Hey guys,
So I got a chance to throw a leg over the RS yesterday at the same event as the video that Seegem posted above. There were 4 of us who were given demo rides that day. Three from the local (we're not afraid to buy really expensive motorcycles) Ducati owners group and myself.
Having driven Teslas for almost 3 years my bar was set incredibly high. I truly wanted a 2-wheeled Tesla and despite what the recent article titles have said, I wanted to find out for myself.
So the short version is that the bike met my expectations. There is a bit of neutral throttle surge to deal with (but it may have been me - I would like a stiffer spring and shorter "turn" for track use) but the early Roadsters had the same issues with surging that were resolved through software work on the controllers. So this is not a deal-breaker for me.
The bike is heavy, no doubt about it. But like a Tesla once you're moving the weight melts away. It handles very well. The increase in weight is partially offset by not having the gyroscopic effects of the engine fighting turn-in. I never found myself fighting to get the bike to turn in. A couple times entering really slow corners the bike tried to fall into the corner but I was able to pick it up with the throttle quite easily. The throttle is very smooth and responsive like we've come to love from our cars. Regen and traction control work quite well at public road speeds. A few times I deliberately chopped the throttle mid corner and the rear end did not try to pass me so it passed that test. Like our cars it's very easy to find yourself going much faster than you think you are. In fact, in that video Seegem posted, Adam was pulled over by the police- that's why the video is in two pieces and in the video posted above he's constantly checking his mirrors.
I find the gear whine to be too loud but talking with the MM crew they have decided that this is an MM "signature" and so will retain the straight-cut gears and accompanying loud gear whine. It's still quieter than my ICE of course but I would like it even quieter if there's not an engineering reason for it.
A couple other thoughts…
As mentioned in one of the articles they are changing from on-board chargers to using the motor to charge a la the 1.x Roadsters. This obviates the option of the second charger. All bikes will be configured this way and will allow a 10kW charge rate. They are still figuring out charging logistics but the current plan is to have a couple foot long pigtail cable in the tail of the bike that you can stick plug adapters onto based on what you're plugging into.
The 15kWh bike has the same performance as the 17 but with less weight due to fewer cells. So if you don't need the range go with the 15 to save weight.
Drivetrain/performance is identical between the RS and R15 and R17. RS just has fancier wheels and suspension and more carbon fiber.
Bill will appreciate this with all his MS geometry work… They are using their own swingarm design that allows length adjustment without affecting ride height.
As one of the articles stated the motor is capable of 160ft lbs of torque but the batteries can't generate that much current. If/when battery tech catches up you'll be able to upgrade the batteries and unlock more power.
They will have multiple regen and throttle map presets built in. They are planning to allow riders complete access to the throttle and regen curves as well as offering different gearing after you sign a bunch of waivers. So there will be opportunities for tinkering.
They didn't have the production dash in this bike so can't comment on any of that.
My final comment is that a friend of mine who is a Ducati rider also rode the RS yesterday and was beside himself over how amazing the bike was (MM grin?). So for someone with ICE expectations he was blown away. As I mentioned at the top of my post I had incredibly high expectations so my expectations were merely met but that should be taken as a high achievement by the MM crew.
That being said I plunked my money down last night. I am reservation #38 and R-model sequence #17. So that implies 17 R's and 21 RS's have been reserved as of last night.
