Print

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

[Burton]

I ride my bike year round in -10F to 110F rain or in some cases snow.

My general rules for riding are
1) Are the wind gusts over 60mph?
2) Is there Ice / Snow on the ground I cannot dodge?

If either is true I typically will work from home that day ...

Everything else is fair game ... and accepting getting caught in the occasional snow or ice storm is all part of the experience in my book.

But I have always been accepting of the fact my bike doesn't like the rain, cold, or snow ... and it has almost left me stranded a couple times in my 40k+ miles. It often gets me thinking what it would require to make our bikes really weather proof so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Sitting on the side of the road, next to a median as there are no shoulders, in the pouring rain when it is 40 degrees outside trying to "just get to work" after breaking down because of the rain is not fun.

Are the newer model more rain capable or would I be better served by a ICE bike is often a thought that passes through my mind. Or do I go "extreme" and find another brand and hope for the best?

[Doug S]

As much of a motorcycle lover as I am, I can't imagine life without a car. Sometimes you have to carry multiple passengers, or large objects, or just don't feel like pulling on all the rain gear "just to get to work". And with the ebikes, range is also an issue, so it does make things much easier to have a gas-powered vehicle (mine's a RAV4 hybrid) when the girlfriend and I want to go up to LA to watch the Warriors play the Clippers, or whatever.

Maybe it's a So Cal thing though. NOBODY walks in So Cal, and the public transit options are limited (though we do have a nice light rail system here in San Diego, it doesn't leave the county).

[Richard230]

Between living in California (they say it never rains in California) and being retired, I only go riding when it is warm and dry. My Zero loves it even more than I do.   

[Burton]

Sometimes you have to carry multiple passengers, or large objects, or just don't feel like pulling on all the rain gear "just to get to work".

My rain gear is my normal gear, aerostitch R3, and given the weather I always am wearing a water / wind proof neck guard and waterproof heated gloves;  so it isn't an issue for me

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I ride in all weather, and started riding a Zero as a year-round commuter in Seattle before I moved to San Francisco; I completed a 1800 mile round trip on my DSR from SF to Seattle and can attest that a fairing helps in the rain (and also a neoprene wrap to keep cold air and moisture off of the battery casing in the wet for to maintain battery performance / range).

I will say that I identified where construction gravel got kicked up onto my DC-DC converter's connector and probably led to its failure a few months later at 26000 miles (I hadn't checked and cleaned it, and eventually it developed faults after more rain rides probably messed with its inputs too often). I've replaced it since then and I'm looking at debris shielding for the inner electronics.

I've ridden my 2013 DS in the snow, and suspect the 2016 DSR would fair better for the most part, although ABS on snow is probably worth minding or disabling.

I think the Zero could be made long-term durably weatherproof with a light (3mm thick with abrasion-resistant surfaces) neoprene battery cozy and some strategically fastened plastic covers around the core electronics. A fairing around the front dash is a good idea, and definitely cover the bike with a breathable cover if stored out of doors.

The fasteners could be swapped for a different alloy but even the stock set should be okay with a little Loctite to keep them from interacting with the frame.

Most of the components are sealed and tested for what the Zero encounters, so I think the issue is just providing some basic shielding to direct moisture and debris away from connectors and wiring over the long-term.

[Burton]

Brian I agree.

Blocking rain from your wires / MBB / DC-DC etc is wise if you ride in all weather conditions. I have all my wires on my top case and built a weather blocking plate for the front of the bike and I use high strength duct tape on the sides to keep the wires / connectors rain free ... For the most part it works.

Where I think I have an issue is the controller ... Rain gets on top of it if it is coming down good enough and affects the connections near / on the controller causing issues on the MY13 bike.

If I ever get a new bike I will likely try to sleeve everything in a way to keep water off wires / connectors where I can.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Blocking rain from your wires / MBB / DC-DC etc is wise if you ride in all weather conditions. I have all my wires on my top case and built a weather blocking plate for the front of the bike and I use high strength duct tape on the sides to keep the wires / connectors rain free ... For the most part it works.

Where I think I have an issue is the controller ... Rain gets on top of it if it is coming down good enough and affects the connections near / on the controller causing issues on the MY13 bike.

You still have the stock controller cover in place? I've heard it's made for EM radiation shielding for the rider and passenger but does seem like a reasonable deflector.

While parked, the right/high side of the tail can get moisture coming in between the seat and frame, which would be worth resolving.

[domingo3]

I'm an almost any weather rider.  My cutoff is about 20F, not using any heated gear.  I have done nothing to weather-proof my 2016 FXS.  So far, I've had no issues with rain, and the current limiting I sometimes experience in the cold has been acceptable on my commute.  I'll be moving from GA to MD soon, so winter riding will be more of a consideration.  I don't know where I'm going to live yet, but if my commute will involve the highway, the FXS won't keep up in the winter and I'll have to either become a seasonal rider, upgrade to an SR, or develop some heating and/or insulation solution for the battery (and probably for my body, too).  For rain protection, I don't know if I've just been lucky or if the FXS is better protected than the S/DS models.

[Burton]

You still have the stock controller cover in place? I've heard it's made for EM radiation shielding for the rider and passenger but does seem like a reasonable deflector.

While parked, the right/high side of the tail can get moisture coming in between the seat and frame, which would be worth resolving.

Not sure the EM shield was in part of the MY13 bikes but I know mine never had it ... that is added weight and my bike use to be a race bike.

I don't park my bike out in the weather ... it sits in my garage at home or at work. Would it still be affected by the space you suggest?

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

You still have the stock controller cover in place? I've heard it's made for EM radiation shielding for the rider and passenger but does seem like a reasonable deflector.

While parked, the right/high side of the tail can get moisture coming in between the seat and frame, which would be worth resolving.

Not sure the EM shield was in part of the MY13 bikes but I know mine never had it ... that is added weight and my bike use to be a race bike.

I don't park my bike out in the weather ... it sits in my garage at home or at work. Would it still be affected by the space you suggest?

I think the controller cover would help. Just diverting moisture and dust/debris during the ride would seem to make a statistical difference. A quick parts lookup of "controller cover" reveals that (like my 13DS) there's a size 4 cover and it was revised I think in 2015 probably for compliance with a wider set of vehicle regulations.