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[dkw12002]

Gorgeous riding weather today, so I headed over to Canyon Lake, then to the Devil's Backbone to do the 13 curves. It was so much fun, I turned around and did it again. Then I looked at my charge and I was less than half. Oh well, one more pass, actually two since I had to turn around and head back. To make a long story short, I ran out of battery for the first time ever, 200 yards from home but was able to just sit on the bike and push myself home. Now I know exactly how much distance I can get once all the bars disappear. 2 miles was it for my bike after the final visible bar. I was thinking there would be more warning. The only thing I noticed was a lack of throttle response, followed by the bike shutting off after another 10 seconds. Somehow I had the idea it would react differently...slow you way down to a creep and let you go another few miles. Doesn't work that way, I found out.

[spelunker]

So how fast were you going when it shut down?

[dkw12002]

30 mph. I had just turned off of a state road and into my residential area when the throttle didn't respond after I came out of the turn and started to accelerate. Then it did catch and let me go another 100 yards or so, then shut off for good. Total distance was 65.3 miles. I went over 100 miles after I first got the bike and still had 1 flashing bar, but that was at a much slower pace. About half of this riding was 60 mph or a little more. Speed makes all the difference.

[oobflyer]

Are you riding a 2013? 11 kWh?

[Justin Andrews]

Speed makes all the difference.

That's air resistance for you...

[dkw12002]

My bike is a 2013 Zero S 8.5.

[trikester]

My 2013 FX first limited at about 50mph, then after some more distance dropped to about 30mph. Last speed limit was about 16mph before finally cutting off. This was when the bike was brand new and I got 46 miles of surface street with a long climb and return and then stayed on the flats. Once it was down to one bar I kept circling the block until cutoff. I was doing some hard accelerations during these circles.

Trikester

[dkw12002]

The good news is that nothing really sneaks up on you since battery depletion is predictable. Plus, you can slow way down and the range increases dramatically so you could limp home. I have a Prius V, and it doesn't really matter how I drive the car, I get very close to 43 mpg. With the Zero, I can get from 40 miles to well over 100 miles on a full charge depending on how fast I ride. I can get 10 miles per bar if I slow to under 30 mph, or I can go 80 mph and get 4 miles per bar.

[oobflyer]

Range sounds similar to the 2012 ZF9... except you have twice the horsepower!

[BSDThw]

except you have twice the horsepower!

You have to keep in mind - if you drive a constant speed you will have a constant air drag + rolling resistance ... so you need exact the power to overcome this "Resistances".
Supplying more power, you will accelerate

If the bike - driver - condition are similar the needed HP are the same no matter how much HP your bike has.

[NoiseBoy]

except you have twice the horsepower!

You have to keep in mind - if you drive a constant speed you will have a constant air drag + rolling resistance ... so you need exact the power to overcome this "Resistances".
Supplying more power, you will accelerate

If the bike - driver - condition are similar the needed HP are the same no matter how much HP your bike has.

Except that the faster bike is probably more efficient.

[WindRider]

Yes, speed has a huge impact on range. 

There is one loop I like to ride on my FX that is 34 miles long and I generally arrive with 3-2 bars left on the dash.

Yesterday I took Mrs. WindRider on the same loop with me for the first time.   She is just learning to ride a Yamaha XT250 and her acceleration and velocity was considerably lower than my normal riding but I stuck close to her to watch over her.   I arrived at the end of a 34 mile loop which is mixed pavement and gravel road and Jeep trail with 6 bars left.   I could hardly believe how little energy was used to go really slowly and not take off quickly on starts.   

I think that my FX would go 80 miles on a charge if I ride at her learners pace on slow roads.

[trikester]

I got 81.2 miles calculated on my FX when I rode 52.2 miles (using GPS) of hard pack dirt in Utah last September. I posted the numbers on this forum. My average speed (using GPS) was 18 mph. There was a 2,000 feet very steep climb / descent in the ride.

My experience with all of my Zero bikes has been that I get fewer miles on pavement than dirt (unless deep sand) which I attribute to the higher speeds on pavement. Generally, if I'm trying to stretch my pavement distance, I will ride my FX between 35 mph and 45 mph and no quick starts, at which I can get about 50 miles. Same thing with my 2012 DS-6.

Trikester

[biolife]

To make a long story short, I ran out of battery for the first time ever, 200 yards from home but was able to just sit on the bike and push myself home. Now I know exactly how much distance I can get once all the bars disappear. 2 miles was it for my bike after the final visible bar.

Sounds like your calculations were pretty spot on I was thinking of doing the exact same thing with my SR when it comes, just so I know how far it can *really* go. I've got a park near my house that I can just loop around, then just coast it home when it's all out of juice!

[ultrarnr]

biolife,

Your SR will go into "limp home" mode when you reach 7% charge. After that you are limited to 45 MPH, a few miles and you are cut to 35 MPH, shortly after that power will cut off. After you stop for a bit you will be able to move again at up to 25 MPH for a short distance, maybe a few hundred yards before this process repeats itself.

Consider your max range as however far you have gone by the time you reach 7%. After that things stop being fun really quick.