Hello Canadian Backers Eh!

Just a note for all you canadians with backer numbers up to 1039, your bike tracking numbers have been added to starkdrive.bike. if you have trouble getting them you can email us or message us through our online chat function.

As everyone who reads the blog regularly knows the USA Batch 2 Tracking numbers have already been uploaded to your respective accounts, please see our previous blogs below for more information.

We will be providing UPS tracking numbers to all these backers which will show up in the UPS System and activate once it makes landfall in the USA and clears customs. Canada backers do not get tracking numbers in the same way and will receive them once UPS gets the bikes in the USA and processes them. That is also after the bikes clear customs in the USA.

EU and The Rest of the World

Your bikes were unfortunately not completed before the chinese holiday so they will ship directly after. We are sorry for the delay.

Thank you

Oscar

Hello Backers!

Shipping

Batch 2 USA/Canada Bikes have officially left the factory, been handed over to the logistics team and tracking numbers for these bikes will be added to your account as well as Paypal if you used this method for backing by Sunday February 4th. To access your account you go to starkdrive.com and click on rewards at the bottom of the page or click here.

Although we were aware of the torture our bikes can experience during their long journeys from our factory in China to our backers around the world we have learned some lessons from the first batch and how carriers even exceed our own expectations of what can occur in transit. we have made some strategic changes to the packaging as you can see in the photos below to improve the internal structure and localization of the components within the box to prevent jostling and otherwise negative things occurring in transit.

Bike Upgrades

Not only have we improved the packaging on the outside of the bike but we have improved the bike internally as well. Batch 2 bikes have improved circuitry in so much as now any Stark Drive bike can be upgraded to include the optional rear light simply by plugging it in to the spare lead that is included on each and every bike. This was not the default option in the first batch and was only included if the backer chose to include the rear light when backing.

In batch 1 the key was used only as a means of locking the battery within the frame, not overall system power. This was something we thought was not good enough so we worked with our engineers and all batch 2 bikes and also bikes henceforth will have three positions:

OFF - total system power disabled,
LOCK - the battery is locked within the frame but system power is still disabled,
ON - Battery is Locked within the frame as well as total system power is enabled.

Battery

All higher capacity lithium batteries have circuitry included to protect the pack in the event of low voltage which can permanently harm the pack. Our circuity has a 27V protection limit enabled on the packs meaning that if the voltage of the pack as a whole drops below this level the protection circuitry is automatically enabled and the included chargers will cease charging the pack if the voltage drops below this level. The packs are still fine and can be charged but a more specialized charger is needed to safely bring the voltage of the entire pack up above the 27V level. These will be provided to backers on loan if ever required however any local battery specialist in your area will also have the same equipment and the process will be significantly faster then if we are to ship these chargers our to backers.

Tracking and UPS

The bikes are being sent via the same method as we used last time as this seemed to work insomuch as the UPS labels are created in China and attached to all the bikes and then they are packed in the shipping container and these numbers remain in the system but inactive until they reach the USA / Canada and clear customs at which point the carrier (UPS) will get the bikes and handle the final leg of the journey to the end backer. The Tracking numbers will only show movement and updates once they clear customs and until then will just show that the label has been created in the system.

Mate Libel Lawsuit Update

We are for the time being suspending our libel lawsuit against our lovely competitor Mate.bike until the arbitration proceedings are complete to prevent any conflict between the libel case and the situation that occurred on Indiegogo where Mate (through their lawyer) submitted a fraudulent DMCA notice to Indiegogo causing Indiegogo to cancel our original crowdfunding campaign a week after launching on February 23rd 2017 after raising just shy of 300.000 USD.

Stark Drive Mini

We are well on our way to launching Stark Drive Mini pictured below in the Spring of 2018. We will be launching on Kickstarter and the starting backing amount to get Stark Drive mini will be 299 USD. Stark Drive Mini will be as configurable as Stark Drive with various upgrades depending on what the backer needs. At approximately 13 KG, it will be the perfect companion for those that are inner city commuters, boat Enthusiasts or RV'ers.

OUR GOAL AT STARK DRIVE IS TO MAKE ELECTRIC BIKES AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO THE MASSES. AN OBVIOUS TRUISM.

Sincerely

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC.

Hello Backers.

We are pleased to announce that due to some careful planning, we will be able to upgrade 5 Non USA/Canada backers whom otherwise would be part of batch 3 shipping anticipated end of march to Batch 2 Finishing off now and shipping directly after the Chinese New Year.

These backers will be randomly selected from all new backers that would otherwise be part of batch 3.

There is no need to enter other then backing Stack Drive so get your backing in now to get Stark Drive even faster.

Thank you

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Hello Backers,

Im pleased to share with you some photos and videos of the Batch 2 USA/Canada bikes that went through their final control check and packaging below.

These have now been sent from the factory, in a short while we will be providing UPS tracking numbers to all these backers which will show up in the UPS System and activate once it makes landfall in the USA and clears customs. Canada backers do not get tracking numbers in the same way and will receive them once UPS gets the bikes in the USA and processes them. That is also after the bikes clear customs in the USA. For batch 1 this process took a fairly substantial amount of time as they first cleared customs once after a holiday delay and then were asked by Customs and Border protection to go through a second screening, hopefully this does not happen again and we will update you when we know more.

Mate.bike / Indiegogo Arbitration

We would like to announce that both Mate and Indiegogo have been served and we will be commencing the arbitration shortly. Once again serving mate took far longer then expected as they did not pick up the registered letters that we sent to them but fortunately as they do have a showroom or working office place now we were able to serve them at this location instead.

If any backers know of any Lawsuits or Arbitrations with Indiegogo that have been published it would be interesting if you could send over the details to us as I cant seem to find anything when doing a search online. This is more for my own personal interest as their Terms do state they can do whatever they want whenever they want in terms of anything posted to their website, this will be a test of these terms. Our lawyer describes this as 'unconscionable'. This was particularly frustrating for me as indiegogo had solicited me when we first posted our campaign on Kickstarter and convinced us to cancel our fundraising there and move to their platform instead, only to eventually kill our campaign on their platform after a week.

Sincerely

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Hello Backers!

TNT Shipments Complete!

Well for the love of whats good and true, 2 months after actually reaching the EU by train from china, landing in the Netherlands, then to Germany, Then to Poland, then to the Netherlands again, the EU bikes were finally delivered to 98% of the EU backers as of today. This insanity with delivery is one story we are not intent on repeating ever again.

USA Batch 2 Bikes

That being said, Batch 2 USA bikes have left the factory but hold your horses, that does not mean they will arrive to your door in the US tomorrow. From the factory they are transferred to the logistics partner, then from there to the port, from the port they must be loaded onto the container ship (after of course being loaded into a container) and from there they sail to the USA. Its only once they hit the USA that the tracking numbers we are going to provide you with in a few days will become 'active'.

Alexa Website Rankings

What is Alexa? well according to them:

“The traffic rank is based on three months of aggregated historical traffic data from millions of Alexa Toolbar users and data obtained from other, diverse traffic data sources, and is a combined measure of page views and users (reach).

We did a search on ourselves and some of our competition and discovered some interesting statistics. Check them out for yourself below.

Hello Backers!

We are super happy to report that the Batch 2 bikes are well on their way to being sent out as promised before the Chinese New Year and hundreds have already been produced as you can see from the images here. We are making improvements to the packaging and there have been several improvements to this batch of bikes enabling our backers even more control over Stark Drive.

-Bikes will now have three key positions and the total system power can be controlled by the key meaning that noone can start your bike without having a key.
-Improvements to the packaging to ensure that the most expensive component, the battery, is better protected as it seems UPS likes to manhandle Stark Drive in the USA.
-We include in this Batch a multipurpose 16 function tool to enable you to put the finishing touches on Stark Drive and simple maintenance free of charge.
-we have a new Seat for Stark Drive which we have tested to be more comfortable then the one used in Batch 1.
-we include better instructions in the box for the final assembly of the front wheel

TNT FIASCO

We keep being reassured by our (soon to be ex) logistics partner that the TNT numbers should work this week, we are very sorry for the long delay here with customs and the holiday season they took much, MUCH longer then we anticipated to reach our non Nordic EU based backers. We thank you for your patience.

Sincerely

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Hello Backers,

We received this in our inbox this morning and thought it would be a good bit of information to share with backers of Stark Drive or even though that are considering making Stark Drive their own. Bike Comparison

Hello Backers,

WIN WIN WIN

Now that we have had Stark Drive delivered from the Cook Islands to San Francisco To Oslo all over the world, we felt it might be a good time to hold a contest giving our Original Batch 1 Backers a chance to win a battery pack (always helpful when you are exploring with Stark Drive) as well as a 250 USD credit on a future backing of Stark Drive!

HOW TO WIN?

In order to be entered into the contest it doesn't require any significant effort at all! All you need to do to enter is to take the best photo of you out and about on Stark Drive exploring the beach, countryside, city, or wherever you may find yourself and posting the photo to any social media platform you choose. We prefer Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Post the photo, and copy us by tagging us so that we know you did so and we will go through and review all the photos and make a decision.

CONTEST DURATION

The Contest Starts now, as you are reading this and ends March 15th 2018 at Midnight PST.

WINNERS

The winning entry will be announced on our website blog on the 20th of March 2018.

QUESTIONS

Any questions? email us or send us a chat message through the chat function on our website.

Good luck to everyone and thank you to all of you who believed in us and supported our dream of making electric bikes affordable for everyone!

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

Hello Backers,

We are super happy to report that even more US backers have received Stark Drive. We have seen a smattering of Tweets and Facebook Updates about Stark Drive arriving by UPS. This makes us glad that all the hard work has finally come to fuition.

Canada

Note, we will receive the tracking numbers for Canadian backers soon. Once we do, we will post them to your account and/or Paypal. They will take a little longer to get up north as they are transported by UPS from California.

EU Backers

Note we have now added TNT numbers to all EU batch one backers but these will only start to work this Friday as the numbers were from our logistics partner and must be received by TNT and scanned into their system to begin working. They did this as they still needed to pay the final last leg fees to TNT, which of course we had to pay them in advance. These were only calculated once all confirmed duty/tax paid bikes were calculated.

Swedish Backers

Below you will see a happy Swedish Backer receiving his bike.

Switzerland/Ireland/Norway Backers

Below are also some photos of us loading to the brim a UPS truck with even more units of Stark Drive destined for these exotic locations. They should be with you in a few days. Use them with pride!

Yours Truly

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Hello

A quick update for those that don't follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

USA/CANADA

UPS has finally received the bikes and the USA tracking numbers will start to work as of this week. Canada backers will get tracking numbers from us this week as UPS first needed to get ahold of the bikes and then assign tracking numbers locally as it could not be done from China. We will be in touch with you once we get these.

EU

We have now added TNT tracking numbers to our website and Paypal (if payment was made by paypal) for all EU batch 1 bikes. These numbers will begin to function this coming week, right now they are working their way into the TNT system as these numbers are provided by our logistics partner.

Thank you

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC.