Print

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

[Shadow]

After you're pretty sure the brakes have bedded-in, then hit them with a blast of water from a pressure washer. Worked well for me and I never had squeel again, only the occasional squeek.

[Richard230]

After you're pretty sure the brakes have bedded-in, then hit them with a blast of water from a pressure washer. Worked well for me and I never had squeel again, only the occasional squeek.

Thanks for the suggestion, Shadow.  That is something that I have tried before and it sometimes works.  Right now I have cleaned the discs with brake cleaner and a rag.  If the screeching (not a squeak or squeal), continues, I'll give it a shot of soapy water and a blast from a pressure washer.  And if that doesn't work, I'll remove the pads and clean them with emery paper on a sheet of glass to remove any built-up glaze.  And if that doesn't work, new pads will be in order.   

[togo]

Well, I saw Richard's new Zero on Thanksgiving.

Very crisp and clean and new!

Silver color could grow on me.

[Richard230]

Well, I saw Richard's new Zero on Thanksgiving.

Very crisp and clean and new!

Silver color could grow on me.

That was a real coincidence.  We met each other going in opposite directions in the middle of Golden Gate Park on Thanksgiving Day.  I was taking a more scenic route to get home from my daughter's house after having a Thanksgiving meal, instead of nasty 19th Avenue.

I gave my daughter my 2014 S, with PT.  Attached is a photo with both of us sitting on that bike while testing out the suspension to see how it handles a passenger. Other than that bike only wanting to charge to 92% before turning off, the yellow Zero is running great and she can finally take her daughter on electric motorcycle rides.

She still has her 2012 S and it is running great.  Her husband seems to have fixed the stalling issue by installing the new Motenergy circuit board, per the instructions posted by David Walsh.

[Richard230]

Yesterday I rode 105 miles on 75% (showing 25% on the display) of my battery capacity at speeds that varied between 40 and 60 mph, with a lot of up and down riding in the Santa Cruz Mountains and riding at 60 mph against a headwind on the Coast Highway.  Recharging took 10 hours at between 1250 and 1450 watts (the power draw goes up as the battery charge goes up).  Total power consumed at the wall outlet was exactly 13.00 kWh.  And this time when I pulled the plug, the display and green charging light went out.   

[Richard230]

Here is another observation:  When my 2014 S, with PT was new, the estimated range on the display when fully charged and first started up in the morning, would show a range of 180 miles.  After riding the 37 miles to my daughter's home, the display typically showed 69% and estimated range as 105 miles.  However my 2018 S, with PT, shows an initial estimated range of only 130 miles in the morning.  After riding to my daughter's home like I did today, the display showed 69% and the estimated range was 87 miles. So it appears to me that Zero has become more conservative with their range estimate - while their marketing range claims have become more optimistic. 

[grmarks]

Zero changed the algorithm in 2015 so that 0% still gave you a small amount of power. No more stopping with 10% still showing as some 2014 owners reported. I have only taken my 2015 SR to 0% once, and on that occasion, it jumped from 1% to 0% in 1/2 the expected time, but still was able to ride it home several hundred meters. I have found the range prediction to be pretty spot on. Its a change for the better.

[Richard230]

No doubt I have mentioned this before, but just to memorialize the battery capacity of the 2018 Zero S with Power Tank, which is claimed to have a nominal 16.6 kWh, I stuck around my bike, with the Zero app turned on, while it was finishing charging last night, after a 76-mile ride that took the battery down to 47%, according to the dash display. Just before the charger turned off, the app was showing 15.132 kWh, 132 amp-hours, 116 volts and cell balance had dropped to 2-3 mV.  Total power draw from the wall was 8.98 kWh to bring the pack from 47% to 100%. 

That is a 2 kWh increase over the same model with PT sold by Zero in 2014. It will be interesting hear of a similar analysis for the total pack capacity of a 2018 SR with Power Tank that uses the new battery chemistry.

[Richard230]

The MBB firmware installed on my 2018 S is: revision 1536, board revision 125, Model W. 

[Richard230]

Brake Noise:

I have an embarrassing issue with a noisy front brake. When I come to a complete stop the front brake makes a loud screeching noise, like fingernails on a blackboard, but only during the final two feet of the stop.  At the same time there is a high frequency vibration felt through the handlebars. When braking hard or easy, there is no noise or vibration until just before coming to a complete stop. This noise started about the time that the pads broke-in, around 250 miles.

So in an effort to correct the issue, I removed the caliper and brake pads, cleaned all of the parts, including the brake disc, with brake cleaner.  I then sanded the brake pads with 220 grit emery paper on a glass plate and reassembled everything. While inspecting the brake pads, I noticed that they appear to be 100% sintered metal pads and looked like they had various random small holes (which looked to me like manufacturing defects) in the pads and the surface of the pads looked like they were rusting. 

Today I took my bike out for a ride and tried braking after the work described above.  The noise and vibration had diminished somewhat, but was still there.  However, I did observe that there was no brake noise when I got the pads hot by dragging the front brake down a long grade.  When I did that, braking to a stop was completely silent. My conclusion is that the metallic pads are not completely compatible with the disc material (or they are defective in some way) and it is likely that the ultimate solution will be to replace the pads with ones that are semi-metallic and a little less aggressive. I now have about 800 miles on my bike and if anything changes as the miles pile up you will be the first to know. 

I did visit my local auto accessory store and picked up a spray can of Gunk "Brake Squeal Treatment", which I thought was the type of chemical that you coat the back of the pads with, but this stuff says to spray it on the brake disc. Not being a fan of spraying anything on my disc, I decided to pass on giving this can of "Squeal Medic" a try. 

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks for keeping this thread going Richard.  It's interesting and useful to read about your experiences with your new bike.

[Richard230]

Thanks for keeping this thread going Richard.  It's interesting and useful to read about your experiences with your new bike.

Well, it is a tough job, but somebody has to do it.    Especially since I appear to be the only person on the forum who has bought a 2018 Zero so far.  I might add that if there is any obvious difference between a 2017 Zero S and a 2018 Zero S, other than the color, I haven't noticed it so far. 

Getting back to the front brake:  So far my brake caliper cleaning work described above has been working to stop the squealing of my brakes during the last two feet of a stop.  However, as a backup plan, yesterday I visited my dealer and bought a set of front brake pads for a 2017 Zero in case the squeal returned. (I knew their brake pad charts wouldn' cover the 2018 models yet and they wouldn't want to sell me a brake part that was not specifically for my model, so I asked for pads to fit a 2017 S, as the brake calipers appear to be the same, based upon my visual inspection.)

The brake pads that I bought, because they were the only ones in stock, were EBC "Double HH" sintered pads, part number FA209/2HH. The pads cost $46. These pads are more aggressive than I would have preferred, as they are designed for racing, but I am willing to give them a try, if needed.  And it is likely that I will need them some day, anyway, as the original brake pads that came with my 2014 Zero were starting to look somewhat worn at only 12K miles.   

[Richard230]

Guess what I received from my daughter as a Christmas gift?.    It was designed to go on a helmet, but I wasn't quite ready for that, so I found another location for my gift. 

[calamarichris]

Gratulations on your new bike Richard and thank you for posting these impressions!
My only disappointment is that I'm still waiting on my SR with power tank and I made my deposit on the last weekend of November. Bought my bike in San Diego (I'm in Carlsbad) and even though I just paid it in full yesterday, they're still telling me 1-2 weeks. At least they let me take their demo S out for a spin.
The anticipation was pretty delicious the first two weeks, but I'm ready to get the bike now.
Really appreciate living vicariously through you on this thread.

If you don't like the asphalt-camouflage silver, it's only about $500 to get the tank cover and fenders in any color you want. My bike is white, but I also ordered the red bodywork and was told it's not too tricky to swap them back n forth.

Ride safe and congratulations on the new bike, and especially on the awesome wife and daughter! Most girls wouldn't ride their own bike, and most mothers would second that. You chose and good one and turned out a good one.

[Richard230]

Gratulations on your new bike Richard and thank you for posting these impressions!
My only disappointment is that I'm still waiting on my SR with power tank and I made my deposit on the last weekend of November. Bought my bike in San Diego (I'm in Carlsbad) and even though I just paid it in full yesterday, they're still telling me 1-2 weeks. At least they let me take their demo S out for a spin.
The anticipation was pretty delicious the first two weeks, but I'm ready to get the bike now.
Really appreciate living vicariously through you on this thread.

If you don't like the asphalt-camouflage silver, it's only about $500 to get the tank cover and fenders in any color you want. My bike is white, but I also ordered the red bodywork and was told it's not too tricky to swap them back n forth.

Ride safe and congratulations on the new bike, and especially on the awesome wife and daughter! Most girls wouldn't ride their own bike, and most mothers would second that. You chose and good one and turned out a good one.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, calamarichris.  I hope you receive your new SR soon and will be joining me posting about the new 2018 Zero models.     Happy New Year!   

Unfortunately I am a widower, as my wife passed away from an illness 35 years ago.  However my daughter has been riding since 1987 (her first motorcycle was a 1987 Yamaha SRX250TC), as has her husband (on various 1985 Kawasaki KZ550 models).  However, her two daughters have no real interesting in riding motorcycles, or even driving a car, for that matter.    They would prefer to travel via the internet.