Click to expand...
I notice the difference in battery heat, especially on the next charge, when I lowered it to 55 amps. Try reducing it to 55 amps. Perhaps those 5 amps make the difference.. Another reason is that it makes your DCFC fuse much less likely to blow out--as happened to me with my SS9-.

My total charge times for the day are less at 55 amps than at the full default. Yes, it will still throttle down a little, but not as much as keeping the charge rate up high.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
DonTom said:
I notice the difference in battery heat, especially on the next charge, when I lowered it to 55 amps. Try reducing it to 55 amps. Perhaps those 5 amps make the difference.. Another reason is that it makes your DCFC fuse much less likely to blow out--as happened to me with my SS9-.

My total charge times for the day are less at 55 amps than at the full default. Yes, it will still throttle down a little, but not as much as keeping the charge rate up high.

-Don- Reno, NV
Click to expand...
I'll give that a shot
 
HadesOmega said:
Yup Can Am has been making electric motorcycles for a bit now. 8.9KWH you might get around 50 miles of range with that.
Click to expand...
And the 8.9 kWh is usable, unlike with Zero. And they do not cheat. Their range is what they claim, if not a little better.

Now for a couple of things I do not like about the bike.

The horn is weaker than a Zero. And the Zero horns are ridiculous junk, more like toy horns. It is a waste of time to press the horn button on the Can-Am. Nobody is going to hear the little beep-beep. Bicycles have louder horns. I wired on new loud horns on my crash bars. The horn switch now activates my added horn relay, which is mounted where the old horn was located. The bike has its own horn relay, but it is a small solid-state type, not mechanical, and I didn't want to chance going direct to the much louder horn. So now, I have the stock very small solid state relay keying my much larger mechanical relay for my two very loud horns.

Did you all hear it when I tested it today from here in Reno?

I added all the accessories: large adjustable windshield, travel trunk & sidebags, small tank bag, and crash bars (reducing the range a little will not be an issue for me on this bike). With all the stuff on, the bike is difficult to get on or off regardless of if very short or very long legs.

Here is why:

The seat is up very high on this bike (34"), which means you need long legs.

But between the travel trunk and the small tank bag, only a very short leg will work. No room for a long leg.

The fix is to keep the travel trunk off the bike; it is easy to remove and put back on as needed. The small travel tank is a bigger hassle to remove because it has a USB cable connected to an iPhone inside.

I can still get on and off the bike with all the stuff on it, but with great difficulty and is somewhat dangerous. Best is to keep the trunk at home until really needed. My leg can go above the bike to get on it when there is no travel trunk.

I also added a TPMS and GPS on the bike. All the other stuff is from here.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top