ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: calamarichris on November 30, 2017, 10:53:20 PM
-
Sorry if this is addressed elsewhere, but I couldn't find an FAQ pertaining to the Zero SR.
~Who's got the most miles on their zero? Any issues?
~Can the SR be charged at all EV charging stations?
~What's the difference between the charge tank and the power tank? Power tank = no charging at EV stations?
~Typical service life of the belt drive?
~Anyone mount soft saddlebags (Tourmaster Cortech, for example) on their SR?
~Any tankbags that will work on the bike? (Asking for my dog who'll continue commuting to work with me every day.)
~How many miles are you typically getting on rear tires with that monstrous torque hit?
~Have any of you gone on any multi-day motorcycle trips? Charge in hotel rooms? EV charging stations?
(https://archive.li/WiDkr/6ac0a1a36068aaeef3716db1a8ee70ad284930cc.jpg)
I'm a life-long rider with over a quarter million miles behind me and am really excited to take the SR for a test ride this weekend!
Thanks for any guidance or links.
-
First let me encourage you to look around in the Zero section (and others for that matter) and also do You Tube video searches and that can get you caught up pretty quick.
Electric Terry is the Babe Ruth of electric motorcycles (he rides with a husky on his bike) over 75k miles on his 2012 super touring bike and lots more on later models. Ben and others have been all over the country on them so mileage is what you make it.
Issues? Oh course, most of the big ones were fixed after 2012 but some glitches still happen from time to time some more often and more troublesome than others.
You have to have a charge tank of after market chargers to work at charging stations. The bike comes with slow house outlet (115v) chargers.
Belt? Mine has 20k and counting but hard use and off road riding can pop the pre 17s pretty quick.
Lots of bag and hard case options but its no Goldwing for hauling your worldly possessions.
Tires? i get about 10k on very cheap DS tires, softer sportier ones less.
As mentioned earlier the Youtube channel "Benswing" shows him going to all 48 states but you will need super chargers to handle faster charging at the stations and RV parks (extra adapter needed). Also you can get the power tank and then add the external super chargers to get the best of both worlds.
But mostly go test ride one! Its great if you can live with a 100 MPH top speed and the range game you'll love it.
Welcome aboard.
-
Only 100mph? :-\
Thank you for the gracious welcome. I'm snooping around in the forum and Youtube (lot of useless crap on Youtube), but either the search function leaves a good deal to be desired or I need to hone my search terms. Thanks for the tip on Benswing--looking forward to watching them at home tonight.
Anyone mount any softluggage on their SR?
(http://www.roadrunner.travel/wp/wp-content/uploads/product_reviews_6559_360063.jpg)
-
What's the shortest range you've experienced?
Say if a giant tsunami were on the way to level my town and I got on an Eastbound freeway, traveling 90mph sustained for the high ground, between all the gridlocked cars filled with doomed motorists like in Deep Impact, how far would I get?
-
What's the shortest range you've experienced?
Say if a giant tsunami were on the way to level my town and I got on an Eastbound freeway, traveling 90mph sustained for the high ground, between all the gridlocked cars filled with doomed motorists like in Deep Impact, how far would I get?
90mph between cars? Not sure where you live that it is that flat and "safe" to travel so fast between vehicles.
@70mph you will get about 90 miles with a zero SR
-
Sorry, am in Carlsbad, about 3 miles from the beach, and about 40 miles from Palomar Mountain in beautiful California where lanesharing remains legal.
If the cop chasing me survives the tsunami, I'll cheerfully pay the fine.
Has anyone done a track day or exceeded 70mph for an extended period of time? I once covered 102+ miles in one hour in Northern California near the Nevada border on my carbureted EX500 (the little red twin cylinder with the dog on it above), and the bike still got 49.9mpg.
-
There are racing teams that use Zeros, mainly Hollywood Electrics Racing; since they're in SoCal just give them a call to ask questions at least, and they might even try to sell you one of their retired but faired racing bikes.
I have 24000 miles on a 2013 DS and 26000 miles on a 2016 DSR and they're both operating well.
Any Zero with an IPM model motor (2016 and newer models) will not overheat even at 90mph.
I've ran my DSR at 80mph for an 80 mile rountrip commute (I280 in the SF Bay Area), but I put a really big fairing on my bike. I have an onboard supercharger for recharging and can charge in an hour and cover 400-450 miles in a day on a good day.
Zero's quoted range figures for 70mph are accurate, and should not be discounted as bragging: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-s/
70 miles at 70mph is the current stock expectation. You'll get 85 miles or more if you put a good windscreen on the bike - that's how much speed/drag cuts into the range.
-
Also see the "unoffical manual", a website I contribute to to compile knowledge about the Zero:
https://zeromanual.com/
https://zeromanual.com/index.php/Potential_Buyers_Guide
https://zeromanual.com/index.php/Travel
-
Good poop, thanks Brian! As a road cyclist (the pedaling kind) who's trained & raced with a power meter, I can appreciate how many Watts an aerodynamic position can save.
And I've ridden my ZX9R from Carlsbad to Philadelphia & back, so I tend to appreciate a slightly sportier position anyway. So far I figured Zero's commuter screen would be enough for me and my dog.
Looking forward to carefully reviewing your links tonight at home.
-
I'll answer the ones I can.
> Who's got the most miles on their zero? Any issues?
idk
> ~Can the SR be charged at all EV charging stations?
it comes with a home charger setup, for public stations you need adapters.
a relatively cheap adapter is an adapter for the onboard charger, which lets you charge at public stations, but just as slowly as you would at home
a more expensive option is a rapid charger. chargetank is one, and there are aftermarket chargers as well. look for systems that can charge at 6000+ watts, don't waste your time on "quick chargers" that do a measly 1000 watts.
> ~What's the difference between the charge tank and the power tank? Power tank = no charging at EV stations?
charge tank is a faster charger that comes with the adapter for publich charging stations, it lets you charge at 6000 watts, which is like 4-5 times faster than the onboard charger.
powertank is an extra battery.
> Typical service life of the belt drive?
depends mostly on whether you do full open throttle over bumps. 10000 miles or more is common for people who go throttle neutral before they take air
> Anyone mount soft saddlebags (Tourmaster Cortech, for example) on their SR?
yes there are all kinds of bags and cases people have mounted, read zeromanual.com and this forum.
> Any tankbags that will work on the bike? (Asking for my dog who'll continue commuting to work with me every day.)
yes pretty much any tank bag that doesn't require magnetic attachment works fine
> How many miles are you typically getting on rear tires with that monstrous torque hit?
I change one tire at 5000 miles and two at 10000 on my 2014 SR. Depends a lot on how you ride.
> Have any of you gone on any multi-day motorcycle trips? Charge in hotel rooms? EV charging stations?
Yes, lot of discussion of that, read the forums, and the touring recommendations at zeromanual.com
I know mrwilson and anton and briantrice and ElectricCowboy and ElectricTerry and LiveForPhysics
have reported on their road trips. Most recent ones were anton SF-Canada, briantrice SF-Seattle,
ElectricCowboy and ElectricTerry to Baja. A bunch of people did the trip from their homes across Europe
to Zurich in September- I think more than half of the ElectricNightRide2 folks ride Zeros, there are cool
videos on Youtube.
> I'm a life-long rider with over a quarter million miles behind me and am really excited to take the SR for a test ride this weekend!
Thanks for any guidance or links.
Have a blast!
-
> @70mph you will get about 90 miles with a zero SR
heh, I have trouble getting 90 miles riding slow, but mine's a 2014 Zero SR and I weigh 210 lb.
If you are smaller and your bike is newer you will go farther than I do. It's crazy how much bigger the batteries have gotten in 4 years.
-
Hi CalamariChris, welcome! I've got on a cross country trip on a Zero motorcycle for each of the past 5 years and have now ridden a Zero through all the lower 48 states. There is much better fast charging equipment (digiNow Supercharger) and more infrastructure than when I first crossed the country in 2013.
Video and written reviews from my 4-Corners trip in 2016 are here:
https://www.benswing.com/2016-road-trip-blog
Video and written reviews from my 3-Country Tour (Mexico, US, Canada) are here:
https://www.benswing.com/2015-mexico-to-canada
The new 18kWh Zero S or SR will carry you about 125 miles riding conservatively on the highway. If you add fast charging equipment, like the digiNow Supercharger V2, you can take road trips going a few hundred miles per day.
Some more info is on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BenRidesElectric/
Cheers!
-
This is exciting. Am really looking forward to the test ride tomorrow.
Thanks for the responses Togo, I appreciate the guidance.
And thanks Ben. I'd seen several of your informative Youtube vids.
Has anyone in here done a Babybutt? (>1,000 miles in <24 hours)?
Anyone herein live in the San Diego area? I live about half an hour from Palomar Mountain, which is a fun sillystring road.
-
Has anyone in here done a Babybutt? (>1,000 miles in <24 hours)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Hershner
-
Neat, but has anyone in here done a Babybutt on their Zero?
-
Neat, but has anyone in here done a Babybutt on their Zero?
Same link as before He rode over 1047 miles from Northern California to the Mexico border and back, in 22 hours and 57 minutes using only ChargePoint charging stations.[39][40][41][42][43]
I assume you are asking more than 1000miles in less than 24 hours ... Terry has already done this.
-
He did it on his Zero? I saw the picture of his fully faired bike and assumed it was done on that.
-
Beneath the Vetter fairing is a Zero.
-
Anyone herein live in the San Diego area? I live about half an hour from Palomar Mountain, which is a fun sillystring road.
There are a few of us. I'm in El Cajon, I'll let the others speak for themselves.
Palomar's not a bad ride, though I haven't gotten around to it on this bike. It hasn't been too long since I got my SCv2 hooked up, which I would definitely need from El Cajon....but Palomar will definitely be on the agenda next riding season.
So far, this has been my most epic multi-charge journey. I did it a couple of months ago to qualify for the 250-miles-in-a-day club. With the weather we're having, Idyllwild is probably still beautiful.
-
Ahoy Doug, thanks. I hope we can meet in 3D for a ride some time.
That's a pretty nice ride (we're so lucky to live here! [sorry if any of you American Siberians are reading this]) I've got some hidden backroads (sillystring roads, I call 'em) along that route I'd love to show you.
After watching some of Ben's videos, I'm going to be waiting at the dealership when they unlock the doors at 9:30 tomorrow. Can't wait!
-
Ben should clarify, but he probably has the most miles logged in 24 hours on a stock Zero. I think it’s 550 miles. I’ve done 460 miles in a day with similar equipment (he has a Power Tank whereas I had a newer baseline battery and a custom fitted windscreen and now a fairing).
Terry’s streamliner is a now retired 2012S with a ton of custom upgrades. It logged 70000 miles overall but is a record-breaking custom build.
We’re still trying to commoditize those proofs of concept.
Terry is now running around with a less custom but heavily upgraded Zero exceeding stock expectations of course.
-
Good poop, thanks Brian! As a road cyclist (the pedaling kind) who's trained & raced with a power meter, I can appreciate how many Watts an aerodynamic position can save.
And I've ridden my ZX9R from Carlsbad to Philadelphia & back, so I tend to appreciate a slightly sportier position anyway. So far I figured Zero's commuter screen would be enough for me and my dog.
Looking forward to carefully reviewing your links tonight at home.
I would urge you to go with the touring screen: more/better wind protection. That said, there's lots of info on this board about after market screens. I have the Zero touring screen (on my 2016 SR). It's OK. I'm looking for something better. Just arrived (yesterday) a Madstad screen. Am hoping to install it tomorrow. (self promotion: depending on how it turns out, I may have a used touring screen for sale at a good price).
I'm also a cyclist. If you don't know about them, google "2x2 cycles" They make racks to carry bicycles on motorcycles. Sadly, they don't
(yet) have any for Zeros. I do have one for my Honda CB500X, and it's fantastic.
-
Neat, but has anyone in here done a Babybutt on their Zero?
Quick back-of-the-envelope calc (please call me out on mistakes): 1K miles in 24 hours means you need to average 41.7 miles per hour. Let's say you can go 100 miles on a charge, and recharge in one hour. Then you'd need to ride at 71.4 miles per hour.
With a stock bike, even a 2018, this seems unlikely. One reason: you have to stop and hunt for charging stations ten times -- so that's going to cut your average milage. Another reason: with a 2018 and a fairing 100 miles @ 70 mph may be possible (?) but you don't run your battery down to 0% before hunting for a charging station. And getting on/off the freeway 20 times further cuts into your average milage.
-
They didn't have an SR, but let my gf and I take out a DSR and an S. It was heavy traffic around downtown San Diego, but still had enough freeway space to wick it up over 102. Was impressed, made deposit, SR 14.4 with charge tank and white bodywork has ETA of January. Kind of a novel sensation getting up to speed that quickly with so little drama. We were stuck in freeway traffic and I'm looking ahead trying to figure out why everyone is going so slowly, then I caught a glimpse of the speedo at 74mph, haha.
And I love that the 2018 is going to be in white. There's nothing better than lane-sharing up to the front at a stoplight on a white, cop-looking bike and watching all the motorists throw their phones over into the passenger seat. ;D Looking forward to this! Thanks very much for the guidance. More noob questions sure to come.
Just thought of one: will the Zero motorcycle app work with my ancient Iphone 4s?
(http://www.rickclemson.com/UploadScript/Gallery/DM_31034.jpg)
-
There's nothing better than lane-sharing up to the front at a stoplight on a white, cop-looking bike and watching all the motorists throw their phones over into the passenger seat.
[emphasis mine]
There's a (very rarely enforced) law in my country that if 3 out of 5 people who only got a 2 second look at your vehicle and identify it as a police vehicle ... it's immediately impounded.
note: exact nr of people and seconds may be off by a few
... so while it would indeed be fun, I wouldn't want to look too much like a cop where I live. :)
-
No, no, I'm not disguising my bike to look like a cop bike! But a white and black bike does initially resemble a cop bike to those who are perhaps distracted by their phones while driving.
I noticed this happening whenever I'm on my white BMW F800GT (which is a very cop-looking bike.)
-
I'm also a cyclist. If you don't know about them, google "2x2 cycles" They make racks to carry bicycles on motorcycles. Sadly, they don't
(yet) have any for Zeros. I do have one for my Honda CB500X, and it's fantastic.
Haha, I already have a 2X2 bike to get my track bike down to the Velodrome. Am looking forward to getting my mountainbike to the trailhead with it one of these weekends too.
-
No, no, I'm not disguising my bike to look like a cop bike!
Sorry, I didn't want to imply that.
[...] does initially resemble a cop bike to those who are perhaps distracted by their phones while driving.
and that's the problem with the law where I live: it's so strictly worded that even in those situations ... in theory ... it could get impounded
it's also the reason why this it's is hardly ever actually enforced ... it's so strictly worded that enforcing the law as such is just silly and impractical.
-
I just emailed 2X2 cycles and was told they do make a bicycle rack for Zeros. He said you need a zero luggage rack on your bike and that's it. He said he sent out 4 or 5 in the last month. I had never heard of them before. I am going to check it out. Thanks for the info!
-
I just emailed 2X2 cycles and was told they do make a bicycle rack for Zeros. He said you need a zero luggage rack on your bike and that's it. He said he sent out 4 or 5 in the last month. I had never heard of them before. I am going to check it out. Thanks for the info!
Wow! I'd emailed them a couple of times (months ago) about Zero, and never got a response. Recently I got a Honda CB500X and a 2x2 rack, and couldn't be happier. I'll have to check back with them. But I do wonder if the stock Zero rack is hefty enough for mounting the rack + bike. We're talking about something like 30 pounds total, with a fair bit of weight hanging off the back end. I worry about leverage factors. The racks on my cb500x are *way* heftier than the Zero's.
-
I also emailed 2x2 Cycles asking about a Zero (maybe a year or so ago when I got my 2016 DSR) and never got a reply. Been meaning to buy a Happy Trails rack and was going to have a friend weld something for me, but if 2x2 makes one, might be easier to just go that route.
Can someone with one actually confirm the Happy Trails rack would work? And that 2x2 does in fact make them? Might have a good self-birthday-present in January.
-
Someone named Garrett replied to my email to 2x2 within a few minutes and said he has bike racks for Zero's. I don't know anyone who has one though.
-
Delighted to see the 2x2 guy is onboard. He took a while to respond when I ordered mine, and I suspect he's a one-man show with a dayjob.
Next dumb n000b question: In my extensive Youtube research, one of the narrators claimed that the charge plug for the SR is basically a power cord for a printer or computer monitor.
I have many of these power cords at work. Can I use a standard printer power cord to charge my bike while I'm nosing the grindstone?
-
Can I use a standard printer power cord to charge my bike
Yes, I use one (I accidentally broke mine in a stupid mistake).
Just make sure it's one that can handle the amps.
-
It is indeed a standard C13 cord, also known as the 'Kettle lead'. I can highly recommend getting a 5M lead, outlets will never be out of reach again!
-
Just make sure it's one that can handle the amps.
How many amps are we talkin'?
Would this one (15A) (https://www.tripplite.com/heavy-duty-computer-power-cord-nema-5-15p-to-iec-320-c13-10-ft~P007010/) do the job?
-
Of course it comes with a charge cord. But for a longer cord I'd go with 12AWG or 10AWG as the tend to get pretty hot at the ends. Also they make a cord that is at a right angle at the bike end to keep the stress off the connection.
My DS would pull no more than 12 amps.
-
How many amps are we talkin'?
Would this one (15A) (https://www.tripplite.com/heavy-duty-computer-power-cord-nema-5-15p-to-iec-320-c13-10-ft~P007010/) do the job?
I'm in a 230V region and my Zero pulls about 4~5 amps with the onboard charger.
I believe the wattage remains the same, so in a 120V region you'd pull about 8~10A
So your 15A cable should indeed be able to do the job.
I did notice that the standard cable Zero provides is rated for 20A. Don't know why they opted for that one since that's quite the margin you got there ... even in a 120V region.
Even weirder if you know the C13 coupler standard is rated only for 10A (according to Wikipedia ... a souce which is known for it's impeccable factual accuracy :P )
-
Wikipedia says C13 and C14 are only rated for 15 amps, so 20 amps is overkill.
But sometimes ratings are not for continuous load, 80% of rated is what I hear electricians say, I think, for continuous.