Brammo Owners Forum
General => Off Topic => Topic started by: ttxgpfan on January 01, 2013, 06:26:28 PM
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Hey guys, I am looking to put together a round table of electric motorcycle owners to talk about what the realities are of owning one these bikes. I want both Zero and Brammo owners, and even Vetrix owners as well. Here is my dream list:
Harry
Gavin
ProtoMech
Richard230
Ain
KingCharles
Shinysideup
All you need is to be available for 1 1/2 hours all at the same time, a skype connection, or at least a phone number I can call you at.
I would prefer to do this on a Sunday or Monday evening.
Who's up for it?
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I could handle a phone call and Sunday or Monday evenings (PST) would be fine with me. Just don't ask me any technical questions. ;)
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Sunday evenings would be better for me. Monday evenings would be fine between 5-8 CST.
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If I can pull a good enough group together I plan on asking Zero and Brammo to each have a rep join us so they can handle the tech things, and be there to address concerns. But I plan on having some rules for them. :D
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Either Sun or Mon could work for me, with Mondays being slightly preferable.
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I am willing to participate on a sunday or monday but because of time zones it may be a bit tricky.
I am in the Amsterdam time zone (CET aka GMT +1)
So I am 6 hours ahead of ET.
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I'd prefer Monday night, after 7pm central, but even then, I'll have to be on my cell. But sounds like fun.
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The guy you really want to have speak about riding an electric motorcycle is Terry Hershner. This is the fellow who rode his Zero from Florida to LA, then up to the Bay Area, where he is kicking around at the moment, before returning home on his Zero later this month. But getting a hold of him might be pretty tough. He never stops in one place for more than a short time. I have been trying to hook up with Terry for lunch as Alice's Restaurant, but he is having a tough time fitting that into his schedule so far. The last I heard he was planning to visit Tesla's HQ.
I think since he has owned his bike (which has also been raced), Terry has learned more about how to travel, charge and ride electric motorcycles than the rest of us combined. He should be closing in on 20K miles about now, since buying his bike in April. :o
Check out the latest here: https://www.facebook.com/lifeoffthegrid (https://www.facebook.com/lifeoffthegrid)
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kingcharles has > 20k miles on his VX1, though I believe that's mostly commuting duty.
kingcharles, have you done any extended trips where you charged at a midpoint?
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kingcharles has > 20k miles on his VX1, though I believe that's mostly commuting duty.
kingcharles, have you done any extended trips where you charged at a midpoint?
The Netherlands is a small country so even with the limited range of the Vectrix you can do lovely day trips. I had a few with my wife. The longest one was 100 KM and it required 3 charges!
Mostly using the charging time for lunch breaks or shopping ;)
But I have used quite a few different public charge points in the Amsterdam and Utrecht area over the last 3 years.
edit: some Amsterdam charge points (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12474118@N06/sets/72157626201022832)
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@Richard230, I have been following and promoting Terry's adventure on my blog's facebook page. I already planned to invite him to balance out the Zero/Brammo numbers. But he's not on this forum, so I'll message him separately. Plus, I plan on interviewing him after he gets home. I like to get the biggest picture I can. Also, I did get a quick interview with him at Daytona, and even shared a beer. It would be on either Friday's or Saturday's recordings from Daytona. But thank you for the heads up! P.S. Can you PM me your phone number?
Everyone, Ok This Monday, 7pm CST. My skype name is jazclrint. Just "call" it and all I have to do is bring you into the group. Easy. I'll call Richard230. What is the chance we can get Gavin and/or Ain in on this?
Monday is going to be a long day on skype, as I have one other interview and am scheduling another! Sweet. Buying a new to me motorcycle Saturday night, MTB trail maintenance Sunday, and talking elmotos and racing on Monday. Now that is a weekend!
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I am really sorry KingCharles. That makes it 2am for you, and clearly no one expects you to be up that late. Maybe someday I can get one of these to happen on a Sunday morning. :D
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I can probably do it...but I think Ain would be a better choice than me...after all there is already a long interview with me on your site...and there is only sooooo much Gavin people can take...
Gavin
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That does sound like a good weekend : )
7 pm would be fine for me. If it runs longer than 8 pm then I will keep listening but will need go mostly quiet.
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I am really sorry KingCharles. That makes it 2am for you, and clearly no one expects you to be up that late. Maybe someday I can get one of these to happen on a Sunday morning. :D
No problem, thanks for inviting me to participate and I will certainly listen to the podcast once it's up!
Have fun chatting sunday :)
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Not sure I'll be able to skype from my phone while I'm driving, but we shall see. :-\
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@Harry Just PM me you phone number so I can call you.
@Gavin I was hoping to get your experience with the Plus, as you had just got it when I interviewed you. And remeber this time you get to hid in the group. :D
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Ok, guys. I hope everyone is looking forward to tonight. Here's an update. I emailed both Brammo and Zero offering them to have reps join up. I have not heard back from Zero, but I did hear back from Brammo. They were going to see if they could get someone to join, but I just heard back this morning and they have declined hoping that their absence will foster better participation. Crap, that means we'll have to act like adults. :D
I will try to guide the conversation, but generally I like to let things unfold organically as you never know what little nuggets might be revealed.
Thank you,
Richard
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Also update:
Please, do not use video! This is for a podcast, and audio quality is the priority. There is going to be a lot of people and don't want to tax anyone's bandwidth of computer any more than necessary.
I have no idea if this many people will work as I have never tired it, but we'll find out. :D Expect to wait about 10 minutes before we officially start as I bring people into the conversation. It may not take this long, but tech difficulties always arise.
Thanks again,
Rich
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Well, if Zero and Brammo are not around, I guess we won't have to be as careful to not accidentally step on some toes. ;)
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Where is everyone?
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Protomech, Harry, and Richard were there and I think it was a pretty good call. Really wanted an Empulse rider in the call though and none showed. "No Soup for YOU!" ;D
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Where is everyone?
I'm so sorry I missed this.
I just reread this thread: I saw the announcement. I saw the discussion as to the best day. I did NOT see the decision on day and time and instructions to get on call.
As an Empulse rider, I coulda been a contenda!
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I was ready to go for another 90 minutes - after a bathroom break. I have a real problem finding anyone that wants to hear me talk about electric motorcycles for very long (I have a friend that feels that way about opera :o), so I had trouble letting everyone else get in their 2 cents too. ;)
I think we should do this again next year (or maybe sooner) and evaluate the changes in the industry and our electric motorcycle ownership experience during that time. Maybe have owners of the Empulse and 2013 Zeros comment on their experiences and pros and cons of the bikes.
The commercial press reports are useful, but they always (well mostly) gloss over any practical issues in riding any motorcycle that they review. (Until the following year when they tell you all the the problems that last year's motorcycle had and how the new version has corrected all of those faults and is now perfect. ::) ) Actual long-term ownership experience adds a different dimension to any product review.
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One of the things I wished I had brought up last night is how a direct-drive electric motorcycle, such as the Enertia or Zero, seems to me like the perfect type of motorcycle for a new rider to gain two-wheeled experience. They don't have to worry about learning how to use a clutch or gearbox and that will allow them to focus more on traffic situations and staying safe while riding. I know that if my granddaughters would ever want to learn how to ride, I would strongly recommend that they do so on an electric motorcycle.
The funny thing is that my daughter, who has ridden almost 300,000 miles on IC motorcycles and has three motorcycles in her garage and her husband, who has ridden maybe 200,000 miles and owns two motorcycles are not too interested in seeing their oldest daughter learn how to ride. They want to give her their manual-shift Subaru station wagon, with over 200,000 miles on the clock. Not my idea of a vehicle that I would want to drive as a teenager, much less learn my driving skills while doing so. ::)
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The clutch and the gearshift on the Empulse would be just as easy for a new rider. In fact, you could set it to sixth and Eco for the absolute lowest level of wheel torque.
Now, the 470 pound weight of the Empulse would be another matter..
Ideal new rider's bike would be a 2013 XU ZF2.8. Cheap to buy, very light weight, enough power for 70 mph riding but you can really dial down the torque with the smartphone app. Once you get bold enough for some longer trips, you can easily pop in another ZF2.8 module to double your range and get a little more power.
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One of the things I wished I had brought up last night is how a direct-drive electric motorcycle, such as the Enertia or Zero, seems to me like the perfect type of motorcycle for a new rider to gain two-wheeled experience. They don't have to worry about learning how to use a clutch or gearbox and that will allow them to focus more on traffic situations and staying safe while riding. I know that if my granddaughters would ever want to learn how to ride, I would strongly recommend that they do so on an electric motorcycle.
And by the time they are intermediate, one cant buy an IC-engine anymore. Nice plan :D
But I agree, most of the time I've spent in driving-school went on transmission/clutch and the hard work of keeping the engine running. I would estimate about 2/3 of the 20 hours, controlling/steering/breaking was pretty natural and traffic laws went in easy in comparison.
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Where is everyone?
I'm so sorry I missed this.
I just reread this thread: I saw the announcement. I saw the discussion as to the best day. I did NOT see the decision on day and time and instructions to get on call.
As an Empulse rider, I coulda been a contenda!
I really wanted an Empulse owner in the show too. No soup for you.