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[jotjotde]

Thoughts and Insights after 100,000 km


Some data about my ’22 Ribelle RS
Purchase date      July 2022
No. of tire sets used:       14
No. of chains used:      3
No. of front sprockets:   3
No. of rear sprockets:      2
No. of brake pads, rear   3
No. of brake pads, front   2


Faults
•   Bike refused to start 14 days after purchase (‘Undefinded Fault’). Dealer’s service guy came to my house and reinstalled the firmware.
•   Year 2 after 60,000 km: Fatal glitch while attempting to charge. Bike was transported to the dealer, they disconnected the charge manager and after re-plugging everything was OK again.
•   Year 3: Bike sometimes does not AC charge to the desired SOC but stops somewhere near. Happens rarely.
•   Bike overheats during spirited riding probably due to increased internal resistance. Battery symbol turns red, but quickly gets yellow again after some seconds without throttle. Seems to get more serious since last year.
•   Moisture in headlamp, unsuccessfully tried to heat it out with a hairdryer. Drilled a small hole into the casing. Small o-ring with duct tape on top for rain cover. No issues anymore.
•   LED driver of one headlamp went out. Got a spare one from a MY 20 Ribelle (thanks again, Electric Rebel).


Enhancements
•   Titanium fairing screws
•   Puig Explorer rearview mirrors
•   Probrake brake handle
•   Kriega Rallye bag for the backseat
•   Motogadget mo.blaze Ice indicators with Kellermann indicator controls
•   Front discs replaced at 50,000 becauce of the vibrations during braking. Wear was not the issue.
•   Rear disc replaced at 87,000 because I thought it was time. Disc probably would have easily lasted for some more.
•   Fork service at 90,000. I did not notice improved fork performance after service, so that service could probably have waited for some time.
•   Covers for the rear swingarm openings to avoid debris accumulating in the swingarm. I had those 3D-printed. Dimensions you can find in the forum.


Accidents
•   Guy hit me from behind while waiting at a red light
•   Crashed 4 times
o   Fell over cornering after Stop sign (4 ribs broken)
o   Fell over just leaving the shop after having new tires mounted
o   Slipped in a roundabout on an oilslick
•   My bike buddy got involved in a serious accident on the end of our tour. She overlooked another biker coming from the left while waiting on a Stop sign due to the deep standing sun. I will never forget holding her hand and trying to calm her while she was in pain waiting for the ambulances to arrive. She had a multiple fractured arm and hand which took well over half a year to heal. The other guy nearly lost one of his legs due to heavy fractures.
•   Killed 7 birds which somehow managed to hit the bike or even me while driving. Maybe a (missing) noise issue.
•   Several near accidents with deer. Definitely a no-noise issue.


More dumb things I did
•   When I had the bike for a few weeks, I did not remove my right foot fully from the rear brake. The brake overheated and disc got blue, but no issue for the next 50,000 km.
•   Trusted Regina Chains’ claim for low-maintenance HPE chain which cost nearly 2.5 times more than a normal chain. That claim is an outright lie. Chain practically disintegrated after just 14,000 km with o-rings flying away. No Regina stuff ever again!
•   Bought a colored Supersprox rear chainwheel. Cost double. Manufacturing was 4 months. Alignment just so and so. Definitely very blingy but technically subpar to even the cheapest AFAM stuff. You decide if that’s worth it.


Things I am happy with
•   RK Enuma chains of Japan with screw-on chain link. Those come in colors, too! Yeah bling!
•   Switching to dry lube, more specific PDL Profi Dry Lube of Germany. No hassle, no smear, no oil debris flinging off. Chains last more than 30,000 km.
•   Throwing out Energica original rearview mirrors.
•   Kriega bags. Bloody expensive but worth every cent.
•   Self-tinting helmet visors from China.


Recommendations
•   Mind the fairings screws especially on the bike’s rear where debris and water can create a corrosive layer. I recommend using stainless steel or titanium screws there.
•   Mind the rear swing threaded holes, e.g. where the rearwheel splashguard is mounted. The aluminium is not painted/coated there and open for corrosion. Use heavy grease or something similar for protection.
•   Get yourself better rearview mirrors.
•   Deep standing sun: If you are on the road mornings or evenings, stay alert and be aware that you might not be seen if the sun is in your back. Be aware that you might overlook someone if you have to look into the sun.
•   Do not use China stuff for critical components like brakes, footpegs etc. but rely on trusted manufactureres.
•   I use Chinese helmet visors, those are considerably less expensive and they even come with self-tinting feature. I change them once a year, but stay away from non-original Pinlock antifog screens.

[Pard]

Congratulations on the mileage (kilometeridge) milestone!

Outstanding information, well done.

[T.S. Zarathustra]

Congratulations on reaching this milestone (or kmstone).
Thank you for thorough overview.
Sorry about yours and your friends injuries.
This is a lot of riding in a short time. It would take me at least twice the time to reach it.   
Some questions.
State of battery? Since you don't mention it I'm assuming there is no noticeable degradation. 
7000 km on a tire set seems low, but it's a heavy bike. What tires do you prefer? Sport or touring? Do you change them when handling starts to suffer or when wear becomes noticeable?

Other comments.
If the AC charge issue is related to environment temperature capacitors inside your charger might drying out and need replacing.
Battery overheating might be caused by increased "resistance" in the cells.
I need to try that screw-on chain link.

[most]

Jürgen, thats an awesome performance. Also very good & up to the point write-up. Perfect, thank you!!

[chisquare]

Congrats on hitting 100,000 km with the Ribelle! Not only is the total mileage seriously impressive, but your yearly mileage is in a completely different league from mine.

The durability — and the bike’s overall relative lack of drama, apart from the occasional electronic gremlin — makes me genuinely optimistic about my SS9+.

I’m also very glad that all four of your crashes ended comparatively well… although, “comparatively well” becomes a rather elastic phrase when four broken ribs are part of the story.

Wishing you many more miles of safe and fun electric riding!
Urs

[smithy]

100K km...!! WOW..! Well done Sir. I can't compete with that sort of yearly distance. Glad you weren't seriously injured in your "offs".

I'm just aproaching 50k km on my Experia, will probably hit it in the next week or two, currently just short of 49k km. Purchased in Feb of '23.

No accidents, drops or major issues to speak of....the only thing of note was a faulty "keyless" ignition module, which was sorted fairly easily with a new module.

Mechanically it has been essentially faultless....but as you mentioned, the Regina chains are essentially junk, I got rid of it fairly early after only ~3000km due to a tight link....fitted DID and RK chains, JT front sprockets and Vortex rears after that...much better.

Then at a tad over 40k km I fitted a belt drive system and it should outlast a chain/sprockets by a factor of at least 5. The pulleys will hopefully last a lot longer. I'll give another review after I hit the 50k km mark, possibly in a couple of weeks.

Smithy.

[Specter]

Regina chains are garbage.  had one on my ego, maybe 4 to 5 months it got a stiff spot, i thought, ok i fkd up when i swaged it putting the chain together, nope it was a regular link.  shortly after on a heavy accel i popped it, thankfully i just coasted to a stop in the grass by the entrance lane, it could have been a lot worse.  Went to did afterwords and have not looked back, however the one with the screw master link is definitely getting my attention and i hear they are top notch as well, so i might look there for next one.

aaron

[jotjotde]

Thanks all for your comments!

@Zarathustra: No battery degradation wrt to range I can notice yet, so I assume it is less than 10 %. I still get a theoretical 150-160 km from a full charge, which comes down to a consumption of 110 Wh/km with my riding style. That takes the actual capacity of the battery to approx. 16-17 kWh and that hasn't changed much over the time. At least not ot a point where I can notice it.

Riding/touring/charging
Aside from occasionally touring and once a year a visit to the racetrack I mostly go into the hills and enjoy curves and bends.

Usually on weekends I fully charge/balance the Ribelle overnight (AC) and start early in the morning. I divide my rides in mostly 1.0-1.5 hour intervals (60-80 km) because when you ride with lots of curves and topography your mind is toasted after an hour and you better rest. That means I arrive at a CCS/DC station with somewhat 50%ish SOC, charge while sipping a coffee to max. 80 % and then go again. Next charge is then 30-70 %. That normally brings me home again.

Overall I think, I am using AC/DC charging in a ratio of approx. 4 to 1. Looking at that I think Energica did a good job with charge managing. Even if you stress the battery more with CCS charging, I still would expect a long lifetime.

Tires
From my experience this is an emotional issue for many riders   
I rarely got more than 6,500 km from a set, even with traction control to the second highest setting (i.e. early triggering of TC), then the profile has been worn to less than 2.0 mm residual depth. Riding with less than 1.6 mm is not allowed in Germany, which makes sense because riding is already compromised earlier.
I notice end of life of a tire set in roundabouts and tight curves, first the bike has to be 'pushed' a bit more into it but suddenly it feels like it 'falls' on the side.

In my view tires are a bit like perfume. You liking a certain brand/make does not mean it works for everyone. 
I never had any negative issues with Pirellis, Diablo Rosso 3 or 4, but there are more than one rider who despise them. The Mitas Sportforce I once used were cheap and performing great, but were worn down quickly (4,500 km), still a good price/performance ratio. The Continental Road Attack 4 touring tire I used was mediocre. Last year I used two sets of Michelin Power 6 which I found really great. Currently I have a Bridgestone T33 touring tire set which is performing very well at lower temperatures.
Dunlop Roadstmart 4 are currently hyped like crazy here. As described in an earlier post here, I found them shitty. They absolutely do not work for me.

I ride with a setting of 2.5 front / 2.7 rear tire pressure which I found working well.

[T.S. Zarathustra]

Tires are like oil. Tend to lead to opinionated discussions.
My bike came with Michelin Pilot Street Radial. They are okay while riding but poor in the parking lot. Specially the front that feels like a bus. The positive thing about these is that they seem to last for a very long time. I was going to go for Pilot Road 4, which I've had positive experience with in the past. Maybe the Power 6 is worth a try.
What store you use for tires?  I've used the Dutch version of reifen pneus online.

[PWM]

Thoughts and Insights after 100,000 km

•   Bike overheats during spirited riding probably due to increased internal resistance. Battery symbol turns red, but quickly gets yellow again after some seconds without throttle. Seems to get more serious since last year.

I don't think this is a cell degradation issue which can be verified by monitoring cell balance disparity (cell voltage delta) found in engineering screen (capture value while under load) sounds like contact resistance hence local heating at buss bar from loose cell tab fasteners maybe...the other symptom to look for if indeed this is excessive cell internal resistance is limp mode activation...if cells balance you should be able to get to 1% SOC before limp mode activates again at modest throttle input surface street load...

Anyway, 100k km on an Energica makes you a super_user, congrats and thanks for the excellent report!

[jotjotde]

My tires I get from a local dealer who also puts them on the rims and balances them. I am a bit of a VIP there 

Before getting a new set, I am checking if there is a cashback promotion, which can help you save 30 €.
Currently there are promotions at Metzler, Continental and Pirelli. Usually Brigdestone and Michelin follow end of March.

@PWM: Thanks for your thoughts. I discussed the heating issue with others and they agree this could be due to loosened busbars. I will try to do the two tests you suggested.

[T.S. Zarathustra]

Thanks. Problem is that getting a discount from a Dutch dealer is like bending a rock. 

For the battery heating up I agreed with the original assessment of increased internal resistance. Loose busbars could also be a cause. Oxidation on connectors. In the old days I would have looked at contact points on switches. Could be any of these. If there is small part overheating there should be visual clues, darkened wiring insulation, etc.

[Specter]

i would venture to guess, but could be way off base but.... if you ride a lot of side roads or roads in not so good condition, lots of gravel, washboard, lots of vibration, not very smooth, that may over time, exacerbate your busbar situation as well, as the constant extra vibes work to shake things loose even faster.

aaron