Yesterday I did my first ride on my brand new blue Vectrix.
After 35 years of motorcycling I definitely need to get used to the Scooter concept : can’t keep balance with your knees, DON’T pull that clutch… Otherwise I loved it, very cool and relax. I did find it very noisy around the helmet though, and my helmet is one of the quietest full face helmets on the market. I think they should definitely experiment with different shapes and sizes of windscreens.
First surprise was the “turbine” whine. I find that very cool, but I had expected a continuous whine, the frequency going up with speed. Now, if that whine would be a line, what I hear is a dotted line, as if the whine is produced by half a wheel turn only. The scoot seems to work well, I don’t have a particular concern. Just that it sounds odd. Is this normal ?
Other question. I do understand how to do a deep discharge. What I don’t get is how to do one, without being stranded with a dead battery, 5 miles from home. Preferably in a hilly area, with home at the higher elevation. Particularly with a dash that doesn’t really tell you when the fun will be over.
Last night, when I plugged it in, I was surprised by the agitation I caused, poor thing, the whole dash came to life and did amazing things : lights, gauges, indicators (110 kph ??) colours, flashing lights, fans, numbers, count downs, count ups… I wonder is there anything in there that really tells me something I should know ? Gracefully a few hours later it was all over and the thing was fast asleep.
Hm, who needs a pet?
Thanks for your comments and advice
Cavalho
I'm not sure about the sound, but there are videos posted of people riding their bikes. You could try watching and listening to one of those and see how it compares to what you're hearing.
As far as deep discharge goes, I live near the top of a fairly steep hill and had the same concern you did. Didn't want to get stranded at the bottom of the hill and have to push the bike up that hill! For the last few miles what happens is that the Vectrix drops the top speed. It's somewhat gradual, what I noticed is that the battery light would come on and the top speed would be limited. Then the light would go off for a bit and I could go a little faster. Eventually the top speed would be something like 20 kilometers/hour.
To do the deep discharge I would drive my bike until the battery started to get fairly low. I'd make sure I got back home with 6 or 7 bars left. Turns out that just a little farther up the hill from where I live is a relatively flat area, with one alternate loop that had a bit of a hill. With those 6 or 7 bars left I'd tool around until the battery was empty and my top speed was 20 kph. Then I could easily drive down the short remaining hill, using the regen, and get the bike into my garage to do a full recharge. It actually didn't take that long to complete the deep discharge cycle, and tooling around on the Vectrix was a fun way to spend time anyway.
All the flashing lights, count downs, and mysterious messages are meaningful, but can also be safely ignored from my experience. Probably worth picking up a timer so you can charge overnight and not worry about the bike drawing juice after it's fully charged, but you can read other posts on that.
-Ron
Probably poor tolerances of the planetary gears and/or an oval ring gear.
You will most likely also experience vibrations, more obvious at low speed.
Ask them to read this or Google "Vectrix Noise Levels" and let us know what they say!
And have a look yourself, of course, it explains how to improve or even fix the problem without replacing the gear box.
Is that the noise you hear?
Mr. Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Thanks Ron.
I more or less followed your scenario, it was easier than expected. Shouldn't make a fuzz about it. Thanks for your advice.
Went grocery shopping -en Vectrix- today. Funny to see all the reactions. En route, I turn off at an intersection where there's a bikers bar, dripping with testosterone, and a huge collection of chromed and ratted harleys outside. There's always a couple of bikers leaving or arriving, the louder the better. Difficult to describe their expression when I accelerated by in silence ("I KNEW there was something with the beer...").
At the supermarket, a bystander told his non-plussed pal that I was electric and asked me to pull a wheelie.
I'm quickly getting used to the scoot and it's a great ride on tortuous secondary roads with 40 - 50 mph speed limits, feels like it could go forever.
Cavalho
Hey Mik, that is great stuff.
I can't judge the noise when I'm at speed because of the turbulence around the helmet. But the noise of your ride when you pull away from standstill is very much like what I hear of my ride.
Come to think of it, if all scooters get a testride before they go to the dealership, I guess an unusual noise would be noticed and addressed. Still, it is better to know that the other scoots have the same voice.
I was a bit surprised to not be able to go faster than 102 kph downhill. And again, when uphill I was also doing 102 kph. Makes sense of course when the speed is electronically limited. Still, great performance and certainly confidence inspiring. Really a great machine!
Thanks Mik, for all your research and for sharing it. I'm sure you've helped many people in this and other forums.
Cavalho
They don't!
Mine had a defect and is still not as good as others as far as the noise goes.
But yours might not be as loud. The noise was loudest at about 35km/h, so loud it was plain embarrassing to drive past cars with open windows, they would have gotten scared...
And so loud it almost hurt in the helmet at 35km/h.
The vibrations cannot be good for the scooter, either!
Here are some more links to previous posts about the noise:
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3582-vectux-quotopen-source-vectrixquot#comment-20394
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3747-vectux-part-3-vectrix-retampi#comment-21474
If your Vectrix makes an uneven noise, better let them know straight away.
Mr. Mik
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!