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[laramie LC4]

in the process of selling off all my ICE bikes and as soon as i do, there will be a new FX in my garage.

been thinking/looking at ways to save weight and decrease power draw.

my question for you guys is, who has put their bike on a diet? what did you pull off?

who has fixed that hideous rear end/brake/blinker combo? what did you replace it with?

frankly can believe they stuck an incandescent 1157 bulb in the back of their bike, what happened to low energy LED's?

what about blinkers?

and finally, who has the trick for wiring in an On/Off switch for power to the lights. would love to be able to go total stealth.

thanks,

laramie

[StraydogEOMFD]

Selling off all those KTMs for an FX eh?  I'm interested to hear what you think.  I'm torn between a 500 EXC plus SM wheels or an FX/S with wheels for both.  What kind of riding do you do? 

As for turning the lights off, check out this thread:

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5379.msg38413#msg38413

[MrDude_1]

been thinking/looking at ways to save weight and decrease power draw.

if you do the math, you'll see that even if you disconnected everything from the DC-DC converter... it doesn't make much difference in range. How fast you go can make a massive difference though.

who has fixed that hideous rear end/brake/blinker combo? what did you replace it with?

I dont have a Zero yet, but on my street legal CR500 I used something like this:
www.ebay.com/itm/Error?item=161667197727&errid=2

frankly can believe they stuck an incandescent 1157 bulb in the back of their bike, what happened to low energy LED's?

doesnt make much diff in power... but you can always swap a taillight.

what about blinkers?

some of the newer LED rear lights can have amber signals built in. I would go that route if your local law enforcement lets you. otherwise, add cheap LED stalks.

and finally, who has the trick for wiring in an On/Off switch for power to the lights. would love to be able to go total stealth.

easiest way is to just have a switch to the ground wire.... that would cut out all of the running lights, brake lights and turnsignals at once.  you can do the same for the headlight.
but I wouldnt bother, as it doesnt use much power.

[MrDude_1]

to use an analogy... imagine your electrical power is water.

on a normal ICE bike, you have a cup full of power to work with. It takes a half cup to run your lights... some bikes have just enough for that... some bikes have enough left over to run heated gear. some bikes have a massive cup and let you run aux lights, CBs, etc....   but the bike moves on gasoline.


on an electric bike, you have a swimming pool of power. It takes a large amount of electricity to move you.
It doesnt really matter if you use that half cup of lights or not...  What matters is how much power you use to move yourself. Just going around a little slower will make 10 times the diff that taking all the lights off would.

[Ranga]

For inspiration, Preston Petty has been flat tracking a modified FX.
http://www.dirtbikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Preston-Petty-D1.jpg

[evtricity]

Removing the onboard charger on a Zero SR/S/DS saves 7-8kg so you should be able to save a few kg by removing the FX onboard charger too.

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

I installed Tailblazer 20d bulbs in my FX/FXS taillights. Direct replacement. It flashes rapidly, then slows, then goes solid. Seems to get the cagers attention. It's a halogen and comes with a spare bulb. A little steep at around $60-70 usd though I found a couple on the bay for $15 shipped. Wanted to install the Gearbrake because it senses deceleration regardless of brakes being applied. They offer it for the other models but not the FX. They told me it was because it confused other riders in the dirt or some crap. Also the connectors are different. It could probably be made to work with a little effort.

[grmarks]

I converted an ice bike to electric and used LED's for blinkers (and brakes), but I also used a flasher can designed to work with LEDs.

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

I would like to find someone who could copy all the panels in carbon fiber. Contacted a couple places but they weren't having any of it! May start replacing some of the bigger fasteners with titanium.

[laramie LC4]

I would like to find someone who could copy all the panels in carbon fiber. Contacted a couple places but they weren't having any of it! May start replacing some of the bigger fasteners with titanium.

know a guy in town that makes CF stuff for stock cars and dirt trackers. hadn't thought of that. might be a market for it. doubt it will save much weight though.

i know switching to LED lights won't save much if any, i just thought it was odd. i have an acerbic LED brake/tail  light i was going to use on another project, it will be perfect for this. in AZ blinkers aren't required so i may just ditch them all together.

my main goal is to drop weight by just removing/replacing stuff that is heavy and i don't need. example- passenger foot pegs. they will be the first to go. i have also started looking onto air forks, loose the weight of all that oil and springs. not cheap, but worth it? don't know, that's why I'm asking.

as for the light switch, is there a common ground to all the lights, blinkers, break/tail? that would be glorious. i want to go completely dark, no lights at all. looking into cheap night vision, think that would be the ultimate rush out in the dez.

i appreciate your input. i feel like a fish out of water. i went from being an expert to a newbie again and i don't like it. been reading here and everywhere else as much as i can. gotta lot to learn, most of what i read is still greek to me. 

laters,

laramie 

[laramie LC4]

Selling off all those KTMs for an FX eh?  I'm interested to hear what you think.  I'm torn between a 500 EXC plus SM wheels or an FX/S with wheels for both.  What kind of riding do you do? 

As for turning the lights off, check out this thread:

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5379.msg38413#msg38413

i ride pretty hard, fast dez. done some racing, but mostly the result of a highly competitive group of type A friends every sunday.

yup. the 990R is still on the fence. I'm putting all profits from all my bike sales to paying it off and have made a lot of progress. still got my duke2 and an xr400r to sell as well as lots of parts. if i can pull this off without having to sell it that would be great.

one of the reasons I'm selling and going electric is i jacked my neck up because of a booby-trap out in the dez. have hardly ridden since march and thought i may never again. i tried ridding the 990 a couple times but the weight and power was just to much, i didn't feel safe. plus the vibes were just killing me. PT has me doing much better and I'm hopeful with more work it will be possible again. i'd hate to sell it. it really is my dream bike and the last year, best model, of all the 990's.

then i went down to my buddies shop. hadn't been in awhile like i said. fin out he is now a Zero dealer. cool, look at these things. then he says, "that 2016 DS-R is brand new, never ridden. wanna take it for its first ride?"  i was like, "hell ya!" i think i was actually more excited about just ridding than the bike. that was until i twisted the throttle for the first time. came back, smile on my face, no stress on my arms, no vibes, no noise, i was sold.

i plan on doing the FX with a spare set of SM wheels. the prices is the same either way, but with the FX you will have 1.5" more travel up front without having to mess with things. the fork are identica. i took the FX-S to my suspension guy, he says its just a spacer limiting the S' travel but i'd rather not have to mess with that yet. he also said race tech has everything to set the forks up and he was checking on the shock. he was going to talk to race tech directly and see if they had spec'ed out the FX yet (if anyone is in SoCal, Race Tech will hook you up if you let them "borrow" your bike). there may be some spacer issues swapping between the wheels, but i have to think Zero has this worked out. we can't be the only people thinking this.

i also have a 525EXC in the garage and understand the allure of that motor. i still think the zero is the way to go. i also think i could get a good 45+ of pretty hard dez riding out of the zero if i wanted, and thats all i really need, or can do at this point.

laters,

laramie 

[laramie LC4]

For inspiration, Preston Petty has been flat trqcking a modified FX.
http://www.dirtbikes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Preston-Petty-D1.jpg

that my friend is AWESOME!



I'm going to have to do some more searching on this one. want to know what he did up front. not that i want to do this, but it's is cool.

laters,

laramie 

[webster]

Keep in mind that the FXS has the newer IPM motor that does not overheat. FX does not. I bought a 2015 because the motor is the same. The 2016 will give you about 5 miles more range. I ride mine pretty hard and always in sport mode and never get more than 30 miles.

[StraydogEOMFD]

i plan on doing the FX with a spare set of SM wheels. the prices is the same either way, but with the FX you will have 1.5" more travel up front without having to mess with things. the fork are identica. i took the FX-S to my suspension guy, he says its just a spacer limiting the S' travel but i'd rather not have to mess with that yet. he also said race tech has everything to set the forks up and he was checking on the shock. he was going to talk to race tech directly and see if they had spec'ed out the FX yet (if anyone is in SoCal, Race Tech will hook you up if you let them "borrow" your bike). there may be some spacer issues swapping between the wheels, but i have to think Zero has this worked out. we can't be the only people thinking this.

Have you by chance priced out those wheels yet?  I tried messaging Zero and Hollywood Electrics on Facebook but Zero said call Hollywood, and Hollywood also said to give them a ring however I'm in the middle east and my phone is turned off so yeah...

[Ranga]

that my friend is AWESOME!



I'm going to have to do some more searching on this one. want to know what he did up front.

The main thing is that he removed the onboard charger located up in the tank.  That's how he is able to get away with removing the tank plastics.