My Sherman Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs

[Marty Backe]

Mistaken For The Police

During my high-speed range test there were some periods when I was on the streets. During the whole ride I had the Sherman's "police" flashing lights on (used as my daylight running lights).

At one point I had to get in the left turning lane at a stop light. There was a car in front of me. The light turned green and the car hesitated for a bit and then slowly proceeded to move forward and then continued to slowly drift to the right so that it could pull off the side of the road (and presumably get a ticket from the cop).

This was so funny. Couldn't believe it 

So yes, you may be confused with the police sometimes, particularly if you are fully geared up like I was (please don't ride the Sherman without gear )

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Marty Backe

[fryman]

31 minutes ago, FreeRide said:

even 3100Wh is slightly generous, but at 25Wh/m and a rough speed of 25m/h that would be a maximum of 4.96hrs, at 16m/h it would be 7.75h.  So ya, that will be some ride.  Maybe he can measure the distance to 88.8V, and then from 88.8V to done.  That way in the future one might be able to extrapolate better.  It might be hard For Marty to keep his regular average speed on the Sherman, but if he does I see it as being a 2 day event unless he wants to start at 4am so he has time to rest during the trip.

 

We don't have time for a 2 day event!  He needs to get his retired butt out of bed and get it done in a day.

[meepmeepmayer]

Just now, Marty Backe said:

I'm editing it now.

Ah, I was confused. Can't wait!

[FreeRide]

17 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Mistaken For The Police

During my high-speed range test there were some periods when I was on the streets. During the whole ride I had the Sherman's "police" flashing lights on (used as my daylight running lights).

At one point I had to get in the left turning lane at a stop light. There was a car in front of me. The light turned green and the car hesitated for a bit and then slowly proceeded to move forward and then continued to slowly drift to the right so that it could pull off the side of the road (and presumably get a ticket from the cop).

This was so funny. Couldn't believe it 

So yes, you may be confused with the police sometimes, particularly if you are fully geared up like I was (please don't ride the Sherman without gear )

 

This is too funny!  It may actually be illegal to use that lighting in the US if you are not the police. I remember some restrictions on blue flashing lights a long while back in the days.

 

Quote

MA: Display of red or blue lights on vehicles; permits; revocation; violations

Section 7E. No motor vehicle operated pursuant to section seven other than fire apparatus, ambulances, vehicles specified in subsection (b) of section 50 of chapter 33, school buses, vehicles specified in section seven D used for transporting school children, and vehicles specified in section seven I shall mount or display a flashing, rotating or oscillating red light in any direction, except as herein provided; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit an official police vehicle from displaying a flashing, rotating or oscillating red light in the opposite direction in which the vehicle is proceeding or prohibit fire apparatus from displaying a flashing, rotating or oscillating blue light in the opposite direction in which the vehicle is proceeding.

....

No motor vehicle or trailer except (i) a vehicle used solely for official business by any police department of the commonwealth or its political subdivisions or by any railroad police department or college or university police department whose officers are appointed as special state police officers by the colonel of state police pursuant to section sixty-three of chapter twenty-two C and ..... shall mount or display a flashing, rotating or oscillating blue light in any direction. No motor vehicle, as hereinbefore provided, requiring a permit from the registrar, shall mount or display a blue light on such vehicle until proper application has been made to the registrar by the head of the police department and such written permit has been issued and delivered to the owner and operator.  .....

 

Of course an EUC is not classified as a  motor vehicle, but I think Veteran would be wise to remove the blue running lights.

Edited July 6, 2020 by FreeRide

[RockyTop]

I can certainly see why people might get confused by a red and blue flashing light. I am pretty sure that having a blue flashing light on the streets in my area is illegal. They even give tickets out for having a red or blue light on the front of any vehicle flashing or not.

[erk1024]

4 minutes ago, FreeRide said:

This is too funny!  It may actually be illegal to use that lighting in the US if you are not the police. I remember some restrictions on blue flashing lights a long while back in the days.

I saw the video of that blue and red flashing light in the front, and I think that's illegal in the US. Only emergency vehicles can have red or blue in the front.

[Marty Backe]

23 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Latest video I see on your channel is your unboxing

I'm editing the video now 

[Marty Backe]

16 minutes ago, FreeRide said:

This is too funny!  It may actually be illegal to use that lighting in the US if you are not the police. I remember some restrictions on blue flashing lights a long while back in the days.

 

Of course an EUC is not classified as a  motor vehicle, but I think Veteran would be wise to remove the blue running lights.

Nah, I'm for having fun 

[Ben Kim]

4 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Mistaken For The Police

During my high-speed range test there were some periods when I was on the streets. During the whole ride I had the Sherman's "police" flashing lights on (used as my daylight running lights).

At one point I had to get in the left turning lane at a stop light. There was a car in front of me. The light turned green and the car hesitated for a bit and then slowly proceeded to move forward and then continued to slowly drift to the right so that it could pull off the side of the road (and presumably get a ticket from the cop).

This was so funny. Couldn't believe it 

So yes, you may be confused with the police sometimes, particularly if you are fully geared up like I was (please don't ride the Sherman without gear )

 

It turned @Hsiang into a suicide rider, it's turning you into a normal (by NYC standards) rider now.  That motor isn't even getting started at 30 mph, it keeps going til 45 with no let-up.  Truly an amazing motor mated with the perfect tire (which I wasn't a fan of at first). 

[Fuerte]

Chop chop @Marty Backe

[houseofjob]

23 minutes ago, Ben Kim said:

It turned @Hsiang into a suicide rider, it's turning you into a normal (by NYC standards) rider now.  That motor isn't even getting started at 30 mph, it keeps going til 45 with no let-up.  Truly an amazing motor mated with the perfect tire (which I wasn't a fan of at first). 

[Marty Backe]

23 minutes ago, houseofjob said:

[Marty Backe]

49 minutes ago, Fuerte said:

Chop chop @Marty Backe

I'm off to the beginning of my true full-range test. The high-speed range test will be published at 5pm PST so if you subscribe to my channel you should be able to see it. I'll be back from the first half in about 4-hours  and add it here.

Some commentary with lots of fast riding and loud road (tire) noise 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Marty Backe

[Marty Backe]

 

[mrelwood]

1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

 

The YouTube automatic translation considers the sound of the tire as [Music]!

[FreeRide]

Amazing!  The cape in this case was definitely appropriate.  

Can that blue flashing light be something else,, like just straight low-level white, or flashing white for daytime?

[shellac]

I initially thought the wheel needs a street tire, but that badass sound the knobby tire makes on the road is probably worth the trade off in comfort. 

[.....]

3 hours ago, shellac said:

I initially thought the wheel needs a street tire, but that badass sound the knobby tire makes on the road is probably worth the trade off in comfort. 

haha.. I wanted the knobby as it would probably suck up bumps, but assumed I'd get the street tire as it makes more sense to a street rider. The sound it makes on pavement is typically something I hate. On the Sherman, it seems to fit, AND I bet you can get to recognize your speed by it. Remember when the kingsongs had that whine? I think you're right @shellac, the noise just seems to fit. Now I don't know WHICH tire I'd ask for...   ah such 1st world problems. Whichever is most stable on pavement at speed, thats what I'M after. This wheel just seems like its going to be a town to town dream. Perhaps a shade heavy to worry about lugging thru the woods tho. Of course, street tread on something as innocuous as wet grass can even be dicey. Anyone else have opinions on it? What ya thinkin' Marty?

Edited July 7, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[Marty Backe]

4 hours ago, FreeRide said:

Amazing!  The cape in this case was definitely appropriate.  

Can that blue flashing light be something else,, like just straight low-level white, or flashing white for daytime?

That's all you get, unless there's a hidden mode that I don't know about.

[fbhb]

55 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Now I don't know WHICH tire I'd ask for...

At this point no one has tried a street tire and given their feedback, but Kuji did mention that he wants to change the tire to street - just to see if there is any improvement.

Now having said that, for an off-road tire all the reports coming back from those lucky enough to have ridden the Veteran is that it is so stable and manoeuvrable you would think it actually is running a street tire (apart from the sound track of course)  Also bear in mind that there will be a small penalty in ride height/more chance of pedals scraping, with the much smaller outside diameter of a street tire!

For guys like Ian "Speedyfeet" and @Marty Backe to both proclaim this "the best wheel ever built" says a huge amount for the Sherman straight out of the box with it's amazing balance, ride and feel for such a heavy wheel!

IMOH, it sounds like a street tire may not actually improve the perfect balance/handling the Kenda provides, so "don't try to fix what's not broken" Veteran obviously designed built and tested the Sherman based on the Kenda tire as the chosen fitment, although now offering a street option!

Edited July 7, 2020 by fbhb

[Marty Backe]

51 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

haha.. I wanted the knobby as it would probably suck up bumps, but assumed I'd get the street tire as it makes more sense to a street rider. The sound it makes on pavement is typically something I hate. On the Sherman, it seems to fit, AND I bet you can get to recognize your speed by it. Remember when the kingsongs had that whine? I think you're right @shellac, the noise just seems to fit. Now I don't know WHICH tire I'd ask for...   ah such 1st world problems. Whichever is most stable on pavement at speed, thats what I'M after. This wheel just seems like its going to be a town to town dream. Perhaps a shade heavy to worry about lugging thru the woods tho. Of course, street tread on something as innocuous as wet grass can even be dicey. Anyone else have opinions on it? What ya thinkin' Marty?

I'm sticking with this tire. I love the sound (and it's my speedometer) and is handy for off-road stuff.

[.....]

14 minutes ago, fbhb said:

IMOH, it sounds like a street tire may not actually improve the perfect balance/handling the Kenda provides, so "don't try to fix what's not broken" Veteran obviously designed built and tested the Sherman based on the Kenda tire as the chosen fitment, although now offering a street option!

 

13 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I'm sticking with this tire. I love the sound (and it's my speedometer) and is handy for off-road stuff.

And that answers that. If it aint broken and it was designed around it.... don't fix it. Thanks for the insights.

[Blueblade]

On 7/5/2020 at 9:55 PM, Marty Backe said:

An Emotional Experience

I just returned from my first extended high-speed ride on the Sherman. 40-miles. About 20-miles into the ride I was seriously feeling emotional from riding the wheel. This was the first time I felt comfortable and at ease cruising at 30-mph. It was an amazing ride. I felt kind of newborn, from an EUC perspective. DO NOT buy this wheel if you don't want to ride fast all the time. And buy the best safety gear that you can afford.

Tomorrow I'll post the high-speed range test (partial) video. The objective was to ride the wheel super hard for 40-miles and see how the battery was drained. Let's just say I was blown away from the performance/efficiency of this wheel.

The wheel is not for everyone and is not ideal for certain riding conditions (there is no perfect wheel). I'll be fleshing this out in further videos and commentary. But after riding ~120-miles I'm prepared to say in broad strokes, this is the most amazing wheel ever made.

This thing looks and sounds awesome, love the rugged frame and tire.

 Now only if they can figure out some suspension for this thing, and maybe it would be the ultimate offroad wheel ever!

Edited July 7, 2020 by Blueblade

[koto]

@Marty Backe can tell us something about the riding feeling. Does the sherman behave more like a gotway wheel than a kingsong wheel or an inmotion wheel ? Can you compare with another wheel  (KS 18XL or MsuperX or Msuper Pro or perhaps a Monster) ? I'm not sure what I'm asking you is very clear so here an example. I think that riding de Nikola is really something between riding a Msuper X and a Tesla. You feel that you are riding a gotway wheel. First of all you recognize a MsuperX DNA and  from time to time (and even more often) you are surprised to feel a typical Tesla behaviour. Then you realize that you are riding a Nikola :-) I hope that helps you understand what I'm asking for @Marty Backe

[Marty Backe]

16 minutes ago, koto said:

@Marty Backe can tell us something about the riding feeling. Does the sherman behave more like a gotway wheel than a kingsong wheel or an inmotion wheel ? Can you compare with another wheel  (KS 18XL or MsuperX or Msuper Pro or perhaps a Monster) ? I'm not sure what I'm asking you is very clear so here an example. I think that riding de Nikola is really something between riding a Msuper X and a Tesla. You feel that you are riding a gotway wheel. First of all you recognize a MsuperX DNA and  from time to time (and even more often) you are surprised to feel a typical Tesla behaviour. Then you realize that you are riding a Nikola :-) I hope that helps you understand what I'm asking for @Marty Backe

Feels like a cross between an MSX and Monster, but of course different. I think it's great weight and relative small size (compared to a Monster) makes it very stable and reassuring as you ride it.

I thought it was going to be awkward kind of like the Monster is, but it turns out it's "closer" to the MSX in handling. The Gotway wheels can feel dense and massive, which is the Sherman. Nobody would describe Inmotion or KingSong wheels that way.

If you're a big fan of KingSong and/or Inmotion than you probably won't like the Veteran all that much.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Marty Backe