OK folks.... call me a nutter but I just arranged to buy a bike that does 0-60mph in about 8 seconds and has a top speed of 65mph and can carry a passenger too......... the all-electric Vectrix scooter!
I've read up about these bikes ever since they were first produced and, for some reason that I can't quite fathom, I've always fancied one. They have had a chequered history and can be notorious for unreliability, battery failure, corporate failure, motor controller failure etc but... some of them have done 30,000 miles no problem. Theone I've arranged to buy has done 18,000 and the seller says he uses it to commute to work through London.
So, I found one on eBay and decide to give it a go for local pottering about. Getting the XJR1300 out just to go to the post office seems daft really... only 2 miles away. And I don't like always running the bike and nver getting it to working temperature.
So...... I'm going to give the Vectrix a try. It's one of the original large ones and supposedly it can do 60 miles on a charge. More like 30, so I've heard but, that'll be enough for the short little local runs! Hopefully, it might last a year. I've genned up how to convert the bike to lithium batteries though (about $3,000 though) but, like I say, for some reason I find them fascinating. Weird.
I'll post pix and a video when I get it but, in the meantime, so you can all see how pathetic I have become whilst pining for an XS1100 to restore, here's a link..... I've arranged to buy a red one, just like in the promo video, and I'm taking lessons in playing rock lead guitar so that I can ride to my own theme tune, just like the cool dude burning off all those cars (staionary) and trucks (3mph). Can't wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEk2J85PXNg
I've read up about these bikes ever since they were first produced and, for some reason that I can't quite fathom, I've always fancied one. They have had a chequered history and can be notorious for unreliability, battery failure, corporate failure, motor controller failure etc but... some of them have done 30,000 miles no problem. Theone I've arranged to buy has done 18,000 and the seller says he uses it to commute to work through London.
So, I found one on eBay and decide to give it a go for local pottering about. Getting the XJR1300 out just to go to the post office seems daft really... only 2 miles away. And I don't like always running the bike and nver getting it to working temperature.
So...... I'm going to give the Vectrix a try. It's one of the original large ones and supposedly it can do 60 miles on a charge. More like 30, so I've heard but, that'll be enough for the short little local runs! Hopefully, it might last a year. I've genned up how to convert the bike to lithium batteries though (about $3,000 though) but, like I say, for some reason I find them fascinating. Weird.
I'll post pix and a video when I get it but, in the meantime, so you can all see how pathetic I have become whilst pining for an XS1100 to restore, here's a link..... I've arranged to buy a red one, just like in the promo video, and I'm taking lessons in playing rock lead guitar so that I can ride to my own theme tune, just like the cool dude burning off all those cars (staionary) and trucks (3mph). Can't wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEk2J85PXNg
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