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[iopean]

A couple of months ago I test rode an Energica Eva RS and OMG was it incredible.  Though at the time I made my excuses, umm'ed and ahh'ed about range, comfort and eventually ended up not going for it.

Enter the Experia.

I've been in touch with my local dealer (very lucky to have an Energica dealer within 10 miles of home in the UK) and I could possibly get one before Christmas, woohoo!

Although I am struggling with one issue in particular - Insurance.  Specifically, unless I upend by bank account no one will touch it for anything other than silly money unless I get a BikeTrac fitted. So here is the question... Does anyone have any experience with a GPS tracker on any Energica bikes?  Does the slightly unusual 12v hinder installation of such a device to anyone's knowledge?

Thanks!

[NEW2elec]

They only have a DC-DC convertor so it would only be getting 12v when the bike is on.

I think they want to see your speed as much as theft tracking.

[iopean]

They only have a DC-DC convertor so it would only be getting 12v when the bike is on.

I think they want to see your speed as much as theft tracking.

OK, thanks for the detail on the 12v system.  To be clear, BikeTrac is purely theft/recovery system and absolutely not something an insurance company can use to monitor speed etc.  I suspect the issue insurance has is the high value of the bike, basically a big theft risk.

[jotjotde]

Had a bit trouble finding an insurer with reasonable conditions here in Germany as well. Energica is too exotic for them. 

Did you try to ensure it as secondary or tertiary vehicle in connection to an existing insurance e.g. for your car? That got me a quite good one for my Zero back then.

In the end I went to an insurance comparison portal (check24 or verivox here) and worked my way down the list. Cheapest ones refused or quoted ridiculous prices, but no.5 went well.
BTW none gave me the chance to reduce the cost by installing an anti-theft device. Is that a common thing in the UK?

[iopean]

I will try to insure as a second bike on a policy if/when I get the bike.  Another issue I have on that front is that none of the insurers know what an Experia is yet so can't quote for a multi-bike alongside my GS! So I'm running on worst case (I hope) guesswork for insuring an Eva.

I've been doing more research and it seems in the UK for very high value bikes, insurance companies get twitchy and want additional security measurers.  The particular brand 'BikeTrac' meets Thatcham 6+7 standard which for bikes over £20k appears to make a very big difference (to me at least) for quotes.  I've been in touch with the company that makes BikeTrac and they have confirmed that Energica dealers in the UK can and have installed their system on Energicas.

[Katie1]

Just a thought, have you tried https://www.bemoto.uk/? They specialise in expensive machinery!

[Stonewolf]

A couple of months ago I test rode an Energica Eva RS and OMG was it incredible.  Though at the time I made my excuses, umm'ed and ahh'ed about range, comfort and eventually ended up not going for it.

Enter the Experia.

I've been in touch with my local dealer (very lucky to have an Energica dealer within 10 miles of home in the UK) and I could possibly get one before Christmas, woohoo!

Although I am struggling with one issue in particular - Insurance.  Specifically, unless I upend by bank account no one will touch it for anything other than silly money unless I get a BikeTrac fitted. So here is the question... Does anyone have any experience with a GPS tracker on any Energica bikes?  Does the slightly unusual 12v hinder installation of such a device to anyone's knowledge?

Thanks!

Hey, EEMC (Energica UK) are qualified to fit a tracker and have done mine, it has an internal battery that charges off the 12V system when it's on and lasts a month. If storing for a while just turn the bike on for a few hours every month to recharge the tracker.

[tunafish_phd]

A couple of months ago I test rode an Energica Eva RS and OMG was it incredible.  Though at the time I made my excuses, umm'ed and ahh'ed about range, comfort and eventually ended up not going for it.

Enter the Experia.

I've been in touch with my local dealer (very lucky to have an Energica dealer within 10 miles of home in the UK) and I could possibly get one before Christmas, woohoo!

Although I am struggling with one issue in particular - Insurance.  Specifically, unless I upend by bank account no one will touch it for anything other than silly money unless I get a BikeTrac fitted. So here is the question... Does anyone have any experience with a GPS tracker on any Energica bikes?  Does the slightly unusual 12v hinder installation of such a device to anyone's knowledge?

Thanks!

Hey, EEMC (Energica UK) are qualified to fit a tracker and have done mine, it has an internal battery that charges off the 12V system when it's on and lasts a month. If storing for a while just turn the bike on for a few hours every month to recharge the tracker.

Do you know the make of the tracker? That sounds like something I'd be interested in here in the states!

[iopean]

Yep, the make is 'BikeTrac'.

Thanks for people's input.  TLDR, To make insurance sensible, I need to get a dealer to install a BikeTrac. This appears to be a fair run of the mill thing and entirely possible even with the slightly unusual 12v system.

[wavelet]

Yep, the make is 'BikeTrac'.

Thanks for people's input.  TLDR, To make insurance sensible, I need to get a dealer to install a BikeTrac. This appears to be a fair run of the mill thing and entirely possible even with the slightly unusual 12v system.

I have a bike tracker on my ICE bike, which looks to have the same functionality as the BikeTrac (monitoring via GPS+cellular backed by a 24/7 security center which operates their own vehicle fleet to chase stolen bikes). They're extremely common here (Israel) as given the price of bikes here, every 750cc+ bike costs far more than £20K, and are an insurance requirement.
Anyway, AFAIK all those units have an internal battery which recharges off the 12V source, whatever it is -- otherwise the bike wouldn't be protected while work is done on the electricals.

[DonTom]

A couple of months ago I test rode an Energica Eva RS and OMG was it incredible.  Though at the time I made my excuses, umm'ed and ahh'ed about range, comfort and eventually ended up not going for it.

Enter the Experia.

I've been in touch with my local dealer (very lucky to have an Energica dealer within 10 miles of home in the UK) and I could possibly get one before Christmas, woohoo!

Although I am struggling with one issue in particular - Insurance.  Specifically, unless I upend by bank account no one will touch it for anything other than silly money unless I get a BikeTrac fitted. So here is the question... Does anyone have any experience with a GPS tracker on any Energica bikes?  Does the slightly unusual 12v hinder installation of such a device to anyone's knowledge?

Thanks!

I am not sure what you're asking about the 12V. But while the voltage is a bit on the low side when compared to other bikes, it should work fine. Is that what you're asking when you say "unusual 12V?" . It's around 12.4 volts on my 2020 SS9, which should be enough voltage (and current) for most smaller 12-volt items.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[iopean]

Thanks for the answer, it's all sorted now but I was referring to the lack of standard 12v automotive battery.  Not being familiar with Energicas at all I just wanted to be sure before I committed.

Talking of committing, I put down a deposit on an Experia today!  Who knows when we'll get them in the UK but looking forward to it!

[DonTom]

Thanks for the answer, it's all sorted now but I was referring to the lack of standard 12v automotive battery.  Not being familiar with Energicas at all I just wanted to be sure before I committed.

Talking of committing, I put down a deposit on an Experia today!  Who knows when we'll get them in the UK but looking forward to it!

The vehicles that don't use a 12 volt battery use a DC to DV converter. Has the full battery voltage on the input (whatever it could be at the time) and a regulated 12V DC on the output.


The disadvantage of the DC2DCC is that there is no 12V when the bike is switched off. But having no battery means less weight and one less thing to replace every few years. IOW, if there are OTA updates and such, when the vehicle is off,  a 12V battery is a must. Like most things, there are pluses and minuses of doing it either way.


But Zeros have a higher DC2DCC output from their DC2DCC models. Zeros use 13.8 VDC, just like most gas bikes that are running the engine. But the 3rd gen Zeros use a 12V battery, unlike the first and 2nd gen bikes.


Energica uses around 12.4 VDC, quite a bit lower than the Zeros, but it's enough to run any 12V item I wanted to add to a motorcycle, such as my GPS.




-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

Thanks for the answer, it's all sorted now but I was referring to the lack of standard 12v automotive battery.  Not being familiar with Energicas at all I just wanted to be sure before I committed.

Talking of committing, I put down a deposit on an Experia today!  Who knows when we'll get them in the UK but looking forward to it!

I should add that Energica and many other vehicles do something very stupid, IMAO. They have 5-volt USB outputs but no 12V for the owner--unless you modify it.  The USB socket has 12 volts in and 5 VDC USB out.


I say this is stupid (I repeat, it is very STUPID!) IMAO, because if you have a 12 VOLT socket you may buy a 5VDC USB plug in converter for $1.25 at the dollar store and now have a choice if either 12V or five volts USB or even both at once by wiring in a dual 12 Volt adapter.


To get my 12VDC, I ran wires from the input of the USB socker to one of these.  What Energica should have done to start with, IMAO! Since they won't do it, us owners have to modify our bikes just to add a decent GPS.


My new $165,000.00  2022 Class A RV had the same issue. USB outlets all over. Not any 12V outlets at all. I changed every one of them to a 12V socket before my first trip in it.


BTW, IMO, all electric bikes should have a GPS and make a directory for the charge stations you may be using. And most of those are designed to run from 12 volts.


-Don-  Reno, NV