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[drumgadget]

A question while I await delivery of my 2011 Zero S:  as subject line asks ..... I'm thinking like a long-time ICE bike rider here, wondering about the potential for doping off and daydreaming while stopped for traffic.  One stupid, reflexive throttle blip and ...... ??  I know I can use the motor disable/enable switches on the right bar (throttle side), but it occurred to me that a "clutch lever" on the left, ie pulling in and holding disables motor - might be more intuitive.

I've been trying to find a schematic for the 2011 S with no luck.  I don't know whether the enable/disable logic is normally open or normally closed (for motor operation), but either way a second set of contacts could conceivably be added in series (wired "and") or parallel (wired "or").

Or maybe I'm just overamping here!  I've only ridden an electric bike a few times, under very controlled circumstances.  There seem to be plenty of e-bike riders in here who don't have a problem with this .......

Mike

[Doug S]

It's not worth worrying about. From the moment you throw a leg over the bike, the experience is different, and you're unlikely to lapse into habits like blipping the throttle. You'll build a new set of habits from scratch, to the point that I worry (since my Zero is my only bike) that I'll forget proper gear/clutch habits the next time I get on an ICE bike. I'll have to re-develop those.

Besides, the whole point of blipping the throttle is to make the engine go vroom. No point in doing it if the engine doesn't react.

[drumgadget]

Thanks for replying, Doug -

So ..... do you use the motor disable switch at all at a stoplight?  Of course I realize that the silence (blessed, that!) is a very strong cue that you are on a different sort of beast, and that there is NO need to blip the throttle.  But people do space out, and old habits have an ugly way of reasserting themselves, always at the worst time.
I've owned a lot of highly-tuned vintage brit street trackers whose idle was, to be charitable, not always totally reliable.  I always regard gratuitous throttle blipping as pretty rude, but have certainly been guilty of it ..... lots!

It's just that twisting the grip absent-mindedly could quite easily launch one into traffic ..... or a pedestrian.  Pretty good torque right off zero rpm ......

Mike

[siccycle]

X2 on no need to worry. The throttle on your 2011 won't be that hyper- even if you do accidentaly blip it. My .02 worth.

[drumgadget]

Thanks, guys ...... it was just a thought.

I'll wait until I've ridden the bike a bit to decide to "worry" or not ...... LOL!

M.

[NoiseBoy]

I think it's very unlikely you would make that mistake but I understand your concern.

The obvious solution would be to hold the rear brake on when stopped until you are used to not blipping.

[ctrlburn]

I had the same concern - see '79 Sportster in my stable, throttle blips necessary.
I also worried - I'd been doing a lot of ATV riding, which I tend to carry the front brakes longer into a corner than I'd like on a cycle.

I talked to the dealer about it, and there was little advice to share other than "see how it goes".

10k miles in and I have yet to blip the throttle at any stop.
10k miles in and I am just starting to deliberately carry front braking closer to apex.

I think the SILENCE at stops is a apt reminder this is not any of my other rides.

I'm not sure the deeper braking is helping, I am experimenting with trying to keep the front shock more compressed in the corner, and let the rear slip out a bit but it still gets squirrely comping out of the transition.

But the short of it is - what you may think is ingrained behavior (throttle blipping) is actually well tuned reactions to the environment.

[drumgadget]

Thanks, ctrlburn ..... for the thoughtful reply.  I'm just such a gadget geek and tinkerer that I thought it might be fun to brew something up.  I probably won't bother ........

Mike

[Burton]

This is far easier to do with the 2013+ since you can program a "footbrake" feature as your left clutch lever and then set the bike to always coast (as in traditional clutch in on ICE bikes) when the throttle is rolled off.

On the other topic of ingrained patterns I only had my ICE bike for 3 years but I put on something like 50k miles ... I shifted, blipped, etc ... I have never repeated these patterns on the Zero ... it is a different bike, a different set of controls, and in my mind it takes up a different set of pattern recognition. Not everyone is this way of course

[drumgadget]

Bike arrived today - rode it 10 miles ......

You guys are right - no way even this distracted old ICE rider is going to "blip the grip" ..... !

Mike

[drumgadget]

Not a problem ..... just as y'all said!

It is great fun riding the Zero ........ at least so far ........

Mike

[NoiseBoy]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it, there's no going back now! Also glad that you haven't rear ended anyone by blipping at the lights.

[Doug S]

I find that when I'm waiting at a light, I actually do sometimes blip the throttle, just enough to make the bike rock forward, then let it roll backward, to make the bike rock back and forth. It's more fun than just sitting at the light.

But I'm pretty easily amused.