ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: JaimeC on April 29, 2016, 08:31:09 AM
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Just wondering if any other "First time electric bike riders" have the same "problem" I do. Very often when I glance at the speedometer, I find myself going WAAAAAAY faster than I think I am. I attribute that to the complete lack of engine noise and vibration that normally contributes to the sensory experience of speed.
I had that same issue years ago when I first started wearing ear plugs, but it's MUCH worse with this bike. I still wear the ear plugs to protect myself from the wind roar, but that isn't really enough. I know eventually I'll adapt... just don't know how long that'll take.
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I know exactly how you feel. I've only had mine for a week or two, and today I thought to myself, "Gee, although my last speeding ticket was in 1976 (true), I have a feeling that I'll get my second one any day now". This bike is extremely addictive!
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Only a week or two? We're in the same boat then. I picked up mine this past Saturday. This coming Saturday it'll be a week old. :)
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Haha! Yeah the lack of the audio cue from the engine as the RPM rises signaling the need to change of gears usually gave me a rough idea of how fast I'm going. Now I count on wind noise but it is really, really easy to speed! So much fun though!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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I have the opposite problem - due to my tall frame (6'4"), the upright riding position, and lack of any wind protection (working on that), I often unconsciously slow down to lower speeds, often below what other drivers think I should be going at, so I have to make a mental effort to speed-up. Never had that issue with the Vectrix (at least until its electronically limited 68mph top speed - I was usually among the faster traffic without making special effort). Of course, when I do make the effort, the SR delivers great! And off the line no one will complain I'm slowing them down, even though I ride at 70% torque and do not really try hard ;-)
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It's not too often that I'm thankful that I'm only 5'6" and 125 pounds. But this is one of them. Power to weight ratio is my friend.
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Custom mode is great for cruise control.
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i think the lack of vibes and noise is huge, but i think its mostly the addiction. these bikes are soooo quiet, and so quick, you cant help it. an when you do, no one seems to mind or even notice because your making no noise. i have ridden every model in the '16 line up, including the DS-P. i know i have gotten away with things on these bikes i could NEVER get away with on an ICE bike.
my new '16 FX-S will be at the shop on tuesday, it shipped from zero yesterday. im going to be in the same boat doing my best to not get a ticket. knock on wood...
laters,
laramie ;)
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I have got pretty good at judging speed based on motor/belt whine and wind noise now. It's probably easier at the lower speeds I'm riding at (40mph speed limit) as wind noise is generally less of a factor.
I remember on my 2012 S, a few years ago, I was out at the pub in a storm one evening and rode home with a fairly continuous 40mph tailwind. When it was directly behind me the wind cancelled out and it was almost completely silent with only the motor noise. If the wind was off at a diagonal it was whistling in resonating through the tubes in the frame. That was pretty cool.
The first time I stopped at a junction and heard birds singing was pretty neat too, that never gets old!
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One reason I use a Crampbuster is so my wrist can feel the throttle position more easily, so I set it where my hand will rest if I'm cruising at 55mph or so. I may use a friction throttle lock but that'd only help for full-day ride range management.
Honestly, it is hard to stay slow on a Zero (especially the -R models), because the motor just doesn't ever feel like it's working hard; I think the phrase "mechanical sympathy" came up on an old thread about how an ICE/gas bike might "resist" going fast because it's not tuned for it and you feel it working harder. And the Zero has ... just absolutely no sense of breaking a sweat.
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I like the mid range acceleration but I'm just over 6ft1 and I can't go too fast because of the wind either... Definitely need a windscreen as I've done a few 20 mile round trip highway commutes recently (today included) and any of the silent, calm aspects that appeal because of the bike are quickly made redundant by the crazy buffering and bike feeling skittish above 70. I've had naked bikes of the same kind of weigh before (triumph speed triple) and it didn't have nearly the same buffeting that my DSR has. Absolutely love the bike, but do not feel I'd want to be on it above 70 without crouching or semi fairing, or even 55 for any longer than 15 mins.
Ps - I'd love to be small on these bikes - power to weight would be amazing. I already feel myself full throttling it most of the time and am beginning to be left slightly wanting off the line and above 50. Mid range - awesome - but down super low, not so much.
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I thought I was the only one with this issue. When I get on the highway I really have no idea how fast I'm going unless I look at the speedometer (not something I want to be doing going 70 or any speed :) ). The last time out I got off the freeway due to being beat up by a heavy crosswind and didn't feel comfortable with going over 50 but I kept speeding up to 70+. :)
Off highway and around the city I'm slowly getting the feel for the acceleration and the speed I'm going. It will take a bit more time on the highway.
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i think the lack of vibes and noise is huge, but i think its mostly the addiction. these bikes are soooo quiet, and so quick, you cant help it. an when you do, no one seems to mind or even notice because your making no noise. i have ridden every model in the '16 line up, including the DS-P. i know i have gotten away with things on these bikes i could NEVER get away with on an ICE bike.
Yeah, I suspect that when a Harley with loud pipes accelerates past a cager, the typical response is a muttered "___hole" under the breath. But when a Zero does the same thing, the typical response is "huh?...did I just see a UFO?"
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Normal feeling. I'm using a custom mode to lock in a top speed, especially in speed trap zones. It just takes time and you'll feel more about the bike. It's and entirely different experience.
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Speed is a real issue because it is nearly impossible to tell without looking at the dash. My other issue that I don't have with my R1 is the damned turn signals. For some reason, I simply can't remember to cancel them on the Zero. I'll ride for several miles with it blinking away. Eventually, some old lady is going to see that signal and pull right out in front of me. Yup, I've predicted my own death.
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even though my bike will be here on tuesday, i just had to go for spin yesterday. so i went down to my dealer buddy, signed the paper again, and he handed me the keys to the demo FX-S. it had been awhile since i had ridden the FX-S and wanted to remind myself what it was like. well, it just as awesome as i remember but the silence really messes with other people. i almost got ran over 2 times yesterday because they did not hear/see me. the last one was a gma with a kid, came right over into my lane and almost took me out with the back of the car. i was able to honk, get on the brake, then blast around the other side of the car and let them know of my displeasure. i think i might have scared gma a little, the kid just looked terrified already. ;D
anyways, it was fun and i'm getting better at the speed control. cant wait till tuesday....
laters,
laramie ;)
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I think my one survival advantage here is that before I got into motorcycles, i rode BICYCLES everywhere. Not even getting my driver's license changed how often I rode my bicycle. With that in mind, I was quite well versed in being completely invisible in traffic, and that carried over to motorcycles as well.
Never had a need for "loud pipes," that just gives the rider a false impression that everybody now knows he's there and will avoid him. Yeah... right. No, the ONLY person responsible for keeping you safe is YOU. You can't count on ANYONE else to take responsibility for YOUR safety in traffic; so you have to constantly be aware of what is going on around you.
At this point in time I don't even think I can explain HOW I know someone is about to do something stupid to endanger my life, I just "KNOW." Probably a real-life "Spider Sense" or something. Either that, or I always expect other drivers to do something stupid and I'm rarely disappointed...
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i almost got ran over 2 times yesterday because they did not hear/see me. the last one was a gma with a kid, came right over into my lane and almost took me out with the back of the car. i was able to honk, get on the brake, then blast around the other side of the car and let them know of my displeasure. i think i might have scared gma a little, the kid just looked terrified already. ;D
Do you wear brightly colored clothing and helmet? The black/yellow combo is your friend. That was one of my main criteria when I last hunted for a new helmet.
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Indeed yellow black combo is visible even when dark or foggy
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At this point in time I don't even think I can explain HOW I know someone is about to do something stupid to endanger my life, I just "KNOW." Probably a real-life "Spider Sense" or something. Either that, or I always expect other drivers to do something stupid and I'm rarely disappointed...
It's not terribly strange. It's your experience from driving & riding over the years giving you a deep pattern set.
All learning is essentially pattern recognition. Everything from figuring out how to catch a ball to your language skills to your ability to do basic math is the result of you being shown information and being able to recognize similar events when they occur again. After many years of being on the road, your brain now has a wide and deep set of events to draw from. When you were new at it, you wouldn't have been able to recognize the subtle clues, such as the way the car starts to slightly drift in the lane, the slight slowdown in speed, the change in the shadow in the wing mirror as the driver turns their head, etc. before the driver decides to come over. But after years of seeing little clues like this and correlating those clues with the movement of the vehicle, you recognize the patterns. It seems like a sixth sense, but it's mostly a lot of pattern recognition that is won through long experience.
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I'm still of the opinion that it's a pretty poor rider that tries to keep himself safe by relying on other people seeing or hearing him. It's YOUR job to keep YOURSELF out of the way of stray vehicles/animals/pedestrians, and if anything, loud pipes make that more difficult to do. If it's a matter of them hearing my loud pipes, or myself being able to hear them because I ride a very quiet bike, I trust myself far more than I trust every other driver out there.
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Doug S I agree with everything your said. so true and so correct. I have an SR and if I was counting on my loud pipes to keep me out of trouble I would be In a lot of trouble. I feel so much safer with my quite motorcycle then with any of my 8 gas bikes I rode for years.
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Obnoxiously loud pipes do indeed tend to warn drivers of motorcycles incoming from behind. I often hear them far enough away before I ever see them. But only in relatively slow traffic and if I don't have the radio cranked-up. So yes, I would not rely on that in the least.
What I have noticed very clearly though is that motorcycles are "invisible" due to the small head-on profile and because some of us tend to change position/lanes so quickly that car drivers assume we are not where they looked for space a moment ago - a car would not have filled-up that space but a motorcycle could.
Finally, I see a very noticeable increase of awareness of where I am by other drivers when I dress with a bright hi-vis jacket vs. when I am in my plain riding clothes. More drivers would stop for me at intersections rather than try to get in front of me when I have the right of way - simply because they see me coming from farther away. Same holds true for when I was riding the much more visible white and with large fairings Vectrix vs. the slim profile and mostly black SR.
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Here's a very timely link stressing the importance of bright clothing:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/study-bright-colors-save-lots-motorcyclists-lives (http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/study-bright-colors-save-lots-motorcyclists-lives)
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At this point in time I don't even think I can explain HOW I know someone is about to do something stupid to endanger my life, I just "KNOW." Probably a real-life "Spider Sense" or something. Either that, or I always expect other drivers to do something stupid and I'm rarely disappointed...
It's not terribly strange. It's your experience from driving & riding over the years giving you a deep pattern set.
All learning is essentially pattern recognition. Everything from figuring out how to catch a ball to your language skills to your ability to do basic math is the result of you being shown information and being able to recognize similar events when they occur again. After many years of being on the road, your brain now has a wide and deep set of events to draw from. When you were new at it, you wouldn't have been able to recognize the subtle clues, such as the way the car starts to slightly drift in the lane, the slight slowdown in speed, the change in the shadow in the wing mirror as the driver turns their head, etc. before the driver decides to come over. But after years of seeing little clues like this and correlating those clues with the movement of the vehicle, you recognize the patterns. It seems like a sixth sense, but it's mostly a lot of pattern recognition that is won through long experience.
Very, very true