Test drove some Italian electric motorcycles this weekend

TL;DR One of these is gonna follow me home soon.The backstoryI test drove a Zero SR a couple months ago. I decided pretty soon afterwards that I was going to have to get an electric motorcycle, but I wanted to do my homework and not just buy the first one that I tried. Some online research led me to discover Energica—an Italian company founded in the same part of Italy as Ducati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and they only make electric motorcycles? As someone who has overwhelmingly preferred Ducatis before, I was intrigued. I mean, my first bike was a used Monster. I have a soft spot in my heart for gorgeous Italian engineering. (Don't we all?)I decided I would have to test drive an Energica or two before I could choose. I contacted Energica via email and told them I wanted to test drive their bikes. Later that same evening, on a Sunday no less, I got a reply from the CEO of their American operations, Stefano. He was sad to tell me that unfortunately, there was no Energica dealer in Colorado where I live, but if I were to come to San Francisco and decide to buy one of their bikes, they would subtract the cost of my airfare from the purchase price. It just so happened that I was already planning to be in the Bay Area this month, so I coordinated the test drive with Stefano for this past Saturday morning. I told him that I was interested in choosing between the EVA and the Ego; he suggested that we ride both bikes up to Alice's Restaurant, and then swap for the trip back down. (After arranging this test drive, Zero tricked me into buying the SR anyway with a sales promotion that dropped over 25% off the cost of a 2017 SR, but I still wanted to test drive the Energicas.)NoteI've uploaded some pictures chronicling the start of the trip. Unfortunately, my upload bandwidth sucks, so I haven't got most of my GoPro footage up yet, but I recorded most of the test drive in 4K/60fps, along with a 1080p 240fps recording of me testing 0-60 on the 101. Well, more like 0-73mph, but who's counting, right?If there's interest, I'll upload some of the footage to YouTube and update this post with links. I've never uploaded motorcycle footage before, so I'm not sure if I need to blur out license plate numbers or anything for privacy.The test driveRiding the EVA to the fast-charging station and then up to Alice's Restaurant was so much fun that I'm having a hard time finding words to describe it without sounding like a frothing fanboy. The EVA was super responsive. The riding position and the seat were comfortable. Like the Zero, there's no engine vibration, so my hands didn't go numb during the ride. The instant acceleration is exciting and intoxicating and maybe just a little scary, like jumping out of a plane for the first time. I played with different modes and discovered that I really liked the feel of max regen. I fell in love with this bike as soon as I got it moving. That's really all there is to it, I guess.The Ego, on the other hand, is not for me. It's much less comfortable - the riding position is much less upright, and my back did not like the lean. It felt like a supercharged version of the EVA, performance-wise, mostly owing (I assume) to the bigger motor in the Ego. However, I don't tend to ride superbikes, so the balance felt wrong to me and braking was more stressful because I felt like I was closer to flying over the handlebars. I didn't, and I managed to ride both bikes without embarrassing myself too badly, but the Ego was harder to handle around sharp corners for me, and I don't think I could ride that position for any extended period of time. If you like superbikes, though, you might want to take a closer look. I will admit, it was fun recording 0-60 in 240fps on the Ego.After we got back, I put down a deposit to buy a 107kW EVA, in Lunar White. They haven't worked up the full paperwork for the delivery yet, and I want to see if I can find an alternate method of getting it back (friend with a truck maybe, or impromptu motorcycle road trip). But sometime next month, I'll have my second electric motorcycle.I think I can probably stop buying bikes now. Right?The bikesThe EVA that I got to drive was a slightly older model with an 80kW motor, but the newer EVA has the same 107kW motor as the Ego I drove. Even the 80kW motor was noticeably more responsive than my SR, and the 107kW motor was unlike anything else I've ever ridden.Both the EVA and the Ego are heavy bikes. I'm used to bikes in the 400-ish pound range, and these things are both closer to 600, but they really don't feel like it when they're moving. Maybe something to do with the center of gravity being lower?The EVA's riding position felt pretty natural to me coming from a Monster 696. The Ego's aggressive riding position, on the other hand, reminded me more of the Ducati 848 Evo, which I've only ever sat on and not actually ridden anywhere. My lower back was not happy with me after riding back from Alice's on the Ego.Both bikes have Brembo brakes standard and Pirelli Diablo Rosso (2? 3? can't remember) tires. Marzocchi shocks come standard, but Ohlins are available as an upgrade.Electric-specific stuffFast charging. Fast charging is huge. The EVA wasn't fully charged at the beginning of the test drive, which could have been a major issue if it weren't for the fact that you can get from 0% to 85% charge in under 30 minutes. We headed to a NASA parking lot with 8 ChargePoint Level 3 chargers. Stefano and I were talking for what felt like ten minutes (but apparently was closer to twenty) and when I checked the battery, it had gone from 53% to 100%. My SR can't charge anywhere near that quickly - to go from half to full would be at least two hours.The Energicas offer four handling profiles: Eco, Urban, Rain, and Sport. With no rain, I spent most of the time in Urban and Sport, but I tried Eco briefly and it seemed just as boring as I expected. Urban mode was great for riding around town without accidentally accelerating to 60mph and Sport mode is where the full torque and max speed are available. It should go without saying, but Sport mode is the most likely to get you in trouble.Also, both bikes offer four regen profiles: off, low, medium, and high. On the Zero, max regen feels like you're engine-braking just one gear down, but on the Energicas, you can almost ride with the throttle alone and very minimal use of the actual brake lever or pedal; just ease back off the throttle and you slow down surprisingly quickly. Plus, with higher regen, you get better mileage.And finally: the sound. To me, the Zero SR is surprisingly quiet, even when pushing the motor pretty hard. Initially I thought I'd hate this, but it turns out it doesn't bother me so much. The Energicas, on the other hand, sound like jet turbines. Nobody will ever mistake this sound for the throaty roar of a Ducati, but it's pretty satisfying in its own way. via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/93d2kp/test_drove_some_italian_electric_motorcycles_this/?utm_source=ifttt