Hey dads, KTM is comin' for your kids!

[NoFiddyPilot]

4 hours ago, RichardM said:

Riding a bike like this on the street or around the neighborhood is illegal. You like the idea that a bike like this helps your children do more illegal things with less chance of getting caught? 

He didn't say on the street or in the neighborhood. Sure he simply didn't mean on their own property? 

[ThumperHead]

41 minutes ago, dsergison said:

Many more kids will get to ride without neighbors calling the cops.

This is a good thing for our sport.  Period.  End of story.

 

I'll agree 60% no higher to your above reply.

Modern day city living in my area has every small piece of dirt turned into housing by contractors and investors not alone the surrounding cities demanding more housing, that including the homeless rubbish demands. A very high percentage of people already hate motorcycles including street bikes and would gladly ban bikes all together. Same people have zero interest with motorcycles, bet never rode one either.  Add to this people reminded of the past with dirt bikes making noise, smoke and destroying the landscape long before houses dominated the outskirts of their cities and towns, it ain't Mayberry anymore. My state especially my area having high tech, high wages, weather with housing shortages swamping us, no riding areas "Period". Transporting dirt bikes to a bike park, paying fees to ride on rutted hillsides is no fun plus other open spaces are private property. Living on a ranch, farm or open countryside like the mid west or south is like a different world......~~=o&o>......  

[Notabiker]

On 10/25/2019 at 4:29 PM, Tepco said:

When I was a kid and had a mini, I rode it all day. What kind of kids are they aiming for with a 25-60 min run time? Nah I'll pass. I hope they stop this electric bike sillyness. Even if they make the batteries swappable, what are you going to do, pay your buddy with the gas powered bike to carry a spare into the woods for you??

Yes, I've rode electric bikes and they are fun, but the tech is just not there.

My thoughts exactly..  What kid is going to be satisfied with that 22 minutes up to 2 hours of riding time and a downtime of over an hour to recharge..?  Heck a little honda 50 can go hours and hours on a tank of gas with 30 seconds of downtime to refill.  About the only electric bike I'd get is a zero but then I'd need 10k to buy it and another 1-2k for a big enough generator to recharge it overnight while camping.  It can get about 50 miles or more range which is a decent day of trail riding.. but the expense..!!

[Tepco]

1 hour ago, Notabiker said:

My thoughts exactly..  What kid is going to be satisfied with that 22 minutes up to 2 hours of riding time and a downtime of over an hour to recharge..?  Heck a little honda 50 can go hours and hours on a tank of gas with 30 seconds of downtime to refill.  About the only electric bike I'd get is a zero but then I'd need 10k to buy it and another 1-2k for a big enough generator to recharge it overnight while camping.  It can get about 50 miles or more range which is a decent day of trail riding.. but the expense..!!

I liked Zero's before this happened to me.

 

[RichardM]

52 minutes ago, Tepco said:

I liked Zero's before this happened to me.

 

The name gives it away there are heroes and there are zeros. I feel for you but there's an old saying Caveat Emptor let the buyer beware. Everyone says how great KTM is but I've watched my friends with 2005-2008 KTMs their foot pegs break off cases crack frames crack and they will scream blue murder saying oh KTM is great but not compared to the Japanese they are not. And even the Japanese are not perfect. My point is I would never buy from a company that has no name no reputation and no years with the bike unless it's China cheap dirt cheap throwaway price and or not bummed if you throw it away after for 5 years you just don't do it. I had an 04 turbo diesel Ford pickup truck engine failed Ford bought it back. I go to look for a new truck and find out the new 3.5 + 2.7 they're blowing up to. I didn't buy one. Do your research don't buy the first year model of anything don't buy cheap Chinese junk for a premium price and always look for reputation and reviews that is the best defense to prevent what happened to and even then you still might get taken or you still might get a lemon. Good luck in the future

[Tepco]

29 minutes ago, RichardM said:

The name gives it away there are heroes and there are zeros. I feel for you but there's an old saying Caveat Emptor let the buyer beware. Everyone says how great KTM is but I've watched my friends with 2005-2008 KTMs their foot pegs break off cases crack frames crack and they will scream blue murder saying oh KTM is great but not compared to the Japanese they are not. And even the Japanese are not perfect. My point is I would never buy from a company that has no name no reputation and no years with the bike unless it's China cheap dirt cheap throwaway price and or not bummed if you throw it away after for 5 years you just don't do it. I had an 04 turbo diesel Ford pickup truck engine failed Ford bought it back. I go to look for a new truck and find out the new 3.5 + 2.7 they're blowing up to. I didn't buy one. Do your research don't buy the first year model of anything don't buy cheap Chinese junk for a premium price and always look for reputation and reviews that is the best defense to prevent what happened to and even then you still might get taken or you still might get a lemon. Good luck in the future

It was a work bike, I didn't have a choice what they choose. Bought from a green grant. I wanted WR's. Thankfully I didn't loose a penny. You think they learned?? Nope they just got two more...oh well.

[RichardM]

1 hour ago, Tepco said:

I wanted WR's. Thankfully I didn't loose a penny

Well that's awesome you didn't lose anything.

If they bought two more you will get to just see if the problem was a defective bearing or a poor design if it happens to the others

[texasthierry]

So per the dealer it is $800 for a spare battery...we are now at $5800 for an average kid and $6600 for a fast one who wants to train 1 hour plus. I think I'm gonna get a Beta for the backyard and keep the gas one for the track ! ?

[Notabiker]

On 11/5/2019 at 6:07 PM, Tepco said:

I liked Zero's before this happened to me.

 

Sheeeeesh that blows!  I'd think they used bearings that are obtainable so it would just be a question of tearing it down and finding a matching size bearing.  I wouldn't think it would be a plain bearing (brass or bronze non roller bearing) and they most likely didn't spec a crazy size specially made bearing..  I'll take your paperweight off your hands ?

[Tepco]

2 hours ago, Notabiker said:

Sheeeeesh that blows!  I'd think they used bearings that are obtainable so it would just be a question of tearing it down and finding a matching size bearing.  I wouldn't think it would be a plain bearing (brass or bronze non roller bearing) and they most likely didn't spec a crazy size specially made bearing..  I'll take your paperweight off your hands ?

I thought the same. I think it was something else and they were trying to avoid the repair. They said they would call me when a retrofit motor was available.....still waiting for the call...

[ThumperHead]

2 hours ago, Tepco said:

They said they would call me when a retrofit motor was available.....still waiting for the call...

Oh look the pretty shades of blue your turning. Any bearing can be found and installed including altering the motor's end housing or bearing support machining it out slightly to fit a standard production replacement bearing. Zero must be aimed towards the too rich types not giving it a second thought if the product fails toss it into the recycle bin. I support battery operated equipment, a flashlight and waiting for the nuclear version to come out.....~~=o&o>...... 

[Notabiker]

Yea I'm with Tepco.  There's no way a bearing would seize up solid without giving lots of noise first.  Can you push the bike?  I think they are always connected to the motor so if you can push the bike then the motor bearings are fine and it's probably the old "Baffle them with bullshit" the techs are using to stop you from questioning them.

[ThumperHead]

On 11/6/2019 at 5:29 PM, texasthierry said:

So per the dealer it is $800 for a spare battery...we are now at $5800 for an average kid and $6600 for a fast one who wants to train 1 hour plus. I think I'm gonna get a Beta for the backyard and keep the gas one for the track !

At $6,600, this before tax? That's a lot of newspapers the kids must deliver before owning one. By the time it falls apart, warranty expires (or before) or the batteries expired permanently they are already bored and have their eyes on a bigger more powerful gasoline powered motorcycle......~~=o&o>.......   

[Tepco]

3 hours ago, Notabiker said:

Yea I'm with Tepco.  There's no way a bearing would seize up solid without giving lots of noise first.  Can you push the bike?  I think they are always connected to the motor so if you can push the bike then the motor bearings are fine and it's probably the old "Baffle them with bullshit" the techs are using to stop you from questioning them.

It will spin to wide open with the wheel in the air. Put it on the ground and turn the throttle, moves about 1" and cuts all power.

[Notabiker]

22 minutes ago, Tepco said:

It will spin to wide open with the wheel in the air. Put it on the ground and turn the throttle, moves about 1" and cuts all power.

No noise?

Sounds like some sensor is bad then.  Possibly something that senses amp load to the motor or controller is bad and the motor thinks it's getting overloaded and shuts down. 

Sounds like zero is giving you the runaround because the techs aren't educated enough to use a multimeter and probe around for bad components.

 

How did you like it before this happened? I want one for putt putting around singletrack trails and exploring..  Sometimes it's interesting to get started again going up decent steep hills, granted my Massey Ferguson (honda xr650L) has pretty good putt putt characteristics so that helps to get gently going without the front tire going up in the sky.

[Tepco]

57 minutes ago, Notabiker said:

No noise?

Sounds like some sensor is bad then.  Possibly something that senses amp load to the motor or controller is bad and the motor thinks it's getting overloaded and shuts down. 

Sounds like zero is giving you the runaround because the techs aren't educated enough to use a multimeter and probe around for bad components.

 

How did you like it before this happened? I want one for putt putting around singletrack trails and exploring..  Sometimes it's interesting to get started again going up decent steep hills, granted my Massey Ferguson (honda xr650L) has pretty good putt putt characteristics so that helps to get gently going without the front tire going up in the sky.

The techs were definitely not op to the task. I feel like it was a circuit board issue sensing it was overloading. I'm no electric bike guy but they were fun and did very well in tight courses. Battery life was plenty for what we used them for. I think the DS is a bit heavy for trails. Also the one we had that problem with was a 2013, I think the fixed it in 2014. Here is the 2014 in a cone course.

 

[Algee]

On 10/24/2019 at 11:22 PM, pomoco said:

I bought a battery powered leaf blower from Stihl and it sucks. Short battery life and poor power. Most of my experiences with rechargeable stuff has not been good. A new cell phone battery is great when you first get it, two years later and it won't go half a day. I've got a bucket full o chargers for stuff that no longer works. Let any battery powered anything set for a year without use and you might as well junk it

I’ve got a Stihl battery leaf blower and I love it. Quiet, powerful and ready to use with a push of a button. It suits my needs exactly...including blow-drying my bike after I wash it. For bigger leaf jobs I use a lawn sweeper behind my garden tractor. So like e-bikes, if they suit your usage they are great, if the current battery tech doesn’t suit your needs then gas is the answer. Eventually we will all be on electric bikes and they’ll be awesome by then. Ever feel like going back to a rotary dial phone with the curly cord??!!

[Yammyhammer]

Electric dirt bikes are just the next step in the dumbing down of ppl period. It's a fad, and like all things, this to shall pass. 

[Yammyhammer]

2 hours ago, Algee said:

I’ve got a Stihl battery leaf blower and I love it. Quiet, powerful and ready to use with a push of a button. It suits my needs exactly...including blow-drying my bike after I wash it. For bigger leaf jobs I use a lawn sweeper behind my garden tractor. So like e-bikes, if they suit your usage they are great, if the current battery tech doesn’t suit your needs then gas is the answer. Eventually we will all be on electric bikes and they’ll be awesome by then. Ever feel like going back to a rotary dial phone with the curly cord??!!

Going back? Shit, still got one in my kitchen lol. If it ain't broke I dont fix it. 

[Chris Campbell]

Having owned a tesla model s for a few years I never want to own a gas car again. The future of electric bikes and cars will be better performing without question. 

As a guy that also has a garage full of 2 strokes, I understand the love for premix, wrenching, and the sound of dirt bikes. I'll never sell the cr500...  But I'd buy a AA class competitive 60 mile range electric trail bike today without hesitation. I already run a left hand rear brake and an auto clutch on my rm250 woods bike. I guess that's like kissing a dude to some people also. 

Im all in on electric bikes. The car changed my mind to be fair though. Everyone should drive and experience one... The thing is freakin amazing. 

Edited November 10, 2019 by Chris Campbell