My pal Bill called to say he had a bead on two Voloci electric mopeds
for $250 each. He was told by their owner that they where in
pristine condition with only a few miles on them and the battery
packs (NiHM) where in great shape.
Problem 1) They where 600 miles away.
Problem 2) My pickup is not comfy for long trips and Bill's van is iffy.
Problem 2a) Both the pickup and the van get less than great mileage.
The solution to these problems was my wifes new Honda Civic. (Note:
She was less than pleased. I'm not sure if it was the thought of us
trying to smash two Volocis into the trunk or the fact that she'd
have to drive the pickup to work.) Friday morning Bill and I piled
into the Civic with some road food, printouts from Google maps and a
small tool set.
A few wrong turns later (not Google's fault, btw.) and we were there.
Far from pristine but not in bad shape (us and the bikes), we popped
off the front wheels and removed the handle bars. It takes a little
finesse but you can fit two Volocis into a Civic coupe.
A little over 20 hours later we where home. I dropped Bill and his
Voloci at his house and I took mine to my house. I could only
squeeze in a few hours of sleep before the traditional Saturday
morning commotion so I decided to put the bike back together and see
if the battery would charge.
To my delight it charged (lost track of time so I don't know how long
it took) and I headed off around the block. I have a path that goes
through my neighborhood that allows me to ride for as long as I like
without ever having to stop. I know about how long each leg is so I
could get a good idea of the Voloci's range. But, with just a few
hours of sleep I lost track and decided to bring it home and recharge
for a later test.
After watching the last MotoGP race of the year I invited my wife to
ride it 'till it died while I followed behind to measure distance and
bring her back. Note: Not polite to tell family to ride 'till it dies
then make them push it home. Experience is a wonderful teacher.
Along the way a Harley rider pulled up long side her at a stop light.
He saw a women on a moped and thought he'd show her how sexy he was
by blipping his throttle. The sound reminded me of the time I was
target shooting at an indoor range and I forgot to put my muffs on.
It was so loud that my wife about jumped out of her skin. The Harley
guy started chuckling then struck up a conversation. "Hey, is that
electric?", "Did you buy that around here?", "How much did it cost?"
Are three of the questions I could hear over his flatulating hog.
When she pointed to me saying I had the answers and that I also had
some full sized electric motorcycles, he took one look at me and
stopped the conversation. At the next stop light he ignored us both.
Apparently he wasn't as into the Voloci as he let on.
She put 4.4 miles on it before the battery conked out. A far cry
from the claimed 20 mile range. The NiHM pack is on it's last legs
but maybe I can squeeze a few Hawkers in there?
The Voloci is a nicely made piece of kit. It's no motorcycle with
it's mountain bike forks, wheels, and brakes but it is a nice moped.
But it is nicely made of quality looking bits.
I think I'll keep it.
More Voloci info:
http://www.electricmotorcycles.net/px0b92275c.jpg
http://nycewheels.com/voloci-nimh-electric-motorbike.html
http://www.evfinder.com/voloci.htm
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http://www.electricmotorcycles.net/
Electric Motorcycle Listserv
http://www.electricmotorcycles.net/listserv
