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[Hans2183]

Just a quick write up to share my experience. I get tons of info from these kind of write ups so I do my best to give back also. You can find more of my "adventures" on my YT channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Hans2183/



"Adventures" is probably not the right word cause as a father of 4 kids working a full time job I don't ride as often or as for as I wished for. Not to mention covid-19 restrictions. As of this weekend we are finally allowed to be outside beyond 6:00-22:00 again. And 22nd of May I'll join an EV planned route here in Belgium for 1.000 km. At least that is the route planned, I'll probably not make it that long.

This is not my first electric motorcycle. I switched to electric 2 years ago on a Zero SR/F and have collected only 14.000 km on that one, mostly due to covid-19 since I had to work from home. If I refer a lot to Zero that is why.

Current state

I have this bike since March and over the weekend finally went over the first 1.000 km. Since half of that was on a single day I still don't have that much experience riding it but I guess I can always update later on.

It'll soon go in for it's first checkup now but really I haven't seen anything fail so far. Note that on my Zero by now the front brake switch had failed and got replaced under warranty.


Ergonomics

I picked the SS9 because I couldn't get used to the narrow seats on all the other models. If not I would’ve probably bought the Ribelle. The SS9 has a retro bench style seat that made all the difference for me. It’s seat is comfy on longer rides and there is lots of room to move forward or backwards on it during longer rides.

The original handlebars are very wide (as on adventures bikes) which really helps with the input you need to give this bike while riding. The original black ones have a big bend in them giving you a very relaxed upright sitting position. I swapped those for the Ribelle handlebars for having just a little more tucked down sitting position. Partly triggered by seeing some reviewers tuck in on the original bars having their elbows sticking out in what seems to be a very awkward position .



Footpegs are also clearly more relaxed than those on the Ribelle and other models. That said you could likely easily swap the pegs from these different models like you can with the handlebars. It’s only the seat with the hinge mechanism that is not as interchangeable.

Compare to the Zero SRF everything is way more relaxed. I’m not comparing to the SRS at this point cause that one also has less aggressive ergonomics. Although not as big as a difference as SS9 vs Ribelle. For I example I have the SRS footpads on my SRF and that only drops them for around 2cm.

I’ve done a ride with a passenger this weekend for around 100 km with and then 100 km back without and you barely notice someone is behind you handling wise. She (my 18y old kid) was fine with the comfort she said. We never bumped into each other. All I did for settings is change the preload on the spring and set it as soft as possible and then changed regen to LOW instead of MEDIUM which I use most of the time. Ride mode was RAIN to get more range.


Range

In numbers the Energica plus models have 50% more battery capacity than the Zero SRF (without power tank). The Zero however is more efficient on all speeds so you don’t get a 50% increase in range.

I haven’t made an exact measurement but my feeling is the range increase is more around 30%. Still anything added is for sure welcome. In practice I mostly notice it when going on the highway running 100 - 120 kmh. Cause below that the Zero also has a very good range.

And where I would often get home on a longer 200km ride with the zero in limp mode I can do that with the Energica having like 20% battery or so left.

I also notice it when charging from a 220V outlet at home .


Charging

Which brings me to charging. And where I don’t really often notice that much difference in range with that bigger battery it’s the opposite with charge speeds. Every time I go charge on a DC fast charger I realise that is the way to go and makes such a huge difference.

My Zero has the charge tank installed for 12kW giving it a 1h empty to full charge time. Not bad but the Energica is twice that speed. Sure if you need to decide between the two you also need to taken the infrastructure that is available to you into account. Cause those speeds are on a totally different system (AC vs DC).

Anyway that 485km ride I referred to in the beginning was with a friend on his ICE bike and we stopped more for stretching and talking than what was needed for charging. So yes touring on these bikes is possible.


Weight

I can’t write about this bike without talking about the weight. It’s there but honestly it hasn’t really bothered me much. Sure if you compare it directly to the SRF (also not light but lighter) it needs more input when riding on twisty roads.

On the highway on higher speeds and straight lines the added weight comes as a bonus cause it’s more stable.

On slow riding between traffic I haven’t noticed it so far. It did catch up on me on slow riding when I had to turn in also a few times.

For parking I do use the slow forward and backward movement. It’s mostly welcome on not perfectly flat services cause the smallest incline can make it hard to get moving.

If they sold a smaller capacity model with the new battery combination I would have considered it for the lower weight. But they don’t sell it anyway.


Chain Drive

A bit too soon to talk much about that feature. Also I haven’t used the bike in rain yet. I might even do my best to avoid that anyway.

In the future I might look into replacing it with one of those new Regina maintenance free chains. I also noticed those come in gold so that would match really well (cause yes you should pick chains based on color).


Luggage

Only had a quick attempt over the weekend with a big 20L bag strapped to the tank cause I had a passenger on the back. Because the seat has to move up when charging that is probably the way to go. These bags have fast clips to detach easily so you could probably also use them on the back.



I’m not sure yet if I will go for an Energica tank bag or not. They look way better but they are probably also a bit smaller. We’ll see. I’ve heard they are delayed by that evergreen boat that got stuck in the Suez Canal… Oh wait no I’m in Europe .


Overall Quality

Like I said no issues to report so far. It just works every time I use it. The overall quality seems very well. If anything I think they could easily cut on price and weight by not overbuilding some of the parts. But hey if that is the only complaint then they are actually doing a great job.👍.


Electronics

The dashboard and the functionality on the dash is perfect. Only mishap there is the cruise control that is nearly impossible to reach while riding. The switches on the other side are not high quality, in fact the same ones zero uses. But for now they keep working.

I like how you get that extra switch up front to activate and change the riding profile. Also that you can change ride mode and regen separately. On Zero those 2 are always linked to each other. And for custom regen you need to make a custom ride mode.

Also regen works better in general in how it gets you to a full stop. On zero you’ll always have to use the brakes for that. The only benefit I see on Zero on regen function is how it allows to control brake and neutral regen separately.

I think the Energica also uses it’s brake light during regen which is great. But difficult to confirm while riding. So just based on observations of a co rider.

The App is another story, luckily you don’t really need it to use the bike. In fact at this point I haven’t even connected the app to the bike nor have I gone into the settings menu on the bike itself. There was simply no need for it so far (thanks to that profile button).

When I bought the bike the My Energica app was temporarily taken from the iOS App Store so at first I couldn’t use it anyway. My dealer was kind enough to inform me once it was back and I installed it right away and had a quick look.



There is one feature in that app that I would really like to work. It should be able to report charge stations when you ride close to them on the dashboard using GPS and cellular of your phone. I’ll have to make a separate post about that feature though cause a quick test reveals that fetching those chargers is currently broken. I opened a discussion on FB and get back to that when I have more info https://www.facebook.com/groups/210803326383780/permalink/926154038182035/

[Richard230]

Thanks Hans for the excellent and informative write-up. I plan on checking out your YouTube channel.  Keep the shiny side up. 

[most]

Hi there - very good summary. I can see some similarities with my own experience.
How do you like the course holding in turns and the suspension? It took me quite some time to set it up, but I nether got completely comfortable with the stock suspension, especially the rear.
I was switching from the SS9+ to the Ribelle earlier this year, the Ribelle was a demo bike that came with Ohlins. Now THAT is an upgrade!!!

[Oldun]

A most excellent review / ride report. Well done that man!

[Hans2183]

How do you like the course holding in turns and the suspension? It took me quite some time to set it up, but I nether got completely comfortable with the stock suspension, especially the rear.
I was switching from the SS9+ to the Ribelle earlier this year, the Ribelle was a demo bike that came with Ohlins. Now THAT is an upgrade!!!

I didn't touch on that part yet cause I'm still trying to make it work. The front works without me noticing it and is very stable in corners so that for sure is OK. On the back I had it right in the middle at first and that was doing very well in corners. It was too hard though for riding over bumps. All the way down to softest setting it bounces all over the place, 2 clicks less than the softest setting is what I have it at right now. That seems a good in between option. But I need more riding before I can conclude on that.

Good to hear the Ohlins option works better. Looks like it then comes with an Ohlins STX shock. Wouldn't mind the color match . And if I don't need to cash out on upgraded front shocks I might have some more options for the rear.

[most]

In fact, the rear is Ohlins TTX36/ILX. Since I wasn't happy with the stock Biturbo at all on my SS9, I even called Ohlins first locally in Germany. This type of the TTX-family actually is a OEM-only, so the Ohlins guy said. It wouldn't be available for the aftermarket, no chance here - at least that was his statement. I wanted to make sure so I called Ohlins Sweden. Same answer. So the only chance is to go and order the rear shock as a spare part, in case one would want to go with Ohlins.
But there is one aftermarket option so far: Hyperpro! They do have two options available for the SS9.

Well since I've got the Swedish gold now, no need for me to fiddle with any aftermarket parts. I just adjusted the static sag (bike alone/bike + me) to match my body weight but did not fiddle with the compression and rebound damping as they seem fine as they came.

One advice for everyone: The fork spring preload on the Ohlins were set unevenly and differed by 3/4 turn. On my SS9 it was similar, but less. Probably worth to check that.

[Crissa]

How are you supposed to get spare parts if it's not available?

-Crissa

[most]

It is not available as an free independent aftermarket (aka IAM) part, directly sold from Ohlins or any independent dealer. Of cause, it is available via the OEM as a spare part. That’s a huge difference!

Did you ever order a bolt as a spare and wonder why its so damn expensive? You pay a hefty add on of the bolt’s single part value because the spare is distributed via different channels, very often packed single in a polybag, with an maintained OEM-database behind to identify that bold as a spare, separate part number, with an own part release process (aka PPAP) behind, etc. . Sometime I wonder if that spare part process includes 20 naked virgins dancing around a fireplace at a full moon midsummer night . At the end, the OEM will apply for a COC to be able to sell the vehicle and for the buyer to be able to register it. Someone has to pay for all these things.
If you would buy the same bolt, and I mean really the identical bolt, coming from the identical suppliers production process, as a bulk part in a DIY shop, it might very well cost only a fracture of all of this.

Ohlins is able to sell it to Energica because Energica took care of those things.
If Ohins would want to sell it to the IAM, they would have to take care about a homologation for the specific bike that spring is intended to be used for as in the EC the authorities want to have evidence that the use of that component is safe. For identification reasons those homologated part will receive a ECE release (Economic Comission for Europe). There are national specific alternatives to the ECE release, but basically they are comparable. For those few springs that Ohlins might be able to sell, the ECE process probably will not pay off for them, so „it‘s not available“. Period.

[Richard230]

The rubber drive belt on the BMW F800GT costs about $450 when purchased from BMWNA via a franchised dealership.  I recall once some years ago from a post by someone who worked for Gates saying that the belt could not be purchased directly from his company, even by someone working for Gates. It was an exclusive BMW part. However, as soon as BMW stopped manufacturing the GT that drive belt suddenly became available from other sources (I think Continental was mentioned) for much less. A friend of mine just needed a new drive belt for his 2008 BMW F800ST and was able to source one from Europe for only $150.

But with a very expensive and specific item like Ohlins suspension, I am not surprised that sales of the forks and shocks are only available through Energica's parts and accessory system - and likely at an expensive premium too compared with similar over-the-counter Ohlins components. In addition to the explanation for this high cost by "most", no doubt Energica spent a lot of development time to set up the damping and spring rates on the suspension components and would like to recover some of those expenditures.

[Crissa]

The assumption seems to be that it'll be expensive, but that's never been my experience with Zero parts, and Sam hasn't shown it to be true with Energica parts, either.

They're not BMW.

Also, no one is making knock-offs.  And there's no way for them to stop someone from doing so.

-Crissa

[Sklith]

The assumption seems to be that it'll be expensive, but that's never been my experience with Zero parts, and Sam hasn't shown it to be true with Energica parts, either.

They're not BMW.

I agree. AF1 racing sells Energica accessories, and they're all reasonably priced. In fact, I'm considering buying the OEM tank bag from there, it looks really slick!

[princec]

You don't have to go with Ohlins... you're paying for the name as much as anything. Consider Maxton, Nitron, or WP too, etc. who make exquisite shocks and fork kits for most bikes and can build them to order for your weight, the bike's weight, and intended usage.

Cas

[DonTom]

I agree. AF1 racing sells Energica accessories, and they're all reasonably priced. In fact, I'm considering buying the OEM tank bag from there, it looks really slick!

Thanks for mentioning that. I just ordered mine here.


-Don- Reno, NV

[most]

You’re not seriously saying that 350 bucks for a tank bag is reasonably priced, are you???

[DonTom]

You’re not seriously saying that 350 bucks for a tank bag is reasonably priced, are you???

I never made such a claim, but the price rarely stops me from buying what I want.


But hopefully, we get what we pay for.


-Don-  Reno, NV