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Honda E-mx

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boom
 
Dirt bikes need quick swap inexpensive battery packs. Just like you keep the 5 gal gas can at the truck, you can keep a couple packs there and swap out. Kinda like drone pilots do. Bring it back, swap in a fresh battery and go fly some more.
 
So I see the dirt bike community of electrics pulling up, setting up the RV with the generator. Then they get the bikes out and start the generator for the bike batteries which they run based on bike usage. Is there really a benefit at the end of the day? If you could plug them all into a nuclear plant you'd have an argument, but as long as natural gas and coal make up the largest portion of the generation grid it seems a little silly. I intentionally do not include wind and solar as they are very low capability factor due to being affected by nature. Of course, the TVA folks and folks out west that generate with Hydro-Electric might be the exception.

Finally, I do love the engine feel, sound and the endless tinkering I can do. I love two strokes, I love four strokes, I like shifting and I actually enjoy playing with carburetors. So mark me as a skeptic. I think the electric "craze" is more feel-good than practical at this point. I think it might be fun to play with, but not really practical at the end of the day with regard to distance and environmental considerations. YMMV
 
Dirt bikes need quick swap inexpensive battery packs. Just like you keep the 5 gal gas can at the truck, you can keep a couple packs there and swap out. Kinda like drone pilots do. Bring it back, swap in a fresh battery and go fly some more.
They do that already with brand I own.
 
On the other e bike thread somewhere I posted a link about the major moto manufacturers were getting a Consortium together to standardize the batteries and charging of motorcycles etc. Just think, we are in the infancy of this stuff. Just like in 1910 with the internal combustion autos. I Keep hearing the talk about by mid century, there will be no more ic engines produced for autos. I'll be saying "I'm 80 years old, I remember when they use to burn gasoline in automobiles".
 
That video sounds and looks a lot like my Zero FX.

I almost got in trouble on my Zero this weekend, I was going over a hill on the way to meet the fam for dinner Friday night and decided to hammer it down the other side while going about 50 MPH and the front wheel just shot up on me. Still not completely used to a bike having that kind of instant torque on tap at all times. That certainly doesn't happen on my gas bikes. I did the same hill yesterday on the Africa Twin and tried to get the front wheel to come up, but no dice.

Yesterday morning, I was out riding with a local guy on the nearby dirt roads and overcooked a corner a bit. I'm used to those monster brakes on my big Hondas but the FX has little 250cc size brakes on it. I came off the edge of the road a bit, recovered and hit the throttle a little too aggressively and the back end went crazy on me. And this was in the 40% torque setting mode. I have three modes setup on the bike with 0%, 40% and 100% torque. 100% is street only for me. Even 40% torque is a handful for me in the dirt with this bike and the stock 80/20 tires.

There is definitely a mental shift when going from gas bikes to electric in terms of dealing with the instantly available torque at all speeds. The other day I jumped on my daughter's NC700X after riding the FX and was coming out of a corner and gave it the amount of throttle I'd give the FX in 100% torque mode and the bike didn't even respond. Had to twist it wide open throttle to get it even wake up and even then it just felt like it was slowly rolling away compared to what the FX does coming out of the same corner. The FX even makes the Africa Twin feel a bit sluggish on little roads. Yesterday, I started off riding the Africa Twin, then took it back home and got the FX. It's just more fun to ride around my area. Once I got a taste of that ever available instant torque, it now makes it hard to enjoy my gas bikes, other than the VFR.

Really glad to hear that the newest 140 ft-lbs of torque bike that Zero is putting out (SR/F) has the same Bosch bike management system on it that the fast KTM's have. Although, the demo model of that bike that I test rode did not have it enabled and I backed it in around a corner unexpectedly.
 
That video sounds and looks a lot like my Zero FX.

I almost got in trouble on my Zero this weekend, I was going over a hill on the way to meet the fam for dinner Friday night and decided to hammer it down the other side while going about 50 MPH and the front wheel just shot up on me. Still not completely used to a bike having that kind of instant torque on tap at all times. That certainly doesn't happen on my gas bikes. I did the same hill yesterday on the Africa Twin and tried to get the front wheel to come up, but no dice.

Yesterday morning, I was out riding with a local guy on the nearby dirt roads and overcooked a corner a bit. I'm used to those monster brakes on my big Hondas but the FX has little 250cc size brakes on it. I came off the edge of the road a bit, recovered and hit the throttle a little too aggressively and the back end went crazy on me. And this was in the 40% torque setting mode. I have three modes setup on the bike with 0%, 40% and 100% torque. 100% is street only for me. Even 40% torque is a handful for me in the dirt with this bike and the stock 80/20 tires.

There is definitely a mental shift when going from gas bikes to electric in terms of dealing with the instantly available torque at all speeds. The other day I jumped on my daughter's NC700X after riding the FX and was coming out of a corner and gave it the amount of throttle I'd give the FX in 100% torque mode and the bike didn't even respond. Had to twist it wide open throttle to get it even wake up and even then it just felt like it was slowly rolling away compared to what the FX does coming out of the same corner. The FX even makes the Africa Twin feel a bit sluggish on little roads. Yesterday, I started off riding the Africa Twin, then took it back home and got the FX. It's just more fun to ride around my area. Once I got a taste of that ever available instant torque, it now makes it hard to enjoy my gas bikes, other than the VFR.

Really glad to hear that the newest 140 ft-lbs of torque bike that Zero is putting out (SR/F) has the same Bosch bike management system on it that the fast KTM's have. Although, the demo model of that bike that I test rode did not have it enabled and I backed it in around a corner unexpectedly.
You seriously lofted front wheel at 50, impressive!
 
What's the 0% mode used for?
For me, it's for bicycle rides and creeping in really rough off road stuff. 0% is kinda of deceptive. Even on that setting, it will run off and leave a CRF250L from a dead start, but the way the torque comes on is more controllable. The other day, I was down in Center Point and found a little rock filled road that led right up to the bank of the Guadalupe. So I put it in 0% torque mode and just crept over the big, loose river rocks without the back wheel going anywhere. It's great for technical terrain. For me, at least being a newbie to it and all. This kind of stuff:

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You seriously lofted front wheel at 50, impressive!
The hill certainly helped, but yeah I think it was going to go over backwards had I not shut it down quickly. Surprised the heck out of me and subsequently made me laugh all the way into town :) That little bike has some serious torque in it. Having to learn how to keep it in check. I also accidentally rode a wheelie over some railroads tracks in down a couple of weeks back. It was a little more controllable than this last wheelie, but still unexpected. It's fun when the wheel comes up on purpose, not as much fun when it comes up by surprise :)
 
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For me, it's for bicycle rides and creeping in really rough off road stuff. 0% is kinda of deceptive. Even on that setting, it will run off and leave a CRF250L from a dead start, but the way the torque comes on is more controllable. The other day, I was down in Center Point and found a little rock filled road that led right up to the bank of the Guadalupe. So I put it in 0% torque mode and just crept over the big, loose river roads without the back wheel going anywhere. It's great for technical terrain. For me, at least.

The hill certainly helped, but yeah I was going to go over backwards had I not shut it down quickly. Surprised the heck out of me and subsequently made me laugh all the way into town :) That little bike has some serious torque in it. Having to learn how to keep it in check.
Impressive!
 
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