Print

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

[MostlyBonkers]

How do you guys think the performance of the 2012 bikes affect your riding style?

As many of you may know, I'm the proud owner of a Gen 1 Fazer 1000. It's a strong bike with plenty of mid range torque and bags of top end. It makes it fun to ride and I enjoy it the most when I'm in the mood to give it some beans. It's a riding style I consider to be lively, a notch or two below hooligan mode. I do occasionally hoon around, but it's rare and I do it as responsibly as I can.

If I'm feeling a bit off or tired I employ a much more leisurely riding style that the group of advanced motorcyclists I'm with would be proud of.

Riding a 2012 Zero will enforce some limitations that mean there will be very little in the way of 'lively' riding. I should be able to keep up with traffic but overtakes will be rarer. I think having plenty of power on tap adds a level of safety; getting away from the idiots and leaving most of the traffic behind. How do feel about safety on your Zeros?

[Justin Andrews]

I'm in the processes of fitting additional discrete side lighting to my bike to aid with night time riding.

Generally from an acceleration & agility point of view I find my Zero to be a lot better than my petrol bike.

However I've been riding for about twenty five years now, mostly commuting, and I have a fairly conservative riding style as a result.

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks Justin. I'm currently waiting for the RAC at a Shell garage on the A1. It was either a puncture or a blowout. I know it went down very quickly! Glad it wasn't the front tyre...

By side lighting, is it more light facing forward for night vision?

[Justin Andrews]

Glad your ok, I had a front tire blow with associated tank slapper followed by a spot of road surfing while out on my Divvy a couple of months back, not much fun.

The side lighting is for improved visibility, and only illuminates the sides of the vehicle (as its yellow light) as I'm sticking to the lighting regs. As the side lighting is made up from el-tape, its not going to illuminate much, but will be good for improving visibility.

The plan is for the side lighting to look something like this...

[Richard230]

I rode my 2012 Zero S the way I ride my 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (Fazer 1000).  Slow.   

[MostlyBonkers]

The strips on the wheels will look good Justin. As long as you use a steadier hand than you did in Photoshop! [emoji6]

Road surfing is a sport I want to avoid for sure. The RAC were great yesterday.

[Richard230]

I just installed yellow reflective tape on the wheels of my yellow 2014 S.  I bought the tape from Motorcycle Superstore when they ran a daily special two weeks ago.  The tape was on sale for $11 for each roll (if you don't make a mistake in application like I did one roll will do both wheels).  I bought two rolls of tape and since I had a $20 customer appreciation coupon, I got both rolls for only $4.  The tape was designed to be applied to motorcycle wheel rims and came installed on an applicator.  Unfortunately, there were no instructions showing how to use the applicator and after making a tangled mess of the tape during my first try on the rear wheel, I finally just applied it by hand.  It came out better than Justin's Photoshop job, but not by much.     The tape doesn't bend very wheel when being stuck to the curved rim.   

[Doug S]

A few years ago I bought a full roll of 3M's "retroreflective" self-adhesive vinyl to make my bicycle more visible at night; Google "brightbike" to see some examples. It's a very unusual material; it looks just like normal vinyl in diffuse light, but is highly reflective to directed light (such as from headlights). It really pops and is the same stuff that makes stop signs so visible at night. It's available in just about every color, even black, which I still have a hard time wrapping my head around (it's black during the day, and shines white, brightly, at night).

It's not at all flexible side-to-side, but it comes in wide rolls, so you can cut shapes out of it to fit just about any surface. It won't conform well to a surface that's curved in two axes, but anything curved in only one axis (like bicycle frame tubes) are a piece of cake. It sticks very well and should be tough as nails; it's designed for sign-making.

Since the roll I bought is black, I could cover some of my 2014 SR's surfaces and not change its appearance much. I'll have to think about it...if I can do it and not make it look cheesy, it might be a very good safety addition to the bike.

[AustinSZF8.5]

That retroreflective vinyl is fun stuff. We had a little fun with it on my Versys. Doesn't pop as well in pictures as it does to the eye.

[Richard230]

The sun came out today and I washed my bike.  So far the tape is still sticking to the wheel rims.  Photo attached.   

[MostlyBonkers]

Very nice.

[mikeisted]

In eco mode (most of the time) I ride defensively and smoothly.  I get a certain satisfaction out of that.  I put it in sport mode at the weekend to put a grin on my face.  Overall I feel completely safe with two reservations. Firstly, the restricted acceleration from standstill is potentially hazardous. Secondly, the front feels squirmy on wet roads.  I would replace the tyres now if I thought that would help. Maybe another thread there...

[Justin Andrews]

Looking good Rich!

(Thanks for the kind words about my photoshop skills as well...  )


The yellow strips I've been looking at for my bike I believe are pre-curved.
http://rhok.com.au/wheel%20lights.htm

[Richard230]

Looking good Rich!

(Thanks for the kind words about my photoshop skills as well...  )


The yellow strips I've been looking at for my bike I believe are pre-curved.
http://rhok.com.au/wheel%20lights.htm

 

Pre-curved would definitely be the way to go.   

[WindRider]

I think having plenty of power on tap adds a level of safety; getting away from the idiots and leaving most of the traffic behind. How do feel about safety on your Zeros?

There are 2 ways to separate yourself from traffic:  speeding up or slowing down.   Putting space between your motorcycle and the cagers is easily done on an EBike and reading traffic and defensive riding does not require a lot of power. 

I have ridden powerful motorcycles in the past and now I only own a Zero FX and a 250 and I can ride both safely in traffic. 

You do not need decal peeling acceleration to be safe on a motorcycle.