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There has to be something with your bike. Your battery life is absolutely atrocious.
I am 37, 185lbs, and a mild douche. I can run honest Vet A speed for a few laps but usually cruise a bit slower as I am not really in shape anymore. I keep the bike at 60hp and 33% regen. I am averaging 20-25% battery usage per 15 minute of track time if I push the entire session. I never once overheated anything. Nor have a the dozens of friends of varying weights and speeds who have ridden it.
The last time I rode the bike it was 65 degrees out, perfect loamy conditions, on a track with rolling hills (Hurricane Hills in PA) I ran a 17 minute session and 19 minutes session. Both of which I kept a steady pace and did not roll around or stop. Threw a sprint lap or two in there for good measure. I used 25% of the battery in the first and 28% of the battery in the second session. I was the fastest guy on track in the Vet practice both times, if that means anything.
I will grab the phone off my bike tomorrow and screenshot some of the ride times vs. battery life for you.
Question on regen, how far up can one dial the metric on this? I see most people riding the bike in 35-50% regen on outdoors.
When I rode the bike, it was at 50hp and was a mix of dirt and some added sand. I never felt like I needed more power except in the tightest sand corner, where I struggled to acclimate to the lack of clutch. Otherwise, 50hp felt like more than plenty bike- the speedometer agreed.
Yeah the numbers just don't seem to add up, maybe it is more to do with the speeds of our tracks here possibly.
I have 2 friends with starks that are both slower than me and there numbers are more in line with yours. So that part makes me think that my bike is ok. I believe what you are saying and appreciate your feedback it's just crazy the difference people seem to be getting from these bikes.
Honestly what you got on the hardpack, extrapolating to about 35 min using 80% battery, is pretty much what you can expect, even if on the low side. In their own range vid at Hangtown, the amateur got 45 min riding at 48 hp with 20% battery left. Depends on track and speed obviously.
Really disappointing you got it overheating on the second track, that's been rarely reported so far.
So you do like this toy, even with its limitations 😁
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Regen can go anywhere from 0 to 100.
I agree that 50hp is enough for practically any corner. The part I struggle with on lower hp settings is the top end, the stark has amazing torque but then I feel it tapers off very quickly. On faster open sections it feels like the last 1/4 of the throttle almost does nothing unless you are on higher hp settings.
The speed of the tracks could play a factor. I am on the East coast of the US, our tracks are generally tighter than the wide open more flowing style of the west coast.
Have you swapped bikes with yo ur friends to see if you get better run time on there’s and they get worse on yours?
That's a really good suggestion to rule out issues: same day, same track, same rider, try both bikes for one session with same settings.
Your battery life does seem pretty bad. I can usually get around 2 30ish minute motos on a hard pack track. I'm not super fast, probably faster vet c class, slower vet b class on a moto track.
Here's a couple motos from motoland in AZ. Track has some deeper/soft corners in the morning but very hard pack by mid end of day.
Also I run mine down to 10% before I even notice a power decrease and even then i can still ride at a decent pace all the way to 0. Interesting you say yours is almost useless under 20%. Sounds like something is going on.
Im actually ok with the run times I get and have accepted it. I just get a bit confused and start to question it when I hear of people similar speed to me getting alot more run time from there's.
Yeah even with all the issues I have I absolutely love it. It is by no means perfect and getting the suspension really dialed is taking a bit of work.
We did for 2 laps but mainly to test suspension. The little info from that seems to say both bikes are fine but it is definitely the next test I will do for sure.
I'm in Oz and I'd say most of our track are 3rd/4th gear style tracks.
Yours numbers seem to line up similar to my friends. The thing I think that is making the difference is the average speed. I have to check but I think my average speed is alot higher, probably due to our more open tracks. And speed just kills the battery.
When I say absolutely useless under 20% I'm probably exaggerating a bit. On the hard pack track it was still rideable but noticeable mainly with higher throttle usage. On my sand track I give up at 20% and can notice power slightly dropping from around 50%. Again this is mainly felt when really twisting the throttle not so much in the corners.
Yeah I can see battery going alot quicker with a more wide open track especially deep sand. A friend with a stark went to glamis dunes and was lucky to get 30 mins he said. I do go through battery fairly quick when riding fast open desert trails. Seems like the battery tech just isn't quite there yet for fast paced riding.
Speed would make a big difference, at lower speeds <45kmh Stark's motor doesn't put out full power, it is torque limited, at speeds above that it is power limited, and torque drops off.
Funny thread, on one side we have Stark nightmare scenario, deep sand track, overheating, and on the other side we have Stark dream scenario, C rider on hardpack getting 1h range with some battery left.
If you were both on the same track, you would still end up with wildly different range.
Smith, your next test, swapping bikes with your buddy for a run, will be very informative.
I was just sharing my hard pack info to compare to his hardpack info....not the sand.
"Could you confirm if you're on the latest firmware and software version?"
That one sentence tells me all I need to know about electric. I don't need any more computers to update and flash the bios.
Pit Row
I was thinking of trying a 15 tooth front sprocket to bring the motor speed down a bit, stock is 14.
How do you like your suspension? This part I'm struggling with a bit, overall the bike handles amazing but the actual suspension feel isn't the best.
I'm thinking of starting a new post about stark suspension setup, you think it would be worth it?
That will increase the transition to power limited from 65kmh to 70kmh, do you know what speeds you are running on your track?
I definitely like the suspension over my 13 kx 450 but I haven't quite gotten it dialed In yet. Set my sag to 104 and adjusted clickers a little bit. I love the way it handles but I have some harshness in the front end I need to figure out. I'd be all for a stark suspension thread.
I also don't know if I have the "soft" "med" or "hard" suspension on mine. Dealer i got it from never said anything and I'm not sure how to tell.
On my track my average speed is around 50-55kmh and top speed around 90-95kmh
Yeah I'm on my second revalve now and it's alot better but the harshness into the hands is still there. It's the worst on small slow choppy stuff, then gets better on anything medium size and medium pace and then worse again on the real big hits.
Your average speed is on the transition from torque limited to power limited, if you change to the 15 tooth front sprocket, torque will decrease...
Thanks for that. Appears i have medium which is perfect for my weight. My harshness is very similar to what your describing especially in the slow chop.
what bars come on the varg? Switching from nekken to PT Evo's on KTM's in the 18-22 generation made a significant difference in harsh, spiky feelings in the hands (especially on slap down landings). Just a thought.
Went on an enduro/off-road ride this weekend. Southwest FL, mix of sand, deep sand, soft dirt, grass double-tracks and single tracks. There were 3 Starks in our group who joined us for the first loop. We rode 27 miles, 1hr30 with average speed of 21 mph through the woods. Yes, they had to go back to the trailhead because out of juice and we continued for another 35 mi, but that was pretty good range/use for them though. Man, when they come on you, you don't hear anything until suddenly next to you. Fun bikes though.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DFQ9cb7xwrR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by torque limited or power limited? Hp is just torque at a certain RPM.
Yeah it is definitely at its worst in the small slow chop, almost blows my hands off the bars sometimes. And both my friends with starks describe the suspension the same way, one has a revalve one stock. I'm going to keep trying to improve it but it possibly could just be the feeling of the bike.
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