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Old 06-30-2012, 04:06 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Ben Crashes the Electric Motorcycle!

Dear friends.

I've been lying to you, at least by omission...

A while back, I CRASHED my electric motorcycle. It's just taken me a while to get comfortable talking about it, so here goes....


It was a sunny spring afternoon, when I tested the limits of electric vehicle design, physics, and human flesh….

It’s summer already, and you may not have seen me around the usual web forums as much lately. I definately haven’t been quite as busy working on clean transportation projects. If it feels like I’ve been hiding a bit maybe I have.

You see, I CRASHED my electric motorcycle.

This March, we had some particulary nice weather. Wisconsin is known for long winters that drag on, so when the weather does get nice, the motorcycles quickly flock back to the roads. We had about two weeks of HIGHLY unusual summer weather (85 degrees F every day) in the middle of March. I wanted to get my electric motorcycle back on the road, but was busy with work.

One of my YouTube subscribers had sent me a request to make a video showing off how the motorcycle sounds WITHOUT any background music. I finally was able to get off work early one afternoon and pulled out the cycle. Coming out of winter storage is easy with an electric cycle – are the batteries charged? Yes. Is there air in the tires? Yes – great, let’s ride!.......

ENTIRE BLOG ENTRY CONTINUES AT 300MPG.org...

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Old 06-30-2012, 04:49 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Glad to hear you're okay Ben. Lessons learned, EV motorcycle crash tested and passed. It certainly could have been worse!
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Old 06-30-2012, 05:49 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Ouch!! I'm glad it wasn't worse and that you have recovered.
Ride safe and best wishes. L&S
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Old 06-30-2012, 05:50 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Are you going to be at the Ohio Vetter Challenge on 7/20/2012?
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Old 06-30-2012, 06:03 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Wasn't planning on being there. Bit of a trip for me 8+ hours each way.
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Old 06-30-2012, 06:19 PM   #6 (permalink)
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You're very lucky to have escaped with only a couple of leg/foot fractures.
It's good to see that you're alive and well.
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Old 07-01-2012, 02:20 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bennelson View Post
Dear friends.
I've been lying to you, at least by omission...
You see, I CRASHED my electric motorcycle.
The Ecomodder Court has found you totally guilty of both misdemeanors.
You are sentenced to driving a sub-15 MPG SUV for at least 1.000 miles.
That'll hurt.


Good to hear everything was repairable - you included.
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Old 07-02-2012, 02:46 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Ben, every experienced biker has dumped it once. The first big wipeout is what propels you into the category of "experienced biker", and you are now stronger for it.

Great video.
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Old 07-03-2012, 05:31 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Good to see your doing well. Time for some gear now.

I took a sharp right hand turn too sharp, not too long ago. And almost did something similar. I drug the exhaust and the rear tire picked up a little and scooted over. Scared the **** out of me. Was use to dragging peg just not the whole bike. Started leaning my body more.
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Old 07-03-2012, 08:42 PM   #10 (permalink)
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Glad you are ok!

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