An eventful weekend with my Plus

[FrankH]

It took a lot of dedication on the part of my dealer to arrange a licence plate for my new Enertia Plus, but this Saturday it came in the mail. So finally I had another chance to ride it for more than a circle around the little square we live on.

The bike had been stationary for more than a week I guess, and when I was all dressed up and ready to go, having pushed it out of the garden, it came on with a SERVICE REQ'D S85 message!  . I don't think I need to express how that felt...
I tried different things, shutting it off and on again, connecting the charger for a while (it was charged 100% already but you never know). After some time the error went away but as soon as I twisted the throttle a bit, I heard a "clonk" sound and there the error was again. The manual says error S85 means "SEVCON Encoder fault", and next to it it says "Contact Brammo Service".

I couldn't bear having to leave my Plus standing there when I was finally allowed to drive it so I took a chance. After another restart, and subtly using the throttle, I drove it slowly around the block to see how that would go. And thankfully the error didn't come back. I dared to go still a bit further, eventually I took it for a tour into Amsterdam, even did a bit of highway and all was fine.

It was pretty cold (around or just below freezing) so I also got a chance to test my battery-powered inner gloves. They certainly didn't have the power to make my hands feel warm but when I got home I could still feel all my fingers and they hadn't turned white or blue as I was used to before when driving my old Intruder in cold weather, so they do make a difference. I think I need handguards though, to block some wind from cooling my gloves.

Today was the first time I drove the Plus to work. Still no error messages. But today it also started snowing so I had to drive back through the snow...

All in all a weekend to remember. I did try to contact Brammo but that form on their website is not the best way to get support I guess. They replied it may take up to 5 days before they get back to me. Does anyone else have experience contacting Brammo Service? Or seen that error before?

Tomorrow I'll try to shoot some pictures of the Plus in the wild, unless there's too much snow to ride...

[kingcharles]

The good thing of the plus (just like the vectrix) is the excellent throttle control, you can be so smooth that wheelspin is contollable in the snow.
This evening on my way home I was lane splitting and at the front of the traffic lights the cars all had wheelspin but I simply rolled away 
With a little help of my Heidenau snowtex tyres off course...

Congrats with getting the licence plate sorted! Amsterdam has become a better place now that one can spot a Brammo there!

[Richard230]

To keep your hands warm using a non-electric solution, "Hippo Hands" (the waterproof fabric handlebar enclosures that you slide your entire gloved hand into) are about the best solution that I have found for cold and wet weather riding.  I bought a relatively lightweight (compared with the original version) pair of these bar enclosures from the U.S. branch of Wunderlich (www.wunderlich.de), that were specifically designed for my BMW F6560GS twin, but they should work on most any standard, handlebar equipped, motorcycle.  They are well designed, work very well to keep your hands warm and dry and their cost was reasonable, compared with similar products sold elsewhere. Plus, they can be removed easily and pack down to a size that will fit into most fanny packs.

[protomech]

I'm really thinking about giving up and ordering a pair of the Hippo Hands. They look so goofy. But .. I hate bulky gloves almost as much as I hate cold hands : (

Edit: back on topic, I know BrammoBrian reads this forum but there has to be a better way to get support. Time zone is an issue no doubt, but (should BB reply) is the best way to contact about service issues like this to contact FrankH's dealer, or contact Brammo directly? Via the web form, email, phone @ 4 AM pacific time, or what?

[CBke]

It took a lot of dedication on the part of my dealer to arrange a licence plate for my new Enertia Plus, but this Saturday it came in the mail.

Congratulations, but, what was the problem ?

[Shinysideup]

I'm really thinking about giving up and ordering a pair of the Hippo Hands. They look so goofy.

They work very well, and absolutely the best solution I've found for wet and cold. I use heated grips and thin summer gloves with them.

As to looks... f*&% 'em if they can't take a joke!

[FrankH]

back on topic, I know BrammoBrian reads this forum but there has to be a better way to get support. Time zone is an issue no doubt, but (should BB reply) is the best way to contact about service issues like this to contact FrankH's dealer, or contact Brammo directly? Via the web form, email, phone @ 4 AM pacific time, or what?

Apparently Adrian (thespecialone?) also reads the forum regularly because he contacted me directly after seeing this post. But I also received a reply from Brammo Support after my web form inquiry.
I need to send some log files and they'll look into it. They figured the cold might have something to do with that error message, but driving it while the error was away was OK with them.

[FrankH]

Congratulations, but, what was the problem ?

First that CoC wasn't in the systems yet (around 20 december), then the holidays came, then Dutch customs apparently needed to file some paperwork for the BPM (a Dutch vehicle sales tax that electric vehicles don't have to pay), maybe in between those papers also had to go to the agency handling the normal road tax (which I also don't have to pay) and then finally the licence plate could be issued. All those agencies have little experience with electric vehicles so they take a little longer than usual I guess. But hey these people need a job too, don't they?

The woman from the dealership had to keep all these civil servants awake to try to get me that licence plate ASAP