ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

(I wish I didn't feel morally obligated to make this post, but I think it needs to happen for the safety of others.)

I purchased a Solar E-Clipse at the end of 2024, with 16" Carbon Fiber Wheels.  (I reluctantly sold my Zero DSR, as the E-Clipse gives me a much lighter form factor better suited for when I'll be on the road in the coming months.)

I tied the bike down to my carrier just to haul it around a bit (never tied down overnight - just for a day at a time) to be sure I'd found a safe way to secure the bike with the new carrier, just as I have with the various motorcycles I've been hauling around for 30yr now.

The next time I rode, I noticed an unsafe speed wobble in front tire that never worked its way out, as I had hoped it would. It seems the (front) tire had been deformed.

In a long a convoluted email exchange with Solar in trying to get a replacement tire, it turns out the tires my bike shipped with CST Brand "Scout" tire that were spec'd as:

100/90-16 33B  (Same tire front and back.)

Solar had no replacement tires in stock, but eventually told me I should replace with 110/80-16 55S tires.

There's no problem with the tire dimension (XXX/YY-ZZ) differences here, but the load indices and Speed Ratings noted thereafter are problematic as far as I can tell:

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I believe load index and speed ratings are essentially universal (at least for motorcycles and automobiles), suggesting that the "B" speed rating of the tires I received (for a bike that can go >60mph) shouldn't be ridden faster than 31mph.   (The "S" rating suggested as a replacement totally makes sense, as it indicates 112mph per the Tables below)

Here's a .pdf from CST (manufacturer) with their speed ratings (p. 28) - see attached pic. https://www.csttires.com/int/files/2019/05/CST_PCR2019_Catalog_web.pdf#:~:text=Example:%2086H.%20The%20load%20index%20represents%20the,carry%20at%20the%20tire's%20maximum%20inflation%20pressure.

This table matches what I find several other places online:

https://www.motorcycle.com/rider-safety/motorcycle-tires-101-91339.html

Out of Japan:  https://japan.webike.net/moto_news/webike-original/columns/20200305-simple-and-easy-tips-how-to-read-and-understand-tire-sizes/

https://www.santaanawheel.com/tire-load-index-and-speed-rating/ 

New Zealand: https://www.michelin.co.nz/motorbike/advice-motorbike/tyre-basics/motorcycle-tyre-speed-rating-and-load-rating

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Solar last emailed me over a week ago, as they said they were checking in with CST on this matter. (Solar Support suggested in email that CST has a different rating system for motorcycles and/or specifically for carbon fiber wheels, which I think is unlikely.)   Solar has not provided me an update as to when I could buy replacement tires from them, but I've already installed new ones myself (Heidenau brand, which seems very solid).  There is a WORLD of difference in terms of tire weight, stiffness, ride quality and the speed wobble is now gone of course.

I've now heard from three people who have the same tires installed on their bikes (16" carbon fiber wheels) as mine came with, but I'm still hoping it's only a small minority of purchasers.

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My Questions:

1.) I'm wrong a lot, but I unfortunately suspect that's not case this time.    Am I missing something here as far as the issue with these tires?

2.) I personally am good to go with new tires and the extra expense.  It's totally worth it for my safety.  However, Solar is removing my posts in a message thread on Facebook and not responding appropriately in email.  (This is not the first time.) The Reddit thread I started isn't getting much traction. 

How would you go about dealing with  this situation?...  My main concern is the safety of those potentially affected, which could be a sizable number of people. (The last person I heard from on Reddit just asked what would happen if he were driving along a 68mph and the front tire blew out...)  I'm hoping that posting here will get the word out if I am indeed correct on this issue.  (I would love to have to eat my words and know that I'm wrong - it would make my life easier... LOL)

Best case scenario is folks know they can get a better ride with a tire upgrade.  There are multiple scenarios that are much worse...

(Thanks for reading!)

-S

Quote from: scottwstevenson on April 22, 2025, 08:43:00 AM

If you were to charge to 65%, and then take the bike out, does / has the SOC behaved as if it were actually at 65%?

I took a ride to here on it yesterday. That is 80 miles / 130 km.  It acted as what was then indicated, which was 100% SOC after a full charge from 97%, which only took a few minutes.


So what I believe happened it is did NOT stop at the 65% target it was set for but stopped at 97% SOC with 65% indicated until I plugged in to charge and it then instantly showed 97% SOC which was true.


-Don-  Reno, NV

That makes sense.  So the only issue was a failure to stop charging at the prescribed target…. Did you just happen to catch it on the way up to 100% (it was plugged in for perhaps less than 12 hr), or do you think it stopped charging exactly at 97% for some reason (when it otherwise normally would have charged to 100% without a prescribed target)?…

Gonna lock this thread up, for a few reasons:  The potential buyer is out of town for a few months; we've not got a mutually acceptable sales price for the stripped down stock bike given what I can likely get back on the chargers, bags, etc.  (The market is just tough right now in general, and I suspect that trying to used parts is like finding a needle in a haystack...)

THANK YOU for the helpful input above!

-Scott

That's quite the setup. I wouldn't be able to buy anything as I'm on another continent, but if I was I have a few questions that may help others. Are you including the mounting brackets with the side cases? When you say you have U bolts to mount the chargers (in those plastic boxes) to the drop boxes do you mean drop/crash bars? And are you selling those too or would they be going with the bike? Do the chargers fit inside of the side cases if someone didn't want to use your mounting method?

Hey Bud!  Thanks for helping out!

I modified my post and added a direct link to the sale of the bike where there are pictures of the set-up.

Yes, I meant the boxes mount on the drop *bars* (corrected now).  I've used a couple mounting plates (intended for some other MC side boxes mounting actually) as a backbone for the boxes that then make it easy to mount the boxes to the drop bars with the U-bolts. (I just took the boxes off when trying to narrow the bike to potentially trailer her, but have decided to sell.)  Re-connecting to another bike with drop bars would be a cinch. You'd just have to then wire up the ports as noted above on the new bike (at the desired length - see below).

The boxes containing the chargers do indeed fit in the side boxes with some room to spare. If the mounting plates were removed, it would save some more space, too.   As far as charging on both sides simultaneously  when not having the boxes mounted, it could be done with some finagling, but I set the cabling up so that when the boxes are mounted in place on the drop bars, you can just open the box, connect the Anderson connectors, and charge away.  The boxes close enough to cover the chargers, but I intentionally didn't try to set them up to run with the boxes closed due to ventilation issues. (Where I am here in the Florida, that would be a no go when trying to get decent charging speeds during much of the years, the chargers slow down when they heat up.)

I don't have the sense that the boxes really dropped my mileage terribly, so it was worth it for me to have them mounted and then be able to do full grocery runs with the boxes.   (I had those boxes on there for 3 1/2 years now and my lifetime  Wh/mi still gives me a range average on the bike of over 130mi.)

Thanks again!

-S

some of the cheaper valve stems,  like those cheap shit chinese wheels you can get for trailers... ive had them dry rot in as little as a year or so.  i had to take the tire to my friend at the auto shop to get a new stem for it and asked... a year??? really??? and was told, yes that is common for a lot of the cheap crap.  and even newer ones can start leaking in a few years.   especially if you are checking pressures a lot, like at the race track, you are bending them a lot with the  on / off of the inflator nozzle / psi gauge.. which causes them to crack faster and seep air

pump tire up  get cup of water throw a good table spoon of dawn dish soap in it, stir to mix and gently spray on tires / rims /wo frothing it up.  if you have leaks, you'll see tiny bubbles  ....  the bigger the bubble.. the bigger the trouble.

aaron

This would make sense given that this was the wheel (and valve stem) that I had to ride home with a flat on.  (Simply wasn't the neighborhood / place to have a breakdown if at all possible, and I didn't want to get a tow just to go the extra mile or so once in the clear.)

I'm looking into getting a new valve stem... (Luckily, I'm getting some hits on my ads elsewhere, from folks who would just buy as it, so I've not just gone ahead and attempted the fix.)

THANK YOU, Aaron!

-S

the tire losing a few psi per week.
valve stems dry rot in florida, you can't really see it until it's extreme and fails hard but it's a very real thing.
you can also check that the schrader valve is snug in there too before  you replace the stem.

aaron

THANKS, Aaron.  Replacing the tire did nothing to help the situation, so I'll check into this!

-Scott

Bumparoo…

..aroosky..