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[mistasam]

They've said before that they want to get these bikes into dealerships, but it's still a slow ramp up to that stage.

[Crissa]

They can't hand over bikes until they have an inventory, and that is always a problem for a budding company.  It was quite awhile before Tesla had enough to have full cars in all their shops.

Clearly they haven't run away yet, but I wonder what the holdups are?

-Crissa

[ButchtheBARFdude]

In response to the original question, no I don’t think so. When has the CEO quoted numbers delivered?
I went to their shop Tuesday. I spoke to Rich.
They don’t have staff for the social media thing, and perhaps the folks who buy these kinds of motorcycles don’t have an interest in sharing, er showing off, or making public, their expensive toys. Rich did post o FakeBook three weeks ago. The nature of Bookfarce is you have to look every couple hours to stay engaged. Some of us don’t do that... anyhow, that seems to annoy some, to the point of speculating (er, making shit up) and posting it on YouTuber.
You folks who have or have ridden these bikes know the truth.

I pressed Rich for production numbers and he would not tell. Seriously, for a limited production company trying to defend against trolls there is no point in responding.

As soon as I finish this I am going to ride my Alta.

[MVetter]

I do recall a publication where Lightning made a claim of 17 Strikes delivered. If you would like I will attempt to find and link it for you. So far the internet has been able to confirm 2 deliveries of Strikes, both the white "Carbon" edition, neither of which have Carbon specs (CCS charging as one of many examples). One of them actually operates at 150vdc with the standard edition battery pack. Other one is unknown.

These are the facts that have surfaced so far.

[HoodRichOG]

It was that New Zealand publication, which was basically a shill piece for Lightning.

The company and supposed owners must be in a secrecy pact.

I've never seen this much silence from a moto company or owners.

[NEW2elec]

First off, Sam glad you enjoyed the bike and I truly hope it all works out best for you and I would love to see even more of the beautiful New Zealand scenery in even longer electric motorcycle trips whatever you decide.

As for info from Lightning I asked very nicely for more information about the bike way back in April on their YT channel.  If he thought I was a troll he needs to go learn about business.  If someone shows interest in your new product and asks just for basic information and a demonstration of that product a true business man embraces that opportunity and does not ignore the request. 
Richard Hatfield has made it difficult to support or recommend his company due to his, just odd, actions.

As I joked (but kind of serious) with Sam, Lightning should just give him a bike and let him handle their PR.  His videos are far better than anything they have put out in the past.

[mistasam]

Haha thanks.  I'm tryin!  Hopefully my Strike test ride will help give people an idea of what these bikes are like.  I wish I could have spent more time on it, gone faster, tested the range, plugged it in, tested the 0-60 time, etc etc... but I'm sure someone else will do that in the future.  If I can find a way to get a bike into NZ, I'll do all that stuff myself 

That's the only problem I'm running into at the moment.  The bikes don't have ABS, and that's a legal requirement for all imported motorcycles in this country (also all of Europe).  I'll say this with 100% honesty.. if I was living in California, I'd already own one.

And I guess I am a shill.  I'm just not a paid shill lol.

[Crissa]

The lack of documentation and high promises with low delivery is just frustrating some people, mistasam.

I do look forward to your video!  And hopefully you can check back and see what's change in six months to a year.  That's what we really need, someone seeing them progress.

-Crissa

[mistasam]

And hopefully you can check back and see what's change in six months to a year.  That's what we really need, someone seeing them progress.

Yeah for sure.  I've been going back to the shop about every 9 months and every time I'm surprised to see the amount of stuff they're working on.  This time I saw way more Strikes, Sparcs, and other projects in the works that haven't been announced yet.

I talked to Richard about the PR problem.  It's that difficult balance between sharing too much about the production setbacks and delays, so people think you don't know what you're doing... and not sharing enough, so people question whether bikes are even being made.  The only way to find out is to go to the shop and get your mind blown  and that happens every time I visit.

That said, hopefully some owners get more active online to put everyones' minds at ease.

[Richard230]

But when is Lightning going to set up a retail, distribution, parts and servicing program?  Without that, they can't expect to sell very many bikes.

Electric Motorsport tried to sell their bikes directly from their "factory" in Oakland in 2008, but they couldn't make it work out and had to start selling them through small brick and mortar shops.  Eventually, they changed the brand name to Native as the number of retail outlets expanded a bit.  But then Brammo came out with the Enertia and tried selling them out of Best Buy stores. That pretty much put an end to Native sales, soon followed by Best Buy giving up. But then Brammo created a retail and distribution network, which lasted for a few years, until they threw in the towel and sold out to Victory. And you know how that ended up.   

Not an easy business to be in.   

[ultrarnr]

Zero also tried to sell direct in the early years and that didn't work out for them either. At least they figured this out before it was too late and decided to sell through dealerships. The fact that Lightning would ignore a request from an established dealership that already sells Zero and Energica is not a good sign. They want to sell thousands of their bikes yet seem to have no interest in getting their bikes out in the press and to dealerships. They claim to have a factory that is producing bikes but where is the inventory that is being produced from these factories going? Energica hasn't been around for very long either but they have figured out pretty quickly how to get their bikes out in the press and to establish dealerships to sell them. No question the Strike is a great bike but until Richard decides to use commonly accepted business practices to market and sell them I don't see Lightning being anything more than the boutique bike shop they have been for many years.

[Crissa]

If they don't have enough bikes yet, they can't sell through dealers.  Yes, they should reply with a form letter admitting this, but they clearly don't have the legal/sales department they really need.  But that's not uncommon to small businesses and startups.  Those things all cost time and money, and the supply of the former is finite, even if the latter isn't.

-Crissa

[2014ZeroSR]

Zero also tried to sell direct in the early years and that didn't work out for them either. At least they figured this out before it was too late and decided to sell through dealerships. The fact that Lightning would ignore a request from an established dealership that already sells Zero and Energica is not a good sign. They want to sell thousands of their bikes yet seem to have no interest in getting their bikes out in the press and to dealerships. They claim to have a factory that is producing bikes but where is the inventory that is being produced from these factories going? Energica hasn't been around for very long either but they have figured out pretty quickly how to get their bikes out in the press and to establish dealerships to sell them. No question the Strike is a great bike but until Richard decides to use commonly accepted business practices to market and sell them I don't see Lightning being anything more than the boutique bike shop they have been for many years.

ultrarnr - Good comments, Thanks. Interesting perspective that rings true.

....... Lightning should just give him a bike and let him handle their PR.  His videos are far better than anything they have put out in the past.

NEW2elec - You're quite correct. Have Sam Baker be the point for Lightning. I've viewed his videos - always good. I met Sam not long ago. I enjoyed the short discussion with him and his lovely wife.
Things I've read about Lightning to-date are quite unnerving.

Lightning's unusual bike reveal last year - I found it odd when I heard attendees were not allowed to get close to the displayed models. Contrast that to CalMoto Livermore's open house last  month. Energica was there with their newest models. Attendees were allowed to touch the bikes, and even sit on them. Stefano and Laurence were there. If a question was asked, answers were quickly provided. No fluff, just hard answers.

[mistasam]

Haha thanks for the kind comments  If I still lived in California I'd be bugging Richard for rides every week and shooting tons of videos on those things.  It's crazy how much innovation is going on in the bay area.  I really miss it.

I agree 100% that this is still a boutique shop.  They're a small operation that's trying to ramp up, and it's a slow process.  Once their factory in China can start pumping out what they've been making in California, they'll be able to sell through dealers.. but not yet.

[ultrarnr]

But building a dealership network is not an easy process as Energica is finding out in the US. For Lightning to ignore a dealer with Zero/Energica sales and wants to sell Lightning is an extremely poor move. It doesn't matter that bikes aren't available right now. Richard should have responded to the request and developed the relationship so when bikes are available they are immediately shipped to the dealer. And Lightning's first dealer needs to be on the east coast and the dealer I am referring to is in Raleigh, NC, a perfect location. I am sure myself and many other riders on the east coast would love to test ride a Strike but there is no way I am going to buy an airline ticket and fly out to California just to ride one. But Lightning is going to face a much tougher challenge finding dealers than Zero or Energica ever had because of all of the issues that have been discussed in this forum.  After all potential dealers read these posts to. And sometimes the person who gave a company life is not the best person to lead the company into the next stage. If you look at Zero one of the guys who started the company got booted out and looking back it seems like it was the right move. I don't think Richard is the right guy to lead Lightning into prosperity. No question he knows how to design a great electric motorcycle. But it takes more than motorcycle design skills to run a motorcycle company. It takes many other skill sets that must be hired. There was a post on the advrider forum some time ago about a web site called Glassdoor and what former employees think about working there. Not good. And it does help explain many of the missteps that have been discussed here. I wish Lightning the best of luck, it would be great to see them grow and become competition for Zero and Energica as all of us would benefit from that. But I am extremely skeptical that that is going to happen as long as Richard is in charge of the company.