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[Martin]

I ride 60 miles a day and my limitation seems to always be motor temp. I am wondering if they have done anything different on the 2015 that we could possibly do on the 2014 so I can ride at 85 without over temp concerns.

Anyone have first hand experience?

[ultrarnr]

A new temperature sensor that is accurate would be nice. Someone here mentioned about how their motor temprature is higher than ambient temperature before they ride. I checked mine several times in the morning and it reads about 13 degrees higher than the garage temperature. Zero got a lot of bad press over motor temps but I think it is just a bad sensor in many cases. I have seen my temp warning light flash for miles but have never had it cut power.

[Burton]

I noticed the motor temp being higher than the battery temp the other day when in the parking garage but I thought it was because hot air was blowing from the back of the bike from the HVAC units behind it.

The highest I have seen the bike is 114F so far. But I have only put on about 1100 miles and it is kind of cool here right now.

[Tater McTatums]

I've only had my 2014 SR for a week but I've already had the temp light flashing on multiple occasions and had it stay on steady for a few times. One of the times in particular was because I was driving at 90+. Even at those speeds with the light on steady I didn't notice any appreciable decrease in power. I was still able to accelerate above 90 with the temp light on steady. Highest I've seen the temp listed on the display was 260F, though I don't always have it set to display temp.

[Doug S]

Someone here mentioned about how their motor temprature is higher than ambient temperature before they ride.

I think I was the first to post that observation, and like ultrarnr, mine seems to always read 15-20 degrees high, judging from ambient conditions and indicated temp with a completely cold motor (hasn't run for many hours). I don't know how much to worry about that though, it might be a thermistor or some other not-particularly-linear device, and may be calibrated for accuracy around the 200-250 band of interest where motor temp is concerned. But for crying out loud, thermocouples are awfully cheap and even uncalibrated, perform much better than that.

Martin, do you have a windshield of any sort? I don't pay a lot of attention to motor temp, since mine only even blinked at me once on a 105 degree day, but I don't make a habit of riding around at 85 mph either. I do know, however, that my range increased by an honest 20-25% when I added my windshield, and more range means lower power draw, which should result in lower motor temps too. The faster you drive, the bigger a difference a windshield/fairing should make.

[Martin]

I have had a windshield since day one. I doesn't seem to matter what the outside temp is 40 or 100 degrees, I can get the bike to blink with no problem. I haven't let it go above 220 for the sake of not damaging something. I have my custom mode set at 85mph max as my cruise control.

I will have to take off the windshield just our of curiosity sake.

Either way, sensor or not, motor cooling is poor at best the way the bike is set up.

[chdfarl]

Why not buy an infared thermometer and check the actual motor temp that way you know if its overheating or an error. I wouldn't disregard temperature simply on the fact that it "seems" to be running fine. The next time the motor might melt down so id check the temp as a baseline that way you know if its your themosensor or motor overheating. If it is an overheating issue then id put on a cooling duct or a fan. Being that the motor is air cooled and located behind the batteries out of the air flow path its no shocker that it would overheat.

[Martin]

I have had a windshield since day one. I doesn't seem to matter what the outside temp is 40 or 100 degrees, I can get the bike to blink with no problem. I haven't let it go above 220 for the sake of not damaging something. I have my custom mode set at 85mph max as my cruise control.

I will have to take off the windshield just our of curiosity sake.

Either way, sensor or not, motor cooling is poor at best the way the bike is set up.

Windshield made no difference.

[Electric Terry]

Martin you can ride even faster without temperature issues if you ride like a racer.  Literally lay on the tank and tuck your elbows and feet and knees in as tight as you can get.  I'm guessing if you are having temp cutbacks at 85 with a windshield (it helps a lot) you must be pretty tall and big.  Meaning you are boring a huge hole through the air.   

Try riding like that just once and see how it is now! Not that I recommend it, but I'll bet you can ride faster now and not have any problems, right?

If you every want to cut your aero drag in half, check out what motorcycle designer and inventor Craig Vetter has done.
with a set of Vetter fairings and a 98 tooth rear gear swap, you should be able to go 125 mph, and 137 maybe downhill.

Not that you should be doing any of those things.
Check the video of this page someone recorded of my speed going across the desert last year with 2 people and 500 pounds of extra gear on my 2012 Zero: http://evmc2.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/terry-taps-the-amps-sets-new-world-record/

Although I'm sure there must be a mistake with the GPS satellites that day because that shouldn't be possible right?
And a 2014 SR should have close to twice the power of a 2012 Zero.  It's all about the air.

Bottom line: Aerodynamics will let you go faster and farther on less battery.

Everyone at first is not sure how they feel about the shape.  I was too.  But of all those who have ridden one, don't want anything else.  The only folks who don't want an aerodynamic fairing on their motorcycle are those who have never ridden one.

Take a look at my speedometer as I ride 1000 miles in 24 hours on my 2012 Zero:


You can fix this any way you want from easy to hard.  Either get in a tuck or get a fairing installed.

[Martin]

Love your work Terry, been following it and wish I have the time and expertise to play like you are.

However this question is really about design. I have ridden crotch rockets since I was 18 and am very familiar with riding in a tucked position, and no longer enjoy that position. That is not to say I do not do it when the temperature outside is in the high 90s+ on my Zero. The matter at hand is Zero built an upright bike. Wind resistance should of be calculated in the design and an average speed of 65 to 85 mph should have been considered normal. The bike can't operate with those particulars for very long with these variables.

With that said, I purchased the bike knowing full well that it is still work in progress. I am just wondering if the 2015 has had any improvements to motor cooling.

[Richard230]

If the 2015 Zeros have had any improvement in cooling compared with the 2014 models, it is not mentioned in the 2015 press release describing the changes to the new models.