TKO ECR eMoto


XEMX1

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Central Florida
JoJo Toole was the factory rider for XE4 at the TKO, not Shawn Clark. Shawn maybe riding for us in the GNCC and FTR series racing.
We only entered one of the newest versions XE4 bike.

JoJo #144 was the fastest Prologue qualifier for the E class by 1:15 seconds after faulting at the last log in the Matrix.
He finish 16th out of all gas and electric bikes entered in the Prologue. Ran the Prologue again on his Sherco, just incase the
XE4 failed, in race one. I believe he finished in the top ten on the Sherco. FYI he was prequalified from last year to race in race two Automatically
but, he was so happy with the XE4 and our suspension, he wanted a shot at Sundays final race on the XE4.

FYI,,,, JoJo had less than one hour on the XE4 to tune and test the bike before racing it. ONLY one hour to feel how the throttle response and power
delivery was... Amazing talent on his part.. Next time will will be much better prepared.

Race one he was first place, leading all the electric bikes by about two minutes, up to the battery swap. We completed
the swap at about half way. Five miles. 76 volts remained in battery 1. Plenty to finish the race but we didn't have any empirical data
to know. The second place rider started the decent down when JoJo left the battery swap. Swap took about a minute because the bike was
on very rocky unleveled terrain and he could not except any assistance. JoJo remained in the lead till about a have mile left. Throttle took
some damage and grip spun on the throttle tube, so ended up getting passed by a rider from Hawaii. Sorry, I meet him and his wife but can't remember his
name. Great guy and super talented rider. He said he never fell over. Could have completed the first race 1, on 1 battery, after checking them after the finish.

Race Two JoJo started on the second row. Faulted on the same impact from the last log in the Matrix. Ran in ten place until the first big climb.
The bike had way to much power programed in the three maps and had a hard time getting traction. There is a short video on YT Red Bull you can see
him have a difficult time about 39 sec into the video.

He Finished the race in the allotted time at 1:42:07 in 39th place #144. First thirty riders automatically go to Sunday.
He was offered a shot at LCQ. Last Chance Qualifier. One rider dropped out which gave the remaining eight riders a shot a one 31 spot for Sunday.
The bike faulted in the LCQ and unfortunately he was knocked out, But XE4 has become the first electric bike to finish race two of the TKO.
Not to bad for a bike we started five years ago with, limited funds and printed battery boxes. FYI don't do that..

Race two used up 90 percent of the charge on both batteries we used. By my calculations neither the Alta, Stark or any bike I know of could finish this race
without a battery change or charge. But if they can, I would love to see them out next year. All of the guy's on electric bikes where great and it was good to
talk shop as well.

JoJo just posted his story on FB. I am not sure I can link it but try searching, JoJo Toole on FB. Or try link below.




IMG_1114.jpg
 

enjoythesilenc

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Location
virginia
So I did not finish the race, but to be honest I'm not surprised. The problem I had though was not what I thought I would have had. I managed the rock sections without too much difficulty. It wasn't pretty and it took a lot of my energy, so when I got into the single track I was tired. My problem was the hill climbs in the single track section. It was slick, but not that bad, the hills weren't that steep, but I just kept losing traction and spinning out. I realized my mistake after the race was trying to stay in map 2 in the single track. I should have switched down to 1. After numerous small injuries and sheer exhaustion I ended up bailing about halfway through. I was at about 1:45 in when I quit so I knew I wasn't going to make the 2.5 hr time limit. So as far as the competition, there was the factory rider on a storm bee, 3 guys from EM on Escapes, one Cake, a bunch of Sur Rons, and me. There were no other Alta's. I did see the XE4 bike, pretty nice. I do not know how they finished but I know that when I signed up there were only 25 total ebikes, and about 7 bikes never showed up for the start. I heard that a couple of racers entered both the ebike class and the regular class, I think they did the prologue on their SurRons to see how it would do, but then decided to do the full race on their ICE bikes. So only about 18 ebikes actually raced. I'm real interested to see how those EM's did, they were allowed to swap batteries during the race... I felt that was unfair after they already made the course shorter. In any case I'm going to go back, but not till after I practice some more. I'm glad I did it, it was really fun even though it was totally brutal.
Hey it took some balls to show up and race, sorry i couldnt join you! No shame in being knocked out at a race called the knock out. It sounds like the electric class was mostly a success and something to build upon. Look forward to any further debriefing and videos, etc. Obviously, traction control is a huge issue for offroad electric bikes. Even the hotshoe guys have to deal with it.
 

privateer703

AOF Addict
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Location
Altoona, PA
I've got a few pictures of the event, but nothing you can't see in all the YouTube videos being posted.
I was pretty sure this was out of my league, but I had to find out what I needed to work on. Because I was pretty nervous, and certain that this would likely end in injury and not success, I didn't race the Prologue. All Friday afternoon is the prologues, they release a rider every minute or so onto the short course. Your time for the prologue determines the starting order for Saturdays race. I was too nervous too even attempt the prologue. I figured if I was going to hurt myself it was going to be during the main race. You don't have to race the prologue but they put you behind everyone who did, in the order you signed up. While I was watching the prologue, this kid comes to the starting line, he couldn't have been older than 13. The start is on top of a container which is a steep downhill. The kid goes over the edge too slowly and face plants. Tough kid got up, got back on his bike and kept going. I don't know at that point if I was more worried that the kid was going to get really hurt or pass me on course the next day.
 

snydes

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Staff member
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2,795
Location
Pennsylvania
My rear was almost flat, maybe 4 psi, around 14 psi in the front (heavy duty tube).
As far as the rear pressure goes I’d say that’s about what I would have suggested trying. All in all aside from a worn tire I would think that your combination should have given you some decent bite. Map 1 would probably have helped with traction on the hills as I’m sure you knew.

Now you need to find a local climb to practice on for next year!
 

enjoythesilenc

Well-known member
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263
Location
virginia

Article lists the top 3 electrics and a little about the xe4. Two EM bikes on the podium. Probably makes sense in that the venue is the Trial training Center.

Tucker neary on the EM helmet cam. looks plenty gnarly

 

enjoythesilenc

Well-known member
Likes
263
Location
virginia
JoJo Toole was the factory rider for XE4 at the TKO, not Shawn Clark. Shawn maybe riding for us in the GNCC and FTR series racing.
We only entered one of the newest versions XE4 bike.

JoJo #144 was the fastest Prologue qualifier for the E class by 1:15 seconds after faulting at the last log in the Matrix.
He finish 16th out of all gas and electric bikes entered in the Prologue. Ran the Prologue again on his Sherco, just incase the
XE4 failed, in race one. I believe he finished in the top ten on the Sherco. FYI he was prequalified from last year to race in race two Automatically
but, he was so happy with the XE4 and our suspension, he wanted a shot at Sundays final race on the XE4.

FYI,,,, JoJo had less than one hour on the XE4 to tune and test the bike before racing it. ONLY one hour to feel how the throttle response and power
delivery was... Amazing talent on his part.. Next time will will be much better prepared.

Race one he was first place, leading all the electric bikes by about two minutes, up to the battery swap. We completed
the swap at about half way. Five miles. 76 volts remained in battery 1. Plenty to finish the race but we didn't have any empirical data
to know. The second place rider started the decent down when JoJo left the battery swap. Swap took about a minute because the bike was
on very rocky unleveled terrain and he could not except any assistance. JoJo remained in the lead till about a have mile left. Throttle took
some damage and grip spun on the throttle tube, so ended up getting passed by a rider from Hawaii. Sorry, I meet him and his wife but can't remember his
name. Great guy and super talented rider. He said he never fell over. Could have completed the first race 1, on 1 battery, after checking them after the finish.

Race Two JoJo started on the second row. Faulted on the same impact from the last log in the Matrix. Ran in ten place until the first big climb.
The bike had way to much power programed in the three maps and had a hard time getting traction. There is a short video on YT Red Bull you can see
him have a difficult time about 39 sec into the video.

He Finished the race in the allotted time at 1:42:07 in 39th place #144. First thirty riders automatically go to Sunday.
He was offered a shot at LCQ. Last Chance Qualifier. One rider dropped out which gave the remaining eight riders a shot a one 31 spot for Sunday.
The bike faulted in the LCQ and unfortunately he was knocked out, But XE4 has become the first electric bike to finish race two of the TKO.
Not to bad for a bike we started five years ago with, limited funds and printed battery boxes. FYI don't do that..

Race two used up 90 percent of the charge on both batteries we used. By my calculations neither the Alta, Stark or any bike I know of could finish this race
without a battery change or charge. But if they can, I would love to see them out next year. All of the guy's on electric bikes where great and it was good to
talk shop as well.

JoJo just posted his story on FB. I am not sure I can link it but try searching, JoJo Toole on FB. Or try link below.




View attachment 8921
Congratulations for building a bike that finished so well! What sort of battery consumption rate was your rider experiencing? When you say fault, the bike was having issues or the rider crashed, etc? The race format is sort of confusing as far as what each round entailed and how long the laps were. Trying to understand the comment that Stark 6kWh bike would not have finished a certain round or leg. (Obviously, battery swappability is a great feature of any electric offroad bike)
 

XEMX1

Member
Likes
11
Location
Central Florida
Race 1 was 10-12 miles, originally was told 14. more like 20 with all the zig zagging done. Never really
heard but the race promoter told me 12 and he laid out the course himself. We swapped batteries but
realized after the fact we didn't need to.

Race 2 was suppose to be 20 miles,(standard in years past) but I heard it was the hardest course for race 2 in several years, so
they shortened it. It rain really hard several days leading up to Friday. Creek Run was 2 feet deep and 30 yards long,
I was told. These might have been why it was so shortened. I also heard a rumor going around that SurRon, who
was a major sponsor wanted it shorter because the bikes would have ran out of battery. They still did amazing going up those
rock face inclines. They are great little bikes., but non made it to the finish.

We used two full Batteries but most of the small bikes made it fine. There where at least 3 Ebikes that set up at the half
way point to swap batteries. But because the XE4 was there first and swapped, I never saw how long it took for the others.
Our was quick. None of the other E Bikes finished the race in the time given. They where all swept off the course. I never saw
them at the finish either.

"FYI,,,, JoJo had less than one hour on the XE4 to tune and test the bike before racing it. ONLY one hour to feel how the throttle response and power
delivery was... Amazing talent on his part.. Next time will will be much better prepared."
 

XEMX1

Member
Likes
11
Location
Central Florida
"We used two full Batteries but most of the small bikes made it fine."
I was refereeing to the Electric Motion Bikes that made it thru Race 1..
 

enjoythesilenc

Well-known member
Likes
263
Location
virginia
I don't do hard enduro but I can tell its like most other skills. If you do it right , things are so much easier. The guys that have figured out how to just keep the bike moving are burning way less energy than the guys who end up behind the eight ball. I'm going to assume its like any other endurance discipline in that it starts and ends with core strength. You sit astride the bike and let it do the work for you. If you get behind the motion, energy expenditure goes up exponentially as you try to hang on or push through to regain lost momentum.

The videos of the guys struggling through the river bed does not look fun but I can see the sense of satisifaction this discipline does provide and am open to trying more challenging stuff. One of my friends has access to a farm not far from gettysburg. Its mostly fun singletrack but there is some fun trials stuff there, too. Creek and river beds are available with the typical east coast rocks and boulders. Awesome place to practice as you can do as much or as little as you like within a mile from the parking spot. Most guys are trail riders with trials curiosity. Privateer, is emmitsburg MD any closer to you than The Cove (which would be a great practice spot for boulder fields, too)?

I have to admit that when the host asked if we wanted to do the hard enduro stuff, I switched from my alta to the surron. I don;t have the mojo to keep the alta moving at all times and the surron was easier to "carry" since its weighs 100# less. No surprise that the winners at TKO were on light EM bikes. Alternatively, Toole is young, strong and skilled to be able to ride the XE4 like a normal dirtbike through the riverbeds.
 

privateer703

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Location
Altoona, PA
It looks like they are about the same distance from me. What's in Emmitsburg? I'm not aware of any riding there. The Cove is good practice for rocks, and they have a few challenging hills... except their hills are loose rock, not much muddy hills. My non-riding friends like the Cove because they can also fish and shoot.
 

enjoythesilenc

Well-known member
Likes
263
Location
virginia
It looks like they are about the same distance from me. What's in Emmitsburg? I'm not aware of any riding there. The Cove is good practice for rocks, and they have a few challenging hills... except their hills are loose rock, not much muddy hills. My non-riding friends like the Cove because they can also fish and shoot.
emmitsburg is a private property where a buddy has cut trails. There is a small river that runs through and a small creek as well. The riverbed is about 30 feet wide and is mostly babyheads and bigger boulders. The creek is about 4 feet wide with the same but with more extreme ledges. Some of the trail is steep hill with chunky loose stuff which is impossible for me on an alta if its at all wet. I rode it this weekend and made the hills but it was dry.

Also I'm running a trials tire with a 46 sprocket in map one while feathering a left hand rear brake for traction control. Still need to see if Erzberg firmware helps or not...
 

privateer703

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Location
Altoona, PA
Also I'm running a trials tire with a 46 sprocket in map one while feathering a left hand rear brake for traction control. Still need to see if Erzberg firmware helps or not...
Ok, sounds like I need to check this place out. Do you like the 46 tooth sprocket? I just replaced my chain and sprockets and I feel I geared to high. Also, what do you think of the trials tire?
 

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