Refuel TT 2019 June 30, 2019

[HadesOmega]

Was a good day at Refuel TT 11.  There certainly were more Model 3s than last year and more than a handful of SRFs.  The SRFs were pretty fast I never passed one and I got passed by several.  The SRF just totally eclipses the SR.  Empulse TT ran great never let me down however the rider could have been way better.  Consistent performance down to about 50% state of charge.  The handling and braking of the Empulse really shine on the track.  I think I placed around 16th in the TT at 2:07 time I totally forgot about the awards ceremony when I was packing up haha.  I had to pass someone on the track and I err accidentally backed it in the last turn by stomping on the rear brake, it freaked me out a bit and I let off for a bit.  The tires definitely saved my ass.  It was great hanging out and meeting other EV riders.  Shelina Moreda was there also, she was riding a white Energica Ego.  So I've gotten to ride and meet 2 people that helped develop the Empulse.



Unloading all my toys





Rider/Drivers meeting


Energica




Oh yeah I saw this Honda Interceptor.  If you are wondering why the new Royal Enfield INT 650 is called an INT rather than an Interceptor this is why.


Lots of Model 3s

[HadesOmega]

Fiat 500e


Not an electric but so pretty Mclaren 600LT



Hollywood Electrics


Zero Army






Here's a special SRF it has lot of special parts on it like Ohlins suspension and carbonfiber wheels.




Boogers after first session.  Ran the battery down to 58%!




EV charger hunt.  I found a spot to charge then someone in a model 3 unplugged me at least my bike was a fully charged then they did.  Tough to find a place to charge, this time I brought my level 1 charger but luckily I was able to find a 14-50 outlet. 



Electric Smart Car, this one didn't participate though.  Haha I'd like to get a yelow one like this and have black accents and add a Pikachu tail to it.  Then put some crazy electric powertrain.  I test drove one of these one time and it does great U turns and circles haha.

[HadesOmega]

The Radical SRe was back this year.  The car always amazes me.







Ariel Atom not electric but it's fast



Towing your electric motorcycle with a mostly electric car.


Super cars grid

[HadesOmega]

I got LOTS of questions of about my Light Bee also.  It makes a great pit bike by the way!  I actually met 2 other Light Bee owners also.



I rode the Light Bee up to the Corkscrew.  Then I decided to ride it straight down the hill bwahaha then I decided to ride back up it and back down again.  Also during the last track session I got to ride the Light Bee on half of the track.  There was a crash though so they blackflagged the whole session.  At least I got to ride it down the corkscrew.  I was surprised the Light Bee did ok on the track I thought it would struggle going up the hill but it was about to maintain about 40 going up and went down to 35 right at the crest before the corkscrew.  I was worried about the crappy tires though they were sliding all over the place, would have been nice to do one more lap after the tires warmed up.





Light bee next to this tiny little electric pit bike




And pack up my toys and go home and yes it worries me that I am towing a 470lbs bike next to a 125lbs bike O_o'

[HadesOmega]

These are my VLOGs and track videos

Part 1 - Opening VLOG + Paddock Tour


Part 2 - Track Session 1


Part 3 - Session 1 AAR


Part 4 - Track Session 2


Part 5 - Refuel TT


Part 6 - Merlin's Corkscrew Light Bee Adventure


Part 7 - Sur Ron Light Bee Half lap of Laguna Seca


Part 8 - Final VLOG + Bike Overview

[Brammofan]

Thanks for the excellent report and photos. I'll check out the videos later.

I knew just where to look for Shelina at that riders' meeting. She posted from the same meeting on Instagram.

I wonder if that Ariel Atom was one that was manufactured by Brammo in years gone by.

I've never been able to make it to ReFuel, but it's on my bucket list. Someday.

[HadesOmega]

Thanks for reading I totally forgot Brammo made the Atoms stateside. 

Towards the end of the day I went to talk to Brandon Nozaki Miller about a supercharger for the Empulse and I rode my bike over to the Energica garage Shelina saw my bike and commented that she helped develop it.  =)

I live in San Jose so it's not too far from Laguna Seca.  Sonoma Raceway and Laguna Seca are the closest major tracks near where I live. 

[shayan]

@HadesOmega
What did Brandon have to say about a supercharger for the Empulse? I would love to hear what he said
I would love to go to Laguna Seca and race my Empulse there for Refuel TT sometime too.

I think i can make it to Laguna Seca from San Jose without having to stop for a charge.
(I can easily make it to SF from SJ with about 30% SOC left)

-Shayan

[HadesOmega]

I thought about riding to Laguna Seca also but you'd have to find a place to charge definitely for a quite a while. 

Soooo I asked him about it and they said they don't have the parts to do it anymore unfortunately is what he conveyed to me.  He said something about the bike won't be beautiful anymore also and shhh I don't know if it's a secret or anything he said they will be focusing on CCS now.  He tried to sell me an Energica haha.  He said he could tell me how to install the chargers, so it leads me to believe I might be able to do it myself if I can acquire the chargers and learn how to do it.  It sounds really complicated though where the Zeroes are plug and play.   I wish I was more savvy with EVs my extent of EV modification is working with 24V ebikes and scooters pretty much.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news it seems the ship has sailed for Diginow Supercharger upgrades I should have jumped on it when I had the chance.  Double the charging the speed would have been nice =/

He did recommend offboard charging but that kinda defeats the purpose.  I wanted a faster onboard so I can expand my riding a bit.

[jazz999]

Very Cool and exciting, thanks

[shayan]

I thought about riding to Laguna Seca also but you'd have to find a place to charge definitely for a quite a while. 

Soooo I asked him about it and they said they don't have the parts to do it anymore unfortunately is what he conveyed to me.  He said something about the bike won't be beautiful anymore also and shhh I don't know if it's a secret or anything he said they will be focusing on CCS now.  He tried to sell me an Energica haha.  He said he could tell me how to install the chargers, so it leads me to believe I might be able to do it myself if I can acquire the chargers and learn how to do it.  It sounds really complicated though where the Zeroes are plug and play.   I wish I was more savvy with EVs my extent of EV modification is working with 24V ebikes and scooters pretty much.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news it seems the ship has sailed for Diginow Supercharger upgrades I should have jumped on it when I had the chance.  Double the charging the speed would have been nice =/

He did recommend offboard charging but that kinda defeats the purpose.  I wanted a faster onboard so I can expand my riding a bit.

So, cough cough, will they be working on CCS solution which could work for Empulse too? 

[HadesOmega]

I would hope so =P

But I think he's talking about the Energica, he's been riding one.

[shayan]

Did he mention what chargers would be compatible with the Empulse?

[HadesOmega]

Nah he didn't got into detail