Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ctrlburn]

ICE rider making transition to EV with trepidation of years of roadside remedies rendered inapplicable.

Normal Tools easily make the transition:
3-6mm hex       (anything larger or smaller?)
Philips and Flathead screwdrivers
Sockets
Vise grips
Tire Patch
Belt Repair Kit (not found one yet for this size belt)  - Yes I carried and used a spare Master Links.

(no plugs or oil or gasket maker!)

Looking now to electrics (besides fuses and bulbs)


Suppose throttle pot fails (on ICE I could work carb directly if cable broke) I presume wiring in a switch and a 1k-4.7K resister could limp a bike home.

Which leads to a topic of prebuilt failover plugs rendering the bike more limpable than originally designed.
I can follow most amateur schematics, but have not yet grabbed the normal signals from my (under warrantee) Zero.
Like a resistors could fake throttle position - others could deliver temp readings and whatnot.
With Picaxe or Arduino I could fake many digital signals.

Anyone have signal information to share to reproduce the signals and make a dummy jack to bypass a presumed failed throttle pot or even a misread temperature sensor?
 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

After 7,000 miles in a year of ownership, my 2013 Zero DS has never had a real problem. My only new tools are the manufacturer-recommended belt tension gauge and a center lift. I have a garage set up for two motorcycles, and generally metric tools. The bike has not had any issues other than me accidentally hitting the kill switch at speed, which was easily recoverable.

[WindRider]

Metric Allen Key set
Multi tip screw driver
Tie wraps
Needle nose Vise Grips
Leatherman multi tool
Mobile phone

That is my kit. 

If you find belt repair limp home kit for the Zero belt please post here.  I have not been able to find one that fits the skinny Zero belt. 

For the record, I have rolled 8K miles on a 12 DS  and 13 FX combined and I have never needed any of these tools on the road. 

[Richard230]

BMW says the only tool you need in your motorcycle tool kit is a well-endowed credit card.   

[NoiseBoy]

Its unlikely a throttle pot would fail entirely, generally they deteriorate or you get a limited range (i.e. little throttle).  But seriously, by the time you have put together an emergency kit and built an arduino etc. Would it not be easier and cheaper just to call out a tow truck in the unlikely event you get completely stranded?

[ctrlburn]

The goal is to not call a tow truck (because I don't, well maybe once)
The intent to not to build on roadside - but to pre-build and swap in a "bypass ponytail" as needed.
It is not about who all has not yet been stranded.
It is not about what would or would not fail.

ICE has a variety of interventions available - from jamming open the choke with a twig to opening the fuel valve only long enough to fill the carburetor bowl. I've shifted and pulled the brakes with a vise grips and push started countless times, I've run on one cylinder and a other bailing twine solutions...  I cannot count the broken throttle cables in my history.

With my Zero it all that resets to "zero" and it is unnerving.

I have loopback testers for other electronics.
We've all faked out brake wear sensors.

It is more than just getting electricity from the battery to the engine...  one could bypass everything with a jumper cable if that was the case.

It is about what signals are flowing now?

[BSDThw]

For a FX you need a 7mm Hex for the kickstand (7mm is rare non of my standard set has one its always 5-6-8-10-...)

As I see on photos it is the same for all 2013-14s

[ultrarnr]

I think the days of the "baling wire" repair on the side of the road are coming to an end for all motorcycles. There are very few 2014 motorcycles with carburetors, even the Urals have went to fuel injection. And the list of motorcycles with computer control modules is getting longer. Trying to trouble shoot problems on the side of the road is getting very close to impossible. My SR has left me stranded twice now with a contactor error problem. After over 5 weeks and many hours of troubleshooting by the dealer and Zero the cause is yet to be determined. If you want a bike that is easy to fix on the side of the road then stay away from any Zero model and most newer ICE bikes.

[NoiseBoy]

To be fair ultrarnr if you want a bike that is easy to repair at the side of the road you can forget engines entirely. I would recommend a bicycle.

Modern equipment just isn't designed for home repair. I doubt they would build them that way even if they could with all the regulations and requirements nowadays.

[ctrlburn]

Today I determined that if my engine temperature reads -71 it indicates an open circuit to the motor temp sensor. 

Rather than anticipate huddling at the roadside tracing wires for breaks into my toolkit goes a 2.2Kohms resistor pre-soldered to a wire for B- and a connector for pin 33 so I am not stranded when by reasonable observation I can tell the motor is not too cold (or too hot) to operate.

Enough to get home without a tow, simple enough to fix on the roadside.