Em5.7

[michael_t]

I have to say I have never seen anybody discuss the top speed of a trials bike before... If you are looking for a bike with higher top speed there are much better options on the market.

[gwhy]

so is that with the gearing that the guy is using in the video and/or is that standard ?.. the only reason I am interested in the actual top speed is you can work out how much torque it got . I know some of the specs of the motor they are using and possibly the controller spec so you can get a very good picture of what the bike is capable of. Its not a speed thing its a power/torque thing .. You should know all about this if you put together a diy e-trials bike ..

[michael_t]

Ahhh that makes sense the students actually used 2 stage gearing to achieve their desired result but it wasn't without issue.

[geraldkealakai]

I have heard it does not do well in extreme conditions such as rock faces and steep hill climbs. It seems it is more designed for intermediate level riding. Like most things it would be best to give it a try if at all possible before buying but I'm guessing that it would be tough to find somebody local that had one.

That was my experience too. I've had an EM5.7 since the fall of 2013 however it has been stored unused in my basement since the fall of 2014 as it does not perform as was stated in writing by the Dealer. Spent months trying to troubleshoot the bike, but the manufacturer finally let me know that I was riding it at too high of a level.

In my opinion and experience - if you are new to the sport or if you ride at a lower-intermediate level AND you do not ride steep hill climbs or rock faces with bursts of full power exceeding about 3 seconds, then it is a great bike. No fluids, no gears, no stalling, and best of all - no kickstarting.

For me, I had a GasGas 300 before having the EM5.7, and I now am back on a gas bike. Probably nothing yet will perform like a gas bike performs for steep rock faces and climbs where full power is required for more than about 3 seconds.

Another point - it was very disappointing to find that the "clutch" was 'on/off' and not what my copy of the manual described as a modulating clutch. I wrote the manufacturer about this, and all they did is rewrite that section of the manual and email me a new copy. That seemed to be kind of a cheesy thing to do.

Edited March 19, 2015 by geraldkealakai

[michael_t]

That was my experience too. I've had an EM5.7 since the fall of 2013 however it has been stored unused in my basement since the fall of 2014 as it does not perform as was stated in writing by the Dealer. Spent months trying to troubleshoot the bike, but the manufacturer finally let me know that I was riding it at too high of a level.

In my opinion and experience - if you are new to the sport or if you ride at a lower-intermediate level AND you do not ride steep hill climbs or rock faces with bursts of full power exceeding about 3 seconds, then it is a great bike. No fluids, no gears, no stalling, and best of all - no kickstarting.

For me, I had a GasGas 300 before having the EM5.7, and I now am back on a gas bike. Probably nothing yet will perform like a gas bike performs for steep rock faces and climbs where full power is required for more than about 3 seconds.

Another point - it was very disappointing to find that the "clutch" was 'on/off' and not what my copy of the manual described as a modulating clutch. I wrote the manufacturer about this, and all they did is rewrite that section of the manual and email me a new copy. That seemed to be kind of a cheesy thing to do.

I just got back from Vancouver I wish I had known you had a bike sitting idle I would have loved to have given it a try... I was thinking of the EM5.7 but I ended up going with Sherco it was a tough decision as I am sure the EM5.7 would do everything I would want in a bike and here in NS I could probably even get a street plate for it (how fun would that be)... I guess there is always next year .

[gwhy]

One tip if anyone here rides one, remember to turn it off if your not using it. Couple times I've accidentally touched the throttle and shot off. Easy mistake to make

I have a magnetic lanyard on all my bikes so when I get off the bike the lanyard comes with me.. and this disables the bike.. I have also got in the habit of also pulling the lanyard if I am ever talking to someone about my bikes as people just feel the urge to say things like "so this is the throttle" and then go to give it a twist 

[goudrons]

I've been lucky enough to try an EM5.7.

(thanks Steve)

 

It's hard to compare with a petrol bike, but it really did surprise me once my head got around a few things.

 

It doesn't feel like it's that powerful, no matter what setting, best it felt was similarly powered to a 125, with the thottle wide open, flat out, you might feel a little robbed, but it does have some strong low down urge.

 

Power delivery seemed aggresive enough, but it felt there was a small delay, almost like you'd get with too much slack in a cable (of a petrol bike), once past the first couple of mm of twist, the motor bit fairly fiecely

(and the owner looked a bit nervous as he stood well back and I wanged it open)

So a little right wrist finesse is needed and a bit of forward thinking hopping steps and logs (more later on that)

 

As mentioned, climbing needs the power on all the way, there's no flywheel to carry you on.

After your first (failed) attempt, it's easily over come and feels natural enough to power all the way.

 

Hopping steps and logs I first attempted to use the "clutch" or ELS or whatever it's called, but it doesn't really work as you'd expect.

It just seems to stop the motor powering rather than what you'd think it would do,

ie spin the motor up yet disengage drive.

 

Due to this, I found it unnatural to wind the throttle on (with no sense of what the motor is doing) and dumping the lever to get it to rear up.

 

This tended to be a bit hit and miss, I guess due to not being aware of how much input you have on the motor, as it's not spinning and not making a noise you can't really gauge what state it's likely to be in when the lever is released.

 

Once I'd dismissed the lever for this sort of thing and considered myself a lazy git, I went back to ye olde ways of a bit of technique, it seemed a lot easier to hop it up.

With a bit more concentration and timing I found it responded well to rolling in, compressing the forks, flicking the throttle and springing off the rear shock without messing with the lever, after all you can stop and start without it and the power does bite fairly well.

 

I certainly got it to step up way further than I expected and slapped the seat into my balls a few times, but I could sense it being a little limited this way.

 

I wouldn't have liked to attempt anything to big this way, I'm not sure I'd trust the power deliver to come in 100% of the time (due to batteries) to launch it way up high all the time.

And not sure I'd get used to gauging how far to wind the throttle on and use the lever without any senses telling me what state the motor is likey to be at when released either.

 

I didn't get the use to really comment on battery life, again more time on one would tell.

 

All in all, like I first wrote, quite a surprise and with a bit of time and practice on it, I wouldn't be put off attempting an Inter route on one.

I can see there are some good pluses for beginners and novices and if/when the electric competition comes, (a manufacturer war is always good for development) I can see them moving on very quickly, either that or we're all forced onto them!

 

 

Edited May 28, 2015 by goudrons

[guys]

So a real clutch and a bit more flywheel weight wouldn't hurt.

[goudrons]

There's obvious issues with battery life and weight adding a flywheel and conventional clutch system.

Quite a lot of battery would just spin away into thin air winding up a flywheel.

 

Sure it would make it ride more like petrol, but I'm still not convinced it would be like for like and fair to compare it with a modern petrol model at this time.

 

I don't want to sound unfair to them, because I'm all for them, but I'm going out on a limb and perhaps suggesting it might be best in a class of it's own or the very least, it's limited to a certain class/level of competition until they move on a bit more.

 

I'd be more than happy to compete in a class with others on the same sort of machine, though I might be p****d off having to refuse to attempt something that I normally wouldn't bat an eyelid tackling (and someone on a petrol in my class does!)

 

After riding it, I'm more sure now that the development will come, sooner or later and to be honest, it was a lot further on than my prejudiced mind first thought!

 

Also, it might not seem like a big deal, but it does kind of feel upbeat it's on sale and they're being bought, like our sport will have some future, no matter who and what tries to scupper it.

 

It's a step, whether it's a forward one at the moment I'm not sure, but at least our sport it not standing still and as we all know, there's no big enough manufacturers to fully develop a machine first, they all sell and develop them on the go through customers and competition, so anyone that has bought one, good on you and good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2015 by goudrons

[guys]

Energy that's stored in a flywheel doesn't just disappear in thin air, far from.

[goudrons]

Guys, I guess I didn't word that correctly.

What I'm suggesting is the energy used to power a flywheel and operate through a conventional clutch would more than likely limit it's operating window.

Due to friction it would use more energy storing the power in the flywheel and transmitting it through a clutch than it got out of the energy stored in the fly in the first place.

The electric motor isn't too far away from being instant enough already, and since it's either off or on, it uses nothing until it moves via the motor.

 

Andy, I completely agree, to get a better picture, one would need to spend a lot more time on one, most of what I mentioned is to do with natural feel of the thing and confidence and to be fair, the above is just my opinion, I'm sure others have different ones.

 

I also agree with leaving the "clutch" lever alone and concentrating on technique is probably the way to go.

Edited May 28, 2015 by goudrons

[borus]

There is an easy adjustment to take throttle "slack" out. Sounds like the bike you tested wasn't adjusted. 

 

Did you have it on map 1 or 2. By the sounds of your report it was on map 1? Map 2 is the power trial map. 

 

I have given test rides to people who come back with it on map 1. 

 

The more time you spend on one the better. 

[guys]

The clutch/flywheel might be a good idea to please the riders who want a bike that's as close as possible to one with a combustion engine, and who like to dump the clutch at higher revs, to get on to higher obstacles.

It might win some doubters over to an electric bike.

[borus]

I have seen a mechanical clutch unit they have, but, more weight, more money and when you ride an EM trials bike you come to realize you really don't need it. We'll see what the future brings.  

[gwhy]

I spent a long time developing a electronic clutch  for my bikes and and now have it dialled in and it behaves 100% as a mechanical clutch does. There is no need to have a flywheel as long as the controller is set up correctly ( and the electronics :-) ) but one thing I would say is like someone has said previously without the feed back from the noise of the engine it can make it a bit tricky to get used to, you could resort in a visual indicator for throttle position and that helps but also take a lot of getting used to.