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[Commodore]

I had a wedding to attend in Iowa City, IA USA, and decided to ride the Experia there.  Planned out a supposed scenic route from upstate NY through Ontario between Lakes Erie and Ontario, Michigan, ferry across Lake Michigan, Wisconsin and down to Iowa City.  Return thru Chicago and skirting the southern shore of Lake Erie.  2400 miles total.

Some lessons learned (or reinforced)...   1. Lots of straight roads at right angles to each other, meaning speeds were higher (and range lower) than I expected.  2. Charging stations few and far between, with ChargePoint and EV America taking the prize for most reliable and easiest to use fast chargers.  3. Lodgings were in general very accommodating, letting me plug in all night for a balancing slow charge, even though that was not an offered amenity.  (I even had one give me a ground floor room so I could run my cable out my window - almost as good as the old days of riding right into your room haha!)  4. Planning:  lots of it.  I likened it at times to driving a Model T across country in the '20's, picking roads that wouldn't leave you stranded.  5.  EV's (and motorcycles) are great in certain areas of the US/Canada like where I live in the Northeast with great curvy roads and pretty scenery (and lots of charging), but not so much in farm country in the middle of the US - something politicians should recognize: reinforce EV's in urban and rural areas, but not where they is no infrastructure to support them, and travel distances are so great.  6. I stopped being so neurotic about battery health and what I should or shouldn't be doing re: length of charge.  With evening slow, balancing charges, my range was consistent throughout the trip:  Interstate at 65-70 gave me 130 miles.  Back roads at 50-60 gave me 150 miles.  Curvy back roads gave me 160-170 miles of range.  Three fast charges typical for each day, up to 90% each.  7. Planned at desktop computer, tablet, and on my phone.  Apps included Kurviger routing software, Plugshare EV charging locator, Google Maps, and Garmin.

Many enjoyable parts to the trip:  1. The Experia performed flawlessly!  Ergonomics were perfect (with stock seat).  Stable no-hands riding with cruise control.  I decided to stop babying the Experia, and got it up to 110 on some back roads in Michigan, fully loaded side cases with a soft top case.  2. All the conversations I had at charging stations.  3.  I could have sold 20 Energicas - people were fascinated with the bike and its capabilities, especially the mechanics at dealerships I stopped to charge at - I heard this multiple times: "We heard the fast charger circuit click on and we didn't see a car!  Had to come take a look!"  Disgust at what the corporate raiders did.

Twice I got a kick out of pulling up to a light, once next to a new Corvette, and another time next to a WRX.  Both times blew them away, then slowed so they could look and see what just happened to them!  It was fun for the both of us.

Please use this to inspire a savior for our moto company!

Commodore

[Specter]

I love my experia, and yes it is a very comfy ride.  i have had mine pegged for 20 - 30 miles sometimes, and she never overheated or got tempermental at all.  Need to check chain more often it did seem to loosen up a bit more but that is to be expected.

you can get right at 100 miles doing 80 mph.  even though it is the slower of the bikes, she'll still take off like a scalded cat, you can absolutely tell there is a LOT of power still available when you do hit your speed limit, it'll pull you, you can feel the governor kicking in from the acelleration slowing.  it'll carry a lot of load too and still drive very good.   i have had my bike loaded up with 120 pounds of coffee beans i was delivering, 50 of them in the back box, and if it's windy out, it can get a little squirrely but still, handles nice with a load or 2 upper on it.

I sure hope they get their stuff settled out and back in business again soon here, would really hate to see this one go away.  i think with some actual marketing, the experia could sell like  crazy,it's powerful, and really so easy to ride too.  So is the Ribelle,  the EGO is a ton of fun but lets be honest, it's a racing bike, and you would be  a glutton for punishment to be stuck on that one in traffic.

aaron