5 Tips to Get you up and running on an EV motorcycle

Did you just buy your first electric motorcycle, or maybe considering buying one? Here are 5 habits that every EV motorcyclist needs to know about BEFORE their first ride.

I’ve been riding electric motorcycles for 5 years now and have well over 70k miles across 5 electric motorcycles. Riding and owning an electric motorcycle is a completely different experience when compared to traditional gas bikes, and if you follow the tips outlined in this video, you’ll not only have a better experience riding these incredible bikes, but you’ll ensure that your taking the proper steps to keep the bike healthy and running for years to come.

Tip #1: Overcome range anxiety

Overcoming range anxiety boils down to two main factors: knowing the actual limitations of the bike and possessing the experience on how to push those limitations. If you’re riding in the city with stop-and-go traffic and regen braking, you’ll stretch those miles. On the highway at 70, your range will drop. The first thing you should do is learn your range based on how and where you actually ride. That way, you’ll never be caught off guard.

LiveWire’s official range numbers are a good baseline, but real-world range is affected by lots of factors that you’ll need to consider. Elevation, speed, rider weight, wind speed and direction, and ambient air temperatures impact the range of any motorcycle. Familiarizing yourself with real world range is very simple to do.

Pick a known route that starts and ends at your house or favorite charger, a 40-50 mile loop is perfect. This will be your baseline range route to see how factors like speed, wind, temperature and carried weight affect your range. What’s your range like between summer and winter? 50mph versus 55mph? With a windscreen, or without one? Stock tires vs other tires?

While this might seem like a lot of work, remember that changing these factors that impact range help create a map work in your mind of what affects range what doesn’t. The more you do it, not only are you learning what affects range, you’re also learning what doesn’t.

Doing this baseline riding not only lets you learn the capabilities of the bike in a controlled manner , but it also teaches you how to adjust your riding habits to hit the range of where you want to go. As you ride more and gain experience, you’ll find that you enjoy riding more because you’re worrying less about range.

Tip #2: Use plugshare to find places to charge

Now that we’ve got range anxiety under control, lets start talking about how we can actually reach destinations farther away. 90% of charging occurs at home, but for that occasional 10% of charging out in the wild, you’ll want to know where to charge and whether it’s a dependable place to stop. To do that, use an app called ‘Plugshare’, which is a map based charger location app. What’s unique about this app is users can upload new locations as they become available or are shut down, so it’s a really dependable tool to use for up-to date information on chargers.

Download the app to your phone or visit the plugshare website, and navigate to the vehicle selection menu to select the Livewire model you own. You can filter out the types of chargers and plugs you don’t want to populate, update the range based on tip #1 and can filter out chargers that have close by amenities like restaurants, hotels, and shopping centers. Each charger location icon holds critical information you’ll need to determine if it’s a good location or not. You’ll want to verify each charger prior to going to these chargers as the reviews may indicate that the station is or is no longer operational. Any time I’ve come to a busted charger out in the wild, it was because I didn’t check plugshare beforehand.

One last note about charger locations is that some networked chargers are just not compatible with LiveWire. These are essentially two computers that fail to chat with one another to initiate a charge, and it’s quite frustrating. For example, there’s a level 2 charger near me that works perfectly with the LiveWire One, but doesn’t work with the S2 Del Mar or Mulholland. This is where the industry shows it’s immaturity, and hopefully one day soon we won’t have to deal with compatibility issues. So if you’re going for a longer ride to places unknown, be sure to have a back up charging plan or bring the home EVSE that came with your bike when you bought it.

Tip #3: Memorize your bike’s PIN (livewire only)

Too many times I’ve seen LiveWire riders stranded because they either misplaced or dropped their key FOB while out riding. Thankfully, all LiveWire motorcycles are equipped with a keyless start system that allow you to operate the motorcycle even when you lose your key or if the FOB battery dies. This 5 digit PIN is factory set to either all 0s or all 1s, and can be changed with the key FOB present.

I highly suggest you memorize your current pin, or reset it to one that you won’t forget. This is a situation nearly every LiveWire owner deals with at least once, so it’s vital that you know what your current PIN is. Check your user manual for instructions on how to reset and program a custom 5 digit pin.

Tip #4: Maintain good battery health

Long term battery health is probably the biggest concern for owners, and thankfully there are only two main considerations to ensure your RESS lasts a long time: Always keep the battery between 30-70% when not being ridden, and avoid keeping the battery hot for too long.

Charging at level 2 sources for the S2 bikes or DCFC is totally fine and won’t damage the battery, but charging at these sources will increase the amount of heat buildup internally. So if time permits, charge at a level 1 source instead of rapid or fast charging.

Thankfully most EV motorcycles are designed to monitor and regulate these temperatures internally and will adjust charging speeds to keep the temps at a healthy level, but on hot summer days, there’s only so much the bike can do as these batteries are air cooled. Parking the bike in the shade, riding on slower roads, and riding more conservatively will help reduce overall heat and will allow the battery to cool at a faster rate.

Never let the battery sit at 100% for too long, and typically you should ride it as soon as it reaches a full charge. This is when the battery is at it’s most volatile chemical state internally, and keeping it here can cause damage over time, especially if the battery is kept warm or hot - like being left in a parking lot or outside. Also, never let the battery sit at any State of Charge below 10% for too long. If the battery is that low, it should be put on a charger immediately and allowed to charge.

If you are going to store the bike, charge it up to 70% and disconnect the 12v battery. If being stored outside or not in a climate controlled environment, remove the 12v battery and store it inside. The RESS will be completely fine, and actually it is better to stay in a cold environment as that will slow down any degradation, but the small 12v lithium ion battery doesn’t fare well when left out in cold environments for too long. Consider investing in a 12v trickle charger if the bike will be left in storage for more than 90 days if you want to leave the 12v battery installed.

Tip #5: Utilize custom riding profiles

For most riders, a LiveWIre motorcycle is their first motorcycle, and for others this is their first electric motorcycle. Regardless of experience level, I highly suggest all new LiveWire owners set a custom riding profile to acclimate themselves to the immediate torque and acceleration characteristics of the bike, and to gradually introduce more power as they feel more comfortable.

When setting up a custom profile, you can copy the settings from any of the present profiles and apply them to yours, or you can set up a completely new profile any way you want. My suggestion is for new owners to set all settings down to 0%, and then gradually increase these settings in increments of 10% until they find a setting their comfortable with. Understand that 0% in these profiles does not mean it completely shuts off acceleration or power, but sets it at the lowest power setting available to the rider.

So those are my 5 tips for any new electric motorcycle owner, no matter which model you picked up. I sincerely hope you riding these amazing bikes just as much as I do, and I encourage you to be safe out when riding.

If you’re an experienced livewire owner, and want to share some tips of your own, be sure to include them in the comments below. If you’re not already a subscriber to this channel, consider following along as I take more Livewire adventures.