I was told from a number of people that riding a bike makes you a better driver and I think it is already happening. When I drive now I am far more inclined to turn my head for extra checks to my left and right side which I'm sure I never did as much. Now I'm not saying I was a poor driver before but it is definitely improving my skills. Having driven for over 25 years you can get into routines that may not be ideal and so this shake up is probably a good thing to make me re-evaluate my approach and look for ways to improve.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
License to ride
The buying process for my E-Rider Moda 30 was probably one of the most painful purchasing experiences I've had, and I've bought a house before! I think the problems lie in the expectations you have when purchasing a bike - you expect to be able to ride it!
As this is a new bike and bought from a small online retailer it transpired that the vehicle wasn't registered when it arrived and so I was unable to use it for a month after delivery. I had to order the registration form online and wait almost 2 weeks for it to arrive (why it wasn't downloadable in this modern age is beyond me) and then I also had to contact the seller as they had delivered the wrong documentation with the bike. Check VIN and engine numbers very carefully if you are registering yourself or else you'll probably have real problems down the line. Luckily I noticed that the documentation didn't match and got the new details before I registered. Had I not noticed that it would have taken even longer. Luckily the registration was actually quicker than their estimate and so I got it registered within a month.
Getting it registered within the month was actually very important. When I received the bike I had to get it insured so if it was stolen I would be covered - is parked on the street. Some insurers won't insure without a number plate and some that do only do it for 2 weeks. Luckily the one I finally found would insure with the VIN number and had a 1 month grace period. Even then I got right to the end of that period and the company then told me that they no longer insure from VIN's only and so I couldn't have re-insured it with them. There seems to be a big disconnect between the registration process and the insurance companies which really needs to be addressed. I know people don't usually register their own vehicle but if we want to encourage new companies to start selling in this new eco market then this should really be made easier. Most governments want to encourage electric vehicles and so they should really help to make the process much easier. At least I don't have to pay for my road tax, which is a clear indication of their promising intentions.
As this is a new bike and bought from a small online retailer it transpired that the vehicle wasn't registered when it arrived and so I was unable to use it for a month after delivery. I had to order the registration form online and wait almost 2 weeks for it to arrive (why it wasn't downloadable in this modern age is beyond me) and then I also had to contact the seller as they had delivered the wrong documentation with the bike. Check VIN and engine numbers very carefully if you are registering yourself or else you'll probably have real problems down the line. Luckily I noticed that the documentation didn't match and got the new details before I registered. Had I not noticed that it would have taken even longer. Luckily the registration was actually quicker than their estimate and so I got it registered within a month.
Getting it registered within the month was actually very important. When I received the bike I had to get it insured so if it was stolen I would be covered - is parked on the street. Some insurers won't insure without a number plate and some that do only do it for 2 weeks. Luckily the one I finally found would insure with the VIN number and had a 1 month grace period. Even then I got right to the end of that period and the company then told me that they no longer insure from VIN's only and so I couldn't have re-insured it with them. There seems to be a big disconnect between the registration process and the insurance companies which really needs to be addressed. I know people don't usually register their own vehicle but if we want to encourage new companies to start selling in this new eco market then this should really be made easier. Most governments want to encourage electric vehicles and so they should really help to make the process much easier. At least I don't have to pay for my road tax, which is a clear indication of their promising intentions.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Top gun
When I first started riding I used a route tracker to take a look at some stats on its performance. Was quite interesting to see its performance and also to find my current top speed of 31 mph! Am sure it was quite literally down hill with the wind behind me!
This a pair of outgoing and return trip reports.
I think I hit a bird on one trip! I was going down a country road which I often see birds darting around and then something caught my eye to the right and I felt a clunk on the helmet. Never expected that and was glad I had my visor down. I think it would be crazy to ever have it up at speed. I sometimes raise it at a junction for some cooling but it goes down pretty quickly.
I bought myself a tube scarf as sometimes my neck can be a little cold and the top of the jacket can be a bit harsh on my neck. It also helps with wet weather but I think I will need something more substantial when the weather gets worse so will start looking out for something thicker, warmer and more waterproof. I thought growing my beard out would help but it gives little warming effect when riding - well at least not my fairly small one!
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Range
I've been using the bike for about 6 days of commuting and have seen some trends. Basically the claimed 80 km range is not even close. It may just manage 60 km based on trips back and forth over the same area. I mention same area as this would mean the hills should balance themselves out - every one I go up I'll ride down on the return journey. But the key thing to this is that when I did a second 28 km trip with no recharge the top speed dramatically goes down on both flat and hills. It's ability to go up hills becomes almost dangerous as I am puttering along at 10-15 km/h which just encourages drivers to do dangerous overtaking. I am now charging the battery every day and this ensures that it will hit the 48 km/h more easily. Having said that I do notice a decrease of the top speed by 3-5 km/h on my return journey and when you're barely mustering the speed limit it's not nice.
But on a plus side Bristol has a lot of 20 mph zones and so I don't feel out of place in them at all!
I want to talk about the areas at the front of traffic light junctions that have a bicycle symbol and are often marked in red (this is UK roads). During my CBT I was told that these were not for motorcycles, which makes sense as they display a bicycle, but it is surprising how many bikers just ignore this or don't know it. My rule for lane filtering so far is to go up and stop behind the first car rather than what most other bikers seem to do. Seems to work but of course I am still learning it and doing it with caution. We are having a bit of heat wave here with temperatures at over 30 C and so keeping moving is even more important.
I managed to buy bike trousers that are too short. Bit stupid but I didn't test them sitting down. I just went with normal standing as I would with normal trousers. But I also was struggling to find ones that had the knee padding even close to my knees. If I'd bought longer ones then that might have been even worse. But the upside is that my ankles get cooled!!! Might look into getting proper boots to solve this in the winter as I currently use some sturdy walking boots I already owned - a nice tip I got from a shop assistant.
But on a plus side Bristol has a lot of 20 mph zones and so I don't feel out of place in them at all!
I want to talk about the areas at the front of traffic light junctions that have a bicycle symbol and are often marked in red (this is UK roads). During my CBT I was told that these were not for motorcycles, which makes sense as they display a bicycle, but it is surprising how many bikers just ignore this or don't know it. My rule for lane filtering so far is to go up and stop behind the first car rather than what most other bikers seem to do. Seems to work but of course I am still learning it and doing it with caution. We are having a bit of heat wave here with temperatures at over 30 C and so keeping moving is even more important.
I managed to buy bike trousers that are too short. Bit stupid but I didn't test them sitting down. I just went with normal standing as I would with normal trousers. But I also was struggling to find ones that had the knee padding even close to my knees. If I'd bought longer ones then that might have been even worse. But the upside is that my ankles get cooled!!! Might look into getting proper boots to solve this in the winter as I currently use some sturdy walking boots I already owned - a nice tip I got from a shop assistant.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Chug
Well on my second trip to work with my bike, I ran out of electrons! Now I thought it would last two trips as it claims 50 mpg and work is 10 miles away. But then I remembered I did some riding on the Sunday before and I think I forgot to charge it, so I will forgive my machine. But this was actually quite a useful experience as I was wondering how it would fair when the power goes.
The first signs were the reduction in the top speed. Think I noticed on the way to work as it really struggled to get up the hill at the end. Think it was showing 10 kph at one point. Don't ride one of these if you get easily embarrassed as I don't be feel a bit bad blocking people up for these small parts of my trip. Overall, for a 28 mph max speed vehicle it is respectable and keeps with the slower commuter traffic quite well. I try to only go on roads up to 40 mph speed limit and try not to be on them for long. Have found a small route home that minimises that quite well.
The max speed was getting down to 30 kph (sorry for the unit mixing, the bike is in kph and I'm not!) but I managed to get about a mile before I came to a hill and that was when it really failed. I felt it would be dangerous to go up it very slowly with lots of traffic so I elected to guide it up the pavement with a little bit of power as I walked beside it. I thought then that I could at least get somewhere down the other side.
But the route didn't go down very much and I managed to get another half a mile before it really went slow. I finally gave up and parked it on a wide pavement and locked it to a lamppost. Luckily my partner could come to the rescue and take me home with the battery. She'll drop me back tomorrow for the next days travel but as I said it was interesting to see how it fared and how accurate the indicator was.
The display showed 2/4 segments for most of the first half of the trip and then went down progressively after then. The frame of the indicator then flashes when it's in full panic mode and it can then just limp along at best.
So is on charge now and I will live to ride another day! I always expected the range value to be more than reality but the slowing down of an already slow bike makes me think I need to charge it every night. I will see how it fairs on a proper test with a full battery.
The first signs were the reduction in the top speed. Think I noticed on the way to work as it really struggled to get up the hill at the end. Think it was showing 10 kph at one point. Don't ride one of these if you get easily embarrassed as I don't be feel a bit bad blocking people up for these small parts of my trip. Overall, for a 28 mph max speed vehicle it is respectable and keeps with the slower commuter traffic quite well. I try to only go on roads up to 40 mph speed limit and try not to be on them for long. Have found a small route home that minimises that quite well.
The max speed was getting down to 30 kph (sorry for the unit mixing, the bike is in kph and I'm not!) but I managed to get about a mile before I came to a hill and that was when it really failed. I felt it would be dangerous to go up it very slowly with lots of traffic so I elected to guide it up the pavement with a little bit of power as I walked beside it. I thought then that I could at least get somewhere down the other side.
But the route didn't go down very much and I managed to get another half a mile before it really went slow. I finally gave up and parked it on a wide pavement and locked it to a lamppost. Luckily my partner could come to the rescue and take me home with the battery. She'll drop me back tomorrow for the next days travel but as I said it was interesting to see how it fared and how accurate the indicator was.
The display showed 2/4 segments for most of the first half of the trip and then went down progressively after then. The frame of the indicator then flashes when it's in full panic mode and it can then just limp along at best.
So is on charge now and I will live to ride another day! I always expected the range value to be more than reality but the slowing down of an already slow bike makes me think I need to charge it every night. I will see how it fairs on a proper test with a full battery.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Humming along
So today marked the first day of my bike being legal to ride. From purchase to now has been over 2 months but the wait is finally over. Had to wait a month before I could get it all registered and plated - as I had to do it all myself! - but that's for another post. Today is about the first rides!
So I screwed in the plates and was road legal. Don't forget that even though the road tax is free you still need to set it up. My first rides were around the small block by my house and the first thing that struck me was how quiet it was! Wow. I'd done a test of the motor on the stand to make sure all was working and loved the little hum it did but when you ride and have your helmet on you just hear the wind and the tyres on the road - no engine noise at all!
My first ride was a combination of the exhilaration of riding an electric coupled with the thrill of riding at all as I have never ridden a motorcycle or a scooter ever. My CBT a few weeks ago was my first experience and I had to try hard to remember what the instructor had said as it was quite a while ago. Life savers are not instinctive yet but I keep reminding myself at every opportunity. I didn't need the training but I am so glad I did. When you're out on the road all by yourself you start to remember the key points and the 2 hours of driving really helps prepare you for it all. One thing I really need to remember is to cancel my indicators, but this is not so easy as the bike has a 3 position switch rather than the click and push kind so it a real pain to cancel without looking down.
I should explain my reasons for getting an electric scooter. I live in Bristol which is an area with very poor traffic problems. Even using my car was a pain and so I wanted a better option for commuting. I am very environmentally conscientious and so wanted a better solution than the car. I have been using the buses for over 4 months and, whilst they are better for the environment, they made my commute around 1:15 and I have a rule that I don't want my commute to be over an hour. I believe in a healthy work life balance and so wanted a better solution. Hence the bike. And as a bonus my electricity at home is 100% renewables and so I am truly riding carbon free!
So a highlight from my first ride was a nod from a fellow scooter rider. I know its a simple thing but it feels like its that start of my membership into a club. I didn't come to this as a bike enthusiast and in fact see them as a means to an end. I don't think you should be on the road to have fun. If you are then you're not focused, you're not safe and not safe for others. But I hope that fellow scooter drivers will have a similar attitude as they are not generally powerful bikes and so you pick them for different reasons. I'm of course not talking about the young riders where its all they can afford but as I'm in the older age range (40+) then I think similarly aged people will have the same approach to them. But I'm eager to hear from fellow riders and their experiences.
I also got two people who asked me if it was electric. I must admit I do like this as I like the idea of being an ambassador to the cause. I really hope that others will follow my lead, albeit not with my particular bike. There are many bad design choices on it that mean I would be reluctant to recommend it but these might be less important to others. I will use it more before I give further opinions so they are better rounded.
So I screwed in the plates and was road legal. Don't forget that even though the road tax is free you still need to set it up. My first rides were around the small block by my house and the first thing that struck me was how quiet it was! Wow. I'd done a test of the motor on the stand to make sure all was working and loved the little hum it did but when you ride and have your helmet on you just hear the wind and the tyres on the road - no engine noise at all!
My first ride was a combination of the exhilaration of riding an electric coupled with the thrill of riding at all as I have never ridden a motorcycle or a scooter ever. My CBT a few weeks ago was my first experience and I had to try hard to remember what the instructor had said as it was quite a while ago. Life savers are not instinctive yet but I keep reminding myself at every opportunity. I didn't need the training but I am so glad I did. When you're out on the road all by yourself you start to remember the key points and the 2 hours of driving really helps prepare you for it all. One thing I really need to remember is to cancel my indicators, but this is not so easy as the bike has a 3 position switch rather than the click and push kind so it a real pain to cancel without looking down.
I should explain my reasons for getting an electric scooter. I live in Bristol which is an area with very poor traffic problems. Even using my car was a pain and so I wanted a better option for commuting. I am very environmentally conscientious and so wanted a better solution than the car. I have been using the buses for over 4 months and, whilst they are better for the environment, they made my commute around 1:15 and I have a rule that I don't want my commute to be over an hour. I believe in a healthy work life balance and so wanted a better solution. Hence the bike. And as a bonus my electricity at home is 100% renewables and so I am truly riding carbon free!
So a highlight from my first ride was a nod from a fellow scooter rider. I know its a simple thing but it feels like its that start of my membership into a club. I didn't come to this as a bike enthusiast and in fact see them as a means to an end. I don't think you should be on the road to have fun. If you are then you're not focused, you're not safe and not safe for others. But I hope that fellow scooter drivers will have a similar attitude as they are not generally powerful bikes and so you pick them for different reasons. I'm of course not talking about the young riders where its all they can afford but as I'm in the older age range (40+) then I think similarly aged people will have the same approach to them. But I'm eager to hear from fellow riders and their experiences.
I also got two people who asked me if it was electric. I must admit I do like this as I like the idea of being an ambassador to the cause. I really hope that others will follow my lead, albeit not with my particular bike. There are many bad design choices on it that mean I would be reluctant to recommend it but these might be less important to others. I will use it more before I give further opinions so they are better rounded.
But all in all it was a good first day. It manages hills as well as a basic scooter and could generally keep up with traffic. And the silence is wonderful - found myself humming at one point!
First steps
So this begins my adventure in the world of electric scooters! I have bought my first scooter and it's electric. It's an E-Rider Moda 30 which is quite a new model and hopefully will be fun to ride.
Already this process has been difficult and so I wanted to write about my experience to help others and hopefully not discourage others by my experience. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. This blog will be my first and so will probably not be in any kind of sensible order as I am already part way through the process.
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