ChrisCH

Thanks Konrad - you are a wonderful source of info. Here's the Yam release on the same matter https://global.yamaha-motor.com/news/2024/1107/em.html Hopefully some collaboration on the TYE and the new EM range. This is my perfect excuse not to buy the wife the Factor-e just yet 😅

BOSI do a front mudguard replacement with a brace. We had one for a year or so and it was an improvement on the OE. I think other mudguards will also fit the brace if you need to replace again. Worth a look. https://www.johnleemotorcycles.co.uk/product/bosi-front-fender-kit/

Sorry IT talk. W3 world wide web. So your website. Great news on the Dragonfly. One up for sale near me but too much. I like the idea and just on the weight as well. It doesn't have the support in the UK that the EM does.

Overall impression I like the bike and the missus really wants one. She prefers it to the '21 epure. The only downer is the cost. The EM Connect is a good idea but I did not want the power limited in any way. The missus found it useful however. For us as a couple it would work. The new bike is very like my TRS - a bike I enjoy a lot. I quickly forgot it is electric. I didn't think I would want the tickover, but it works. I thought the PRB was a gimmick, but I liked it. I thought the big battery would be heavy, but it was not. The new motor is more powerful and revs higher. The power limit cuts the revs and leaves it gutless. I found myself on the stop all the time on hte Factor-e as I wanted more. For people that want the bike "tamed" with slow throttles and so on the power reduction might be a good thing. The unrestricted epure was just perfect. The new version mode switch lets you go up and down the mapping on the fly - I liked that too. This is a much better bike than the one we have. I would be very happy with either the epure or the Factor-e and would chose the latter as the cost advantage of the epure is not enough. I really enjoyed my ride and did not feel you would need very long to get used to the bike if you ride something like a TRS or Gasgas. I think we will upgrade when there are some ex demo or secondhand bike available. The wife's grin tells me I will not have any choice in the matter.

PRB Option Both bikes had the PRB, regeneration lever. The missus' epure does not have that so it was new for me. Konrad has written a lot about it on his W3. I found it useful. On a decent you could use it instead of a back brake. It took a little while to get used to but I soon found I could sontrol descent speed easily with it. The lever is flimsy and a bit heath robinson but the idea seemed OK. I did not use the on/off button and couldn't see any point in it. You need the progressive action to make any use of the feature. The other aspect of this is it can be used to kill the tickover. This is really handy when you need to stop for a moment or two and don't want to hold the clutch in. You can scratch your nose (other body parts are available) left handed and keep the front brake on then just open the throttle and go. In fact this feature alone makes the option a must have.

Cycle Parts The bike's geometry is different to our '21 model. As soon as I got on the bike I felt at home, it is much more like my TRS. The centre of gravity is further back and very much what I am used to. I really liked it from the get go. The missus small hands would have need a bit of lever adjustment but she got on really well with the Factor-e which had a bit less of a reach than the epure. So we ended up good in the long run. The Tech forks are the same as the TRS and overall the bike just feels like an electric version of my own bike. A bit heavier but not so you would notice. Brakes are superb - again the Braketek like my TRS and just as you would want them. I did a couple of 0.5m drop offs and the bike felt very confident only my fear of braking some plastic and having to pay for it stopped me pushing myself a bit harder. Within a few minutes I was comfortable on the bike and not really thinking about the fuel source. I could alternate between this and the TRS without much need to adapt my riding style at all. We had been testing the bikes in the artificial obstacle park. We stopped for a quick hot dog and a drink. (Very nice BTW). Then went out to the natural terrain. There are some nice streams and features we don't get down south so was looking forward to that. We had a couple of sections that we had done some coaching on earlier in the year so I was keen to ride them as a contrast to the last time I rode them on the TRS. The epure took it in its stride. If I am honest the test was over now - I was having way, way too much fun to really study the bike.

Gearbox. The Factor-e gearbox is similar to my TRS in terms of "feel". It changes easily both at a standstill (selective) or on the move (progressive). It is independent of the mapping. On the green setting the shop had turned off the tickover and it was very easy to find neutral. Perhaps too easy as I hit neutral when changing up on the move. First is quite low - lower than my TRS. Ideal for low speed obstacles if you are a bit rubbish like I am. Second is probably the "go-to" gear of choice. More or less the same as the gear ratio of the epure. You need the clutch a bit more if you need to make a slow speed manoeuvre. Third and fourth were too high for me to really find a use for them in the time we were there and are not gears I use on my TRS either. 4th would be good for travelling between sections on big grounds but not something I do and not something we needed to do on the test ride. The clutch is light and responsive (but so is the one on the wife's '21 epure). Personally I don't much use the gears so hard for me to assess how big a deal this is to have a gearbox on the bike. The price difference is small and I almost certainly would buy the geared bike over the epure. If the price difference was bigger it would be a hard decision. The need for the optional EM Connect (included on the Factor-e as standard) makes the price advantage even less. My Suzuki has a gear indicator. In 50 years of motorcycle riding I have always thought of that as a silly gimmick. However it would have been handy on this bike in my opinion. Given the bike has a "dashboard" and an electric supply it would be possible to show at a glance without the need to static balance and mess about. Might reduce stress and wear on the box as well. After 20 minutes we swapped bikes and my missus rode the Factor-e and I rode the epure. The big grin on her face told me I wasn't going to get another ride on the Factor-e. The epure had a huge amount more power and I felt much happier with that so we did the rest of the two hours on those bikes. I did my best to see what the gears did for bikerpet's clutch dump scenarios and both first and second seemed more or less the same on the small obstacles within my ability. Sorry mate - you will have to wait for a much better rider than me for more feedback. Both bikes easily tacked anything either rider was capable of.

Well luckily the weather gods smiled on us and we had a very nice two hours. Lots to say so I will try to break it down into a few posts to make it readable. Firstly (again) Inch perfect is a great venue and worth a visit if you are near enough. We got there a bit early despite the traffic on the M6. The guy in the shop started very well - as there are two of you I will lend you two bikes. Cool - I had not expected that. We got the Factor-e and the loan of a new 2025 epure. These two bikes are the same all bar the gearbox. The epure does not have the remote mapping facility (EM Connect) as standard but it was fitted to this bike. The first 10 minutes was a run through of how that worked and what you can do. There is a throttle setting - like free play - both bikes set to zero. Then there is power and speed. The epure was an instructor bike and the shop guy explained and set up the Factor-e for us. He set the power at 40% on the green getting more through the blue and red settings. The epure was left as the instructor had set it as he had not released the app (equivalent of logging out) Something to bear in mind if you have more than one bike. The epure was set at a much higher power rating (than the Factor-e) when we rode it. So the difference is the gearbox - I'll start on that.

Yes, trapezartist is on the money. A Beta 250 in standard format is hard to beat as a default position. Does everything well enough and is reliable and resellable. It is a safe option for anyone pretty much. Anything post 2014 is good to ride and the earlier ones really are not all that much different. The old Rev3 is harder for parts now and IMHO the Evo is better (had both). The front brake is the weak point in my experience, but a new disc and better pads can cure it. Older bikes are a lottery - it might be a bargain and well cared for or it can be a shed. Newer large cc bikes will have been ridden hard and can be a lottery as well. I would suggest there is more difference between bikes of the same brand than there is difference between brands if you are looking at secondhand stuff. When you are sitting in a ditch full of icy water with the bike on top of you they are all about 70Kg 😁

Buy a small engined bike to start. See how you get on. Give yourself at least 6-8 months on whatever you buy before you upgrade - if you upgrade. Whatever you buy will be great fun and more than enough to get you started. The key skill is balance (well IMHO it is) and you can learn that on anything. If you still have the balance from your MTB days you should be good enough soon enough. The Beta is popular and will not lose much value if it is over three years old. We have a few 4rt riders in our club and they are good bikes but not trouble free. Don't overlook other brands though - all modern bikes are worth looking at (electric too). You are a bit out in the sticks and might need to travel to find a decent dealer - I found Tom Adamson on a search but their website is utterly crap so can't even see what's in stock. Maybe start with your local club and see if there is anything on offer there and if anyone will let you have a quick lap of the car park? I've always found everyone in the sport to be friendly and helpful.

The 2025 epure race is not much cheaper - a few hundred. From what I have read the gearing is the same as the third gear on the Factor-e. The gearbox therefore allows lower forward speed for the same revs. Whether that is any big advantage is hard to say as it is a new motor and I have not ridden it. The old epure in my view is fine at low revs. I think I also read that the gearbox can be programmed to have different mapping and TKO on/off as default in each gear. Ergo, if you change gear you change the bike and can do that specific to the section or even within a single section. I really don't know. But as I am test riding it this Saturday I soon will know - I hope. I will share my findings with everyone. Sadly whatever the outcome the wife already wants one........

I'm not sure that trials bikes are expensive. Ten thousand UK£ is a lot if you are rubbish like me, but you can still get a secondhand bike for less than a pushbike. Once you have bought the bike they don't cost much to operate. If you are not buying a new bike the depreciation isn't that much either. I have a trials and a trail bike (CRF 250) and I am seriously thinking of selling the trail bike as I can't find anywhere to ride it that interests me. 'Off road' in the UK is becoming very difficult and trials is a cheap and fun way to scratch the itch. For many people I feel you are better off with a mountainbike. (I love my MTB) More places to ride and much less hassle. A good MTB is about the same money as the EM Factor-e. What is happening here and throughout the world is that well off people are getting richer and ordinary people are getting poorer. But that discussion is best left for a more appropriate place than this thread.

Yes, I pretty much agree with all that. I would like one of these bikes but ten grand for what is really a man-toy is a bit more than I am comfortable with. My TRS was five and a half and that was really a bit more than I wanted to pay but the post lockdown trade in prices were too good to miss. There are secondhand EM coming up at 4500 or near that on ebay from time to time. 2021 epure race is about that money. My wife's is a good bike but the TRS is (well in my view) the better one (not by much). Ease of maintenence and no messing about with premix, no carb cleaning, yeah - I'll go electric at the right money. The Factor-e looks the business and I hpe to buy one when there are some secondhand ones about. Hopefully the ex-demo stuff will get sold off at a decent price. Sadly that little "blip" of prices has gone and my '23 TRS is not worth all that much as a trade in. We are at Inch Perfect on the 19th and have booked an extended test ride. I hope we don't like it too much or we will both want one. Now that is expensive... 🙂

Another promo vid from Inch Perfect. OK - it is a marketing and sales thing but nevertheless interesting, if only to see the bike in the hands of someone that can ride (ie not me...)

Looks like a gap in the market. We have the later EM with the small cells and I did some investigation in case, but so far the battery is fine. Have you looked beyond the ebike places at the automotive sector? It might be you get a lucky break rather than the expense and hassle of France. I wish you luck. I found these guys: https://cedarelectric.co.uk/electric-and-hybrid-battery-repairs/ as a start point.