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[RickSteeb]

So...I'm curious if any Zero (or Brammo, too, for that matter) owners have a commute of, say, 15-20 miles or more that they have to cover at 70+ mph (on an Interstate, for example).

I thought about this because I just got my 2012 DS back from the Glitch 2.0 recall flash (never experienced G2.0 personally, fortunately). To test everything out, I got on the highway near my house and opened her up. Was running about 80 for a minute or so before I got the dreaded blinking thermometer, and, not long after of course, the merciless cut in power . I got off to come back home, and when I got back on, I couldn't even maintain 70 at that point, the thermometer blinking and the controller cutting power until I dropped back to around 65. Ambient was cloudy and low 80s at the time.

Where I live presently, this isn't a big problem, but from where I'm looking to move to where I now work, the best route by far will be 20-30 miles of toll road (the Houston beltway, for those familiar with the area). When traffic isn't bad, speeds can average 70-80 mph on it, and sometimes you have to get up to that speed for a half mile or so even to get around spitting gravel trucks, people with transient cell-phone lobotomies, etc. in the right lane. I'm thinking I'm going to have to investigate some sort of air ducting from the front of the battery around to the dead air where the motor is, because I'm not going to be pleased getting the power cut on this road with a gravel truck driver on his cell phone behind me. And I'll be potentially riding when it could be high-90s and sunny.

Anyway, has anyone come up with a good solution to this? Are the 2013/2014 Zeros (maybe not the Brammo Empulse, as it is liquid cooled) affected by this as well?

Thanks, Corey

P.S. on a rather sad side note, the Houston Zero dealer is probably going to drop the line. In over a year they sold one bike and gave one away - didn't even get any 2014s in Even here in the oil capital it still would make a great get-around-town vehicle - and there are evidently charging stations aplenty near the center of town (who woulda thought?)

My daily commute includes something like 12 miles of  freeway, and my '12 DS regularly lit its thermometer icon when going 75MPH into a headwind of 10knots or so.  My new SR [received last Sunday] has no such limitations!  When I get my DS back from its "glitch-2[3?]" recall [and other refurbishments], I will equip it with off-road tires and visit our local motorcycle park for the first time...  I also test rode the FX and loved it, but it wouldn't solve my commute issues nearly as well as the SR, and now I have 100+ mile range, with the power-tank add-on!
 

[aelwero]

triple digit heat here in el paso...  I can easily get the temp icon to light up on the freeway.  75+ for 4 or 5 miles will do it every time.  runs fine at 65, and will turn off after decellerating from 75 to 65 pretty quickly.

so, as long as I stay under the speed limit, it's a non-issue despite the heat here

[CliC]

Lipo, not sure what I'm looking at in those pics (motor end plates?) but they're expensive.

Aelwero, I'd do the same, but sometimes driving the limit here gets you run over I figure I need to be able to sustain 75 and do bursts to 80.

Anyway, I didn't get a chance last weekend to do any more testing. But thanks for all the replies.

[Doug S]

My 2014 SR has shown me the red light only once. I was riding home on a 105F day here in sunny San Diego, and accelerating hard from ~65ish to ~85ish repeatedly (because I can!). Red light started flashing at me about 212F motor temp (I like to keep the motor temp on the display). I immediately started acting my age and at a continuous 75 mph, the motor temp started dropping, albeit very slowly.

It never did cut motor power; my understanding is that happens somewhere near 230F. Is that correct or does anybody have a better number for an SR?

[MostlyBonkers]

I test rode a 2012 DS yesterday and I only managed to get the thermometer light on after a few minutes at top speed on the motorway. It started flashing a little later but didn't seem to restrict the power. I think it would cope at a constant 70 mph. You could probably also manage at 80 mph for a good few miles and then just drop to 75 or 70 until you get off the highway.

The 2012 DS I rode yesterday seemed to cope better than the 2013 S I rode a year ago. However, there's more power being output by the 2013 motor. We were also riding quicker. I talk about that experience more in the review I posted at the time:

http://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3059

[protomech]

Riding more quickly and at higher speeds would do it. I don't think the 2013 bikes have significantly better cooling than the 2012 bikes, in terms of outright heat dissipation. (Sealed and passive cooling has its own advantages)

[trikester]

On a steep set of dirt switchbacks my 2013 FX went into over-temp power limit when the motor hit 250* F when I was almost at the top. The air temp was probably in the low 90's. I stopped and poured some of my water on the motor to speed cooling and then finished the climb without further trouble. The next time I anticipate a problem on a steep climb I'll carry a spray bottle of water to use to quickly cool the motor.

Trikester