Hi
I've had my Vectrix for about two months but only found this forum today. Very interesting posts - glad I didn’t read them earlier or I might not have made the purchase!
Have been reliably commuting every work-day since I bought the bike. Less than 20km round trip so no problems with range or recharging.
Main issue so far has been the occasional difficulty getting started. Sometimes, I squeeze the left then right brake levers and nothing happens. No "Go" light and no power. (Once or twice, it was because I'd bumped the kill switch but I'm not talking about those times.) I turn off and reboot but still no luck. It has always started eventually .... after a variable number of attempts. The problem only seems to happen if I raise the side stand while the bike is going through its "boot up" process. If I'm careful not to raise the stand until the flashing lights and spinning dials have settled down then I never get the problem.
Is this a recognized issue? The manual implies that the stand should be up before starting up the bike, but it makes no mention of locking up the system should you raise the stand during startup. And no mention of how to reset the system.
Tim,
You've had yours longer than me, and I'm no electrical engineer, but I think we all have to remember that these are computer driven bikes, and like any computer, you can lock them up or confuse them by overloading the input. Start banging on the keyboard during boot sequence, and you'll see what happens on your PC!
It was demonstrated to me at purchase time that you do not necessarily have to wait for the bootup cycle to be complete before taking off, but in my book, that just ain't good for the computer, so I don't do it.
My normal routine is to turn the key on before I put my helmet on. That way, when I'm ready to ride, my bike is already waiting for me.
Like any normal computer, if you screw it up, you should give it thirty seconds in the off mode before attempting to reboot. Perhaps your repetitive attemps at correcting your start up sequence are coming too fast.
With a normal motorcycle, you wouldn't want to risk running your battery down, so you don't switch it on until you're ready to go, but with 125 volts reserve, your Vectrix is just as happy sitting there all booted up as it is turned off! ;-) If you're in a hurry, turn the switch on before you ever get on the bike. Too bad they don't have a proximity switch which would turn the bike on whenever you get within a few feet of it and turn it off when you walk away, like the Prius does! That'd be kewl! :-)
Tim,
I might also mention that if you screw up the sequence, you must release both brake levers before attempting it again, even if you rekey it.
Like most any vehicle forum, there are always a FEW people who have bad experiences, or who wish to tinker "outside the box", and they are vocal, but remember that there are many others, either who are not here or who don't share those experiences or perceptions that are NOT as vocal and will never have a problem.
It's great for the technology that those who can and who wish to, will push the edge and either fall off or come up with some revolutionary discoveries that help us all, so I aplaud those in that arena, but consider also that many of the concerns that you read about here are, at this point, someone's PERCEPTION of an issue. Unusual noises don't always mean something is going to break. Sometimes it's just the nature of the beast. In 500 miles, I have experienced probably all of the noises that you read about here, but I accept them as "normal" and will not attempt to "fix" them until and unless something actually breaks. I'll let you know if my ticking planetary gears fall out going down the road, or if the brakes catch on fire, or if my noisy oscillating motor blows up. :-) But until then, I'm just going to ride it and charge it. Happy trails! :-)
like any computer, you can lock them up or confuse them by overloading the input. Start banging on the keyboard during boot sequence, and you'll see what happens on your PC!Yet another good reason to use a Mac?
My normal routine is to turn the key on before I put my helmet on. That way, when I'm ready to ride, my bike is already waiting for me.I'm similar but sometimes I haven't turned it on until I'm sitting on the bike, then it's easy to turn the key, apply the left brake, straighten the bike and kick up the stand; all without any thought. And then .. "damn" it won't start.
Like any normal computer, if you screw it up, you should give it thirty seconds in the off mode before attempting to reboot. Perhaps your repetitive attemps at correcting your start up sequence are coming too fast.Good point. Next time I'll try consciously waiting a full half minute before trying to restart.
Tim