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[Richard230]

The Vector has decent specifications, looks kind of scary and expensive, too. But is it real or are they just trolling for investors or customer pre-sale deposits for an EV concept?  https://www.arcvehicle.com/

[DonTom]

The Vector has decent specifications, looks kind of scary and expensive, too. But is it real or are they just trolling for investors or customer pre-sale deposits for an EV concept?  https://www.arcvehicle.com/

I am usually not sensitive to such things, but that is the most annoying web advertisement I have ever seen. It's difficult for me to look at and makes me want to close the page.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[princec]

It is real, and apparently has also shipped to some well-heeled sorts.

Cas

[MVetter]

Oh boy so it's:

- Slower than the Energica Ego
- Less powerful than the Ego
- Has less range than all Energica models
- A paltry 2 year warranty
- Over 4x the price of literally everything else out there but still uses a lead-acid battery for the 12v system

where do I sign

[wavelet]

The Vector has decent specifications, looks kind of scary and expensive, too. But is it real or are they just trolling for investors or customer pre-sale deposits for an EV concept?  https://www.arcvehicle.com/

I think you already know the answer.
The "design" team has clearly never ridden a motorcycle as their main, daily transportation, or wouldn't have "designed" a bike with zero wind or rain protection, and zero cargo-carrying capability... and the team is supposedly British.

And they give a range number without specifying test cycle or speed;
and claim the battery is "bespoke" (so is every pouch-cell battery application on the planet);

Yet again, startups and BEVs don't mix, not anymore.

[Specter]

That big honking shock / spring hanging out there.  First time that tips over you fucked that thing all up.  I wonder what a replacement costs?

Aaron

[TheRan]

Any bike over say £30k, unless it's something practical like a fully loaded GS or a Goldwing, is intended to be a display piece. They're not meant to be ridden unless it's to some place to show it off. Anyone with £90k spare to spend on a Vector isn't worried about the replacement cost of a shock if the bike gets dropped and they're not going to be riding it enough in anything but ideal conditions that the risk of it getting damaged is significant. Like wise things like range, wind and rain protection, and other practicalities just don't matter. They have been designed by people that ride and who probably ride a lot, but they're not designed to be bikes that are ridden a lot.

[JaimeC]

When I buy jewelry I like it small enough to be worn, not taking up space in my garage.

[TheRan]

I'm going to assume that you're not the kind to be buying a Patek over a nice Seiko, and thus also not the kind to be buying an Arch. Those that do have a garage big enough that taking up space isn't a concern, it's essentially a showroom.

[wavelet]

I'm going to assume that you're not the kind to be buying a Patek over a nice Seiko, and thus also not the kind to be buying an Arch. Those that do have a garage big enough that taking up space isn't a concern, it's essentially a showroom.

Thing is, why would anyone buy a display piece that looks like a copy of tons of concept / other startup bikes, from a company noone's ever heard of, and if anyone enters the garage, wouldn't have a clue what it cost even if they're a big bike aficionado?
It's really different than buying a Rolls-Royce, or one of Britten's bikes,  or an MV Agusta. Or even an Energica Ego, for that matter -- the Ego looks far pricier and more serious.

[TheRan]

Personally I think the Vector looks better than an Ego, and would look more impressive to a non-bike person. The kinds of people that buy £90k bikes have people over to their big mansions all the time and show them around, and ride them to places where there's plenty of people to see.

I honestly don't see why anyone is arguing against this. You wouldn't argue about the practicality of a Brough or a Bimota Tesi or a Norton V4SV or Aston Martin AMB-001. They're rich people's toys to show off, no different to a Lambo or Ferrari or a Patek Phillipe. Yes there are cheaper things that do the same shit, that's not the point. It's expensive and it looks cool, that's all there is to it.

[JaimeC]

I'm going to assume that you're not the kind to be buying a Patek over a nice Seiko, and thus also not the kind to be buying an Arch. Those that do have a garage big enough that taking up space isn't a concern, it's essentially a showroom.

I bought a Tudor. 

[Specter]

I bought mine to ride. I looked at a lot of bikes out there, and it had the best specs that I seen.

I honestly can not see a person, buying ANY bike of this type, and playing a Ferris Buehler's friend Cameron's dad with it, putting it on a pedestal never to be touched.  F that, I wanna bust this things cherry .. because THAT is also 'rich boy's ' bragging rights too.  Although I am not rich, I can share the same want to brag right?    I don't see myself unique in this desire either.  People don't buy what are essentially racing bikes and say, oh NO, I never touched it !!

I also looked at feedback and forums, NO not the companies forum because of course THEIR product is better than anything bla bla.
I wanted an honest feedback from people who had the things for a while.  This forum seemed one place for a fair shake on many bikes.

I went with the Energica because it looked decent, the price was about ballpark, the specs were awesome, BUT... their customer service, was spot on, you got someone to talk to you about the bikes, in vivid detail, AND when issues did come up, they were right there to fix them, so Ive seen on  many forums.  THAT IS HUGE !!!  The bikes were also available to buy, RIGHT NOW, not 6 months down the road.

Customer service is king IMO:

NOTHING pisses you off more then spending a ton of money on a new.. whatever, and once the money is spent, they don't know you anymore!!

Another big issue was Warranty work and recalls.  Many of the other brands had huge problems, essentially in one instance, almost an entire years worth of production was recalled due to this and that.  Then I see 'common problems'.  yah that's a known issue, deal with it type thing.  THAT is not cool either, ok you KNOW it's not right, why don't you FIX IT, instead of waiting for someone to buy the thing, have it crap out on them and then fix it after they figure out that you should have done so to begin with!

I did not see many issues with Energica Bikes, which is another HUGE PLUS.  To be honest, YES they DO have minor issues, buggy software comes up, but it's not performance hindering, however would be nice to see something done about it.

You get what you pay for, is the Energica line expensive, YES, but, is it going to be recalled in a year because the batteries are burning your balls off, or the tires falling off due to faulty this or that etc?   Have not seen that with this brand .vs. so many others, and they have been around a while now, to cement their solid reputation in.

So far, any issues I have had, warranty or not,  have been promptly replied to, in one case, the amount of 'service' offered to me, was far FAR beyond what I ever could have imagined.

Now that I have had the bike for a year myself, and from the main complaint I have heard from others is...the ONLY thing I can say is I wish they'd answer e mail inquiries a bit faster.  Hire someone to read / filter / sort - assign them if you must, but that customer service thing there will cost you a LOT of reputation over time.
If you start to see things in a forum, well yah, it's a nice bike but you can never get in contact with anyone over there.  that will hurt a TON.  I know things get busy etc etc but that little thing right there can hurt a lot if left unattended.

Also,  how many of the other bikes are out there, where you see the companies service rep, answer direct questions about their product ON the forums, like this one right here?  You see Energica's rep right in this forum helping people out.  While I do not pay too big attention to all the other E bikes out there, do you see this level of support for any of the other brands, besides an occasion showing to whore out a new product etc etc?  They could easily say, well contact  customer support at bla bla, or monetize it, but instead they stand solidly behind their product and SUPPORT it and the owners.

There is much more to a bike, than just it's looks, even if it's a rich boy's toy.

Since we are talking rich boy toys, I see that Ducatti came out with a new street warrior.  Be interesting to see how it stands up next to the Energica.

Aaron

[TheRan]

You're completely missing the point. It can still be ridden and ridden hard, it has a decent amount of range, charges quickly, and does 0-60 in the low three seconds and will hit 120. My point is that the fact that it has worse specs than an Ego for more money is completely irrelevant. It's not supposed to be a practical, logical, every day commuter. Shit, anyone who can afford one can also probably afford to have an Ego on the side to ride every day. The Vector doesn't have enough range for where they want to go or enough speed for a track day? Doesn't matter, they're taking one of their many other bikes. They drop it while showing it off at a bike show and damage the shock? Doesn't matter, 5 grand to get it picked up, fixed, and delivered back to their mansion is nothing.

[Specter]

Wealth  envy?  Why are you so bitter about it?  How do you know what a rich person is going to do, are you a butler?

Maybe it's for older people who want to play at the track yet don't need to do 200 mph around corners?  Don't need the toupe flying off now do we?  They can ride that while their vespa's are being detailed so they can show off at bingo night.

Using that logic, why do we have Lexus', BMW's,Ferrari's etc.  They are just too darned expensive for everybody so there's no need for them!

Aaron