ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

  • November 23, 2024, 11:33:08 PM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Electric Motorcycle Forum is live!

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 11

Author Topic: I ordered a Lightning.  (Read 12798 times)

Richard230

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9670
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #30 on: November 09, 2023, 04:10:36 AM »


   I received a call today letting me know my bike will be ready for pickup at the end of the week.
Now I have to see about renting a trailer for pickup and check in with the Hollister DMV about ensuring
I can make an appointment, ensure the Insurance is good, and schedule time off work.
Yea!!

Congratulations.  Good luck at the DMV and getting your insurance company to recognize the Lightning as something that they want to insure.

When I tried to insure my first electric motorcycle in 2009, an Electric Motorsport GPR-S, Progressive didn't know what to do. Eventually they decided to rate it as a size of 1cc and charged me a premium of $5 for the entire year.  :o  Every year after that, the premium for my electric motorcycles kept going up until they surpassed what I was paying for my BMW R1200RS.   :(
« Last Edit: November 09, 2023, 04:15:30 AM by Richard230 »
Logged
Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #31 on: November 09, 2023, 04:12:38 AM »

Congratulations.  Good luck at the DMV and getting your insurance company to recognize the Lightning as something that they want to insure.

   I've been in touch with my insurance company and they are ready to start, they are waiting for me
to give them a VIN and start date.  I don't want to start earlier than bike pickup.
Logged

Specter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1755
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #32 on: November 09, 2023, 09:01:13 AM »

Apollo,  U-Haul has a trailer that is specifically for bikes and it's really a nice trailer.  Just roll the bike on and strap it down.  It cost about 15 dollars a day to rent out here in Florida.

The only thing Id have to caution you is, the trailer is a bit long, which, while it makes it real nice to run the bike up and load it, it puts the bikes rear tires right over the tires of the trailer, making all the weight forward of center, and the thing bounce like a bouncy house if you don't counter balance it a bit.

I ended up throwing about 200 lbs of lead in the back end of mine and it rode like a caddy.  I bring this up because I don't think anyone wants their bike bouncing all over the place, all the way home, even strapped down.

Aaron
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #33 on: November 09, 2023, 10:18:07 AM »

Apollo,  U-Haul has a trailer that is specifically for bikes and it's really a nice trailer.  Just roll the bike on and strap it down.  It cost about 15 dollars a day to rent out here in Florida.

The only thing Id have to caution you is, the trailer is a bit long, which, while it makes it real nice to run the bike up and load it, it puts the bikes rear tires right over the tires of the trailer, making all the weight forward of center, and the thing bounce like a bouncy house if you don't counter balance it a bit.

I ended up throwing about 200 lbs of lead in the back end of mine and it rode like a caddy.  I bring this up because I don't think anyone wants their bike bouncing all over the place, all the way home, even strapped down.

Aaron

   Thank you.  I will look into this.
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #34 on: November 09, 2023, 11:24:51 AM »

Apollo,  U-Haul has a trailer that is specifically for bikes and it's really a nice trailer.  Just roll the bike on and strap it down.  It cost about 15 dollars a day to rent out here in Florida.
Aaron

  Just checked U-Haul.  $14.95 a day.  Wow, can't believe it's that cheap.  I was considering flying up and driving it back, but am concerned about new bike issues.  It's about 400 miles from home to Lighting's place so going with the trailer is going to be the way to go. 
   Thank you!!
Logged

MVetter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1831
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #35 on: November 09, 2023, 01:21:46 PM »

Not to complicate things but you can also rent fully enclosed trailers which eliminates the possibility of road debris hitting your new vehicle.
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #36 on: November 09, 2023, 01:27:43 PM »

Not to complicate things but you can also rent fully enclosed trailers which eliminates the possibility of road debris hitting your new vehicle.
   Nope.  I want to be able to look in the mirror and see it all the way home.  ;D
I'll clean the bugs off after I get home and do a ride or two.
The next step is to practice wrapping it.  I would like to try a couple of designs.
I need to ensure my camera/mount works properly, then test out a few performance tests.
The last video I saw showed the top speed to be about 90mph.  I plan to document the acceleration rate
and near-top speed.  I may even weight it and myself so I can get an ideal of HP the motor is making.
We will see how much the wife lets me drive it.   :)
Logged

Demoni

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 338
  • Energica Service Manager
    • View Profile
    • Energica
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #37 on: November 09, 2023, 01:35:48 PM »

U-Haul moto trailers have a very short loading ramp that can cause some clearance issues with fully faired motorcycles. It would be a good idea to have a folding moto ramp or some pieces of wood handy.

The DMV can be a bit of a crap shoot in regards to how smooth your experience will be trying to register an EV motorcycle.
Last Energica customer had a DMV clerk that was 100% sure the bike needed to pass SMOG before they would process the registration. If something like that happens to you just go to another DMV office.
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #38 on: November 09, 2023, 01:43:49 PM »

U-Haul moto trailers have a very short loading ramp that can cause some clearance issues with fully faired motorcycles. It would be a good idea to have a folding moto ramp or some pieces of wood handy.

The DMV can be a bit of a crap shoot in regards to how smooth your experience will be trying to register an EV motorcycle.
Last Energica customer had a DMV clerk who was 100% sure the bike needed to pass SMOG before they would process the registration. If something like that happens to you just go to another DMV office.

  That happened to me when I bought my BMW R100RS.  I couldn't register until it passed smog testing.  She had to work with the floor manager to understand my BMW was a motorcycle and not a car.  Also, the license plate they sent me was WAY too big.  I had to fill out a form explaining to the DMV why I felt the new plate was unacceptable.  I was not happy about doing paperwork for their screwup.  I thought about just putting the car plate on there and going.

Logged

SwampNut

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 233
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #39 on: November 09, 2023, 06:25:59 PM »

Apollo,  U-Haul has a trailer that is specifically for bikes and it's really a nice trailer.  Just roll the bike on and strap it down.  It cost about 15 dollars a day to rent out here in Florida.
Aaron

  Just checked U-Haul.  $14.95 a day.  Wow, can't believe it's that cheap.  I was considering flying up and driving it back, but am concerned about new bike issues.  It's about 400 miles from home to Lighting's place so going with the trailer is going to be the way to go. 
   Thank you!!

I'm glad someone mentioned it, I'm a huge fan of these trailers.  I'm shocked at the quality you get for $15.  And I think it rides ok, I've had worse.  The dealer tied my Zero with a Canyon Dancer and two generic straps, just to the front tie points.  Nothing else.  They strongly recommended ONLY doing that, or at most, another on the rear tire just to stop it bouncing if needed.  It was not needed.  I went from San Diego to Hacienda Heights the first day.  Rode there, then put it back on to bring it to NW Phoenix (375 miles).  No worries, no issues.  I plastic wrapped the bike to protect it.  PLUS, it makes a HUGE difference in fuel efficiency.  I took off the wrap late in the drive, and lost 6-9% economy.

Logged

MVetter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1831
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #40 on: November 09, 2023, 10:01:09 PM »

I plan to document the acceleration rate and near-top speed.  I may even weight it and myself so I can get an ideal of HP the motor is making.
We will see how much the wife lets me drive it.   :)

Great! Always love new data. You might also take it to the drag strip; this is what Daren did when he took his Ego to the one in Bakersfield:



Additionally it would be good to start getting updated range numbers. I could never get a firm answer on what the LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) for the pack was.
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #41 on: November 10, 2023, 01:42:52 AM »

Great! Always love new data. You might also take it to the drag strip; this is what Daren did when he took his Ego to the one in Bakersfield:

Additionally it would be good to start getting updated range numbers. I could never get a firm answer on what the LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) for the pack was.

  I have never ridden a bike at a drag strip, but that looked pretty fast.
Logged

SwampNut

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 233
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #42 on: November 10, 2023, 02:01:52 AM »

It's ok, nothing amazing.  My last sport bike, a 2001, ran the quarter in 10.2 with a pro and 10.5 with most riders, but the terminal speed was under 130.  So the Energica was a hair faster at the end, but a hair slower in getting there. 
Logged

MVetter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1831
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #43 on: November 10, 2023, 08:31:16 AM »

It was his first time at a drag strip, too. He went in knowing nothing. I'm sure your paths will cross as you're within like 40 miles of each other or so.
Logged

Apollo

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 73
    • View Profile
Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #44 on: November 10, 2023, 10:36:58 AM »

It was his first time at a drag strip, too. He went in knowing nothing. I'm sure your paths will cross as you're within like 40 miles of each other or so.

 After searching a bit, I found the app used during this video.  It's called Dragy and it's free. Unfortunately, the app creator requires you to purchase their GPS device to connect to, instead of using the GPS device in the phone.  It probably has something to do with trying to be exactly accurate about where you start and stop.

« Last Edit: November 10, 2023, 10:48:01 AM by Apollo »
Logged
Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 ... 11