Mar 22, 2012 03:18 PM
20550 Views
Recently bought BSA Street Rider in Delhi for Rs. 25950/- and guard+ seat cover for Rs. 950/-. Had run 120 Km till now. Overall I am quite satisfied with the performance of this scoot and is recommended.
I took quite a lot time in researching about e-scoots and test driving several other brands before finalizing BSA. The top recognized brands include: BSA Motors, Hero Electric, Yo Bikes and Avon. I had a test drive of all of them. I was eyeing on one of the high-speed models from Hero, Yo and BSA. While BSA has called off all their high speed models from market currently, Hero and Yo have their high-speed models with long waiting list. Disappointed by this and realizing that all high speed models have reduced milage and require registration I decided to go with low-speed models.
Here I'll cover only those points/aspects which are not mentioned officially or hard to find on net.
Body, Looks and Handling:
Body plastic feels sturdy. Four colors available, three are dual tone and one Maroon(mine) is single tone. Black and Grey come in silver tone rather black as shown on company's site. I personally didn't like Silver tone, black was better. I found body graphics missing from side body(around battery compartment) under the foot.
Quality of buttons on handle is good.
Scoot looks smart with over all appearance.
I found handling better than Hero Wave and Avon e-scoot. Leg space is more then others which is good for people with long legs.
No side foot-rests. This could be uncomfortable for ladies sitting behind.
Riding Comfort:
Suspension is not the best and should not be compared with bikes and scooters. Still it was capable of lifting 130-150 Kg @ 25Km/Hr speed.
Acceleration is good for single rider. Scoot picks up speed quite well.
Noice-less ride.
On up-hill with two passengers, speed gets low drastchandru021y.
Tyres:
Not tubeless tyres. Need to be aired like normal tyres. Dunlop make.
Display Panel:
This is the unique and coolest feature of this bike. Display panel is digital with blue back lit LCD. Shows Speed, battery SOC, Odometer, Time and Service require warning. Removing battery doesn't resets the meter readings, guess its battery backed internally.
Brakes:
Normal drum brakes. I am not very much satisfied with them. They take a little longer to halt on top speed or while accelerating. You have to be a lot careful while going down-hill by applying brakes and keeping speed slow. Advisable to use both the brakes together. I am hoping I can get brakes tweaked up a little in 1st service.
Applying brake will cut battery from motor which is good.
Battery:
Exide make, 4 x 12V/22AH. Battery compartment is under the foot. The best part is that entire battery bank is loackable, removable and can be charged in-house. It weighs quite a lot, nrealy 25 Kg. You have to be careful with two wires while removing and placing battery back so that these wires don't get cut.
Charging time is 12+ Hrs for fully discharged battery. A full discharged condition is not recommended to reach.
Scoot will give a continuous beep while riding at low charge (around 10%). This is good to alert the rider.
Battery Charger:
Axiom Energy make, 48V/3A e-bike charger. Disappointment is that this charger is without a microcontroller and hence not an intelligent charger. Though the same company Axiom provides an intelligent charger as well with 48V/3A and 48V/5A. The latter I believe charges battery more more quickly. I think BSA should start giving this as an option to customtakeouter.
Motor Controller:
Not sure of the make but what it looks from outside, it should be from Axiom Energy, 250W E-Bike BLDC Motor Controller. More info can be grabbed from official site.
Speed:
25 Km/Hr which can be officially increased to 30 Km/Hr after 1st service. This is done at the service center. Top speed tends to reduce by 1-2 Km/Hr i.e 23 Km/Hr below 60% charge. There on it tends to fall a little more to 21 Km/Hr with falling charge.
On going up-hill, speed drops to 22-23 Km/Hr with single rider.
Milage:
55 Km/charge. This I've tested under full traffic load condition with couple of up-hills and bad road. So this is satisfactory considering 70 Km/charge officially under standard test condition.
Under-seat Compartment:
Space is not great but sufficient. Can't hold helmet in it.
Tips to get best out of your e-scoot:
Avoid accelerating quickly, this drains battery quickly reducing mileage. Accelerate slowly in steps.
Avoid paths which have up-hill.
Avoid 100+ Kg total passenger weight as scoot is recommended for an adult and child i.e. less then 100 Kg. More weight will reduce mileage.
Avoid sudden braking and too much braking.
Avoid too much speed variations; steady speed will give you better mileage.
Mileage can be increased by travelling at lower speeds.
Avoid discharging battery to minimum as it will severely affect the battery life. Charge it when ever get an option to do so.
Avoid giving unnecessary horn and switch off head light when ever possible.
