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[aelwero]

Howdy  

new guy...  have a weird question...

planning to trade my jeep in on a zero in the near future, because I'm sick of 12MPG.  Thinking I'm a good fit for electric because I'm pretty small, only 5'4" at 140 lbs, so performance should be pretty good

Downside is that the shortest one available is actually a bit tall, and I'm a new biker.  I was wondering if anyone has gotten into modding these things yet...  I'm thinking about moving the controller (I'm assuming it's the controller under the rear fender) to the front of the battery case, and removing the fender, the seat, and all the mounting behind the batteries and fabbing a support for a seat (and the seat itself) much lower, behind the batteries...  Sort of an electric bobber style...

any major downsides to doing this,  and has anyone done anything remotely similar to this?

These things seem incredibly simple compared to an IC bike, or a jeep, and I've done fab work on both...

[NoiseBoy]

Welcome!

That would involve a huge amount of rewiring but I don't think its necessary anyway.  The S is already very low and quite narrow plus it looks to me as if there is plenty of clearance between the rear wheel and controller so if needed you could just fit a shorter shock and drop the triple clamps down the forks.  The frame and subframe are alumin(i)um so difficult to work with.

Trikester is probably the guy to talk to as I remember him having concerns about seat height.

[ColoPaul]

Ditto on the welcome.

What kind of Zero?  Used/New?  Model?

[oobflyer]

If you're buying a 2012 - it is quite tall and narrow. I'm 5'7" and can just reach the ground. When I'm wearing my riding boots, which have a thick sole/heel - it's just right.
I haven't sat on a 2013, but it looks like they lowered the seat.

[protomech]

The 2013 seat is a little lower and a little wider than 2012, I believe.

The seat height is a little bit misleading due to the narrowness of the bike. I have a 30" inseam and have no problems sitting on a 2012 with shock compression .. I think maybe even a 28" inseam would be fine. Below that the bike may have to be modified as you describe.

[aelwero]

If you're buying a 2012 - it is quite tall and narrow. I'm 5'7" and can just reach the ground. When I'm wearing my riding boots, which have a thick sole/heel - it's just right.
I haven't sat on a 2013, but it looks like they lowered the seat.

nobody here has a 2013 to try.  the local guys have all the 2012 models (they've yet to sell a single one, so they won't order a 2013 unless it's paid for, and I'm not sure I want to buy a vehicle sight-unseen) and they are all too tall except the S, and it's tiptoe height for me...  not comfortable at all.  No clue what my inseam is, but when I find jeans that fit, they're usually in the kids section    not sure I'm willing to wear 3 inch hells to ride in (maybe the wife will...)

Shorter shock sounds like a pretty smart starting point actually... might look at that, or even try out a very short strut bar even...  call it the Zero hardtail mod   would be a lot simpler than rerouting everything

[benswing]

I believe you can pre-load the shocks to lower the height a bit and the 2012 Zeros used to have a lower Corbin seat option.  Not sure if it is available any more, but those would be the first two things I would look into.

Welcome to the forum!

[aelwero]

shock preloaded all the way down...

entire tail removed, lights mounted to end of seat spar (somewhat bobber/streetfighter type look... weird, but I'm liking it)

seat foam chopped down about an inch...



still too tall

thinking the controller might go on top where the front half o the seat currently is, maybe with a plexiglass shield over it so you can see the HV connects (maybe add an LED light or two for effect, or some blinky flux capacitor looking light tubes)...  then rotate the seat spar so it sits horizontal and chop it off to clear the tire at full sag and fab a seat for it... 

the more I look at it, the simpler it appears to be to do...  there's just not that much to them

[NoiseBoy]

Welcome back aelwero.  Bike looks kinda cool.  I think you have the first bobbed Zero.

I dont mean to condascend but I know you are new to biking so, are you sure it needs to be lower.  I know when you start riding it gives confidence to get both feet flat down but it really isnt neccessary.  Im 5ft 10" but my KTM was so tall i could only get the ball of one foot down and I never had any problems.  You just get used to dismounting when you need to push the bike backwards.

Having said all that, it sounds like you enjoy the modding so if thats the main reason then great, if not you should really persevere with riding a taller bike. It will benefit you in terms of slow speed bike control skills and also mean you have more options to upgrade in the future.

[vitaminC]

What are you using for footwear? Maybe consider a taller boot, like this.

[aelwero]

no condescension taken

I'm not really a "bike guy" yet, and might not ever be (although I'm starting to feel tempted to get an IC bike...  you know... for trips and such...), so bike type advice is certainly welcome.  The dismount thing is actually a major factor for me.  I can ride it at stock height easily, it's just that jump off to back up thing that bugs me... 

Might be a bit of "napolean syndrome" going on   my height doesn't actually bother me, but having to do things differently than other people because of it does...

as far as boots go, I wear army boots (21 years and counting).  I could probably get away with wearing riding boots in uniform, but it'd be a huge hassle.