The Bitchinest Electric Streetbike Open House July 27th 12 to 4PM

[Butch]

Lightning Open House Barf Style - July 27th 12 to 4PM
When: Saturday, July 27, 2019, 12 to 4 pm

Where: Lightning Headquarters
6299 San Ignacio Ave,
San Jose, CA 95119

Who: YOU! Bring your friends for an afternoon of food and fun festivities. A live DJ will provide the tunes, so wear your dancin' boots!

Scope out the new Lightning LS-218 Electric Superbike, and the soon to be released Lightning Strike!

Mark your calendar for a BARF gathering on July 27th at the Lightning Motorcycles Facility in South San Jose. This event is sponsored by Lightning and BARF, your Bay Area Riders Forum.

There is some good street riding nearby and dirt riding at the Santa Clara motorcycle county park is just 5 miles away. Go hit Mt. Hamilton or ride some dirt and then join us!

Lightning Motorcycle manufactures the world's fastest electric motorcycle and offers the most affordable premium electric motorcycle available today. During this event you can view the Lightning LS-218 electric superbike and preview the soon to be released Lightning Strike

There will be food and other fun activities and a DJ. More details will be announced later as we are working on adding things to do and see. If you have an idea for entertainment/ or as a BARF Sponsor you want to throw up a pop up and share the day please let us know.!

Please feel free to share this with your friends and join us!!!!

The other stuff with more to be added:
Lightning Open House Barf Style - July 27th 12 to 4PM - BARF - Bay Area Riders Forum

Boosted Skateboards will join us and you can try out one of their demo's. Electric Skateboarding in full moto gear should be fun..
Cycle Gear is bringing out a canopy and some cool stuff to check out!....

Food/Beverages available from Rich’s Taco Truck

Julio from DedRinger will be our DJ spinning digits of solid music.
He has a vast collection so ask him to play your fav.

Slow race will go from 1:30 to 2:30 so go slow and win shit!

 

[Butch]

Am I going to see any of you guys on Saturday at this Lightning thing? Electrobraap?

 

[Redwolf]

Am I going to see any of you guys on Saturday at this Lightning thing? Electrobraap?

I think we're relying on you for a report out, at least I am.

 

[leeo45]

I think we're relying on you for a report out, at least I am.

Same for me. 2,552 miles and 729 recharges on the ALTA is a bit too far for a one day event. I am interested to hear about the new Lightning street bikes and especially interested in the real world range and charge times. Their marketing info is claiming some pretty good numbers.

 

[Butch]

I am pretty lucky to have them in my backyard. i try to explain speed and aerodynamic drag and the exponational realtionship to people but... Aero is everything if you wan to cover some distance with an electric vehicle.

Rich has done alot of wind tunnel testing.

 

[Butch]

There will be a formal presentation at 1pm, indoors. They have air conditioning.

 

[leeo45]

I am pretty lucky to have them in my backyard. i try to explain speed and aerodynamic drag and the exponational realtionship to people but... Aero is everything if you wan to cover some distance with an electric vehicle.

Rich has done alot of wind tunnel testing.

So, I guess you are telling me that as a 6'- 3" rider on an ALTA EXR dual sport my Cd and my A are not optimal for long range at highway speeds.

 

[Butch]

So, I guess you are telling me that as a 6'- 3" rider on an ALTA EXR dual sport my Cd and my A are not optimal for long range at highway speeds.

You just have to tuck. I had to ride a bud’s EXR on some twisties to my house and back, kinda 40 mph pace, and I really slowed it down when I realized I might run out of electrons to make it the full 34 miles. It went into blinkey mode at 32 miles. I get 40 plus miles riding singletrack at about 15...

Highway speeds are tough for electric...

I’ll have to ask Rich how much range the LS-218 has at 200 mph or faster like they did at Bonneville. And how fast did Carlin Dunne go at Bonneville...

 

[Butch]

Come to think of it, I do not know to what extent the shop is air conditioned. The conference room is. The bathrooms are.

 

[C5tor]

Looks like I need to be down in San Jose anyway. I think I will head over. Hope to see some other Alta folks too.

Didn't realize it is just down the street from Metcalf Motorcycle park.

 

[Redwolf]

 

[Butch]

Very cool event. Nice facility. Super yummy food. Way awesome motorcycles. Some scary brilliant engineer folks. Fascinating history. I just live living in the center of the universe.

 

[Butch]

Lightning Open House Barf Style - July 27th 12 to 4PM - Page 3 - BARF - Bay Area Riders Forum

 

[C5tor]

Here’s a few pics I took at the Lightning facility today.

 

[C5tor]

A few snippets I picked up from the presentation and also later from talking with Rich and Butch, in no particular order...

To get the cost down from $38k (the LS-218) to $13k (Strike), they built their own factory in China. Rich showed me the live video feed in his office from the factory floor in China. He said it has roughly the same square footage as the San Jose facility, and is full of CNC machines and assembly lines. He said current wait times if you order are about 90 days.

Battery tech is progressing amazingly. Rich hinted several times that some company (he didn't say which) has batteries that charge in 5 minutes! When Butch and I hinted that it would be awesome if someone could make a total replacement batteries for our Altas with newer battery tech, Rich said that anyone could make a battery for that... (I assume if you threw enough money at that person, had lots of resources, etc.)

The Strike has many charging options, from 120/240 adapters to full-on EV charging station compatibility.

There are several battery options across the Lightning line, from as small as 10kw to as high as 23kw, with the largest taking over half of the bike's weight. I think he said the 23kw setup was about 100 kg.

While the LS-218 has a chain drive, the new Strike has belt drive. He had just mentioned that the components with the most wear were the chain and the rear tires. I asked him to clarify why they were going with belt tech, and he said the new belts are more than tough enough to handle the beating.

He spun up the belt drive on one of the Strikes, and while the motor was almost silent, the belt sounded like an avenging banshee (but in a good way) with instant acceleration from 0 to a gazillion rpms in the twist of a wrist. Of course, the rear wheel was off the ground.

The dinosaur-looking piece of "sculpture" in the pics above is actually a design study they did on a prototype swingarm, when they were experimenting with the lightest but strongest swingarm they could make. Looks pretty cool.

Sounds like the "LS-218" model name comes from the Land Speed record they set at Bonneville a few years ago (218mph). FYI, the current LS-218 has 40hp more than the bike that set the record!

 

[Butch]

Big fun, here in the center of the universe. Currently. Really cool stuff, really cool people. There were some really scary brilliant design folks there. And this other dude, a development engineering racer dude, that was the best.

 

[F451]

Wow, some amazing tech there. Hmm, wonder how much I could get for my old 928? Lol. If hadn't given up riding on the street some time ago I'd seriously be scheming to buy one of these.

Thanks for the report guys, looks like an afternoon well spent.

 

[F451]

And I've been wondering about belt drive for the Altas. My chain is pretty noisy. I'm thinking a belt drive and rocks, gravel, sand, and mud don't mix too well. Not to mention the gearing change hassles since there's not an unlimited supply of belt drive sprockets the way there is for chain drives.

 

[Butch]

Oh...
Boosted Boards was way fun. https://boostedboards.com Waaaay fun. I rode the short board, the long board and the scooter. Really nice fun solid functional products. Scooter goes like 24 and has good brakes. I approve.

 

[Oded]

And I've been wondering about belt drive for the Altas. My chain is pretty noisy. I'm thinking a belt drive and rocks, gravel, sand, and mud don't mix too well. Not to mention the gearing change hassles since there's not an unlimited supply of belt drive sprockets the way there is for chain drives.

I had a Zero FX with a belt drive. It was super smooth, but super unreliable for off road.
Changed it to chain drive (Zero sell an aftermarket kit), and started abusing the bike off road without a problem.

Off road pro machines like the Alta need a chain.