It makes one forget we have yet another vehicle parked at home.
BHPian Raskolnikov.R recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Exactly 17 months to the day of delivery, Amelie clocks 20,000 KM.
It’s been a thoroughly fuss-free ownership experience. The River Indie excels at what it does best – log long-distance travel (relative to the city) in comfort.
Things I continue to enjoy:
- Customer Service—For me, as a customer, it’s the team who is the face of the company, and how they stand behind their product. Any and every time I’ve had issues, the team always tried to get to the bottom of it. Yes, there are times when I would be handed the vehicle without the mechanic taking a test ride, and missing one or two elements of my request. On the whole, the River team has done a really good job scaling up while maintaining reasonably good service quality.
- Mechanical reliability—The vehicle rides smoothly and easily, as it did on day one. I’ve clocked a few 100+ KM days, and I’ve found the experience not too stressful for either man or Machine.
- It makes one forget we have yet another vehicle parked at home. Even when the Triumph beckons, I’ve found myself instinctively reaching for the River keys. It says how easy the bike is to get through the Bangalore traffic.
Things I wish River would address:
- Please give us a set of headlights that can be practically useful. The current ones don’t deliver. If the River Indie is the SUV of scooters, it deserves a good set of auxiliary lights to go with the show. Add a pair of Maddogs to the accessories, and a few of us will gladly pay to be seen and to see clearly in the night.
- A bit more torque, perhaps? I’m unsure if it’s the repeated software updates to extend the mileage that have left the early owners feeling like our scooters have been neutered a bit. The whacky acceleration is missing. I’d gladly surrender a range of an extra 10 km in the Rush mode to get back the OG Rush while riding the scooter in its namesake mode.
- A charging pin adaptor that works with a CCS port? It would be great if River could engineer an adaptor that can be used across different third-party charging stations. This would greatly alleviate range anxiety.
Who must consider the River Indie?
- Anyone looking for a fuss-free electric scooter. Especially their first EV experience.
- Those who’d rather pay a slight premium for a better-built, and QC’ed product.
- Those who are heavy or tall – you’ll find the scooter surprisingly spacious and comfortable.
- Payload warriors – If your work demands you lug along quite a bit of weight and volume, this is the scooter for you.
In my 17 months, I’ve faced a few issues that have almost all been taken care of to my full and complete satisfaction. I should note that the earthing shock was truly bizarre. While I’ve experienced it a few times after it returned from the HQ, I’ve learned to live with it to the extent I can—I limit charging the scooter at work.
The charger conked off, and needs a replacement. Thankfully, the team helped rush an emergency spare for me to get back home.
On the whole, while there are many things that I may want in a scooter, the River Indie is the one that manages to put a smile on my face every day I ride it.
With the Ultraviolette Tesseract coming into the picture, River has a real chance to reframe the rules of the game and come out with a genuine competitor to the attack helicopter.
How about an SUV-Adventure Scooter?
I line up to be the first buyer!
Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
