• 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.

The Electric Motorcycle Thread

video unavailable
 
Fixed
 
Starpower said:
Regen is very effective albeit odd - there is a button by the left grip that engages it, it is a full on/off affair. It is used as a brake and often needs some 'pulsing" for control. At low speed on loose it can lock the rear wheel.
Click to expand...

Achilles! That sounds like poor user experience. :thumbdown
 
I've always wanted regen to be a left hand lever and function like either a rear brake or clutch depending on preference.

In clutch mode you would set the desired amount of regen possible and the further you let out the lever the more regen kicks in until you reach the max setting. Preferably enough regen to where you can get the rear end loose should you want to be cool.

In brake mode the regen kick in more as you pull the lever in until traction is lost and you can then have the abs kick in if your a pansy or do some sick drifts and get sideways like a boooooooossssssssssssss!
 
I really like the look of the NIU scoots. The NGT would be loads of fun! There's also the NGT S, which has larger diameter wheels and tires. Not many places seem to sell them in the USA though. Looks like for our state, Vespa Motorsport is it.
 
The regen throttle is the tits I pretty much don't use my "mechanical" brakes anymore. I've been using it for more than a year and it makes the Light Bee stop much better than with those wimpy mountain bike brakes. If it's one of the weaknesses of the Light Bee is it's brakes and the regen solves that... HOWEVER it will heat your battery up if you use it a lot. After about 10 minutes on the track I notice the regen significantly about half as strong. It will overheat your battery if you use it a lot, even my Empulse I overheated the battery using the regen. I wish all bikes had it it's so good.

Also for dirt riding it good. I don't use the rear brakes to back it in I just use the regen throttle. I used it a lot in the last harescramble race because there were so many tight turns. Helps keep the battery charged also.

This is a video when I first tested it off road. The camera makes it look not that steep but these are really steep trails and I could just crawl down them.
[youtube]RGuvvwJDpk4[/youtube]

Here it is in action during at a supermoto race. If I want A LOT of braking I combine the front brake with the regen, but can only do that in a straight line or when the bike is up straight. If you try to combine all the brakes front and back and the regen it way too much braking it will skid the rear.
[youtube]Cqdc0HeRmFY[/youtube]


There's only 2 other motorcycles I know of that have variable regen throttles the Ripperton Electric Motorcycle and the Kawasaki Prototype EV bike. Also that bouncy house air blower is a brilliant idea I will try to find one of those for when I do track days to keep my battery cool. Right now I'm using a vornado fan which is ok.

[YOUTUBE]vdKDOfXBRMM[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]DyA5jVUCBbU[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]Y0qWhO1GawU[/YOUTUBE]
 
Last edited:
HadesOmega said:
Whoa whoa whoa less than $20k Livewire! Still not enough to get me to bite though. But you'll definitely be the cool kid on the block with this baby. Also since it's used I don't think you would qualify for any incentives.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcd/d/livermore-2020-harley-davidson-livewire/7314076110.html
Click to expand...

This is a good deal!

Has anyone done a tear down on a Livewire? I worked on the prototypes (designed the battery pack) when I was at Mission Motors, and would love to see how much carried over.
 
Given what they cost, I doubt anyone has taken one apart just for grins, lol. Maybe one got wrecked, totaled out, bought and taken apart though. Seems to happen with every EV car model ever sold, courtesy of hobbyists scavenging parts for their own custom builds.
 
novaks47 said:
Given what they cost, I doubt anyone has taken one apart just for grins, lol. Maybe one got wrecked, totaled out, bought and taken apart though. Seems to happen with every EV car model ever sold, courtesy of hobbyists scavenging parts for their own custom builds.
Click to expand...

I guess I need to wait for one to end up with someone at Endless Sphere :)
 
HadesOmega said:
Also that bouncy house air blower is a brilliant idea I will try to find one of those for when I do track days to keep my battery cool. Right now I'm using a vornado fan which is ok.
Click to expand...

We used a blower in conjunction with dry ice to pre-cool the Mission R's battery when we went racing. The massive thermal mass of the pack and no active cooling meant it could take an entire day to cool down after being run hard.
 
Wow cool ebikezilla have a foot brake regen pedal. Not gonna use it but thought it was interesting. But ouch $200 dollars I will stick with my $20 thumb throttle.

https://ebikezilla.com/en/brakes/90...-ron-lb-x-segway-x260-sh-b009-ebikezilla.html

rear-foot-brake-regen-only-sur-ron-lb-x-segway-x260-sh-b009-ebikezilla.jpg
 
Last edited:
blooot said:
I guess I need to wait for one to end up with someone at Endless Sphere :)
Click to expand...

That's the one I was trying to remember, haha! It had been too long since I last looked at that forum, I think the last time was 2014 shortly before I bought a Volt.

$200 for a brake pedal with a switch?! I'm betting you could make one for next to nothing.

Side note : That Drill One Evo looks badass! 115lbs and 40ft-lbs of torque.
 
Last edited:
novaks47 said:
That's the one I was trying to remember, haha! It had been too long since I last looked at that forum, I think the last time was 2014 shortly before I bought a Volt.

$200 for a brake pedal with a switch?! I'm betting you could make one for next to nothing.

Side note : That Drill One Evo looks badass! 115lbs and 40ft-lbs of torque.
Click to expand...

It does look bad ass for sure! I think like some they do not include the battery weight (akin to ICE bike listing dry weight) the battery alone is 20# heavier than the Ranger battery and the bike sure looks heavier. The Ranger is 110# with battery. I'm guessing the Drill One with battery is 150#. At full size or close to it this is pretty sweet. Not so sweet is the $2500 premium (+30%) over the Ranger. Very comparable components.
 
blooot said:
This is a good deal!

Has anyone done a tear down on a Livewire? I worked on the prototypes (designed the battery pack) when I was at Mission Motors, and would love to see how much carried over.
Click to expand...

Personally, I don't see it as a particularly good deal. 20K is roughly the MSRP of the new 21kwh Energicas, which appear to be better in basically every way. And you can get a used Zero for much less, albeit with no DC fast charging.
 
I see the SR/F/S going for around 15k used. The Energica I think are a little higher more like 22k. If you think the Livewire was $30k and now $20k it's a good deal. I could be happy with the Livewire but not for $30k. Also good luck finding a used Energica I've only seen less than a handful.

Now if you buy a BRAND NEW Energica or Zero you can get the federal tax credit and $1500 rebate from california, so you figure it'd still be around $20k.
 
HadesOmega said:
I see the SR/F/S going for around 15k used. The Energica I think are a little higher more like 22k. If you think the Livewire was $30k and now $20k it's a good deal. I could be happy with the Livewire but not for $30k. Also good luck finding a used Energica I've only seen less than a handful.

Now if you buy a BRAND NEW Energica or Zero you can get the federal tax credit and $1500 rebate from california, so you figure it'd still be around $20k.
Click to expand...

Yeah exactly. 20K is still way too much. 30K is just ludicrous for a bike that doesn't even come with heated grips. I'd take a new Energica over a used Harley easily, even though I'm not a fan of the crazy short service intervals at all.

I guess you're paying for the novelty more than anything else.
 
Yeah $20k is still too much for me is why I don't have an Energica right now. =p
 
mrzuzzo said:
Yeah exactly. 20K is still way too much. 30K is just ludicrous for a bike that doesn't even come with heated grips. I'd take a new Energica over a used Harley easily, even though I'm not a fan of the crazy short service intervals at all.

I guess you're paying for the novelty more than anything else.
Click to expand...

I don't know, sure it's a lot of money but it's a RARE and significant vehicle being the first real self developed EV moto from an established manufacturer (meaning it will have long term support). That's gotta count for something right? I guess I'm looking at it more as a collector item than a daily riding value proposition, and for that a 1/3 price cut after less than 1k miles definitely makes it more attractive.
 
It'll be even more rare because its a HD from here on out its just going to be livewire
 
HadesOmega said:
Yeah $20k is still too much for me is why I don't have an Energica right now.
Click to expand...
You cannot buy a new one now anyway. A couple of days ago, I took a ride to Livermore on my Energica. They have NONE for sale. All they have at Cal-Moto is the demo bike that they cannot sell for a few more months.

But today, I ran into several Energicas at the Reno HD shop. They were meeting there at 1000 hrs and the plan was a ride around Lake Tahoe. But then came the rain and heavy winds, so that ride got cancelled. There was also a Zero SR/F and a HF LiveWire. But some were coming as others were leaving so not all the bikes are shown in the pic below:

-Don- Reno, NV
 

Attachments

  • RenoHD.JPG
    RenoHD.JPG
    191.6 KB · Views: 26
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top