Anton gives update with Swapmoto video

[Johnny Depp]

 

[Johnny Depp]

Almost 17k orders now. Enduro testers wanted a different loop. Skeptical testers were flipped to positive after riding. Swap Don missed a shift racing, and wished he was on the Stark. Anton wants his own Stark too.

Homologation competition news, FIM and ACU meetings, they are wanting to regulate power (instead of open class), expect to be racing at least at the national level by mid next year. Currently decling/withdrawing any wild card races, focused on production. Development proceeding, production will be improved over proto's in several different ways. 215k sq ft manufacturing facility. 1 order in Japan so far. Delay issues, finalizing details, scale of suppliers quantities, rather to be late and optimize than rush, delivery time of molding tooling, general issues. Had 6 or 7 then, built a few more and a bigger batch as we speak. When mechanical is confirmed, corrosion and other testing will commence. Quality manager is from a Japanese company. Backlash over delay? They have contacted a few hundred/thousand customers and the "cheerfully disappointed" is the overall response. Deposits less than 1% of the companies investments, they are well financed. No cancellations. More videos coming from the plant. 60 vs 80 orders 79% ordering 80 due to longer battery life, but it won't go longer, just more fun. Tesla engine braking discussed as hard to adapt to, but most people start to prefer it. Hand brake discussion with position vs mountain bikes. Smartphone display progress, encryption, phone on and off the bike shown and snapping in. Financing question, service manager from Porsche, finance solutions in place (Freedom Finance). Order #1 due Q1. Production rate slow ramp up, 1-2-3-400 per month up to 1000 per month. Warranty question, idiot proof charging. 2 year warranty for manufacturing errors. Shouldn't need a manual to use the bike. How to video manuals coming for customers and dealers and parts. QR code to unbox and assemble for home deliveries. Dealer training being readied. Effort into theft prevention. Internet trackable location. Swap Don is more aware of his rider shortcomings after riding Stark, using less clutch, not squeezing bikes enough (from drone video). Anton interested in developing heads up display for best line, braking points etc. Don was 6 seconds faster than the Husky. Dylan Woodcock (SX rider) was 7 seconds faster. Some testers ended up disappointed in lack of development of gas bikes after riding Stark. Only 4 crashes in the 2.5 weeks, 2 with damage. Anton mentions working with testing new materials to replace plastics and is biodegradable. Bodywork, chain sliders, skid plate etc. It looks like they will be lighter and it will happen in the future. 1st color red 48%, gray 32% then white 20%. Next factory walk through video in 2 weeks. Don still very excited for his.

 

[snydes]

Nice summary

 

[privateer703]

What will be the warranty on the battery? I read a 2-year warranty and that seems fine for most bikes that have a lot of after market support and easily replaced/repaired components all throughout the bike, but now you have one, from what I believe, very expensive part that cannot be repaired. Unless there is some way to diagnose and replace bad cells individually, but that seems like it won't be the case. So what will Stark offer when that original 2-year warranty runs out? I'm assuming they will offer some type of paid warranty extension, maybe not. What will they offer to purchasers of used bikes?