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[c-fut]

i have a 2016 Zero S that i will be using to commute to work and was wondering how the bike is in the rain. I would think it's not a good idea since water and electronics don't go well together. Upon inspection I've noticed some exposed connectors and wires underneath what would be the gas tank. I have read that some have rode in the rain and had some weird flashing lights on the dash. What does everyone think?

[Killroy]

Ahh, other motorcycles and cars have electronics and stuff.

I have ridden my zero in serious rain without any huge issues.  Some condensation got in the dash cluster, so Zero warrantied it. 

[mrwilsn]

I commute year round and have ridden in torrential downpours. The only issue that I've ever had is that for some reason when it's wet the high beams stay on even when the switch is in low beam. I have a 2014 zero s. I think the issue is the switch itself and the newer were bikes probably will not have this problem. Some people have had issues power washing but that's because water is getting sprayed at high pressure in areas that wouldn't get wet from normal rain.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

A few issues have been collected on the wiki: http://zeromanual.com/index.php/Common_problems#Behavior_in_wet_weather

I rode year-round for nearly 3 years on a 13DS in rainy Seattle. You should mind the loss of traction when rain first starts, because of the oil. The bike can very easily fishtail, so it is wise to use Eco mode (or equivalent in Custom).


If you're concerned about moisture sensitivity, just use some electrical insulating grease on the connectors. That's a sort of maintenance item worth doing after a while, anyway.

[buutvrij for life]

I ride 30 - 40 % of my '15 DS commutes in rainy conditions, and use highpressure-hose for cleaning.
No problems at all.

[grmarks]

I ride my 2015 SR in the rain with no problems what so ever. Rain falls down not up, so it does not get under the tank or seat. Washing it with a hose can spray water up under the tank and seat. Spray from the front wheel does not seem to get into the connectors under the tank but some water gets on top of the battery, but causes no problems. I would imagine in order to be able to register the bike for the road Zero would have had to conform to some rules/safety tests. 

[nevetsyad]

2015 SR, I ride rain or shine year round, 6,000 miles so far. Only stopping when it's below freezing out, because I'm afraid of ice. No water related problems.

[mrwilsn]

A few issues have been collected on the wiki: http://zeromanual.com/index.php/Common_problems#Behavior_in_wet_weather

I rode year-round for nearly 3 years on a 13DS in rainy Seattle. You should mind the loss of traction when rain first starts, because of the oil. The bike can very easily fishtail, so it is wise to use Eco mode (or equivalent in Custom).


If you're concerned about moisture sensitivity, just use some electrical insulating grease on the connectors. That's a sort of maintenance item worth doing after a while, anyway.

So I just read this section of the wiki and it says something about using silicone spray to eliminate "the wookie" when the motor is wet?!?!  What's this all about?? Should I spray the motor? The belt? I'm thinking the silicone spray is meant to keep small amounts of moisture out of the motor and so the spray should be directed at the seal between the stator and the side plates but the wiki implies it's for the belt (as stated in the wiki the water won't hurt but the noise can be annoying... especially when being stealth is one of the reasons you love the bike). I didn't think the noise was coming from the belt.

I'm interested in any information anyone can provide.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Killroy]

One rider complained of water in the BMS in the 2017 thread.

My wishlist.

Move the bloody BMS to a more water proof location! 
Sort out the blasted isolation problems while they are at it.

(Ok, my SR is in for fixing after water ingress possibly may have killed the BMS, so I'm little biased right now)

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

A few issues have been collected on the wiki: http://zeromanual.com/index.php/Common_problems#Behavior_in_wet_weather

If you're concerned about moisture sensitivity, just use some electrical insulating grease on the connectors. That's a sort of maintenance item worth doing after a while, anyway.

So I just read this section of the wiki and it says something about using silicone spray to eliminate "the wookie" when the motor is wet?!?!  What's this all about?? Should I spray the motor? The belt? I'm thinking the silicone spray is meant to keep small amounts of moisture out of the motor and so the spray should be directed at the seal between the stator and the side plates but the wiki implies it's for the belt (as stated in the wiki the water won't hurt but the noise can be annoying... especially when being stealth is one of the reasons you love the bike). I didn't think the noise was coming from the belt.

The belt. Some people attribute this to the motor, which doesn't make sense to me at all but maybe as a perceptual framing, it helps people identify their problem there. I've just compiled what people have said that seems workable enough to repeat (and wikis can be fixed; I'm just not sure yet how to make that clearer).

[George Cowly]

My 16 SR is at my dealer at the moment for the charge tank installation. I rode home with his 14 SR trough some torrential downpour. And now the 14 SR is dead. When I arrived at home and switched off the ignition, the green charging LED started to flash rapidly. Switching ignition back on all was normal. Switching back to off the light was flashing again. The bike had shown the same behaviour at the dealer 3 months ago, when I first rode it as a test bike. I plugged in the power cable and the bike started to charge normally. The next morning the charge was completed. I switched the bike on shortly, to check if everything was ok and ok it was then. But later in the evening I passed the bike in my garage and realised that the display was flashing. I've read about flashing displays here in the forum and  I've tried everything what others did with their flashing display but nothing worked for me. Finally I realised that the BMS is showing no LED anymore. I must admit, I'm really worried now about the reliability of Zero concerning wet conditions.

[mrwilsn]

A few issues have been collected on the wiki: http://zeromanual.com/index.php/Common_problems#Behavior_in_wet_weather

If you're concerned about moisture sensitivity, just use some electrical insulating grease on the connectors. That's a sort of maintenance item worth doing after a while, anyway.

So I just read this section of the wiki and it says something about using silicone spray to eliminate "the wookie" when the motor is wet?!?!  What's this all about?? Should I spray the motor? The belt? I'm thinking the silicone spray is meant to keep small amounts of moisture out of the motor and so the spray should be directed at the seal between the stator and the side plates but the wiki implies it's for the belt (as stated in the wiki the water won't hurt but the noise can be annoying... especially when being stealth is one of the reasons you love the bike). I didn't think the noise was coming from the belt.

The belt. Some people attribute this to the motor, which doesn't make sense to me at all but maybe as a perceptual framing, it helps people identify their problem there. I've just compiled what people have said that seems workable enough to repeat (and wikis can be fixed; I'm just not sure yet how to make that clearer).

I wasn't knocking your effort and totally get that the wiki can be changed...that's why I was asking.  If what you put in the wiki is correct, I want to know more and think it should be added to the wiki.  If it's not, then obviously we all want to get it fixed.

I was basing my assumption that it was the motor based on the post of the good @Doctorbass...

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5785.msg43017#msg43017

I am not so sure it's the belt.

I had this problem on my 2012 as well as on my 2012SR with the 2013 motor and it seem that it is more coming from the motor and it's more present when it is wet outdoor or during rain.  I am more under the impression that it is the motor encoder sensor that loose accuracy or that his ultra high precisions is affected by humiodity witch make teh controlelr to send back some strange oscillation of the current to teh motor. The SIn/Cos encoder ia an awsome motor rotor position detection sensor however the the circuit that drive it seem to mot like moisture...

I say that because i also observed some torque loss when these sound occur.. witch make sense with the theory above

But... that,s my opinion 

Doc

I will say that I have also noticed some torque loss when I hear the noise (the loss of torque could very possibly be all in my head).  And I don't always hear the noise every time it's wet/humid....but almost always when it's actually raining.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

So I just read this section of the wiki and it says something about using silicone spray to eliminate "the wookie" when the motor is wet?!?!  What's this all about?? Should I spray the motor? The belt? I'm thinking the silicone spray is meant to keep small amounts of moisture out of the motor and so the spray should be directed at the seal between the stator and the side plates but the wiki implies it's for the belt (as stated in the wiki the water won't hurt but the noise can be annoying... especially when being stealth is one of the reasons you love the bike). I didn't think the noise was coming from the belt.

The belt. Some people attribute this to the motor, which doesn't make sense to me at all but maybe as a perceptual framing, it helps people identify their problem there. I've just compiled what people have said that seems workable enough to repeat (and wikis can be fixed; I'm just not sure yet how to make that clearer).

I wasn't knocking your effort and totally get that the wiki can be changed...that's why I was asking.  If what you put in the wiki is correct, I want to know more and think it should be added to the wiki.  If it's not, then obviously we all want to get it fixed.

I was basing my assumption that it was the motor based on the post of the good @Doctorbass...

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5785.msg43017#msg43017

I am not so sure it's the belt.

I had this problem on my 2012 as well as on my 2012SR with the 2013 motor and it seem that it is more coming from the motor and it's more present when it is wet outdoor or during rain.  I am more under the impression that it is the motor encoder sensor that loose accuracy or that his ultra high precisions is affected by humiodity witch make teh controlelr to send back some strange oscillation of the current to teh motor. The SIn/Cos encoder ia an awsome motor rotor position detection sensor however the the circuit that drive it seem to mot like moisture...

I say that because i also observed some torque loss when these sound occur.. witch make sense with the theory above

But... that,s my opinion 

Doc

I will say that I have also noticed some torque loss when I hear the noise (the loss of torque could very possibly be all in my head).  And I don't always hear the noise every time it's wet/humid....but almost always when it's actually raining.

Hum. I am accustomed to my 2013 bike making a groan that is sort of softer and has always felt like belt vibration to me. (I listened to the audio sample DoctorBass responded to and it sounds like the same symptom.)


I will hedge the wiki recommendation to imply that it's the motor but could seem like the belt, then. I guess I misread the recommendation here and will add thread citations for people to evaluate.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

It suddenly occurred to me that DoctorBass' explanation makes the motor oscillate a very tiny bit but that this resonates the belt like a tuning fork. (Reminds me of a terrible Navy experience I had with an 8MW generator where the oil pump impeller had sheared, causing carbon brushes to break from oil pressure transients causing tiny oscillations.) So, the explanations don't conflict, it's just knowing where to use the spray (front sprocket?) and that the silicone spray selection just has to avoid damaging the belt.


I've fixed the wiki entry for this - hopefully it's clarifying now. I certainly feel like a mystery has been sorted out.

[mrwilsn]

I will hedge the wiki recommendation to imply that it's the motor but could seem like the belt, then. I guess I misread the recommendation here and will add thread citations for people to evaluate.

Actually, I think this is a great idea.  I was going to make a more general recommendation for the wiki that links to your sources on the forum (or elsewhere) may be helpful for many different reasons.  If for no other reason than to blame the source if something that's posted is wrong...haha

As far as belt vs. motor....the reality is probably a combination of the two.  Belt vibration definitely has a noise that can be heard even under normal riding conditions.  It can be subtle but its there (I actually kind of dig the normal low frequency hum of the belt).  When it's wet/rainy the sound of that vibration is definitely going to change in frequency.  If the motor vibration is also changing in frequency as described by @Doctorbass then that will also cause some additional vibration in the belt.  Without some really sensitive and carefully placed equipment it's hard to say what noises are coming from where.  However, if application of silicone spray to the belt reduces or eliminates the noise (even if only temporarily) that adds some weight to the argument that the noise is coming from the belt and not the motor.