Dodgy knees wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:49 pm
Don't know why they needed electric trucks aswel, bikes are enough trouble. Proper trucks with fuel and gennies. Hoping ep 6 gets better.
Can't help but think you've missed the point somewhat
Riding electric bikes with a diesel generator following you around rather takes the challenge away...
I love the scenery and would love to ride all over that area but maybe avoid the tourist traps they went to. Again its not the route that bugs me but the leccy bikes. I keep watching it and every onboard clip shows the speedo and its always maxed at about 45-47 mph. The fact it took them 5 weeks to travel from the south to the north of Argentina when the Dakar guys do North to South over far harder terrain in 6 days then back down again in 5.
I also wonder how much money Harley spent on installing all their "Juice Boxes" on the route at pre designated points to charge the bikes up as it must have been tens of thousands or even more as the crew manage to try and discreetly miss them when filming but they appear in the background here and there
I think i would have enjoyed it loads more if they did it on normal bikes .....even KTM's <shudder>
Ed March on his C90 travels in South America will do the same speed, have less issues with refuelling and probably have more of a laugh and end up on far more interesting routes
<shameless unpaid for plug> If you havent seen it already ....watch this bloke (and top bird Rachel) go from Alaska to Argentina (eventually) on a pair of crunchies
Bigyin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:25 pm
The fact it took them 5 weeks to travel from the south to the north of Argentina when the Dakar guys do North to South over far harder terrain in 6 days then back down again in 5.
Has to be said it's not quite the same thing... you're comparing a no-holds-barred, ultra-competitive race on specifically custom built machinery to pootling along, stopping to look at the scenery, on bikes that aren't really fully suitable (despite customisations).
Bigyin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:25 pm
Ok Episode 5
I love the scenery and would love to ride all over that area but maybe avoid the tourist traps they went to. Again its not the route that bugs me but the leccy bikes. I keep watching it and every onboard clip shows the speedo and its always maxed at about 45-47 mph. The fact it took them 5 weeks to travel from the south to the north of Argentina when the Dakar guys do North to South over far harder terrain in 6 days then back down again in 5.
I also wonder how much money Harley spent on installing all their "Juice Boxes" on the route at pre designated points to charge the bikes up as it must have been tens of thousands or even more as the crew manage to try and discreetly miss them when filming but they appear in the background here and there
I think i would have enjoyed it loads more if they did it on normal bikes .....even KTM's <shudder>
Ed March on his C90 travels in South America will do the same speed, have less issues with refuelling and probably have more of a laugh and end up on far more interesting routes
<shameless unpaid for plug> If you havent seen it already ....watch this bloke (and top bird Rachel) go from Alaska to Argentina (eventually) on a pair of crunchies
I bought Ed March's DVD... off of Ed March at a bike show, lovely chap.
Bigyin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:25 pm
The fact it took them 5 weeks to travel from the south to the north of Argentina when the Dakar guys do North to South over far harder terrain in 6 days then back down again in 5.
Has to be said it's not quite the same thing... you're comparing a no-holds-barred, ultra-competitive race on specifically custom built machinery to pootling along, stopping to look at the scenery, on bikes that aren't really fully suitable (despite customisations).
I know its completely different but on the first 2 trips (LWR and LWD) they actively looked for routes off the beaten track and they drew in huge following because of this. On this one they seem to be constantly looking for the path of least resistance to get the most mileage from the batteries on the bikes. To ride a foot behind a Diesel powered Merc Sprinter van on smooth tarmac at 40 mph to stretch out the battery so they actually reached the next pre installed Harley Davidson funded charging point seems to be the opposite of what they did on the first 2 trips.
With conventional bikes they could have taken more challenging routes away from the main tourist trails and covered far more distance in a shorter time. My point of the Dakar is they are all on smaller capacity bikes without massive tops speeds but able to cover massive miles in a day down to the endurance of the riders and the ability to refuel and continue hence covering in a day what the leccy bikes take a week due to limited running distance and prolonged charging times.
I'll carry on watching for the trip itself but try not to get pissed off about the leccy bikes too much
Taipan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:09 pm
4 episodes in but its losing me now. The technical problems are more interesting than the dialogue tbh, but there's only so much meat on that bone. I'm also finding the scenery boring, which isn't helping. Snowy hills and landscapes and one horse towns repeated, just don't float my boat. Be glad to see some sun and civilisation, assuming I watch it again.
Ep5 is going to be a disappointment then
To be fair, what did you expect from S America?
Doubt you'll see much civilisation until Columbia (unless they visit Machu Pichu)
I have never watched any of them, so this is a first watch. The electrical vehicles and scenery are interesting. Quite like how HD modified the bikes and how the staff worked on them in their spare time. Despite HD's woes, I thought it was really cool how bike-mad the staff where. Sort of like the RE guys who are/ were building the BikeShed RE bike.
I sort of watch it in the background a lot of hugs and man love going on.
Bigyin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:25 pm
The fact it took them 5 weeks to travel from the south to the north of Argentina when the Dakar guys do North to South over far harder terrain in 6 days then back down again in 5.
Has to be said it's not quite the same thing... you're comparing a no-holds-barred, ultra-competitive race on specifically custom built machinery to pootling along, stopping to look at the scenery, on bikes that aren't really fully suitable (despite customisations).
I know its completely different but on the first 2 trips (LWR and LWD) they actively looked for routes off the beaten track and they drew in huge following because of this. On this one they seem to be constantly looking for the path of least resistance to get the most mileage from the batteries on the bikes. To ride a foot behind a Diesel powered Merc Sprinter van on smooth tarmac at 40 mph to stretch out the battery so they actually reached the next pre installed Harley Davidson funded charging point seems to be the opposite of what they did on the first 2 trips.
With conventional bikes they could have taken more challenging routes away from the main tourist trails and covered far more distance in a shorter time. My point of the Dakar is they are all on smaller capacity bikes without massive tops speeds but able to cover massive miles in a day down to the endurance of the riders and the ability to refuel and continue hence covering in a day what the leccy bikes take a week due to limited running distance and prolonged charging times.
I'll carry on watching for the trip itself but try not to get pissed off about the leccy bikes too much
Agree with what you're saying, but I'd argue that the use of the electric bikes is just a different style of challenge. IS it possible to do that kind of ride on electric bikes? Obviously it is because they've managed it, albeit with help that 'normal' people wouldn't get, but there's also lots of smaller challenges along the way which they're having to face.
I'm the opposite to BY as its the challenges that i'm finding interesting and how that will lessen as the get into USA etc. The trucks are interesting as well and I wish there was more info on how they are fairing. There's countless YT vids on people doing all manner of trips with ICE bikes, so i welcome the leccy angle, especially given its our not too distant future.
So, when we get our LiveWires, how far in advance do we have to inform Harley Davidson of our trip routes so they can install the necessary chargers (obviously just far enough apart to create a sense of excitement)?
Anybody looked to see just how much H-D will be charging (dyswidt) Charlie and Euan wannabes for the priviledge of saving the planet.
Glad i was sat down!
Not that i was even considering for a nanosecond entertaining the thought of owning 1.
McNab wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 9:45 am
So, when we get our LiveWires, how far in advance do we have to inform Harley Davidson of our trip routes so they can install the necessary chargers (obviously just far enough apart to create a sense of excitement)?
Trouble is, I assume no-one else has got an electric bike in that part of the world so the carbon footprint for all the shipping and installations of the charging points is massive compared to what the adventurers and their service crew would have consumed in unleaded.
McNab wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 9:45 am
So, when we get our LiveWires, how far in advance do we have to inform Harley Davidson of our trip routes so they can install the necessary chargers (obviously just far enough apart to create a sense of excitement)?
Trouble is, I assume no-one else has got an electric bike in that part of the world so the carbon footprint for all the shipping and installations of the charging points is massive compared to what the adventurers and their service crew would have consumed in unleaded.
I thought Ewan was a bit brighter than that?
He is a big fan of leccy vehicles, so I suspect he was very pleased to be part of the R&D of 2 prototypes.
