Another long electric test report!

[Mr Gazza]

My test ride was a bit spontaneous in some ways. Although I had arranged a club meet at the premises of The English Electric Motor Co. In Redgrave, Suffolk, I hadn’t been together enough to arrange a test ride for myself.

Nathan had correctly assumed I would like a ride on the Energica Eva Ribelle and had two ready and waiting. So I was mentally a little unprepared for the experience and certainly not read up on the Ribelle.
I also stupidly had not brought my camera, so pictures are archive or publicity shots.

Please forgive my frequent comparisons to the Zero as that is the only other electric bike I have ridden, see my impressions here. http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ight=Grab+brew

This is going to be a from the guts type test report, but you can get all the facts and figures you desire here; https://www.energicamotor.com/energi...c-hyper-naked/
Broadly we are looking at a peak power output of 169hp with 159 ft-lbs of torque. That’s more than double my Monsters bhp and a little more than three times the torque! I’ve not ridden anything even approaching that so this will be a new experience for sure.
All the numbers are bigger or better than the equivalent on the Zero. Range, power and shorter charging time ect.

[Mr Gazza]

There were two Ribelles lined up, a grey one and a Red one, Did I mention that Energica is made in Italy? Well I had to go for the Red one of course which also happens to be an RS version.
This one has almost all the optional extras fitted including some natty panniers and about a hectare of carbon panels. With all that and it’s fancy Öhlins suspension, it’s worth about the thirty grand mark. So this is also going to be the most expensive motorbike I’ve ever ridden.

I have to admit to glazing over a bit when Nathan took me through the menu of settings and how the dash worked. You can browse the menu with a handlebar rocker not unlike a big trafficator switch, which can be done on the move if required to change ride parameters.
There’s power, ABS and traction control levels to select as well as a re-gen function which alters how much “engine braking “ is applied and therefore how much energy is recycled back into the batteries when the throttle is off. This is the bit I wish I’d paid more attention to.
Nathan set this to “medium” It can be set down to zero if required. There’s lots of useful info displayed on the dash, but I was mainly concerned with the big digital speedo.

Rocking the bike upright from the stand let me know immediately that this is heavier than the Zero. The seat is higher too and as the bike pivoted I rose and found myself teetering on tiptoes atop a 30k bike!

The Ribelle differs from the direct belt drive Zero in having a reduction gearbox and a conventional chain drive. This gives the power delivery an altogether different feel. The straight cut gears in the reduction gearbox are audible and apparently this is deliberate to generate some sound and feedback.

[Mr Gazza]

Nathan pulled away on the grey bike and I eased the throttle... Nothing happened! Ah yes, the arming procedure. I needed to pull the front brake and press the kill/arm button. Several attempts eventually got me a green light on the dash. You have to give the button a very firm push.

Over the bumpy farm yard and down the bumpy track to the lane we go. Slow speed handling is impeccable and the weight counts for nothing on the roll.
Nathan guns it up the lane and I follow with a big helping of throttle, glancing at the speedo makes me think I’m in kph? But no!

On the way home I gave the 900 the big un going up that hill but failed miserably to achieve the same velocity. It delivers incredibly easy speed. I think they claim a 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds.

Hoping for a smoother road we head out of the village at a rate and I try and shuffle to make myself more comfortable. The seat pitches me forwards, putting weight on my wrists; my knees make contact with a hard edge of some sort. This is actually the frame rails and strikes me as a bit weird on such an up market bike? It’s not quite as comfy as the Zero.

Nathan is setting an Energetic pace and it’s not many bends down the road that I feel I’m a bit quick half way round and I shut the throttle. This is like slamming the back brake on and unsettles me for a micro second until I get the measure of the powerful engine braking effect. There’s really no need to use the brakes at all. I think I used the front a couple of times to bring it to a halt at junctions but didn’t touch the rear.

This fierce engine brake takes a bit of getting used to. I contemplate having a play with the modes and cutting the re-gen back a notch, but there’s a lot too much going on ahead and I chicken out of playing with buttons. I regret not stopping and reducing the re-gen. I did get the measure of it, but it does take skill to ride like this as throttle off is as powerful as throttle on, so it demands concentration and a gentle touch.
Both bikes have the function of lighting the brake light when deceleration inertia triggers the light to flash regardless of whether the brakes or motor are applying that force. I found it quite handy to see Nathans brake light flash and gauge my throttle position. A new skill being honed as I ride. It must shred those Rosso Threes though!

It’s quite a harsh ride and the Öhlins could do with a bit of playing with, but there seems to be adjustable everything on them, so I think it could be set up much sweeter. I am a flyweight after all. That said, the handling and steering are impeccable. It turns in smoothly with no unnerving drop in. It can be flicked round a pothole as lithely as my Monster while holding a line like a limpet round the bends. It’s stable at warp snot in a straight line too.

It’s not a nice relaxing comfortable ride like the Zero. In fact it’s very engaging indeed, a rider’s machine you might say. Much more sports orientated, with the Italian Stallion champing at the bit. I would say this is more of a petrolhead’s bike actually. The straight cut reduction gears and chain drive give it a much more mechanical feel and sound than the uber smooth Zero.
I found the transmission quite frightening when I first slowed down to 30 for a limit. It gives out a loud screech similar to standing on a cat’s tail at dead on 30. One mph either side is okay though? Very strange.

I couldn’t help noticing that the mirrors are great for checking my shoulders and thought that for the price tag a little more thought could have gone into those.. How hard can it be?

[Mr Gazza]

I found it a very new experience with all that awesome instantaneous power, to really be controlling the whole ride with a single control, the twist grip. Oh and the indicator switch, which was of course very easy and in the usual place. That was literally all I used apart from the previously mentioned dab of front brake at the junction lines.

The ride continued on a lovely mix of roads and different speeds, I noticed that the optional extra, larger than standard screen was quite effective at keeping the wind off my helmet and so I was not getting the same feedback from wind noise that the Zero gave. I think the gearbox noise largely replaced that. Even so occasional glances at the big clear digital speedo revealed much higher velocities than I expected.

So it came to pass in an almost déjà vu moment that we were following a dawdling car on the same stretch of road that we encountered the truck on the Zeros’. The straight came into view with some very distant cars approaching. Nathan nailed it as expected and so did I, not wanting to use up the diminishing distance between myself and the approaching.
Wind pressure increased rapidly, the screen pushed it past each side of my helmet until it thundered in my ears. I had to tuck my elbows in to stop them flailing and I leaned forwards a little.
A glance at the speedo revealed an unbelievable speed actually a few MPH more that the claimed top speed in the brochure and a clear 30mph more than the zero achieved here with the throttle kissing the stop. Bejeezus! This is the quickest I’ve ever been on a bike.

This is one seriously powerful machine! I feel confident that we are in the territory of the M1200 here? 1200 riders please form an orderly queue to test my hypothesis.
While the warp drive is engaged and I’m pulling G, the cycle is fully composed and belies the huge rate of travel.
Luckily for me Nathan had taken the precaution of dialling some traction control in, just to avert unwanted wheelies. It takes a little experience with this missile apparently, to dial it right out and still keep both wheels in contact, or not I suppose if that’s your style?

I recognise the road back to the farm and I am almost, but not fully confident of the throttle control. We peel into the bends that I had so enjoyed on the Zero, having fully bonded with it by then. It’s not quite the same carefree approach on the Energica. I’m looking for Nathans brake light and gauging the throttling back for the bend carefully. She rolls in beautifully of course but the chain drive is not the sublimely smooth transport of the Zeros’ belt and there is just a hint of whip from the chain as the power is respectfully fed back on, she goes round on rails but the bumps are noticeable again after the smooth A road.

Even though this had been a slightly longer route than the Zero ride I was glad to get back and park up. With the Zero I still wanted more.
Well I’m certainly stirred and a little bit shaken too!

The first thing to comment on is the colossal power available so instantly, most of which I didn’t even tap into. I can’t comment on the brakes because they were superfluous on this ride. It’s certainly not as easy to ride as the Zero, but would probably ultimately be more rewarding.

I have to start pondering where this bike sits in the grand scheme of things and who on earth would buy one and why. Obviously I am never going to own one and would not even consider buying one at 25-30k OTR. It would be easy to think of a few aspects of it as oxymorons or a white Elephant, but I think I’ve got where it’s coming from. To explain what I think lets go back to the mid 50’s and look at the Triumph Speed Twin and the Mighty Vincent Black Shadow.

[Mr Gazza]

The 500 Speed twin was the first of a long successful line, ordinary folk could afford one.
It was easy to ride with rewarding performance, it was reliable and maintenance was easy. A winner, and now a classic holding a very desirable value indeed. This gentle reader is where the Zero sits.

Now the Mighty Vincent was in an altogether different price bracket. The power was in a different league too, unheard of in its day and still somewhat of a legend.
Riding it was engaging to say the least and probably only a few would get to the edge of its capability. Maintenance was far from straightforward, with adjustability on almost every aspect of the entire machine even down to the toe pegs of the foot controls.
Here was a machine that the enthusiast and connoisseur could adjust and fettle to suit his own demands and preferences to eventually perfect that ultimate ride and get the very best out of the bike. The value of a good example now is counted in tens of thousands. I think this is where the Energica sits?

I most certainly didn’t get the best out of it, but even on the move I was thinking what I would change and how.
The suspension was clearly multi adjustable and I’d probably start with that to make the ride more comfortable.
There are plenty of settings to explore on the dash to get exactly the kind of feel from the power delivery that anyone wants. I’m sure it would be an entirely different experience with less engine braking for instance, not to mention loosening the traction control to get a very lively ride indeed.

I haven’t mentioned yet that the gearbox and motor are water cooled, so there are fluids for the tinkerer to change and a chain to lube and adjust too. This is what I mean when I said that this is a bit of a petrolhead’s machine. I think it would be truly engaging to own and ride with owner accessible mechanics to fiddle with and huge performance to exploit.

Hopping on the Monster to ride home was familiar and required no adjustment, mentally or physically. Whereas after the Zero ride, I was disorientated for weeks and really out of sorts with my old bike. Maybe because I now know what to expect from an electric bike? Or maybe because the Energica is closer to an IC bike to ride? There’s a rawer edge to it.

It’s not the bike for me, despite the price tag making it just a dream anyway. It’s a bit too exotic and too focused.
The high saddle doesn’t suit my little legs and I don’t like the forward pitch of the seat, nor the frame rails digging into my knobbly knees. I thought the mirrors were just poor and really should have been better.

I feel bad now for berating the looks of the Zero in my last test, as looks can be changed or tolerated. I actually preferred the Zero. It’s more my kind of bike, feel wise.

The Energica is going to appeal to folk with bigger wallets and egos than me, and better riding abilities too. It’s very competent and exciting in all departments, she looks pretty damn good too.
I think what it proves above all is that an electric bike can have a huge helping of character and this one definitely had a strong Italian soul too.
It’s allowed not to suit me perfectly and I’m not putting it down in any way just because we didn’t gel on our first date, even if we did have a complete ball. She will go on to break many hearts, I’m sure.

Try one.

[mickj]

Good write up Gary, I will need to have a go now as I've ridden the Zero and own an M1200s so it will be interesting to se what the differences are. Now to find my nearest dealer.

[Mr Gazza]

Yes I heartily recommend it. I've had no experience of anything bigger than my 900 apart from a new S4 in 2002. Maybe it will compare better to an S4RS, but nothing is going to touch it for that cor blimey torque.

[Dukedesmo]

Nice write up and the bike looks good.

Even claims a decent range but, I wonder what the real-life charging time is...?

[Mr Gazza]

Thanks Tim.
Nathan says that it will go over 100 miles comfortably even spanking it like we did the other day. Charging times have proven to be as claimed apparently.
I think this one does just a tiny bit more than it says on the tin, which is refreshing, but the battery performance will fall off a bit with age.

[yellowfever]

Great write up Gary, very interesting. Looks great and sounds like quite an experience to ride. Technology clearly getting there, performance already more than I’d need and range/charging getting ever closer.. but prices will need to drop a fair bit yet before they’d get to the point where I could contemplate getting an electric bike. And I’d rather someone else did the expensive early adopters beta testing to iron out niggles etc…

It’s good to see they keep it traditionally Italian with useless mirrors… I think Italians take their approach to mirrors from that old road race movie (Cannonball run?) where the Italian racing driver character hired to co-drive for a rich American driver/owner gets in for his stint at the wheel, and promptly breaks off the rear view mirror, throws it out of the car and says “what’s behind me doesn’t matter…” before flooring it. That said, given the awesome performance of the energica it sounds like such an approach has some justification on this bike!

[PhilLew]

Originally Posted by yellowfever

It’s good to see they keep it traditionally Italian with useless mirrors… I think Italians take their approach to mirrors from that old road race movie (Cannonball run?)

"The first rule of Italian driving!" Great film!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjGXn249Fc0

[yellowfever]

That’s it! Well found sir! The Gumball Rally, I misremembered quote slightly too, I see it’s “And now my friend the first rule of Italian driving: what’s behind me is not important”

Clearly mirror functionality not a priority in Italy…