Hi Rider,
a lot of things happened this year already. There are a lot of interesting updates & following this week we will also post a video for our Bonfire X pre-orderers.
Tank with storage compartment
Unfortunately, we had a lot of things to do, so we couldn't concentrate on the promised tank with storage compartment. However, we already have a big community, so one Rider from Northern Germany had the following tank with storage compartment custom made:
Really, really cool. We of course inquired directly, called the fabricator and discussed the details. The disadvantages are that this processing costs 400 €, takes a whole two days & the storage space is very small. We will now discuss with our Chinese tank manufacturer whether they can directly attach such an opening to save costs and possibly increase the volume. But since it is Chinese New Year for 3 weeks now, we have to be patient.
Lower footrests
There is a small change here, because some customers find our current footpegs better than the round footpegs. We have therefore decided to use this adapter:
This moves the mount for the footpegs 3 cm deeper and further out, while you can keep the normal footpegs. Since I have long legs and am relatively tall (185 cm), I have tested various prototypes in recent months and found this solution best, because the footpegs are here also further out.
Bonfire deliveries
We don't have many open Bonfire deliveries anymore, but we are still waiting for the battery boxes. There was another delay because the manufacturer hasn't received the new paint yet (but the boxes are ready). We were not happy with the first paint, as it scratched quickly, so we switched to a more resistant paint. As soon as the boxes are painted, they will go out of Hungary to us. Here I promise you that we will build and deliver the first 20 Bonfires within a week. But you have to be patient, unfortunately we can't build bikes without battery boxes.
USA
We will deliver the first 4 bikes to the USA, but I don't know exactly when. We have already asked FedEx and Kühne&Nagel for places in containers and still have no reservation.
Why only 4 bikes? The reason is that we first want to test if our transport solution is safe. Actually, everything should work fine, but since we are doing it for the first time, we just want to make sure that the bike arrives undamaged and you can have fun with it. The first 4 customers will receive a mail shortly and will be notified about the delivery.
UK
We have submitted all documents and are still waiting for a response from the VCA. I think we just have to be patient. As you know, it's just bureaucratic things that need to be done to get the EU approval of the Bonfire recognized in the UK as well. As soon as there is news, you will get an update.
Bonfire X Approval
Things are looking good here. We have learned a lot with the Bonfire approval and the knowledge is now definitely noticeable. There were many obstacles that we failed at before and built solutions for them. Those solutions and knowledge are ready for us now. We also learned that every certification test can be interpreted differently and we also have the ability to turn the test process in our favor. Here are a few things that we failed on before and which already fit this time:
- Lighting system: front turn signals were too close to the headlight and the rear license plate light was not close enough to the license plate.
- Outer edges: Here we had problems with the stand, front fender and screws that stuck out too far or had no covering
- High voltage: Marking, grounding & insulation of HV parts
- Footrests: Broke off during the first test, afterwards we strengthened the welding at the battery box
- Electrical safety: two steps are always needed to start the vehicle, so we added a starter button
- Electrical safety when charging under rain: This test took us a month, however it was never necessary to do this test because we don't have an internal charger. Therefore, we will not do this test at all this time.
Besides these things, there were many uncertainties in our supply chain and assembly in 2021 that we don't have to deal with now. We can focus on 4 aspects in the coming months: Bonfire X approval, assembling the remaining Indiegogo bikes, building a service network & ding a lot of marketing.
We haven't started the approval process yet, but this week we should be ready to drop off the bike at TÜV. The last things we were working on were the display and our ignition since they are high-voltage parts and thus require special grounding and insulation. This is not a problem with the display and we already have a solution, but the ignition lock is problematic because we see no way to ground it and the high voltage current will stress the ignition lock over time until it is defective.
For this reason, the Bonfire X will have a radio key and alarm system instead of an ignition lock. Don't worry, the steering wheel lock stays and the alarm system is added on top. The alarm system is an HV part, but since it is all plastic and has no screws, it does not need to be specifically grounded.
Bonfire X Street Tires:
Timeline for the Bonfire X
Until we get our OBD-ECU (end of February) we can do all tests except the OBD & EMC test. Our plan is to pass all tests by mid-March so we can "ship out" by mid-April. We will ship a total of 100 Bonfire X's in April and the remaining bikes in the following months.
We have learned from our Bonfire production launch in October 2021 and have already started preparing the first 100 Bonfire Xs. In my next video this week, I'll show you exactly what we've already done.
Cheers, Viktor