The First Thousand Kilometres

There is no engine to run in. There is still a thousand kilometres of learning to do, and most of it is yours, not the machine’s.

Kilometre 0 to 100: the silence

The thing nobody prepares you for is that you can hear the road. Tyre noise, the suspension working, other people’s conversations at the lights. Riders report that they ride more carefully in the first week simply because they can hear what is happening around them.

The second thing is throttle response. An electric motor delivers its pull from a standstill with no clutch and no build-up. It is not violent at 1 or 1.5 kilowatts, but it is immediate, and it rewards a smooth wrist within about a day.

Kilometre 100 to 500: calibrating range

The published figures — 80 to 90 kilometres on the EZ, 100 to 110 on the DLX (LS), 140 on the DLX GOLD — are what the vehicle will do. What you will do depends on your right hand, your pillion, your gradient and the weather. Everyone lands somewhere below the headline at first and then climbs back toward it as their inputs smooth out.

Range anxiety lasts about three weeks. Then it is replaced by knowing, which is a much better feeling.

Kilometre 500 to 1000: the habits set

By here, charging has become domestic infrastructure rather than an event — the scooter goes on when you get home, the way a phone does. The under-seat storage has acquired a permanent resident. The hanging hook is carrying something it was not designed for and doing it well.

The first service

Brakes, tyre pressures, suspension fasteners, and a look at the charging port and connector. There is no oil, no filter, no spark plug, no chain, no clutch. The service list on an electric two-wheeler is short enough that it is worth actually reading.