ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: s44captain on October 30, 2012, 11:39:10 PM
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I think a Cannonball run coast to coast with no support would be a really cool challenge. Bumming electricity enroute and trying to figure how to cross the western waste lands. Shouldn't be to far in the future for this to happen!
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In 2009, when the Brammo Enertia first came out, a fellow from the East Coast flew out to the factory in Oregon and purchased one of the first Enertias sold. His plan was to ride it down to So Ca and then on to home, bumming electricity along the way. Unfortunately, he never made it out of Oregon. Near the CA border, while he was riding at night on I-5 he got rear-ended by a high speed SUV driver and was almost killed. He spent months in the hospital recovering, but finally was able to return home and he is now fully recovered from the accident. I have no idea if he ever got back on a motorcycle.
A Cannon Ball run might be fun and exciting to hear about. It might also make a great movie, like "Long Way Around", but if it was me, I would try to stick to Route 66, instead of I-80, when crossing the country on an electric motorcycle.
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I think Terry (Offthegrid) might have already done it :)
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Terry is in the thought process of doing it but has not yet done a unsupported coast to coast run. Should be fun!
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Looks like Terry is going for it early. I just saw a posting if his Bike packed ready to go Miami to California. I was thinking a run with a few others Canonball style. It will be interesting to see how he crosses the mid west.
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Terry looks to be just about ready to go. Here is his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lifeoffthegrid (https://www.facebook.com/lifeoffthegrid)
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Actually, he'll be crossing the Southwest (probably best to travel southerly as winter approaches) , but that'll be just as interesting, in AZ and NM at least.
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Yeah west TX, NM and AZ all suck as far as charging stations go. And that's basically 1/2 the trip mileage wise. Time wise, a lot more than half as I'll be charging level 1 most of the time. I really have no clue how this will go. I have a bunch of options planned, but all requires some sort of civilization to work. I have heard horror stories from friends that gas stations can be almost 100 miles apart in some sections of I-10, with only cows and more cows in between. Hopefully the cows farmer has a 220v plug for his dryer he can let me use if I have to push my bike to his farm.
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Good luck Terry! I will be following along and routing for you! ;D
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Keep an eye out on the weather forecast, Terry. We are just now getting hammered in Northern California by a series of major storms that extend all the way to Hawaii. It is expected to rain heavily on the west coast between today and Sunday, including high winds, which are gusting to over 50 mph right now. Hopefully these storms will head north and not impact Terry's route. But if they head to the south, it could get messy early next week.
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Went 500 miles yesterday from St Petersburg FL to Pensacola with stops in Tallahassee and Panama City. Shooting to make it from Florida to California in 6 days. If someone has time please choose some pics from the Off The Grid facebook page and share them here for others to see. I'd do it but I have to get on the road this morning asap if I'm gonna make it. Thanks guys!
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Here are some photos that I copied from Terry's page.
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Thanks Richard! If all goes well I should hit Texas later tonight.
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Terry, be sure to take the obligatory photo of your bike next to a Texas oil pump. ;D
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I looks like Terry might have picked up a speeding ticket while cruising though Texas. :-X
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Terry is still on the move. He ran afoul of a goofy ChargePoint charging station and was almost about to start pushing his bike to CA, when an opportunity for guerrilla charging came along, as he describes on his Facebook page:
There's a ChargePoint station at Oncor Electric in Big Springs TX I counted on using. But it is not only on the wrong place on the map, but behind a locked gate. I was empty and stuck. Found a truck service center and plugged into their welding outlet and am fast charging at the same rate now. I'm learning so much on this trip that electricity is everywhere, you just gotta be resourceful to find it.
Here are the latest photos of his trip through Texas.
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It appears that Terry has made it to California. Here are his latest comments posted only an hour ago:
There are only 4 ChargePoint brand stations between Dallas texas and Tucson Arizona. That's 950 miles! Sadly none of those, all run by Oncor Electric between Big Spring, and Odessa TX allow the public to use their charging stations. My question is, if they are not for public use, why in the world are they on the map??? When planning my route across west Texas, I chose I-20 because of these charging locations. Good news is I made it to California for the important event today at 1 PM in Long Beach, CA. But I had to make a difficult choice...
It sounds to me like he had to abandon the rest of his electric motorcycle trip in order to get to LA on schedule, but he doesn't explain just how he got to California by 1 pm yesterday.
Terry's latest photos are attached.
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Terry made it to the LA motorcycle show on time, but his bike had to do the last part of his trip in a van. He apparently is going to try for the cross country record again from west to east. And this time he apparently doesn't have such a tight schedule. ;D
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Richard, you are correct, I'm taking my time, gonna head up to San Francisco in about a week and rest up before heading back. Also I watch your video interview with Zero about 30 times a day as it's on the big screen TV display right behind me. Awesome!! Love all your pictures and posters in your garage!!!
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Richard, you are correct, I'm taking my time, gonna head up to San Francisco in about a week and rest up before heading back. Also I watch your video interview with Zero about 30 times a day as it's on the big screen TV display right behind me. Awesome!! Love all your pictures and posters in your garage!!!
Hi Terry. When you reach SF, if you have time, you are welcome to visit my garage. I'll even give you a copy of my video. I live on the coast about 10 miles south of the city. Send me a PM if you want to stop by and I'll give you my address and phone number. Being retired, I am usually home every day. Wednesday though, I have been invited to visit the Zero factory in Scotts Valley in the morning and will probably leave here around 8 am.
I might add that I have only watched my testimonial video once as I don't even like to see myself in a mirror. I can't imagine what it might be like to see that video 30 times. They probably are using it in Guantanamo right now. :o
Richard
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Sweet! I'm headed to Scotts Valley about the same time too. Maybe I'll see you there! Otherwise I'll catch you in the Bay area!
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Just stumbled upon this one:
http://gas2.org/2012/12/10/video-terry-hershner-crosses-the-us-on-a-zero-electric-motorcycle/ (http://gas2.org/2012/12/10/video-terry-hershner-crosses-the-us-on-a-zero-electric-motorcycle/).
I'm at work so I haven't seen the video myself yet.
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Here is a nice article by AutoBlogGreen regarding Terry, his trip across the U.S. and his immediate plans:
http://green.autoblog.com/2012/12/13/terry-hershner-rides-zero-s-electric-motorcycle-in-guiness-world/ (http://green.autoblog.com/2012/12/13/terry-hershner-rides-zero-s-electric-motorcycle-in-guiness-world/)
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Terry passed through San Francisco on Christmas day and moved on to San Rafael to visit an Apple store so that he could have water drained out of his cell phone.