From: Ducati ducati-bounces@list.ducati.net on behalf of Kevin Kachadourian kkachadourian@gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2020 10:28 PM
To: Ducati Owners Group ducati@list.ducati.net
Subject: Re: [Ducati] Fwd: Re: NDC: LiveWire Demo

Well, I just recently took the plunge and bought a LIghtning Strike Carbon, and here's a report.

The bike feels heavy after my '96 900 SSSP, but once moving, it is not a problem. What feels more odd about the weight is the center of gravity feels higher, which I attribute to the batteries. I have not pulled off the body work to look at the guts yet.
As far as performance, so far so good. No track days yet, but some fun runs on familiar twisties here on the east side of the SF Bay, and some new twisties in the foothills east of Fresno, CA. My thoughts so far:

• power: f**k! I still don't think I've gone WOT yet. Forget the shifting, just twist the throttle, now you're going 90 mph, except, between the quiet motor, no exhaust sound and Ohlins suspension, it feels more like 65. All the power, all the time. I've had the bike back to Lightning a couple of times and each time, Richard adjusts the software, so the throttle response is just about where I want it.
• sound. I stopped missing the sound of the exhaust pretty quickly (and, believe me, I love the sound of the Duck and that Termi spaghetti system). I wonder if the lack of sound makes the sensation of acceleration even more intense. My fantasy is to sign up for two track days with Keith Code, one on their BMW S1000R and one on the Strike. I think that would be a good comparison.
• handling. So far so good. I've got the chicken strips down to about 1/4-1/2 inch on the left and a bit more on the right (gotta work on those right hand bends), so I'm working it a bit. One thing that takes getting used to is the difference in engine braking. The Duck has some decent engine braking, but the Strike, with it's regenerative braking, has a lot. So, closed throttle is like trail braking, and you've got to crack the throttle a bit to get "neutral" throttle.
• It wants to go fast. I was troubled at first by how much pressure I had to maintain on the inside handlebar to stay on my line in a bend. When I started going in a bit faster and driving a bit harder in the bend, the resistance went away. Nice.
• Battery oddities. In addition to the usual range worry that one has while learning the bike (I went through this with my Nissan Leaf), I have discovered one other oddity. Near the end of a ride and battery running a bit low, I was following my friend east of Fresno (he was on my 900 SS, now his 900 SS) and decided to drop back some so I could pull the throttle to catch up with speed. When I whacked open the throttle, the motor cut out. I coasted to the side, turned the bike off, waited a minute, turned it back on, and everything was fine. Seems the computer has programming to protect the battery, so when you ask for more juice than the computer thinks the battery has, or can give without damage, it just turns it off. I see this as a dual challenge: I need to learn better about where it's at with regard to battery capacity, and Richard needs to work on the software, to give warnings, and dial down motor power to avoid total loss (something I believe he is already doing).
• In the end. I'm hooked. Yea, I loved my previous bikes: my junkyard cannibalized Honda 125 (first bike), Honda '73 CB350, '85 Suzuki GS450, '83 Interceptor 750, '85 Cagiva Alazzurra 650 (still have this one), and the highly modified '96 Duck 900SSSP. But, I have no interest in going back to ICE motorcycles. This doesn't mean I don't still watch MotoGP and root for Ducati (though lately, it's been kind of hard). It just means I can no longer see myself on an ICE bike. Whooosh.

Sorry if this was a long post.
Kevin

From: Ducati ducati-bounces@list.ducati.net on behalf of Kevin Kachadourian kkachadourian@gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2020 10:28 PM
To: Ducati Owners Group ducati@list.ducati.net
Subject: Re: [Ducati] Fwd: Re: NDC: LiveWire Demo

Well, I just recently took the plunge and bought a LIghtning Strike Carbon, and here's a report.

The bike feels heavy after my '96 900 SSSP, but once moving, it is not a problem. What feels more odd about the weight is the center of gravity feels higher, which I attribute to the batteries. I have not pulled off the body work to look at the guts yet.
As far as performance, so far so good. No track days yet, but some fun runs on familiar twisties here on the east side of the SF Bay, and some new twisties in the foothills east of Fresno, CA. My thoughts so far:

• power: f**k! I still don't think I've gone WOT yet. Forget the shifting, just twist the throttle, now you're going 90 mph, except, between the quiet motor, no exhaust sound and Ohlins suspension, it feels more like 65. All the power, all the time. I've had the bike back to Lightning a couple of times and each time, Richard adjusts the software, so the throttle response is just about where I want it.
• sound. I stopped missing the sound of the exhaust pretty quickly (and, believe me, I love the sound of the Duck and that Termi spaghetti system). I wonder if the lack of sound makes the sensation of acceleration even more intense. My fantasy is to sign up for two track days with Keith Code, one on their BMW S1000R and one on the Strike. I think that would be a good comparison.
• handling. So far so good. I've got the chicken strips down to about 1/4-1/2 inch on the left and a bit more on the right (gotta work on those right hand bends), so I'm working it a bit. One thing that takes getting used to is the difference in engine braking. The Duck has some decent engine braking, but the Strike, with it's regenerative braking, has a lot. So, closed throttle is like trail braking, and you've got to crack the throttle a bit to get "neutral" throttle.
• It wants to go fast. I was troubled at first by how much pressure I had to maintain on the inside handlebar to stay on my line in a bend. When I started going in a bit faster and driving a bit harder in the bend, the resistance went away. Nice.
• Battery oddities. In addition to the usual range worry that one has while learning the bike (I went through this with my Nissan Leaf), I have discovered one other oddity. Near the end of a ride and battery running a bit low, I was following my friend east of Fresno (he was on my 900 SS, now his 900 SS) and decided to drop back some so I could pull the throttle to catch up with speed. When I whacked open the throttle, the motor cut out. I coasted to the side, turned the bike off, waited a minute, turned it back on, and everything was fine. Seems the computer has programming to protect the battery, so when you ask for more juice than the computer thinks the battery has, or can give without damage, it just turns it off. I see this as a dual challenge: I need to learn better about where it's at with regard to battery capacity, and Richard needs to work on the software, to give warnings, and dial down motor power to avoid total loss (something I believe he is already doing).
• In the end. I'm hooked. Yea, I loved my previous bikes: my junkyard cannibalized Honda 125 (first bike), Honda '73 CB350, '85 Suzuki GS450, '83 Interceptor 750, '85 Cagiva Alazzurra 650 (still have this one), and the highly modified '96 Duck 900SSSP. But, I have no interest in going back to ICE motorcycles. This doesn't mean I don't still watch MotoGP and root for Ducati (though lately, it's been kind of hard). It just means I can no longer see myself on an ICE bike. Whooosh.

Sorry if this was a long post.
Kevin