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[Richard230]

The September 2014 issue of Motorcyclist magazine contains a 5-page test ride comparison of the Honda CRF250L and the 2014 power-tank equipped Zero DS. The article starts on page 44 and is titled "Coal vs. Solar".   Personally, I didn't care for the title too much.  I would think that "Carbon vs. Solar" might have been a little more accurate. 

In any case, the Zero just matched the Honda in range during their freeway ride to an off-road destination and back to their office.  Both bikes just made the 90-mile round trip, the Zero running out of power just as they returned, while the Honda was almost out of fuel.  The 90-mile range of the Zero made me think that the power tank was not properly connected to the system, considering that only 12 miles on the freeway and 23 miles of two-lane riding ran the battery pack down to 43% before they ever reached their destination.

Riding around in the dirt, they didn't care for the Zero DS too much.  They said the front suspension was too harsh, the rear shock too soft, the handlebars too low and the bike weighed way too much.  They also complained about the rear tire digging trenches when going uphill and not being able to control the Zero's speed when going downhill.

However, they were impressed with the Zero's instrument cluster and the technical progress made by Zero since they first started making electric motorcycles.  They feel that the Honda is a better dual-sport motorcycle and at a much more affordable price, but the Zero is rapidly improving and just needs more work before it will make a decent off-road dual-sport motorcycle.  Both testers, in a side-bar, felt that the Honda was a much better and more refined machine, even if it does pollute more.

[Doug S]

Typical nay-sayers. I wouldn't be surprised if they left without a full charge on their battery; 90 miles with little freeway driving should be eminently possible even WITHOUT the power tank.

Tesla has had to deal with that sort of "impartial" testing sabotage. Fortunately for them, their cars dump data to the cloud on a real-time basis, and they've been able to refute the hacks that write that sort of garbage with hard facts.

[WindRider]

You have to remember that these moto journalists pretty much ride WFO all the time.  Riding an EBike WFO at high speeds makes the energy bars disappear.   

The FX would have given the little Honda more of a run for the money in the dirty sections but would never have made the loop.   Honda's CRF250L and Yamaha's WR250R are ahead in terms of frame and suspension technology and refinement.   They have been in this game for a long time and they have learned their lessons. 

Bottom line:  until battery technology has much higher energy and much lower cost EBikes will not win these comparisons.   If Zero had a 280lb FX 20 model that retailed at $5k this comparison would get really interesting and the public would move to electric in large numbers. 

[protomech]

IMO the DS, particularly with the largest battery pack available, is closer to an adventure bike than a conventional dual-sport. Of the Honda family, it's closest to the NC700X and CB500X in terms of power, weight, and general off-road capabilities.

I guess the DS wasn't at 100% when it left the Motorcyclist office. The CRF250L generally gets about 65 mpg with a 2 gallon tank, so either it also wasn't full or they were pinning the throttle on both bikes.

[Richard230]

IMO the DS, particularly with the largest battery pack available, is closer to an adventure bike than a conventional dual-sport. Of the Honda family, it's closest to the NC700X and CB500X in terms of power, weight, and general off-road capabilities.

I guess the DS wasn't at 100% when it left the Motorcyclist office. The CRF250L generally gets about 65 mpg with a 2 gallon tank, so either it also wasn't full or they were pinning the throttle on both bikes.

The article said that by the time they reached the I-5 freeway after leaving their offices, the power indicator was reading 98% (so it must have been fully charged).  35 miles later, 12 at freeway speeds of 70 mph (the Honda maxed out at 75, so they put the DS into eco mode so that the Honda could keep up) and the remainder on a secondary road (speed limit of 55 or less) the power was down to 43%.  That sounds more like a 11.4 DS than a 14.2 DS to me.  It also sounds exactly like my bike when it had a defective "power tank" module.   

[Doug S]

I also have to keep in mind that my range improved by at least 20% when I added the windshield to my SR, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. I wouldn't hesitate to go on a 90-mile ride with only 12 miles of freeway, even though my bike doesn't have the power tank. I wouldn't want to exceed 70 or so on the freeway, knowing what I know about speed vs range, but one of my riding buddies has a CRF250 and I know it's not going to allow us to ride faster than that anyhow.

But I'd agree, even a 'naked' bike should be able to complete that trip with plenty of reserve with the power tank installed. I wonder if the dealers aren't being properly educated about installing the power tank?

[Richard230]

In my case the power tank module had a defective bms and was not communicating with the main computer so it did not know that the power tank was connected to the system and therefore was not drawing power from that battery.

[Doug S]

In my case the power tank module had a defective bms and was not communicating with the main computer so it did not know that the power tank was connected to the system and therefore was not drawing power from that battery.

So the power tank has its own BMS? I guess I was thinking they'd just reprogram the BMS on the bike to be aware that the battery pack was larger now. I didn't realize the power tank comes with its own brains.

[protomech]

The Power Tank is functionally a ZF2.8 module, which does in fact have its own BMS. The ZF2.8 modules are able to communicate in the removable module scenario, which allows power to be drawn from one or the other in case of differing SOCs. Very cool, though not very useful in the fixed case.

It's a little disconcerting that so many Power Tank installations seem to have issues.

[WindRider]

I think that they were flogging that DS at full throttle for the freeway stretch and that was where the energy all went.    To these guys 95 MPH is normal and moto journalists generally just go as fast as the bikes will go. 

They don't take the time to learn how to ride an electric motorcycle to maximize range as they only crave performance. 

I don't think that there was anything wrong with the power tank, they just put the Watts into melted rubber, pushing 95 MPH of wind, power wheelie attempts, and roosting dirt and gravel at the other rider.   

When I have run my Zeros at max throttle I have had no problems making the stored energy go away at an alarming rate.   

[Richard230]

I think that they were flogging that DS at full throttle for the freeway stretch and that was where the energy all went.    To these guys 95 MPH is normal and moto journalists generally just go as fast as the bikes will go. 

They don't take the time to learn how to ride an electric motorcycle to maximize range as they only crave performance. 

I don't think that there was anything wrong with the power tank, they just put the Watts into melted rubber, pushing 95 MPH of wind, power wheelie attempts, and roosting dirt and gravel at the other rider.   

When I have run my Zeros at max throttle I have had no problems making the stored energy go away at an alarming rate.

The article says that they ran the Zero on eco mode on the freeway (after first running away from the Honda), which limited its speed to 70 mph, so that the Honda could keep up.  My bike, at 70 mph, doesn't suck up power like that.  Actually, I was kind of surprised that they could get up to even that fast on the I-5.  It must have been early on a Sunday morning.