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Author Topic: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!  (Read 656 times)

MostlyBonkers

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43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« on: February 04, 2018, 02:26:29 PM »

I've got very close to having to push my 2014DS, but I've always managed to crawl home. Not yesterday! I guess two years of riding made me think I knew it all...  ;-)

The lesson I learnt is to pay less attention to what the reported charge level is and more to what the bike is actually doing.  If the charge is still 10% but the bike is struggling to do 20mph, its game over.  Shortly after that the charge dropped to zero and the bike stopped.

I was pushing my luck riding most of the journey on the motorway and not even bothering to put the bike in eco mode.  If I'd at least done that, I would have made it home.  The temperature was only about 3C.

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Erasmo

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2018, 04:11:45 PM »

Yeah European wintertime is eco mode time. Have you tried keying the bike on again after a few minutes? In the background it's balancing the cells and after a few minutes you can squeeze a few kilometres of cycling speed riding out it. Not ideal but sure as hell beats pushing.
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JaimeC

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2018, 10:43:35 PM »

Admittedly it was in the summer, but a year and a half ago I rode two miles with the "Charge Remaining" indicator showing "0%"

Longest two miles of my life, but I made it safely back to my garage.
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1999 BMW K1200LT
2019 Yamaha XMAX
2021 Zero SR

KrazyEd

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2018, 10:58:26 PM »

Although it isn't a good idea to do very often, if you stop the bike, turn it off for a few minutes, you should get a little more distance out of it.
At least enough to hopefully get you to an exit from the freeway.
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Richard230

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2018, 05:37:52 AM »

Although it isn't a good idea to do very often, if you stop the bike, turn it off for a few minutes, you should get a little more distance out of it.
At least enough to hopefully get you to an exit from the freeway.

That is what I did with my 2014 S when I ran out of power 1/8 mile from home - which was uphill and I couldn't push the bike more than a couple of feet before I collapsed.  ::)  It got me home, but I don't want to do that again.  :o
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

MostlyBonkers

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2018, 12:52:45 AM »

I tried switching it off and on again several times. Also left it off for ten minutes before trying again. No joy.

At least I haven't had my firmware updated. That seems to be causing people a lot of pain at the moment.
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MrDude_1

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2018, 01:23:10 AM »

I would be looking into two items.
A battery blanket, like Brian was talking about earlier.. this will keep the heat in the battery and keep the cold air off while riding.
And a silicone heating pad. this will keep the battery warm while charging and give it some initial heat when you first leave.

That should help tremendously with your cold weather range issues.
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KrazyEd

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2018, 01:47:48 PM »

This won't work when it is cloudy and / or gloomy out but in the winter ( such as it is in Vegas ) I roll whatever I am taking to work out of the garage and into the sun
when I first get up in the morning. This usually gives it a couple hours to " bask in the sun " before I have to leave. We only get about a dozen days a year that it goes
below 30 degrees. While I don't ride my bikes on those days, it does allow the cabin in my Volt to warm up enough that I can make the 20 mile drive to work without
having to use any of the climate controls. Very little range loss compared to just starting out cold.
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JaimeC

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Re: 43 miles range, 45 mile trip. Its Winter!
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2018, 06:47:51 AM »

Hey KrazyEd!  I just saw you live in Las Vegas?  I'm here this week (but I'm leaving for home on Saturday).  Wish I'd known sooner.  No motorcycle, but I rented a convertible Mustang to enjoy this GLORIOUS weather you're having this week.  We've got a timeshare at the Grandview Resort (down by the Southpoint Casino).
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1999 BMW K1200LT
2019 Yamaha XMAX
2021 Zero SR
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