Unfortunately I had very little time in December, although our whole team was working through until last night, because quite a lot happened in the last weeks. Good as well as bad. Fitting for the whole year 2022. The year probably still wanted to say goodbye spectacularly. Here are the key points:
- First Bonfire X owners couldn't drive below 5°C (but problem is fixed now).
- Bonfire E tests passed, now we have to wait for TÜV and KBA again
- All Bonfire E orders until end of August are already built
- The first USA Bonfires will be delivered soon
- Swiss approval of the Bonfire X is requested and we are waiting
- There is progress on the USB and charging port and the parallel connector for two batteries
- There will be new accessories in February
It's been a difficult 6 weeks, so we apologize for being a bit quiet. We have had a number of Bonfire X owners who have been unable to ride their Bonfire X in cold temperatures. It took me 2 weeks to identify the fault and find a solution to it. In the 2 weeks that followed, I drove around Germany and repaired just under half of all Bonfire Xs. It was probably the most exhausting 4 weeks of my life, but now things are moving forward again. The remaining Bonfire X will be repaired by me until the end of winter and all new delivered Bonfire X will of course be delivered without the cold problem. Attached you can see how we tested the bikes for 2 weeks at 0°C.
Nevertheless, the team kept going and we worked like crazy behind the scenes. After we found a solution for the Bonfire X cold problem, I was on the road for a while and then I could take care of the next things:
The Bonfire E approval is now also more or less finished, we just have to wait again until all documents are handed in and approved. Here I have unfortunately only times bad news, since the TÜV probably only so in the middle of January the papers send, since they are momentarily still in the vacation. Towards the end of winter we will be able to deliver the already built Bonfire E's.
Fedex should also pick up the first Bonfires for the USA soon. All Bonfire E & S are now packed and prepared for transport. In January the Bonfire X from the USA will be built and delivered as soon as possible. The approval of the Bonfire X for Switzerland has also been applied for and here we just have to be a little patient. As you can see, things are progressing, but of course we can't go any faster because we are dependent on the other parties.
As promised we will also launch our new accessories in January. The USB port is already there and we are still testing it. We are also testing how and where to add the USB port to your harness if you want to add it later.
The XLR charging port is also there and this is also being tested right now, mainly this is to see what effect the new charger has when you charge both batteries in series. If everything works as planned, then all Bonfire S & E owners will only need an XLR adapter for their charger and all Bonfire X owners would have to buy a completely new charger.
PS: The 117.6V charger for the Bonfire X has some cool features. You can adjust the amperage (i.e. charging speed) and you can also see the current voltage, which means you can see how full both batteries are. This is especially handy if you don't want to fully charge both batteries.
With the parallel connector for two batteries in the Bonfire S & E we may have found a cheaper solution, so under 200 €. I don't want to give too much away yet, but should everything work as we hope, we may have a finished low-cost solution for you as early as March.
The first sample of the long seat has already arrived, but we haven't had time to test it yet. First we have to adjust the seat for the new seat and then we can show you some photos.
We also found some new accessories. Just let us surprise you in February, I don't want to reveal too much ;)
Everything we made better in 2022
We've made some cool improvements to the Bonfire because we're always learning and listening to our customers. Here I have listed everything chronologically:
- Lower footpegs for taller riders
- Handlebar riser for more upright riding position
- Wider tires for better look and softer feel
- Harder springs in the fork for a more stable cornering behavior
- More stable side stand
- Better steering head bearings
- More felt in the battery box to make the batteries fit tighter
- Larger front brake disc for better braking
- Accessories for customizing: windshield, stickers, LED turn signals, Diamand grips, handlebar end mirrors, new tank colors
- Change from ignition lock to keyless, because very often defective (not one keyless go defective yet)
- Change to expensive DCDC converter, because old model very often defective (not one new DCDC converter defective yet)
- Better spoke quality, so less spokes break (none broken yet)
- New fork stabilizer for better compression
- Accessories for convenience: XLR and USB charging port & parallel plug
- New wiring harness for better packaging and repairs by the customer
- Sheet metal parts were made lighter, so the Bonfire is 2 kg lighter
- Handlebars were widened from 68 cm to 78 cm for better riding feel
Only looking back I have to say that I am really proud of our team, because we really improved a lot this year, although we had to fight often and long with the TÜV and the KBA. Of course, that took a lot of time. So I am very confident for the new year, because now we can focus on the following 2 points. Building motorcycles and improving them steadily.
Have a happy new year and stay healthy!
Cheers,
Viktor
