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Author Topic: 2012 reviews?  (Read 8691 times)

Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #45 on: February 05, 2012, 08:03:36 AM »

The photos of my 2012 Zero S can be found here: 

http://www.elmoto.net/showthread.php?2019-2012-ZF9-Zero-S-review&p=25658&posted=1#post25658

I forgot to mention that Progressive Insurance added the bike to my current policy for a premium of only $29 a year. But I have every discount they offer, including a multi-bike policy and am only insured for 250K/500K liability.  Since I pay cash for my motorcycles, I self-insure myself for all other potential problems and so far have not had to collect from myself in 50 years of riding.  This has saved me a whole lot of money over the years, which I plow back into my motorcycle purchases.  :)
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

skadamo

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #46 on: February 05, 2012, 08:30:34 AM »

Well the photos that I took today are just too large for this system to accept (192KB maximum and mine are about 600KB each).

Image size increased to 600 KB. Post away! :D

Also, just added this post to the forum...
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=1932.0

It will explain how to upload pics to Flickr and then add them to your post. This way if the 600 KB limit gets in the way your covered.

The 2012 S looks sharp! Congrats again!
« Last Edit: February 05, 2012, 10:15:34 AM by skadamo »
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zap mc

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #47 on: February 06, 2012, 07:29:35 PM »

I was quite surprised, as I expected that the fancy suspension would be set up stiff, as is typical for sport bikes with similar fully-adjustable suspensions.


Do Zero still recommend setting the "sag" on the rear?
Maybe the dealer should have brought your attention to the fact that you have the ability to dial the bike in for your own weight by adjusting the preload of the rear spring so it is in the optimum range of travel for the riders weight. This is standard procedure for most Motocross bikes.
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Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #48 on: February 06, 2012, 10:05:23 PM »


Do Zero still recommend setting the "sag" on the rear?
Maybe the dealer should have brought your attention to the fact that you have the ability to dial the bike in for your own weight by adjusting the preload of the rear spring so it is in the optimum range of travel for the riders weight. This is standard procedure for most Motocross bikes.


My dealer didn't discuss setting up the suspension for my weight, but the owner's manual goes over that process in some detail.  You just need time and a helper to do the job.  In the meantime, the suspension seems to be working OK, at least in the garage. I am not sure what is going on at high speeds, though.  When riding over 50 mph on bumpy back roads, I was experiencing some wiggling in the bars when corning that was making me kind of nervous.  I am hoping I can dial that out with suspension adjustments, but the suspension is pretty complicated and it would be easy to make thing worse by just turning dials randomly.  I just haven't had the time to fool with it.  However, the handling is fine around town, it is just not very stable in the woods.  Perhaps the bike's light weight and short wheelbase reduces its stability, compared to my BMWs, my Triumph and my FZ1, all of which weigh around 500 pounds and have conservative chassis geometry.  I should also mention that my Suzuki SV650 also feels nervous to me under the same conditions, so maybe I am just not used to the quick handling of a supermoto-style bike.

Finally, the bike comes with IRC Road Winner tires and those are not exactly top-of-the-line rubber.  It has also been my experience that adjusting the air pressure a pound or two plus or minus can make a big difference with tubeless tires on lightweight bikes.

Moving on to charging:  Yesterday I arrived home from my ride having used approximately half of the battery pack capacity according to the "fuel" gauge. That should be about 4 kWh, assuming that the pack has a usable capacity of 7.2 kWh (80% of 9kWh).  The on-board 110V charger (charging at a maximum input of 950 watts according to my Kill A Watt), took almost exactly 6 hours to complete bulk charging. That would seem to indicate that a full charge would require 12 hours, instead of the 9 hours claimed in Zero's specifications. That might mean that the battery pack has a slightly greater capacity than rated, or that the charger efficiency is lower than expected, or the "fuel" gauge is not quite accurate, or.....?  Balancing/trickle charging sucked up another 0.12 kWh during the next 12 hours after bulk charging was completed.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #49 on: February 07, 2012, 05:08:33 AM »

Here is an owner's manual comment. I finally got around to printing out the 120-page owner's manual that is installed on the flash drive that was connected to the spare key.  Then I compared it with the owner's manual that I obtained last month when the DS first arrived at my dealer.  The new manual has 10 more pages than the older manual, but I checked every page this afternoon and the only thing different, besides a couple of random words, is the useful index at the back of the document. This is what is new.  So if you happen to have the manual revised in January, instead of the one revised on February 1, all you are missing is the index.  The meat is still the same.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #50 on: February 08, 2012, 03:59:43 AM »

I finally discovered how to reduce the size of my camera pictures. Attached are some photos of my 2012 ZF9 Zero S.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Brammofan

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #51 on: February 08, 2012, 04:07:34 AM »

Nice pics, Richard!  I'm glad you're riding electric again.  Out of the universe of past EV owners who have a right to not ever want to go there again, you were #1.  Your history with the older bike (was it a GPRS?) was enough of a disappointment to keep you skeptical for a long time.  Kudos for making the leap again.
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Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #52 on: February 08, 2012, 04:33:36 AM »

I got sucked into two GPR-S bikes. One melted down and the other is dying a slow battery death.

My friend just sent me his photos of me and my Zero up at Alice's Restaurant last Sunday morning.  The bike is being charged via an extension cord plugged into a wall outlet at the back of their gas station (seems appropriate, somehow).
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #53 on: March 01, 2012, 05:10:55 AM »

I have discovered another advantage of my Zero, compared with an IC motorcycle. It is a lot easier to clean.   :)

I just finished washing and waxing my bike and it was much easier and quicker than doing the same thing on my gas-powered motorcycles. The Zero doesn't have any chrome to spot, no exhaust pipes that tend to get grungy with baked on dirt and it has large flat surfaces with few little nooks and crannies that are difficult to clean, which is typical of IC bikes.

What this means is you can keep the Zero looking nicer and spend less time doing it - resulting in more time to ride!   ;D
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

zap mc

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #54 on: March 01, 2012, 03:16:21 PM »

how are they for rusting bolts now?
earlier models suffered badly from rusting fastners.
we always did a light spray of WD40 after washing to try and reduce this
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Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #55 on: March 01, 2012, 09:36:03 PM »

how are they for rusting bolts now?
earlier models suffered badly from rusting fastners.
we always did a light spray of WD40 after washing to try and reduce this

I am having trouble finding any bolts on my bike to rust (it seems to have more plastic and plastic fasteners than bolts).  In any case, the way I store and maintain my motorcycles, I haven't had any problems with rusting bolts since owning a 1978 Yamaha SR500.   ::)
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

protomech

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #56 on: March 02, 2012, 05:44:02 AM »

Motorcycle.com has a review of the 2012 ZF9 DS.
http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/2012-zero-ds-review-91239.html

They get a couple things wrong (list the ZF9 range but the ZF6 weight, and quote a $595 price for the 4x quickcharge accessory) but it's a good read nonetheless.

They also set the bike up on a dyno.



The new motor offers about 25% more power up to 50 mph, but as the 2010 bike falls off in power the 2012 bike offers +100% or more.
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manlytom

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #57 on: March 02, 2012, 07:04:05 AM »

The dyno chart compares the 2010 with the 2012. As the 2011 has basically the same Agni motor one would assume that it has the same performance ? From riding I found that the 2011 handles better due to larger 17" wheels and better brakes.
T
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Tom
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Richard230

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #58 on: March 02, 2012, 07:35:04 AM »

Thanks for posting that link, Protomech. That is the first test/review that I have seen for the 2012 Zero models.   :)  I am going to read it tonight.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

emotofreak

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Re: 2012 reviews?
« Reply #59 on: March 03, 2012, 05:16:36 AM »

Protomech, you always have such intelligent posts. Thanks!

An additional data point, I have dyno'd a stock 2012 Honda CBR 250 at only 24HP or so. Supposedly the Ninja 250 is only a smidge better. So we now have electric motorcycles with double the torque and more peak power, and over a much broader power band,  than the latest and greatest 250's. Truly a historic moment. Next up? 450cc parity. Maybe even next year. Then 600cc in a couple more years :) In a decade or less we'll be playing with the liter bikes :p
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