Stark Varg - First Customer Review

Silas444
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Silas444 4/25/2023 4:04pm
4/25/2023 4:04pm
Titan1 wrote:
I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him...

I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him to ride.  The lack of maintenance is my favorite thing about it! (he can get an ice bike when he's paying for his own maintenance...lol)  And it is so easy to ride...it's almost like cheating compared to a KTM50sx...in fact it is like cheating.  I have no doubt the full sized bikes will be the same. 


In fact, I worry that they will be so easy to ride, that the sport could actually lose its soul?  Part of what I like about riding dirt bikes (and why I ditched a rekluse clutch-which is an amazing product!!!-after a few years) is that its hard.  One hand working the throttle and the front brake, the other working the clutch, shifting with one foot, rear brake with the other...be able to do all of that, seamlessly, at once and go fast...it's a challenge and creates a feeling of accomplishment.  So at what point do electric bikes make it so easy to ride, that enough of the challenge goes away, and it loses its soul? That part of what we all love about this sport, and what gets in our blood to the point we'll suffer extreme injuries and still come back to it, is that its hard...can EMX bikes take that way? 

I wonder that too - but.

I just bought a 125 because I love bangin' through the gears and always have (I have a Varg on order), but there are guys out there who have 450s who put them in 3rd and don't shift again until they put their bikes back in their pickups. And they love being able to do that. So I don't know. Something will be lost, no question, but think of all those car guys who took the time to learn to heel-and-toe. Every time they see paddle shifters they probably growl with indignation, but time marches on regardless of the legitimacy of their feelings and opinions.

And so it will be with moto.

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theycallmeebryan 4/25/2023 4:10pm
4/25/2023 4:10pm Edited Date/Time 4/25/2023 4:11pm
Titan1 wrote:
I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him...

I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him to ride.  The lack of maintenance is my favorite thing about it! (he can get an ice bike when he's paying for his own maintenance...lol)  And it is so easy to ride...it's almost like cheating compared to a KTM50sx...in fact it is like cheating.  I have no doubt the full sized bikes will be the same. 


In fact, I worry that they will be so easy to ride, that the sport could actually lose its soul?  Part of what I like about riding dirt bikes (and why I ditched a rekluse clutch-which is an amazing product!!!-after a few years) is that its hard.  One hand working the throttle and the front brake, the other working the clutch, shifting with one foot, rear brake with the other...be able to do all of that, seamlessly, at once and go fast...it's a challenge and creates a feeling of accomplishment.  So at what point do electric bikes make it so easy to ride, that enough of the challenge goes away, and it loses its soul? That part of what we all love about this sport, and what gets in our blood to the point we'll suffer extreme injuries and still come back to it, is that its hard...can EMX bikes take that way? 

Riders will be safer on a Varg compared to their gas bikes. and their skill level will rapidly improve. They'll make less mistakes and be able to focus on their lines and riding fundamentals without worrying about combustion engine related issues, missing a shift, being in the wrong gear, clutching, sucking up sand in the airbox, forgetting to turn the gas on, forgetting to put oil in the bike....the list goes on. There are so many guys out there that don't even check tire pressure before they ride.. I've seen it all.

In my mid 30's, i want to keep to enjoying this sport now and for many years to come without the risk of crashing hard due to mechanical issues. I bought my Alta MXR days after I clicked false neutral in a rhythm section on my KX125 during a race back in 2018 and took a trip to Endonesia seeing stars and was left contemplating retiring from the sport all together.

I've never felt safer going fast around a motocross track than on my Alta MXR. And for me, going fast around a track safely is FUN. On a gas bike i can still go as fast but i feel like i'm on the ragged edge of crashing my brains out sometimes. I also can ride in a lot more places and ride a lot more often on my electric bikes.

This is all just my experience and opinion. I'm all in on electric now. No more gas bikes for me.

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wfopete
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wfopete 4/25/2023 5:20pm
4/25/2023 5:20pm

Something that may have been lost in the comparison sauce is the warranty.

Last time I checked the Stark comes with a 2 year warranty

 

sandtrack315
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sandtrack315 4/25/2023 5:22pm
4/25/2023 5:22pm
wfopete wrote:

Something that may have been lost in the comparison sauce is the warranty.

Last time I checked the Stark comes with a 2 year warranty

 

Yamaha has covered failures within the first 90 days. 2 years is impressive. 

The Shop

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SKULL ISLAND 4/25/2023 5:47pm
4/25/2023 5:47pm
theycallmeebryan wrote:
Riders will be safer on a Varg compared to their gas bikes. and their skill level will rapidly improve. They'll make less mistakes and be able...

Riders will be safer on a Varg compared to their gas bikes. and their skill level will rapidly improve. They'll make less mistakes and be able to focus on their lines and riding fundamentals without worrying about combustion engine related issues, missing a shift, being in the wrong gear, clutching, sucking up sand in the airbox, forgetting to turn the gas on, forgetting to put oil in the bike....the list goes on. There are so many guys out there that don't even check tire pressure before they ride.. I've seen it all.

In my mid 30's, i want to keep to enjoying this sport now and for many years to come without the risk of crashing hard due to mechanical issues. I bought my Alta MXR days after I clicked false neutral in a rhythm section on my KX125 during a race back in 2018 and took a trip to Endonesia seeing stars and was left contemplating retiring from the sport all together.

I've never felt safer going fast around a motocross track than on my Alta MXR. And for me, going fast around a track safely is FUN. On a gas bike i can still go as fast but i feel like i'm on the ragged edge of crashing my brains out sometimes. I also can ride in a lot more places and ride a lot more often on my electric bikes.

This is all just my experience and opinion. I'm all in on electric now. No more gas bikes for me.

All hail Zorg!!!!

Laughing

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wfopete
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wfopete 4/25/2023 6:03pm
4/25/2023 6:03pm

LHRB for $300????

Dirty Points 4/25/2023 6:14pm
4/25/2023 6:14pm Edited Date/Time 4/25/2023 6:15pm
wfopete wrote:

LHRB for $300????

Also entire Brembo front brake assy with master cylinder, lever, steel braided line, caliper, pads, caliper mount for $300.

With the KYB front end on this bike, might be an option for all those Yamaha guys dropping KTM assemblies on.

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x3no22
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x3no22 4/25/2023 7:42pm
4/25/2023 7:42pm

I don't know if this was answered but, what is the clutch lever for on E-bikes?

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theycallmeebryan 4/25/2023 7:45pm
4/25/2023 7:45pm
x3no22 wrote:

I don't know if this was answered but, what is the clutch lever for on E-bikes?

Its a left hand rear brake instead of a foot brake.

#434
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#434 4/26/2023 1:51am
4/26/2023 1:51am
theycallmeebryan wrote:

Parts and Accessories page is now live on the website

https://starkfuture.com/parts-and-accessories/spare-parts/mx1

Dirty Points wrote:

Man, most parts seem extremely low-priced.

GD350 wrote:

Oof the $8k battery is kinda scary dont ya think

The cells alone are almost 4000 bucks, so 8000 isn’t too crazy for a spare part. Overall the prices of spare parts on their website are fair. 

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Goldmember
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Goldmember 4/26/2023 2:24am
4/26/2023 2:24am

$15,500 minimum for a spare battery and inverter if you are Aussie.

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Last Braaap
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Last Braaap 4/26/2023 2:44am
4/26/2023 2:44am
Goldmember wrote:

$15,500 minimum for a spare battery and inverter if you are Aussie.

Pfff... easy fix. Just lie about not being aussie and it will be cheaper.

remote image

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Robgvx
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Robgvx 4/26/2023 3:35am
4/26/2023 3:35am
wfopete wrote:

LHRB for $300????

I tried a rear thumb brake on my KTM (in parallel with the foot brake). It just wasn't powerful enough. I guess that was because with a foot brake you have tons of leverage and power to press that lever, so a normal rear brake setup doesn't need a very big caliper or master/slave cylinder leverage.  With the smaller leverage setup of a thumb lever it (using a KTM front brake master cylinder) just didn't work powerfully enough to use with my thumb.

I'll be interested to know how Stark have set theirs up.

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Mr. Afterbar
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Mr. Afterbar 4/26/2023 3:43am
4/26/2023 3:43am

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

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#434
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#434 4/26/2023 4:15am
4/26/2023 4:15am
Mr. Afterbar wrote:

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

He just made the payment, he said. So now it’s officially a customer review. 

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Silas444
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Silas444 4/26/2023 4:20am
4/26/2023 4:20am
Mr. Afterbar wrote:

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

You ever been to a party where someone arrives late and tells a joke they think will bring the house down, but nobody laughs because they've already heard the joke three times that night?

Yeah, you're that guy.

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Pit Row

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Sandusky26
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Sandusky26 4/26/2023 4:52am
4/26/2023 4:52am
Mr. Afterbar wrote:

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

If we stop posting the Stark groupies will only be able to argue with themselves.

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Mr. Afterbar
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Mr. Afterbar 4/26/2023 4:57am
4/26/2023 4:57am Edited Date/Time 4/26/2023 5:03am
Mr. Afterbar wrote:

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

Silas444 wrote:
You ever been to a party where someone arrives late and tells a joke they think will bring the house down, but nobody laughs because they've...

You ever been to a party where someone arrives late and tells a joke they think will bring the house down, but nobody laughs because they've already heard the joke three times that night?

Yeah, you're that guy.

That’s ok with me. It wasn’t a joke by the way. The guy who is too cool to sit around reading eight pages about a customer review that isn’t a customer review. I’ll take it. 

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face biter
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face biter 4/26/2023 5:09am
4/26/2023 5:09am

image 4

 

This is great news, my delivery date is Sept  maybe I’ll get lucky and a few people will pass on their orders, it would be nice to get my bike a little earlier!

Also, Anton… if you’re reading this I’m ready to fund mine too  

 

just let me know when you can box that thing up and ship it!

 

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theycallmeebryan 4/26/2023 6:13am
4/26/2023 6:13am
Mr. Afterbar wrote:

Wouldn’t you have had to of bought the bike for it to be a customer review?

LOL oh geez, not this again. Go back a few pages.

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Graybeard 4/26/2023 8:23am
4/26/2023 8:23am

Sorry if this has been asked and answered, but can the battery packs be "rebuilt" or do you have to buy a whole new unit?

HonDawg17 4/26/2023 8:59am
4/26/2023 8:59am
Titan1 wrote:
I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him...

I love my sons ee5...I hope that they'll have a 65 sized one, then an 85 sized one, and then a full sized one for him to ride.  The lack of maintenance is my favorite thing about it! (he can get an ice bike when he's paying for his own maintenance...lol)  And it is so easy to ride...it's almost like cheating compared to a KTM50sx...in fact it is like cheating.  I have no doubt the full sized bikes will be the same. 


In fact, I worry that they will be so easy to ride, that the sport could actually lose its soul?  Part of what I like about riding dirt bikes (and why I ditched a rekluse clutch-which is an amazing product!!!-after a few years) is that its hard.  One hand working the throttle and the front brake, the other working the clutch, shifting with one foot, rear brake with the other...be able to do all of that, seamlessly, at once and go fast...it's a challenge and creates a feeling of accomplishment.  So at what point do electric bikes make it so easy to ride, that enough of the challenge goes away, and it loses its soul? That part of what we all love about this sport, and what gets in our blood to the point we'll suffer extreme injuries and still come back to it, is that its hard...can EMX bikes take that way? 

theycallmeebryan wrote:
Riders will be safer on a Varg compared to their gas bikes. and their skill level will rapidly improve. They'll make less mistakes and be able...

Riders will be safer on a Varg compared to their gas bikes. and their skill level will rapidly improve. They'll make less mistakes and be able to focus on their lines and riding fundamentals without worrying about combustion engine related issues, missing a shift, being in the wrong gear, clutching, sucking up sand in the airbox, forgetting to turn the gas on, forgetting to put oil in the bike....the list goes on. There are so many guys out there that don't even check tire pressure before they ride.. I've seen it all.

In my mid 30's, i want to keep to enjoying this sport now and for many years to come without the risk of crashing hard due to mechanical issues. I bought my Alta MXR days after I clicked false neutral in a rhythm section on my KX125 during a race back in 2018 and took a trip to Endonesia seeing stars and was left contemplating retiring from the sport all together.

I've never felt safer going fast around a motocross track than on my Alta MXR. And for me, going fast around a track safely is FUN. On a gas bike i can still go as fast but i feel like i'm on the ragged edge of crashing my brains out sometimes. I also can ride in a lot more places and ride a lot more often on my electric bikes.

This is all just my experience and opinion. I'm all in on electric now. No more gas bikes for me.

So literally get rid of all major skills involved in riding a dirt bike...Yeah that sounds great...You must think Nascar is intense too..

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The real Sasquatch 4/26/2023 9:02am
4/26/2023 9:02am
Graybeard wrote:

Sorry if this has been asked and answered, but can the battery packs be "rebuilt" or do you have to buy a whole new unit?

I'm only guessing here, but I think that they should be rebuildable probably not by the average person though.  They are made up of a bunch of cells so I imagine that you could have a few cells go bad.  The Alta's even with the heat issues have been very reliable as far as the batteries go, and Stark has a 2 year warranty . I would think that batteries with a few bad cells would have issues early enough that it would be covered by warranty. And by the time you would need to replace the battery , unless its damaged somehow. There will be better cells available( Brian has commented that there should be batteries with twice the range/power by the time the Vargs battery reaches the end of its expected life).  I think it might be on a case by case basis , if it is cost effective to rebuild or replace if you are able to find a place to rebuild.  Finding somebody to rebuild it might be harder than finding a replacement though. I'm not very familiar with building larger batteries  like that. I have built RC car batteries back many years ago. Putting cells together . 6 or 7 nicad cells back then that is my only experience at building a battery myself so not really relative.  

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HonDawg17 4/26/2023 9:06am
4/26/2023 9:06am
theycallmeebryan wrote:

Parts and Accessories page is now live on the website

https://starkfuture.com/parts-and-accessories/spare-parts/mx1

Dirty Points wrote:

Man, most parts seem extremely low-priced.

GD350 wrote:

Oof the $8k battery is kinda scary dont ya think

WOW. $7558 for a battery...good luck.

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hard2kill
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hard2kill 4/26/2023 9:10am
4/26/2023 9:10am
Graybeard wrote:

Sorry if this has been asked and answered, but can the battery packs be "rebuilt" or do you have to buy a whole new unit?

The real Sasquatch wrote:
I'm only guessing here, but I think that they should be rebuildable probably not by the average person though.  They are made up of a bunch...

I'm only guessing here, but I think that they should be rebuildable probably not by the average person though.  They are made up of a bunch of cells so I imagine that you could have a few cells go bad.  The Alta's even with the heat issues have been very reliable as far as the batteries go, and Stark has a 2 year warranty . I would think that batteries with a few bad cells would have issues early enough that it would be covered by warranty. And by the time you would need to replace the battery , unless its damaged somehow. There will be better cells available( Brian has commented that there should be batteries with twice the range/power by the time the Vargs battery reaches the end of its expected life).  I think it might be on a case by case basis , if it is cost effective to rebuild or replace if you are able to find a place to rebuild.  Finding somebody to rebuild it might be harder than finding a replacement though. I'm not very familiar with building larger batteries  like that. I have built RC car batteries back many years ago. Putting cells together . 6 or 7 nicad cells back then that is my only experience at building a battery myself so not really relative.  

Really hoping to see CHI Batterys tackle a battery build for the stark battery's. I have no doubt they could already get 8 to 10 kwh in the available space of the stock varg battery. Then we would be getting close to racing offroad without a swap. Just not sure how easily stark has made it for an aftermarket battery to be compatible with their controller ect.???

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SKULL ISLAND 4/26/2023 9:30am
4/26/2023 9:30am
GD350 wrote:

Oof the $8k battery is kinda scary dont ya think

Someday, someone will have to change it.
Lots of used 4 strokes are considered like ticking time bombs, how about this?

 

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SKULL ISLAND 4/26/2023 9:36am
4/26/2023 9:36am
#434 wrote:
The cells alone are almost 4000 bucks, so 8000 isn’t too crazy for a spare part. Overall the prices of spare parts on their website are...

The cells alone are almost 4000 bucks, so 8000 isn’t too crazy for a spare part. Overall the prices of spare parts on their website are fair. 

Oh, OK, if 8000 bucks is "not to crazy", then I guess everything's fine. Dont'worry, GD.

Laughing

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