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[Erasmo]

Hi all,

This week I heard that I will be deployed to a small Caribbean Island(60km on the long side) for the coming three years, yay! And also there are no electric vehicles apart from golf carts on that island, boo!

I'm selling the DS because the whole fairing and quick charge business is pretty much useless over there, and with crappy roads and lots of off road fun I'm planning to import a FX from the states. I like the belt but with the nearest dealer thousands of km away I think the chain is a better option. I should be able to cover most of the island with a 7.2 FX and with a modest quick charger(2kW) I should be able to charge from a regular outlet and do the last end home if needed.

I do however worry a bit about long term maintenance and possible warranty things. I'm technical enough to do all the work myself but what if Zero insists that I go through a dealer for certain things?

IIRC some folks here have Zero's that are on a remote island, how do you fair with them?

[ZEM Tahiti]

Hi Erasmo,

With the wider belt you should be OK for 15 000 miles, unless you do a lot of offroad.
Bring one spare belt and one on board charger. This part is more vulnerable in tropical climate.
But check about warranty if not voided because of the export.

[MostlyBonkers]

Hi Erasmo,

Three years on a Caribbean island doesn't sound so bad.  I think your choice of the FX is good. Going off-road is so much fun and the FX should be perfect.  Belt drives just aren't up to it and you'd be constantly worried about it snapping.

I'd also worry less about fast charging. The on-board charger should suffice.  I can't imagine they'll have any type 2 posts anyway.

Best of luck with it all. It sounds like it'll be an adventure!

[madcow]

  I'll miss your videos and posting about fast charging and that awesome fairing (you don't sell that seperately, do you?). Hope you can come back after those 3 years and benefit from all the developement that will be made.

[Erasmo]

Hi Erasmo,

With the wider belt you should be OK for 15 000 miles, unless you do a lot of offroad.
Bring one spare belt and one on board charger. This part is more vulnerable in tropical climate.
But check about warranty if not voided because of the export.

I was hoping that you would respond I plan to do a lot of off-road, and the roads aren't very good. From what I read most premature belt snappings are when riding through a pothole. I do like the belt a lot but the repairability and reliability of chains do seem to be a bit better.

 

Hi Erasmo,

Three years on a Caribbean island doesn't sound so bad.  I think your choice of the FX is good. Going off-road is so much fun and the FX should be perfect.  Belt drives just aren't up to it and you'd be constantly worried about it snapping.

I'd also worry less about fast charging. The on-board charger should suffice.  I can't imagine they'll have any type 2 posts anyway.
Best of luck with it all. It sounds like it'll be an adventure!

Nope, no charging infrastructure yet. Like 0. The fast charging isn't really fast of course but if I can snap up a 2kW-ish charger you can use it on a regular outlet when needed and have some redundancy. I mean for overnight the onboard is adequate but for the rest 650W is just sad.

I'll miss your videos and posting about fast charging and that awesome fairing (you don't sell that seperately, do you?). Hope you can come back after those 3 years and benefit from all the developement that will be made.

Aww thanks, that means a lot to me. Don't worry I still have some videos planned out and surely will continue making them over there. 
As for the fairing, the best would be to sell it with the bike. If you're serious about a fairing I can hook you up with the panel beater that helped mine. After learning a few things from my bike he can adapt a fairing for you pretty fast I guess...

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Whoa!

Come to think of it, what's going to happen to that fairing? If the bike's buyer does not accept it, let's find it a good home.

NB I will take it and the bracketing off your hands if it's an emergency, so I can document it and then find another home for it.

On an island, I'd focus on just bringing all the relevant spare parts you can deal with, including a spare or backup charger. Maybe this will be a good opportunity to see what it takes to keep at least an FX working off-grid.

[Erasmo]

Stateside shipping is perhaps more expensive than the fairing is worth.

Seems that the tires aren't that hard to find an with a spare chain you don't really need that much more spare parts? I'm going to look for a +2017 model so I can do firmware updates from home if needed. And the version with the removable bricks, might be handy to use for backup power when the grid gets down, which does happen occasionally . 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Stateside shipping is perhaps more expensive than the fairing is worth.

I'm interested in preserving it, not getting a good deal.

Seems that the tires aren't that hard to find an with a spare chain you don't really need that much more spare parts? I'm going to look for a +2017 model so I can do firmware updates from home if needed. And the version with the removable bricks, might be handy to use for backup power when the grid gets down, which does happen occasionally . 

This sounds like a good plan. Maybe the existing plan around using FX batteries for household power is sufficient, but definitely test the idea carefully before you'll need it.