stevebriggs
Member
I originally purchased the deluxe 72v Eagle in May of 2015, from Bike and Forth in Toronto, and have now just over 4000 km on it. It has been delightful as a fun way to commute to work, which is 17km one way. The store (Akili and John) was very helpful with answering all of my questions, and I bought it without ever having been on an ebike. This is a large heavy scooter (227 pounds/103 kg without the bags and fairing) and it just barely fit into the back of my full sized Dodge Caravan. I am 280 pounds, and have had a motorcycle license for 30 years.
The odometer is about 10-15 percent optimistic, and I have to assume the speedo is too. Initially this really bothered me but Daymak says there is no way to correctly calibrate it, and I have come to accept it. In 72v form it would max out at an indicated 57 kph or so, which was OK, but not quite fast enough to feel like I could ride it in the flow of city traffic. So, I was always sticking to the side of the road and often having cars passing me. I bought a fast charger for it, which would fill the cells in about 3 hours, giving about 23-25 km of useable range. Unfortunately, the original slower charger failed in July and overcharged the cells badly, requiring another trip from Owen Sound to Toronto for warranty replacement. At the shop, John asked if I wanted to upgrade to 84v and a bigger SLA battery for an extra 600 bucks, and I agreed.
The higher voltage immediately gave higher top speed and increased range. It would cruise at an indicated 63 kph flat out, and hit high 60s downhill. The small fairing not only improved comfort by getting my face out of the wind blast, but added some top speed so now I can go 67 indicated. And this extra speed is enough to allow me to easily match cars in city traffic so I can ride it as you would a motorcycle in town. For heavier riders, this is definitely well worth it. I can also now get about 30km of range, riding mostly flat out.
The fat tires give a very comfortable ride on pavement but also crushed limestone trails and dirt roads. This SUV-like scooter can go anywhere pretty much. Riding off curbs is no problem. It feels quite lively despite the weight of it, and I really enjoy riding it. There is a moderate whine from the motor but not nearly gas engine territory. It does slow noticeably on long uphills, but I find that not overly irritating. The large seat would be fine for all day riding if you had a longer range. It can easily take a passenger and filling the saddlebags with groceries does not affect performance noticeably. When it comes time to replace the lead acid cells I will definitely go to lithium, and see further performance increases.
Overall, I could not be happier with it, and the interaction with Bike and Forth. I think for the 3000 CAD cost, this is an incredible value, I am saving money on car maintenance and not polluting nearly as much. The chunky tread pattern on the tires does not handle snow so well, but does give a nice smooth ride on pavement.
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