Scorpion: minor flaws

[Bruce Arnold]

I don't like the cockpit set-up. It's basically okay, no one will have any real trouble using it. But there was one decision made that necessitated a series of bad choices, a cascade of minor flaws.

They decided they had to have a twist-grip throttle, I imagine to make it more like a moped. And the twist-grip had to be on the right hand, like a motorcycle. It goes downhill from there.

That means that the twist-shifter had to move to the left hand. Upside down.

Which meant that the LCD display had to move to the right side, with the buttons closer to the stem instead of next to the thumb.

All to avoid using a thumb throttle, on the left hand side, as on the CCS/CCX/RCS.

I like a thumb throttle just fine; better, in some ways, and I'm not really impressed by trying to make this bike more moped-like. I'm willing to bet that no one would have bought something else because the Scorpion didn't have a twist throttle.

With a thumb throttle, the display would be back on the left side, with the buttons right next to the thumb as designed, the twist-shifter would be back on the right side, and right-side-up, as designed. All would be well with the world, a series of minor flaws would be corrected, useability would be improved, and no one would give a flip that it wasn't quite as motorcycle-y. Motorcycle-ish?

Tora is a genius and usually thinks things through really well. I think he got enchanted by the moped style and started deciding "well, it won't be so bad to do X this way and Y that way." And, yeah, it isn't so bad. But it could be that little bit better.

 

[TMH]

Thanks for your continuing review updates on the new bike.

I wonder how easy it would be to buy a thumb throttle (which I also prefer to a twist throttle on an e-bike), install it and switch other bar components around? Does the current twist throttle have a mid-wire disconnect from the factory?

I'm also wondering, with the power of the Hyper, how much my wife will actually use the 'bicycle' as a twist-and-go vehicle (she has other e-bikes to pedal), and how much gear changing she will be doing.

Hope to find this all out next week, as our bike is currently scheduled to ship tomorrow or Friday...

 

[Bruce Arnold]

I was thinking, as I wrote that post, about getting a thumb throttle and making all the changes myself. When I go for a ride later today, I'm going to take a look at how practical that is.

 

[Partyman1971]

I’m an atv owner and I can say my thumb gets tired when riding. I think for extended periods of use, the twist is more comfortable. My wrist never gets tired while riding a motorcycle.

 

[teskow]

For my preference it has to be a twist throttle on the right side. All other throttles are on the right side, ATV's cycles etc, be they thumb or twist. I would like to know how a throttle ended up on the left side to start with, just nuts. When riding one needs all five fingers to hang on, not four.
I believe Indian MotorCycles may have had a throttle on the left side 100 years ago.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

I’m an atv owner and I can say my thumb gets tired for when riding. I think for extended periods of use, the twist is more comfortable. My wrist never gets tired while riding a motorcycle.

I've ridden motorcycles for hours at a time and the twist throttle is fine, like you say. When I rode from Boston to California in 1976, on a Honda 550K, I was doing really long days in the saddle. At times I'd get some muscle strain up around my shoulder blade, but my wrist was fine.

I've got to say that I really liked the bikes I've owned that had either a cruise control or even the low-tech thumbscrew that holds the throttle in place, for use on longer rides. BMWs and one Gold Wing.

This is not that. If you're using throttle-only on the Scorpion, you've got an hour or less of riding time. (~20 miles at 20 mph.) If you're riding throttle-only for that long, then use the cruise control and forget about the twist throttle altogether.

Or, if you're trying to get more distance or time out of it, then you're pedaling, and pedal assist in the lower levels is way less demanding of battery than the throttle, so most of the time you're not using it at all. I use it almost entirely for short bursts of acceleration. Riding this way, and going no lower than 30% state of charge, I can get ~30-35 miles on a charge. So a thumb throttle would be just fine for that kind of use.

Also, a thumb throttle in my experience gives greater control. I can't "feather" a twist throttle the way I do a thumb throttle, and most of the time, that's all I want: that little extra juice to get up to speed while I'm also pedaling.

 

[TMH]

If I recall correctly, the Scorpion and HyperScorp have cruise control...

"To activate the Cruise Control function:
Use the throttle or pedal assist to reach your desired speed. Push and hold the
Assist Down Button for 2 seconds, when the “C” graphic appears, release the Assist
Down Button and the current speed will be maintained without the need to pedal our [sic]
use the throttle. In cruise mode, the throttle is automatically modulated so that the
desired speed is maintained.
To discontinue the use of the cruise control function you can do the following actions:
1. Use the brakes by squeezing the brake lever
2. Use the throttle
3. Push the Assist Up or Assist Down button"

 

[Bruce Arnold]

All accurate, except for the automatic modulation part. The cruise control maintains a steady current, not a steady speed. It will slow way down going up hills, speed way up going down hills, etc. But it works well enough, I use it at times.

 

[Explorer-1]

Good report. Potential first time buyers should be aware, never get a twist throttle before you have compared it to a thumb throttle.