BAD NEWS

[OneLapper]

Go fund me would be just a gift to Alta. Not sure most people here would be willing to give them what they need, I wouldn't. I thought I read somewhere that they have produced about 1300 bikes. If every owner gave $1,000 that would only be $1.3 mil and I am pretty sure they need a lot more than that. Interesting idea though. I would be willing to be part of an investment group/partnership that is part of a buy out/investment in Alta. Basically an Alta Owners venture capital group. That way we could look at the books, have representation in the management/board decision and expect eventually to be repaid. According to an SEC form D filed in May of 2017 they had a offering of $26.1M and sold $12.4M, leaving $13.7M remaining to be sold. I don't know how current this is, but my guess is they need to get $13-15M based on this. That would be about $10K per owner which isn't unreasonable as an investment, but not as a gift. Basically 1 bike for the price of 2, wait, than's not how it is supposed to work.

@Duncan and I were discussing this during our ride today. Duncan came up with the figure of $10k per owner as well to create an Alta Owners capital group.

 

[privateer703]

If they did go bankrupt and they were selling off the business in bits, you could buy the battery portion for much less than what the whole company is worth. For future support the battery tech and the electrical designs/software are the most important piece to the owners. You don't necessarily need to purchase the full production facility. The gofundme was more a joke, sort of..

 

[Rocketz152]

On the topic of the new firmware update... did anyone notice a difference after getting it? I may hold off if there’s no noticeable difference...

 

[datadog]

Some important functional updates in there. It should not affect the performance at all. Recommended for safety and reliability, which is generally the root of all the firmware updates. Things we learn from in the field failures and glitches (we call them bugs) are remedied and prevented from happening in the future.

 

[Oded]

On the topic of the new firmware update... did anyone notice a difference after getting it? I may hold off if there’s no noticeable difference...

mostly behind the scenes changes, nothing that I could tell a difference while riding.

 

[Philip]

I would be willing to be part of an investment group/partnership that is part of a buy out/investment in Alta. Basically an Alta Owners venture capital group.

Sign me up!

I did Marc about this earlier this year, and he said that they were not taking in investors at that time. It is much different now though. But, even as part of an investor's group, you might still have to be an "accredited investor" with the FTC, I think. Is it still true incase on an investment fund?

 

[Mark911]

, etc[QUOTE="privateer703, post: 7061, member: 251" For future support the battery tech and the electrical designs/software are the most important piece to the owners. .[/QUOTE]

Having torn my battery pack apart to analyze it, I got to say there's very little tech incorporated. At first (see some of my other posts) I wanted to believe there was something "special", either hard/soft, but I've concluded that's not the case. They've done a fantastic job at packaging everything into the lightest/smallest size possible (for a passively cooled pack), but nothing worth paying the IP for. Probably why many potential buyers are passing on the opportunity to buy the company and why they've been so hush-hush regarding anything about the pack.

I can with almost 100% confidence assure my fellow Alta owners that there is a way the replace all the cells in the pack if needed. It will be a labor intensive task (as is the OEM process) and require a few special tools but it can be done. In addition, as Li-ion 18650 cell tech continues to evolve we'll be able to take advantage within the limitations of the existing support hardware/software.

The electronic portion of the BMS/motor control housed within the pack is more difficult. Board or component failure might be difficult to troubleshoot and repair without Alta's help (release schematics, logic, component, microcontroller flash and comm data, etc). Worse case would be to bypass the existing pack electronics and piggy back a commercially available solution which can perform the same functions (maybe better) and emulate the original interface signals to other controllers. Again, it just takes some market demand.

 

[TCMB371]

Man, what a headline that would be:

"Alta Owners buy Alta Motors."

 

[TCMB371]

For future support the battery tech and the electrical designs/software are the most important piece to the owners. .

Having torn my battery pack apart to analyze it, I got to say there's very little tech incorporated. At first (see some of my other posts) I wanted to believe there was something "special", either hard/soft, but I've concluded that's not the case. They've done a fantastic job at packaging everything into the lightest/smallest size possible (for a passively cooled pack), but nothing worth paying the IP for. Probably why many potential buyers are passing on the opportunity to buy the company and why they've been so hush-hush regarding anything about the pack.

I can with almost 100% confidence assure my fellow Alta owners that there is a way the replace all the cells in the pack if needed. It will be a labor intensive task (as is the OEM process) and require a few special tools but it can be done. In addition, as Li-ion 18650 cell tech continues to evolve we'll be able to take advantage within the limitations of the existing support hardware/software.

The electronic portion of the BMS/motor control housed within the pack is more difficult. Board or component failure might be difficult to troubleshoot and repair without Alta's help (release schematics, logic, component, microcontroller flash and comm data, etc). Worse case would be to bypass the existing pack electronics and piggy back a commercially available solution which can perform the same functions (maybe better) and emulate the original interface signals to other controllers. Again, it just takes some market demand.

I'm glad you live relatively close to me, Mark.

 

[Luigic81]

Appreciate this info Mark. As someone who is on the fence right now about picking one of these up, I'm a little more concerned about items that would be easily damaged in a crash. Namely the throttle tube and LCD control panel on the bars. Are there 3rd parties making those components?

 

[snydes]

Appreciate this info Mark. As someone who is on the fence right now about picking one of these up, I'm a little more concerned about items that would be easily damaged in a crash. Namely the throttle tube and LCD control panel on the bars. Are there 3rd parties making those components?

A concern of mine also. Those items are very vulnerable and from what I recall from another post about the display that item required additional steps to replace.

 

[Luigic81]

A concern of mine also. Those items are very vulnerable and from what I recall from another post about the display that item required additional steps to replace.

Yes I've been reading through the forums and it seems like the dealer has to update the firmware with a LCD replacement....
If there is a workaround thats great, but if not I'm having a really hard time pulling the trigger on buying one of these which is sad because I absolutely love how the bike performs.

 

[bluefxstc]

Yes I've been reading through the forums and it seems like the dealer has to update the firmware with a LCD replacement....
If there is a workaround thats great, but if not I'm having a really hard time pulling the trigger on buying one of these which is sad because I absolutely love how the bike performs.

Probably has to update the odometer so that the bike mileage is correct. Couldn't have you replacing the screen and then selling the bike as low mileage.

 

[Rocketz152]

I’m just curious... if Alta is truly gone do we have any legal options for them to release the tools we need (diagnostic abilities, etc) in order to keep these bikes going? Still hoping for good news but trying to prepare for the worst...

 

[TCMB371]

I seriously doubt that Alta would withhold the software and tools us "early investors/adopters" need to keep these bikes going for many years. I just don't get that vibe from the company and its former employees.

 

[Silent But Dirty]

I seriously doubt that Alta would withhold the software and tools us "early investors/adopters" need to keep these bikes going for many years. I just don't get that vibe from the company and its former employees.

Not to mention that we have a great community of owners here. I'm pretty sure that if it it's needed, we will be able to make anything happen.

 

[Rocketz152]

I’m with you guys... just thinking of the worst possible scenario...

 

[dgedition]

It’s definitely dirty how Alta hasn’t even sent out a press release or anything to owners about support.

I understand if their probably trying to work out a deal or if there are legal obsticals with releasing properietary info for owners to try and privately maintain their bikes.

But nope, we just got this “thank you” message.

Even a cryptic “we’ll let you know what the future holds” would be the half way decent thing to do.

You’d have to be smoking crack right now to be thinking about buying one of these paperweights! Hahahaha

 

[Rix]

It’s definitely dirty how Alta hasn’t even sent out a press release or anything to owners about support.

I understand if their probably trying to work out a deal or if there are legal obsticals with releasing properietary info for owners to try and privately maintain their bikes.

But nope, we just got this “thank you” message.

Even a cryptic “we’ll let you know what the future holds” would be the half way decent thing to do.

You’d have to be smoking crack right now to be thinking about buying one of these paperweights! Hahahaha

Alta did release a message that production was shut down. These are good machines and nobody should be hesitant not to buy one, even right now. This issue is they may not be able to be maintained in working condition without some serious enthusiast assistance in 5 years down the road. The chassis will be serviceable for the next 20 years or so without too much drama though. Hell, I know a guy that restored a 1982 Husqvarna CR 250. There were no production parts for that bike. He either machined the parts he needed, or paid serious bucks for the parts he needed. The same can be done with the Alta. I really don't think it will come to that though.

 

[dgedition]

I know they released a message about shutting down operations but that didn’t mention what current owner options are for service and parts in the immediate future.

I understand the bike can be maintained for years without Alta afloat but that doesn’t change the fact Alta just dipped out without providing at the very least a month of courtesy parts support and service.

Even if Alta is bought out in the next couple weeks it’s not a good way to do business in an industry where consumers are especially afraid to dip there toes in due to all the unknowns.

Most people out there just saw the headline “Alta shuts down”. Now you have 1000’s of potential customers thinking “wow, thank god I didn’t go down the electric route”.