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Author Topic: I ordered a Lightning.  (Read 118066 times)

Motoproponent

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #195 on: April 28, 2025, 10:19:39 PM »

lets just say some mods were made ....

aaron

Ok I get it. you don't want to tell me what mods you made.

you are still missing the point ....

aaron

I asked what you did to your bike.

You said "trick" I asked what the trick was. You said "mod" (twice) I asked what the mod was (twice). You never said what it was.

I understand how incredulous Lightning's claim is about range at top speed is, because I also have an electric motorcycle. I get your point.

My apologies if my interest in your performance unlock overshadowed my expression of understanding of the effect speed has on electric motorcycle range.

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Specter

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #196 on: April 29, 2025, 12:30:15 AM »

i put a corsa like kit on it, that's hardware and software, but the corsa is not street legal so the wiring harness had to be modified to control / bring 12 volts to the running lights, brake lights. rtc  There are turn signals too... this stuff is not directly supported in the race software so had to fiddle to get things to fit and to work.  i also put a kill switch on it to turn all this stuff off so i can run it at the track too w/o having to remove half the shit / tape it up so it don't shine... just flip a switch.   Energica did some of it.... this was all planned and in progress before the bankruptcy announcement . they already had my bike to fix the previous damage to it. i did the rest.   you know where the 12 volt out is on your bike, use it but make sure you don't exceed it's 10 amp capacity... lights can pull some amps now.  for the blinky blinks i built an isolation kit to run a fhasher module and a supercap to store a charge to run them off.  i have a limiting charge circuit on it so it'll throw 5 amp into the cap continuous to charge it, but if needed, can pull 15 off it to run all the blinkers / lights etc.  this way i can keep a power reserve to keep the flashers running if im stuck for 15 minutes at a shitty intersextion but not have to worry about overloading the 10 amp power supply.  i believe in the off / part of the blink cycle, since the charge is flowing in continuously, it easily replenishes what is used from the cap during the.. lets just call it 'on half' of the cycle.  there is no part number for this circuit,  i built it myself out of my elex parts box.   the corsa kit, energica doesn't have the parts anymore, so we had to emprovise on some stuff, hence the corsa 'like' kit.  Can you get one?  NO!!  why??  because parts are no more, that's why I couldn't get one, and had to 'tweak' it.

so that is how my bike is tricked out to make the shit work properly.

there is no magic code or secret wire or something you can clip to make your bike faster.  there is no 'trick' to make it think it can go faster, which YES that is what you were really after.  the only 'tricking' i had to do was not pull excessive amps and make the vcu? think there was a fault and throw an alarm and/or do some stupid stuff and shut stuff down.   i know on an unmodded ribelle, a hi current fault will disable your lights, and since the bike is not 'overseeing' all the loads now, i didn't want to risk something like a total shut down of 12 volts, which might take out an abs pump or something too.

aaron
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Apollo

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #197 on: May 02, 2025, 10:39:21 AM »

They claim the thing will travel 100 miles at full speed at one charge ?
what's the max speed of this thing 75 mph?
so 200 hp and only reach 75?

But i guess you  can't get sued for false advertisement if you never put a bike out to underperform your claims with.

Aaron

  In my Lightning Strike R testing, I found the max speed to be about 110mph.
The dyno tests showed about 113HP.  It was about as fast as a slow 600cc 4-stroke bike.
From 85% charged to 3% charge in about 30 miles under heavy load.
I had to stop at the end of the driveway to let the bike sit for a few min before I could get it up the driveway for parking.
And the smell!  It smelled like a burning clutch, and we feared it would catch on fire.
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Motoproponent

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #198 on: May 02, 2025, 10:17:45 PM »

Welcome back to the forum. We feared the worst.

That is.... that your NDA was expanded in scope to cover all communication with the outside world.  ;D

No seriously, It's bee a year (almost) since your last post.

Do you still have the Strike?
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Apollo

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #199 on: May 06, 2025, 10:31:26 PM »

Welcome back to the forum. We feared the worst.
Do you still have the Strike?

  Not really. The bike was picked up by LM again due to a power failure on the freeway and refusal to charge at multiple charging stations.

  Since then, LM has decided to make major upgrades to my bike without my request, and now they want $39K to get my bike back.
 A bit expensive for some simple warranty work.  But it's LM..
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Specter

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #200 on: May 07, 2025, 01:52:19 AM »

did you sign anyting giving them permission to do the work?  There are laws against that kind of predatory tactics.   I smell a potential lawsuit, but you can't get wine from a turd, so there is that.

aaron
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Motoproponent

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #201 on: May 07, 2025, 04:37:36 AM »

F@ck!n A man, that sucks hard!

Dunno if you want to lawyer up and fight it or just cut your losses. Can you at least push back with lemon laws or something? Report the fraud to BBB maybe?

I'm not joking but maybe call your local news station. "7 on your side" or something like that?
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"Life is a deathbound train"

2024 Energica Experia
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Specter

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #202 on: May 07, 2025, 06:16:48 AM »

talk to a lawyer,  call the news station, they love stories like that, you might even find a lawyer happy to do it pro bono, just to get their name out there.

after everything you paid for it, and it never did run right, that's lemon law right there.
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flynnstig82r

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #203 on: May 08, 2025, 10:31:50 PM »

If they are under the BAR’s authority as a shop, you can file a complaint there, and BAR complaints actually do have teeth. Not sure if small manufacturers who repair their own vehicles are considered shops or not, though.
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2007 Yamaha FJR1300 AE

Past bikes:
2020 Energica SS9 13.4 kWh
2017 Zero SR 13.0 kWh
2011 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring
2016 MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800
2012 Yamaha FZ6R

Apollo

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #204 on: June 03, 2025, 11:46:17 PM »

If they are under the BAR’s authority as a shop, you can file a complaint there, and BAR complaints actually do have teeth. Not sure if small manufacturers who repair their own vehicles are considered shops or not, though.
More info on "BAR" please.
thanks.
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Motoproponent

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #205 on: June 04, 2025, 12:32:38 AM »

California Bureau of Automotive Repair.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/
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oobflyer

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #206 on: June 04, 2025, 03:35:45 AM »

Quote
and now they want $39K to get my bike back.
 A bit expensive for some simple warranty work
How can they try to charge you for “warranty work”?
Sorry to hear about this… I was really hoping that things had worked out for you.

I spoke with Richard in person about your case last summer - I was in Hollister getting a new seat on my Energica - wandered back to the LM shop.
I asked him what happened to Apollo’s bike - he answered, “It was just a bad cell in the battery pack”. Like it was no big deal - easy to fix, end of story.
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2023 BMW CE 04, 2021 Energica Ribelle, 2015 Zero SR, 2012 Zero ZF9, 2007 Vectrix VX-1 Li+, 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2018 Nissan Leaf, 2020 Nissan Leaf, 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2023 Tesla Model Y

Apollo

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #207 on: June 04, 2025, 11:41:56 AM »

Quote
and now they want $39K to get my bike back.
 A bit expensive for some simple warranty work
How can they try to charge you for “warranty work”?
Sorry to hear about this… I was really hoping that things had worked out for you.

I spoke with Richard in person about your case last summer - I was in Hollister getting a new seat on my Energica - wandered back to the LM shop.
I asked him what happened to Apollo’s bike - he answered, “It was just a bad cell in the battery pack”. Like it was no big deal - easy to fix, end of story.

The bike failed, every ride.  Either no power or won't charge. Wires fell out, switches fell out.  Always keep friendly tow truck card in your pocket.  The bike was towed home a couple of times.  $$$. LM picked up the bike, said bad cell, never happens. Offered free upgrade to new generation of batteries they were testing. Offered battery that had less power, but lasted longer.  I took it.  60~70 miles max on the freeway is unsustainable.  Especially when charging station success is running about 50%. Bike shipped back. 2 months later they offered to deliver to a spot about 130 miles from my home.  I picked up the bike and headed home.  The bike died on the freeway again. 6:30AM in Pasadena CA, going from the HOV lane to the right side of the freeway.  Lots of cars with locked up tires, horns blaring.  I was sure it was my last bike ride.  After 30 min of calling RH and explaining my issue, the bike started working again.  It failed again multiple times on the freeway, but I stayed in the slow lane so I could exit traffic with minimal emergencies.  I stopped to recharge in Norco, but upon making a right turn, power failed again, and the bike and I fell over. The bike has no clutch, you can't coast. Power fails, and the rear wheel drags like a brake.
Local police helped me pick up the bike, and I resumed my trip to a charging station. After four different charging companies and multiple chargers, I found an L1 charger. The bike stopped taking charge after about 4 hours and added 30 miles.  I limped home on the freeway, averaging 50~55mph in the slow lane and 45mph in the emergency lane if there was any traffic. Fairing removal and a review showed nothing broken.  Video troubleshooting with support showed no broken parts, wires, or connectors.  Uploaded the bike logs, and it looks like charging system issues. LM came to pick up the bike the next weekend.
The bill comes, and now LM wants to charge me for all the mess.  I agreed to pay for upgrades I requested a long time ago.  Shorted side stand, but I still didn't get any USB outlet.
Please review the bill, try to understand the work done, and the charges.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2025, 11:51:39 AM by Apollo »
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Richard230

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #208 on: June 04, 2025, 07:25:11 PM »

What a terrible experience. I have never heard anything like it before and I have been buying all brands of motorcycles for over 60 years.  :o   >:(
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

oobflyer

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Re: I ordered a Lightning.
« Reply #209 on: June 04, 2025, 08:17:04 PM »

Wow - horrible. I would be hiring a lawyer to help me get every penny back.
Why the $6K+ and 38 hours for ‘bike testing’?  My mechanic rides my bike (after repair) around the block to make sure it’s all good. For free.
Good luck Apollo.
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2023 BMW CE 04, 2021 Energica Ribelle, 2015 Zero SR, 2012 Zero ZF9, 2007 Vectrix VX-1 Li+, 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2018 Nissan Leaf, 2020 Nissan Leaf, 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2023 Tesla Model Y
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