FalconEV company and the Red Hornet 72v hub motor?

Hi Brian,

It's always good to shop around. I almost ordered from Falcon EV and you can read my experience and Andy's response
here:

His heart seems to be in the right place and he definitely believes in the cause. His method of business (and website) leave something to be desired in my opinion. I do have to say that his comments on this forum have been VERY off-putting and lead me to question his integrity...which, of course, doesn't mean he doesn't build a nice bike.

FWIW,

Hi Brian,

Yeah, the whole 'defaulted on order' is a tough one. I didn't want my scooter to be a demo at an expo in California nor did I want it to be anything other than cream and black, especially since I was paying a large amount of money for a custom order. Andy decided that it would be a demo and that he would make it cream and green...so I canceled my order. I was also getting more and more spooked by the fact that he took cash only, refusing to even open a paypal account. I had great dealings with him till that point and, I said earlier, I am sure he is committed to the cause. Another guy on the forum ordered around the time I was talking to him but he seems to have disappeared from the forum...

Keep us posted on how your order goes.

Cheers!

I recently ordered a 48 volt, 750 watt, 20ah lithium full suspension MTB from FalconEV.
It is under construction now, delivery in a few weeks I hope.
Andy helped guide me to put a bike together that hopefully will be functional and look good.
He accepted google checkout for payment for the parts and has sent photos of progress as it moves along.
I found this forum, google searching E bikes and 1000 watt motors when I was toying with the idea of doing a self build bike. I look forward to posting the details of the bike when I get my grubby mits on it and take it for a good thrashing.

Gerry

Hi Brian,

This is my first post here, but I had similar experiences that I thought I'd share. I ended up getting spooked by the (lack of helpful) customer service and didn't purchase. Too bad, I was inclined to like what I saw available on his site before I started asking what I thought were some pretty simple, straightforward questions.

For me the issue came down to site inaccuracies and the apparent impossibility of getting a straight answer re: what he was selling. In particular, I asked about the batteries I'd be buying (lots of cash involved in that part of the sale after all). You can see what his website tells us at http://www.falconev.com/batteries.html.

The info is kind of confusing on the website, so I asked for some clarification on the Aleees batteries he's selling (this was about a month ago, the same info is still up on the site as of this posting). He replied that he no longer sells Aleees. OK (next email), what does he sell? He tells me it's a secret and that his competitors would steal his source if word got out. OK (next email), I tell him that's nice, but doesn't help me learn anything about the batteries. He tells me to look on the site. OK (next email), I tell him I had done that but it says he sells Aleees, which he tells me he doesn't (any more). He tells me to look at the .pdfs lower down on the page on the left. OK (next email, after looking at the pdfs) I point out that three of four pdfs are for Aleees and I can't make heads or tails of the other one. So I ask him again what's going on, for some straight/clear answers to what he's selling, and (apparently) he gets frustrated with my questions and suggests I buy a scooter without the batteries and buy someone else's batteries if I don't trust his.

Of course, it wasn't that I didn't trust his, it was just that the longer I corresponded with him the less confident I was that I had any idea what I'd be buying from him for a major and very expensive part of the purchase. His website info was inaccurate, confusing, and clearly out of date, and he wouldn't take the time to give me straight answers in emails -- he just kept pointing me back to the web page with it's poorly organized and out of date information.

I gave up.

I would second that his heart seems in the right place. But man, if he wants internet business you'd think he'd work a bit on those email/people skills. Does he have a storefront? Maybe he's better at this in person.

Good luck, I'll be interested to hear what you decide and how it comes out if you buy.

Rich

Funny how people who know so little can say so much..( must be obama followers )

If anybody else wants to spend a year & thousands of $$ going to shows, and china / Taiwan factories
looking for good LiFe cells a balance board & chargers, talking to both almost every nite like I have; Be my guest.
Only then will u have anything to say.
Better yet, try selling something and having strangers ask where u get all your stuff and answering inane Q's from people who aren't serious anyway.

I dont post here because of all the B.S.

Why do you think all the other suppliers out there dont show up here & comment on this forum..they know better !
You all need to run to your nearest chinese ebay seller.

Wow.

There's that famous Falcon EV charm. "Inane questions." Yeah, like what am I buying with my $3000? How could I be so stupid? He's got an internet presence and yet is annoyed with "having strangers" (you know, what other people call "customers") ask questions about his product. Nice.

There's a difference between "not being serious" about buying and "being put off by evasive answers and bad customer service."

My questions were so unfair and harsh -- he must be a Sara Palin supporter.

Rich

Just my two cents. If people are going to take electric bicycles seriously, we need to treat them with the respect they deserve as customers. I recently opened an Electric Bike shop, in Florida, because I was tired of dealing with either amatuers or cyclist snobs.

I'd be pretty wary Curious. Once you get past 36V, you get to voltages that can kill you. At that voltage, it sounds like you are trying to put motorcycle speed on a bicycle chassis. I just checked out the YouTube of the hornet, and they do look like a ton of fun, but there are a couple things you should consider:

-Federal Law states that EBikes are bicycles as long as they have no more than 700W Motors and don't go over 20MPH on a level surface. When you exceed the EBike standard, by going 30+ MPH on the street, you are on your own.
-Brakes, brakes and more brakes. When you get above 20 MPH, going from top speed to zero takes a LOOONG TIME, and cars don't notice us like they do motorcycles. Make sure you have some great stopping power.

Good luck, and even good luck with Falcon. I know he's been around for a long time, but I decided not to do business with him, because it didn't feel like business. That's my red flag.