Ride Report: Beating the Heat [NC+TN, 7 days - 1350mi]

[triangletom]

Day 4: Rediscovering the Dragon

Today was the final day of the "Beat the Heat Rally" for most folks.



The plan was to ride up with everyone to the highest point of the Blue Ridge Parkway, only about 28 miles from the hotel. The only problem? It was legit foggy. If you look at the photo above, you can just barely make out the headlights of the scooter behind me, and many times, I had to squint to see the taillights ahead.



We took things very slowly. Due to the fog, I rode half the BRP with my hazards on, but I noticed that no one else seemed to be doing the same. Growing up, I learned to use hazards whenever the conditions meant that I could not safely travel at the expected speed for the road or while lane-splitting. I did some light reading on hazard light usage, and the advice is all over the place. Hazard-light usage seems very localized, and I mostly learned to drive in North Carolina.



There are also probably some laws at play here: I've noticed that European bike manufacturers don't offer automatic hazard lights during panic stops in the USA but do in their native market. Riders behind me did note that my Skene lights easily cut through the fog. Hopefully, it wasn't too dazzling for them to have my hazards on.



It's a rally tradition for a big group photo from the high point - there were drones, a tripod, and even a spry young guy who hiked up to the top of the nearby cliff to get a photo of us. Here's one from @tastroman



I even had my photo taken at the front of the sign:



While most folks were getting ready to head further down the BRP, I bid the scooter crew adieu and turned West toward Tennessee. The fog didn't take long to burn off.



The plan was to get lunch with an old friend of mine, Mark, who lives in Bryson City, a quaint old mountain town:



Mark works for Swain County and invited one of his coworkers to join us, probably because his coworker is one of the few people in town who owns an EV (Tesla Model 3). It seems electric vehicles have become a political issue here, and many locals view them with suspicion or derision. I've certainly seen a handful of vandalized EV chargers, but only in the west half of the state (Troy, Marion, Lexington). I guess EV ownership is seen as a snobbish acceptance of climate change. Haters gonna hate.



Thankfully, the county does provide a free EV charger at the local museum, which allowed me to charge up to 100% over lunch fully. I'm almost always too impatient to let my bike over 80%, but when I do, it's almost always over lunch break. Like a cellphone, charging from 10 to 90% takes about 40 minutes, but 90-100% takes another 20 (yay for resistance).

 

[triangletom]

Mark and his friend had a meeting to get back in time for, so I continued from Bryson City toward Fontana Dam. I'd never stopped at the dam before, but I remembered the road leading up to it (Hwy 28) had pretty views.



The dam is the tallest (480ft) on the East Coast, but I couldn't find a good viewpoint. Movie buffs might know Fontana Dam from "The Fugitive", but history buffs might know it for helping with aluminum production at the tail end of WWII. The visitor center thankfully had cold drinks and a solar-powered EV charger that rotated around to follow the sun. Unfortunately, this solar and battery-powered contraption was limited to 2kW, so it felt more like a technology demo than something useful for charging a vehicle. Still, the thought was nice.



After the dam, I followed Hwy 28 toward Deals Gap. It had some nice curves, too, so I treated it as training for the road ahead. Deals Gap is the home of the "Tail of the Dragon," which some call the most challenging motorcycling road in North America. Riders come from all over the US to test their skills here, but many local riders avoid it due to crowds and danger. Allegedly, the Tail of the Dragon contains over 300 curves over 11 miles, but I'd challenge you to count more than 200.

The BMW CE 04 felt totally at home at Tail of the Dragon. I thought its weight and absurdly low center of gravity would make it exhausting to push around these extreme twisties, but this was easy work. In my first run on the dragon with the CE 04, I used my rear brake to slow down for curves.



In my second run, I relied on regenerative braking in Eco mode (80% power), and I felt much more confident doing so than using the brakes. Think of it as extreme engine braking. If I were to go again, I'd try it in Dynamic mode (100%).



I didn't try trail braking for tighter turns. I get the concept, but it seems unnatural to manage the throttle and the brake with the right hand simultaneously. I assume it'd feel better if I turned regen off, but this didn't feel like the place to experiment.



I ended my time at Deals Gap with coffee and ice cream at the gift shop, people-watching as folks came into the parking lot with Ducatis, Harleys, and Lamborghinis. There is also a free EV charger at the gift shop, so I took the opportunity to top the bike off with juice.



After doing a "there and back" trip along the Tail of the Dragon, I headed south along the Cheoah River. By this point, it was 5 p.m., and I was ready to figure out where I was going to sleep and find dinner.



I chose to stay in Robbinsville because it is close to Deals Gap, Cherohala Skyway, and an electric motorcycle rental shop, which I will use for tomorrow's adventure. What I didn't expect was that Robbinsville was one of the saddest little towns I've been to in North Carolina. When I checked into my hotel and asked for dinner recommendations, the owner suggested that the best place to eat was the lodge 14 miles (22km) away.

I was done riding for the day, so I chose to walk to the nearest restaurant instead. It was the worst food I've ever paid for, which is not hyperbole.


I chose this hotel because I knew it had free outdoor plugs and was cool with folks charging their bikes overnight. I don't think I saw another hotel in the area anyway. The hotel charged an extra $1 per night for the privilege, but nothing beats waking up with a full tank every day.

Looking back at my day, it was amazing. It was bittersweet to leave the rally, knowing that I'd just met these fine yet quirky scooterists, but at the same time, I was already looking forward to coming up to Maggie Valley to ride with them next year. I was very thankful for @klaviator for putting all the emotional labor into the event and taking care of us while we were there. It was great reconnecting with old friends, and even the Tail of the Dragon was more fun than expected. The BMW CE 04 greatly impressed me there. It's easily the most fun I've had on two wheels.

 

[korinthias]

Been great to follow along – very inspiring indeed and thanks so much for posting. Hopefully it will motivate the rest of us to get out and take on some longer trips.

Here in the UK I've not had my 04 for long, but I've been using it for day rides; initially exploring familiar territory, but I aim to get a bit more off the beaten track with it too.

Here's a photo from one of my favourite routes which looks down at this point over Slapton Sands and towards the lighthouse at Start Point.

NB This is probably not the ideal spot for this post, but there doesn't seem to be a 'Post your CE04 Pics' thread?

 

[triangletom]

Day 5: And Now For Something Completely Different


I've long been dreaming of adding a longer-range motorcycle to the stable, namely the Energica Experia - the hot Italian sport-tourer that is basically a electric Multistrada. With a 2.4X larger battery and 3.7X faster DC charging than the BMW CE 04, it seems like just the thing for the sort of trips I like to do. Unfortunately, finding a demo Experia in the US is impossible; the few they ship over are sold instantly.

When browsing around PlugShare, I noticed that Robbinsville now has a free downtown charger, courtesy of eMoto PowerSports. They are a new electric motorcycle rental company, strategically placed between the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway. While they didn't have an Experia, they did have an Energica Ribelle, which is more of a streetfighter.



So, I rented one! Riding around town was that the Ribelle felt big and heavy: more like a panzer tank than a scalpel, similar to my R1150GS of yore. Coming from the CE 04, I really missed having a left-hand rear brake lever,but appreciated the Ribelle's suspension and seat. I don't know if it was the chain or the reduction gear, but the drivetrain sounded janky, like Energica had heard Ducati's dry clutch rattle-can and said "I want that", but make it sound futuristic. I get that Energica was born at the track, but I already prefer the quiet zen like nature of the CE 04.

My initial plan was to take the Ribelle on a 125mi/200km loop around the Cherohala Skyway, Deals Gap, and back. However, when I looked at the map of DC fast chargers, I saw that this route would not put me near any, and so I'd be missing part of the unique experience of having an Energica. I decided to add a 50mi/90km detour to Cherokee, the location of the nearest DC charger.



Once I got the Ribelle onto the highway, I was able to let it loose, but not before turning Eco mode off, as unlike the CE 04, it sets a speed limit on the Ribelle. At 75mph/120kmh, the differences between the two bikes became clearer: The Ribelle felt at home at this speeds, whereas on the CE 04 I felt like I was hitting the wall of what the bike was designed to do. On the Ribelle I was laughing when I saw there was >100 miles of range left after several miles on the highway. While I don't take the CE 04 on the interstate often, when I do I'm counting down the miles because I know it only gets about 40 miles of range at that speed.

What blew my mind was when I whacked the throttle open at highway speeds, and the Ribelle surged forward as if I had only been going 20mph.



The DC fast charger in Cherokee was conveniently placed next to a coffee shop by the Oconaluftee River.



The Ribelle charged up from 58% to full before I was able to finish my cappuccino, which was kind of a bummer. When I walked out to move the bike out of the space, I saw @klaviator and friends pull out with other scooterists across the street. I got a photo for evidence:



After Cherokee, I headed out toward Fontana Dam, where I could get some practice in the twisties before unleashing the Ribelle on the Dragon. At one of the overlooks, a cute older couple on Harley's offered to take my photo, which I couldn't say no to:


The Ribelle was fun, but it certainly lacked the smoothness that i was used to in terms of both throttle response and regenerative braking. I was missing the left-hand rear-brake control more than I ever thought was possible.

This time I figured out where the views of Fontana Dam are at - unless you are on a boat, head to the North side.

The Tail of the Dragon at 12pm on a Thursday was substantially more crowded than 4 pm on a Wednesday. While the Ribelle handled the curves with no complaint, it felt less fun here than my scooter. The noise, throttle, and regen all felt unrefined and janky.

 

[triangletom]

I had planned to ride the Dragon 3 times, but the second time this happened:

As the kids would say, big yikes. Here's the drama as seen from the photographer's standpoint; my guess is they were distracted by the photographer, overcooked the turn, and were afraid of leaning the bike over in the rain to make the turn.



Hearing about riders crossing the double yellow on US 129 is nothing new, but this is the first time it happened right in front of me. I was pissed at the other rider for putting my in danger, I was pissed at the photographer camped out at that corner for encouraging unnecessarily hazardous behavior, and I was pissed off at myself. I had just stopped a minute beforehand to put rain gear on, and forgot to re-engage my airbag vest. Why carry the extra gear if you aren't going to make sure it's ready when bad shit happens?



I felt done with the Dragon. Not just for today but for the next couple of years. I've long observed that riders are at their worst in front of a camera, even myself, and now that there are 5+ companies camped out trying to get people's photos at tricky curves, it's extra risk on a road that was designed in an unnecessarily risky way to begin with.



I also ended up on the double yellow myself at one point with the Ribelle. I blame an inconsistent regenerative braking experience; I'm still not clear if it was being in "Rain" mode, or if the TC took over, but the regen strength seemed variable to me. If there is one thing about the CE 04, it's consistent. With my tail between my legs, I headed to the Tapoco Lodge Resort for lunch. This is the place the hotel owner recommended, and they have several free EV chargers available, so I figured I could charge up enough over lunch to comfortably make the 110mi run from there to Cherohala and back.



Lunch at the lodge was decent, but the views from the lodge were even better. After lunch at the lodge, I headed back to the bike, eager to see how much it had changed.


The Ribelle had only charged 20% over the last 45 minutes? Only 72 miles of range? Over 2 hours to get to 95%? The dashboard says "KEY NOT IN RANGE" when it's right here? WTF?

I looked at the map and saw that the remainder of my plans for today called for 107 miles. I was kind of pissed and starting to see the worst part of owning an Energica in the United States: half-speed AC charging (3kW). While 25kW DC charging is a cool party trick, in Appalachia, DC chargers are rare as hens teeth: there is literally 1 DC charger for every 20 AC chargers. In the South-East US, DC chargers are almost always along the interstate or outside of larger cities, neither of which exist here.

I rode back to the hotel and plopped the bike at the free AC charger at eMoto while I took a nap. When I got to the bike, there was just enough charge that I could probably make it work as long as the single charging port in Tellico Plains was available. After waiting for the abysmally sluggish charge, I only had 2.5 hours left in my rental, so I'd have to book it there.

Fuck it, let's go ride... and the sky opened up again. Somewhere between the rain, my newly found range anxiety, and general discomfort with the bike in the twisties, I abandoned my plans right by the entrance to the Cherohala Skyway. I just wasn't feeling it. The rain got harder as I headed back to Robbinsville, and my phone, which was giving me GPS directions, started giving me spurious results. I don't know what on earth is going on, but this is something I've noticed before wiith this phone in heavy rain.



So, I got lost, very lost. I easily spent an hour riding around in circles around Snowbird, just west of Robbinsville. Each time I stopped, I had to pull the phone from my pocket, take my gloves off, lift the phone up to the sky to get a signal, deal with a wet touchscreen, put it back into my pocket, put my gloves back on. I don't remember ever feeling this lost in my life. Most of the confusion turned out to be due to Snowbird Rd changing names, the rest was due to my impatience and frustration.



I did see some cool places though, and appreciated the street signs in Cherokee. I ended up returning the Ribelle an hour and a half early. I know the bike it supposed to be hot shit, but honestly, I don't think I've ever felt so disappointed in a motorcycle before. I think I expected too much out of it, but it was the least practical and polished bike I've ever ridden.

Today made me realize how much I love the BMW CE 04, with its giant navigation screen, underseat luggage, hand controls for brakes, relative charging flexibility, and smooth controls.

 

[triangletom]

Day 6: Smooth Cherohala Vibes

Friday was a really long day: 11.5 hours of adventuring, covering 250mi/400km across two states. While my pre-trip plans called for a ride down the "Gravel Dragon", AKA the Tatham Gap Road, I wasn't able to make the Cherohala Skyway happen yesterday. The Skyway is the first road I ever fell in love with, and a "must-do" in the area.



The Skyway runs between Robbinsville and Tellico Plains, where there is al 50mi/80km gap between service stations and electric chargers. As someone who lives and rides in a flat area, I was really curious how much the elevation changes would impact the BMW CE 04: there is a 4200ft/1300m elevation difference between the highest point and the lowest point of this ride.



Not remembering the speeds of the Skyway, I was even skeptical if the CE 04 was going to make the trip at all. The last time I rode it was 15+ years ago, and I was riding with sport bikes, and it seemed like we were going 55mph the whole way. My fears were allayed when I checked the route out with https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ and it said I would arrive with 27% charge left. The Skyway is basically 20 miles uphill, followed by 20 miles of downhill - which leaves plenty of opportunity for the regenerative brakes to do their magic.



The route, for a lack of a better word, is stunning.


The roads are rhythmic and zen-like, and in the morning, you can go the whole way without seeing another vehicle. If the Tail of the Dragon was Mr. Hyde, the Cherohala Skyway would be Dr. Jekyll.


While the peacefulness of the ride was shattered by an initial sense of range anxiety, the Skyway still felt like a world onto myself. I didn't see a single vehicle going my direction, and only 2-3 going the other way, before reaching Tellico Plains.

On the long uphill, I became concerned when the BMW nav software estimated I would run out of juice before getting to my destination. However, I knew that unlike other EV's, the CE 04 doesn't take the programmed route into account when making estimates - it extrapolates range from recent usage. On the 20 miles of downhill, it was a different story: the range counter just kept on climbing. The bike was effectively coasting in a controlled manner, with just a smidge of power added coming out of each turn.



In Tellico, I plugged in at the only EV charging port in town - a free charger at the visitor center. I arrived with 33% charge left - 7% more than ABRP estimated, which makes sense given that I was going just under the speed limit. Had the free port here not worked out, I knew there were also two NEMA 14-50 (50A 220V RV) charging ports nearby which would have worked just as well since I brought my own cord.

I knew from Google Maps reconnaissance that there was an excellent shop for baked goods and coffee (Tellico Grains Bakery) in walking distance of the charger, so that was my breakfast plan. I can't say I was disappointed - the baked goods here are significantly better than the options in my hometown.



By the time I got back to my bike, it was 98% charged, so it was time to do the Cherohala Skyway all over again in the other direction. I enjoyed the road even more this time, knowing that while there is 1150ft/350m more climbing in this direction, that I had so much range left the last time that it didn't matter at all.

At least in the morning, the views are prettier heading East on the Cherohala Skyway.

 

[wspollack]

Tom:

Good report.

I have an eight-minute time-lapse video of riding the Cherohala west, on my C 400 GT, two+ months ago.

I meant to record a normal video, but I screwed up. It looks like something from a Benny Hill show:

 

[triangletom]

*Day 6, Continued*



When I got to Robbinsville, I decided to charge at a new place; there is a Tesla Destination Charger at Wehrloom Honey. Tesla chargers do use a different plug type (NACS) than the BMW CE 04 accepts natively (J1772), but since their destination chargers are AC rather than DC, I can use their chargers with a small "TeslaTap Mini" adapter. I bought more than enough to cover the $0.70 in electricity costs: honey sticks for the kids, honey jar for the wife, and strong mead for me when I finally arrive home.



My next stop was Cherokee, using the main roads because I still had 150 miles to go today. The road from Robbinsville to Cherokee was full of construction. I'm not sure what was going on, but there was miles worth of work being done. I planned on a lunch & charge stop at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort, where somehow Gordon Ramsey had setup a pizza joint.



I knew ahead of time that the Casino had 24 EV charging ports, so I pushed my luck a little bit range wise. I arrived with 11%, would be the closest I came to empty the entire trip.



The Casino was weird - they always are. I really hope when I'm as old as the average person here that I too have more money than I know what to do with. The food was average and overpriced, but filling. After Cherokee I hopped back on Highway 19 to Maggie Valley, looked around for straggler scooterists (I saw none), and continued on my way. I was now a man on a mission to make the miles happen, so I skipped all the obvious fun stops.



I topped off the charger in Candler, NC over coffee, if you can call Starbucks coffee. The flat white was as depressing as their store's vibe. This particular charger outside of the Ingles there was free, but had been reported as shorting out constantly; when I got back to my bike, I confirmed that it had only charged up 1/3rd of the way that I had expected. I was not impressed.

The sky, black with rain clouds, opened up on me, so I quickly grabbed my rain gear on and consulted with the radar; it looked like a really terrible system was moving in, so I decided to high-tail it east in the hopes of beating leaving the system trapped on this side of the mountains.



I can never decide in torrential downpours if it's less safe as a motorcyclist to be on the interstate, where accident rates are the lowest in general, or surface roads where the chance of hitting a flash flood is higher. I knew there were no good backroad options where I was anyways, so I hit I-40 and instantly regretted it. I did not feel safe at all, particularly when I passed a pickup truck and trailer that had jack-knifed in the fast lane.



The rain showed no sign of slowing down, so I resolved to get off at the first exit east of Asheville and find a place to charge while hiding out. The roads there were flooding out and the rain had inserted itself between my visor and the pinlock insert, so visibility was turning to absolute shit, but the hotel had a big enough sign to make themselves obvious. Once I plugged in, I headed for a bench under an overhang at the hotel for some safety.



I would have gone into the lobby, but I knew I would drag a small ponds worth of water with me. After 5 minutes, a lady at the front desk came outside with a towel for me to dry off with. That's amazing customer service, particularly asI wasn't really a customer of anything but their charger. Next time I'm rolling through the area, I'm staying at Holiday Inn. The rest of the day was just rain, gobs and gobs of it. I'd share more photos of the rest of the ride, but they were all look like spheres of liquid masking various color combinations.

I eventually rolled into Morganton at 7:15pm, safe, and drier than expected given the conditions. The AlpineStar Toucan boots in particular, were magical in the rain (yay Goretex!). I dropped the bike off at the charger in the hotel parking lot, walked over to a dive bar that served hot wings and beer, and called it a night. Tomorrow, I will push the scoot the final 175mi/280km home.

 

[triangletom]

Day 7 - Claremont Cemetery Sandwich

The last day was a final 173mi push eastward across the Piedmont: from Morganton to Chapel Hill. I promised my wife I'd make it home in time for a friend's Anniversary party, so I won't dilly-dally as much as usual.




Now that I'm back in the flat, boring highway section of North Carolina, my scooters range is back to around 60mi/95km rather than the 75mi/120km I was getting in the mountains. After a rainy morning ride, my first stop was Conover. The charger here required yet another app (EV Connect), which I became very frustrated with as, again. I really had to use the restroom, and I didn't want to waste time finding a bathroom if the bike wasn't charging.




I've passed by Conover many times but only had a reason to stop once I saw there was a charger here. Like most other towns in central NC, it came into being as soon as the Railroad arrived: the town was once known as "Wye Town" after the shape of the railroad fork here. Conover was exceptionally quaint, with a surprising number of people out walking about at 7 a.m. on a Saturday for such a small town. Regrettably, the only coffee shop open was a drive-thru (who does that?), so I went without my morning caffeine.




Claremont is the next town over and the site of one of the weirdest cemeteries I've ever visited: the Claremont City Cemetery. The first weird thing is that it's effortless to access the plots by car. What truly makes it bizarre, though, is that it overlooks an industrial plant: Tyson Foods. I had assumed they were slaughtering chickens below, but this plant mostly makes sandwiches. Visiting this place always makes me think about the "live to work" culture in the United States.





Salisbury is another 35 miles west, where President Andrew Jackson once apprenticed for a law firm and one of the most brutal prisons in United States history. Salisbury Prison was a POW prison during the Civil War but is mainly known for its staggeringly high mortality rate: 4000 prisoners died here, making the death rate a shocking 26%.





There is a charger here at Historical Mint Park that I've used before, recently enough that I didn't bother to look up reviews on PlugShare. It was my first (and last) unexpectedly broken charger on this trip. It wasn't any drama, though, as there are 5 other EV chargers within 2 miles, so I just topped off at the cheapest (free).





Next was Lexington, which I had decided to make my lunch spot. It looked like someone had taken a hammer to the charger here by the Farmer's Market, but miraculously, it still worked. My favorite lunch of the entire trip was the quesabirrias at The Eatery. I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself downtown.



As I headed East, it began raining again. When I made it to my charger in Climax (the same place where I started this crazy trip), it was raining hard enough that I decided to wait for it. Flash floods were again a concern, but I just took things easy on the road.



Making it home to Chapel Hill felt like a relief: I'd survived this crazy trip with no injuries and no trip complications whatsoever. I discovered a friendly group of like-minded riders, became a better rider myself, and had a lot of time to think about existential issues like work/life balance and being a better father. I also had a chance to bond with the BMW CE 04 in a way I've never felt about another vehicle. Like we get each other and have each other's back. I know I'll still lust after other newer, longer-range bikes, but currently, nothing brings me more joy than riding the CE 04. I am, however, disappointed that BMW (unlike Energica) has announced they don't have the chops to develop longer-range two-wheel EVs for the moment.

Gear wise, there was nothing I would change. I was really pleased with the Insta360 X4, but in the future I'll leave the resolution at 8K for higher quality stills. The Alpinestars Toucan boots kept my feet completely dry across 3 days of riding in the rain. The Dainese New Drake Air pants worked great across all conditions once I figured out the vent buttons. The Klim Induction gloves worked well, but the zipper is annoying and superfluous. Given the time and effort I put into the Electric Jerry Can, I can't help but feel disappointed that it still hasn't seen any use.

 

[popdis]

The possible good news about range, is that BMW updates the battery cells it used every few years to a higher energy-dense version as it did with the i3. This means BMW keeps the battery pack design the same to keep production costs low, but it uses newer cells that potentially charge faster and provide higher output and range.

 

[triangletom]

The possible good news about range, is that BMW updates the battery cells it used every few years to a higher energy-dense version as it did with the i3. This means BMW keeps the battery pack design the same to keep production costs low, but it uses newer cells that potentially charge faster and provide higher output and range.

True, in a sense. Battery energy density tends to move upward by ~5% yearly. If you look back at the energy capacity of BMW electric scooters over time, however, you'll see a weird trend:

2014 - BMW C Evolution - 60Ah (8 kWh)
2016 - BMW C Evolution Long Range - 94Ah (12.5 kWh)
2022 - BMW CE 04 - 60.6Ah (8.9 kwH)

Instead of increasing the battery size, they've reverted back 8 years. Instead of adding range, they've decreased weight during that time: from 606 lbs (275kg) to 509 lbs (231kg), which translates to a bigger fun factor and less costly to manufacture. I'd bet that BMW found that less than 1% of owners are using their electric scooters for long-distance riding, anyway.

I believe BMW is just going to play the waiting game for battery density improvements, with a CE 04 replacement coming in 2027-2028. With the historic 5% yearly density improvements, if we're lucky we could see BMW release a similar-weight bike with 10.5 kWh usable (a 23% improvement). However, I'd bet BMW has done their market research, found 8kWh to be the sweet spot, and would rather release a lighter-weight, less-expensive bike instead.

If we talk about a future BMW electric bike outside of the CE 04 series in 2028: it's possible. With a larger battery, charging times are similarly larger - if you don't also improve the charging technology. Unfortunately, increasing the charging speed means adopting DCFC (DC Fast Charging), without dropping AC charging, which means more weight, complexity, and cost.

Energica has made this compromise: The Experia ships with a 22.5kWh battery (2.5X the size of the CE 04). With DCFC it can charge 3.7X faster than the CE 04, so it more than keeps up with the battery size if DC is available. The ugly side is that Energica's AC charging is half the speed of the BMW CE 04, so if you live in an area with little DC support, it kinda sucks. It's effectively the same as the BMW CE 04 without the "Quick Charge" option.

The first company that ships a bike with ~2X the range of the CE 04, DC fast charging, and comparable speed AC (6kWh) charging will likely get my business. I almost guarantee it won't come first in a scooter configuration, which would make me very sad.

 

[subcyclist]

This was a very enjoyable moto-vlog, @triangletom. You certainly had quite an adventure with you CE04; thank you for sharing so much of your experience with us. While epic trips are not the purpose of this bike, you demonstrated what some planning and flexibility can make possible with it. I would definitely like to join in the next Beat the Heat scooter event, if it happens again. I have not seen any information posted for that this year, and I wonder if it is the result of Hurricane Helene damage being so widespread in the region where this event takes place. Tourism is a significant industry in the NC mountains, so if this event does come together for 2025, I will definitely go. Even though it would be mostly for the enjoyment of the trip, to help with the economic recovery of that area would be an added benefit. Have you heard whether or not this event will be held this coming summer?

I bought my CE04 last June in order to have the ability to travel further in the Triangle area than my eBikes can take me; having sold my last car 3 years ago to car-free/bike only. I did, though, take an impromptu trip in October to, coincidentally, help with the hurricane response effort - on my scooter. I worked in the disaster response center in Hickory for the hurricane response. This came together on a Saturday night, requiring me to leave on Sunday morning, leaving me with no time to rent an EV on Turo. This is just my preference, so it was completely my choice. I traveled along Route 64, which you likely know well, and required four charging stops for the roughly 160 miles I had to ride. I truly enjoyed it, and found some fantastic places and people along the way.

With that experience under my belt, and having read about your epic journey experiences here, I am very interested in taking a trip to the mountains. I would like to go for this scooter event if it will take place again. If this event is skipped this year, I may just plan a solo trip to the NC mountains when the rainy season is winding down, and tourism is tapering off for the year. So, thank you again for sharing your experience, and for inspiring other CE04 riders to go on journeys this bike was never intended for - but is tremendously capable of doing!

 

[Fordychap]

As the weather improves here in the soggy NW of England, it was great to find and read this post from @triangletom from a few months back.
A truly interesting part of the US that I had only briefly driven through 40 years ago when doing the “E-W road trip” in a beaten up old Chevy truck.
Hospitality in the US back then for a lone British student was off the scale, with many free meals and lodgings - a trip of a lifetime - from which I have fond memories and still retain some friendships.
My CE-04 ownership hasn’t yet been as adventurous, with only a half-dozen 100-160 mile trips under my belt.
Now I’ve read this - maybe it’s time to get more adventurous, although I am spoiled by my BMW R12, which is a joy for doing those conventional longer journeys, and without any of the range challenges.
I’m due to “slow down” work wise in July as my semi-retirement starts to kick in at age 62, and so I aim to make the most of it!
Longer trips on the CE-04 are a distinct possibility. The Welsh coast and even my September pilgrimage for a week over to the Manx GP - might involve the CE-04 this time….

 

[korinthias]

As the weather improves here in the soggy NW of England, it was great to find and read this post from @triangletom from a few months back.
A truly interesting part of the US that I had only briefly driven through 40 years ago when doing the “E-W road trip” in a beaten up old Chevy truck.
Hospitality in the US back then for a lone British student was off the scale, with many free meals and lodgings - a trip of a lifetime - from which I have fond memories and still retain some friendships.
My CE-04 ownership hasn’t yet been as adventurous, with only a half-dozen 100-160 mile trips under my belt.
Now I’ve read this - maybe it’s time to get more adventurous, although I am spoiled by my BMW R12, which is a joy for doing those conventional longer journeys, and without any of the range challenges.
I’m due to “slow down” work wise in July as my semi-retirement starts to kick in at age 62, and so I aim to make the most of it!
Longer trips on the CE-04 are a distinct possibility. The Welsh coast and even my September pilgrimage for a week over to the Manx GP - might involve the CE-04 this time….

At 66, I have been retired for a year or so and mainly been using my ‘04 for local runs, whereas I have another machine for distances (‘70s Airhead).

Here’s mine about 3 miles from home on another fine spring day…



Don’t forget to record some of your longer journeys here!