ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

  • March 28, 2024, 09:33:08 PM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Electric Motorcycle Forum is live!

Pages: [1]

Author Topic: zero fx snowbike  (Read 2207 times)

eou_edu

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
    • View Profile
zero fx snowbike
« on: July 18, 2017, 08:34:02 AM »

I've been reading this forum for a while thinking about my first purchase of a zero fx.  I have been looking into the possibility of a snowbike set up.  For those that don't know a snow bike is a kit that replaces the back wheel with basically a snowmobile track and the front wheel with a large snowmobile ski.  It is becoming very popular and taking a huge dent into the snowmobile market share.  Is anybody already doing this with a zero FX? 

Advantages:
-No gears to shift.  The biggest complaint of snowbike is loosing momentum from shifting gears. 
-ability to remove the battery if you get stuck for less weight to lift it out. 
-high torque motor which is important considering what you are turning compared to a wheel.
-silent operation, floating through cloud like powder at 30 mph.

Disadvantages:
-cold, will the cold kill the batteries?  I don't plan to ride below 20 degrees.  would this be a disadvantage if I keep the battery in a warm place until I ride then running it hard should generate heat?  Or surround the battery with small hand warmers?
-Might be too hard to on the motor
-nobody makes a "fit kit" for it as of yet.  Yeti said they would work with me if that's the direction I want to go.  Timbersled's motto used to be "we build a fit kit for anything."  Polaris bought them out, I asked them a few weeks ago if they would make a fit kit and they said, "no because it probably wouldn't be very good." 
-range (of course)  a gas snowbike gets about 1/2 the mpg at similar riding speed than a motorcycle.   I could see not loosing momentum by shifting gears as a way to save fuel but lost again when you account for the cold weather operation.

Anybody have a guess on anticipated range?  With a yeti snowbike 120" snowbike kit the bike ends up weighing about 30 lbs more than it would as a normal motorcycle.  The combine range on a zero fx is 62 miles.  Would 31 miles be a reasonable expectation? 

Logged

Shadow

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1085
  • 130,000mi electric since 2016
    • View Profile
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2017, 11:37:24 AM »

Amazing, have dreamed about this when I see timbersled kits at the Polaris dealership, next to the Zero Motorcycles lineup in the same shop. Do it!

Some pointers for cold weather operation, you can add a neoprene wrap around the battery which helps a lot. Practically any current draw will warm up the battery for better performance, once you have insulation to retain the heat it will get up to temperature quickly.

I would doubt the FX to have enough battery capacity to make a snowbike worthwhile, but don't let that stop you! I would love to hear about progress on this project :-)
Logged

42Cliffside

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 70
    • View Profile
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2017, 12:13:55 PM »

Snow hawk track on a zero.

Drool. (it would be a lot quieter!)

AD Boivin's factory pilot having fun on an icy 22 km closed course on a raining winter day! Average speed of 110 km.

Man that would be So fun!! I love watching people play around on those.

snow hawk 900rr 2012 bin bin stock!! Gopro hero2
« Last Edit: July 18, 2017, 12:21:21 PM by 42Cliffside »
Logged

Doctorbass

  • Battery tech
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 968
    • View Profile
    • Endless-sphere.com
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2017, 12:20:56 PM »

I have converted a Snowhawk directly for Adboivin using a Zero 2015 powertrain 2 years ago. 8)

Doc
Logged
Zero Drag racing bike: 12.2s 1/4 mile and 7.3s 1/8 mile
https://youtu.be/iVMPBnfhukM
T w i t t e r  :     http://twitter.com/DocbassMelancon

42Cliffside

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 70
    • View Profile
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2017, 12:22:09 PM »

Sweet! Pics? vids?
Logged

BrianTRice@gmail.com

  • Unofficial Zero Manual Editor
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4014
  • Nerdy Adventurer
    • View Profile
    • Personal site
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2017, 10:47:26 PM »

Put a heating blanket or cozy around the battery so you don't lose range while riding.

Aerostitch has an example:
https://rideapart.com/articles/zero-below-zero-zero-preparation-reposted
Logged
Current: 2020 DSR, 2012 Suzuki V-Strom
Former: 2016 DSR, 2013 DS

acacia1731

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 118
    • View Profile
Re: zero fx snowbike
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2017, 01:01:02 AM »

Assuming the track and snow resistance will create constant/frequent high loads, OVERHEATING may be even more of an issue than the cold.  The FX reaches thermal cutbacks pretty quickly if run under repeated high-torque acceleration cycles, especially pre-IPM.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2017, 06:52:56 AM by acacia1731 »
Logged
2015 Zero FX (off-road setup), 2013 KTM 250SX, Kuberg Cross Hero, STACYC 16EDrive
Pages: [1]