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[MostlyBonkers]

I think we all forgot about a different and more robust on-board charger.  I could also live with one that had a little more oomph, as I have 20 amp circuit breakers in my home. 

Well said Richard, top marks from me for mentioning that. I've always felt the onboard charger was weak. Also, to my mind, it is far too big and heavy for what it does.  What we need is a consolidated unit that is capable of level 1 & 2 charging. It seems crazy that people have to buy the charge tank as an option and that it takes up valuable space in the tank area. It also raises the centre of gravity a little.  One unit, in place of the current charger, should provide both.  This is an absolute necessity in my mind if Zero want to sell more bikes.  It should come as standard too, although I accept that these things cost money so it probably would have to be an option with a view to it becoming standard in the future.

You've also reminded me that the 2018 charge tank is now capable of 6kW charging, IIRC. Suddenly I'm very interested, but I don't know if they are supplying it to Europe with a Mennekes socket yet.

[KrazyEd]

   As far as the on board charger goes, I agree that a level one / level two hybrid would be a good thing.
I disagree with a more powerful level one charger. Zero replaces tons of onboard chargers
( FOUR so far on MY 2016 SR ). My personal belief is that a major cause of that is too little voltage coming
in to the charger. Rather than giving up, the Zero continues to try to charge and breaks itself.
Something like the Chevrolet Volt has would be perfect. If plugged into the supplied
Level One charger, or a commercial Level One charger, you have the option of 8 amp or 12 amp charging
with 8 being the default. If 12 amps is selected, a warning is displayed about possible consequences. If plugged
into a Level Two charger, it charges at Level two speeds ( Volt is a SLOW Level Two ).
Given advances in technology, I would anticipate Level Two standard charging in the not too distant future

[Hansi]

For me I have the same wish as I've had since they removed the DC charging option, faster charging. I'm very happy that they updated the charge tank, but I've  done some calculations and in my opinion it's still not possible to go for longer trips with a Zero. 11kW or faster AC accepting 3-phase Mennekes in Europe would work, DC would be best. That way you could drive for a couple of hours, charge about an hour and drive another 1-1.5 hours. 2 hours charging from ~10% - ~90% is still  too long to wait in my opinion. Because of the relatively slow charging you're still fairly limited to driving about 50% of the range and turn back so you don't run out of battery.

An aerodynamic option/frame would be nice also.

[MostlyBonkers]

For me I have the same wish as I've had since they removed the DC charging option, faster charging. I'm very happy that they updated the charge tank, but I've  done some calculations and in my opinion it's still not possible to go for longer trips with a Zero. 11kW or faster AC accepting 3-phase Mennekes in Europe would work, DC would be best. That way you could drive for a couple of hours, charge about an hour and drive another 1-1.5 hours. 2 hours charging from ~10% - ~90% is still  too long to wait in my opinion. Because of the relatively slow charging you're still fairly limited to driving about 50% of the range and turn back so you don't run out of battery.

An aerodynamic option/frame would be nice also.

May I sway your opinion a little Hansi?

I agree with you if you are talking about the kind of touring that includes long stretches of motorway and fast roads.  However, if you prefer taking the shorter and more twisty routes, I've found that it is rather difficult to cover much more than about 35 miles per hour.  I know this because it's the type of riding I do for pleasure on my 2014DS.  It has a range of 65 miles with that kind of riding and I'll regularly get the best part of two hours in the saddle.  I think it's fair to say I could get another 30 miles of range from a 2018 SR, so shall we say two and a half hours of riding? Probably more if taking it easy.

If I ever get chance to go touring, I think a day like this could be rather civilised:

10am  Get on the bike after a nice lie in and a full English.

11:30am  Stop for a cup of tea and a charge if possible.

12:00pm  Continue journey

1pm  Stop for lunch and charge.

2-3pm  Continue journey with a full charge (or at least 90%)

6pm  Reach destination (having stopped for another break since lunch somewhere).

That's about 5-6 hours of riding a day covering about 210 miles or so.  Probably more like 250 miles with a few faster sections thrown in and getting a little more juice during a tea break.

I know it's not like jumping on a GS and covering 350 miles a day, but I think it would be a lot of fun and not too tiring. 

[Hansi]

My opinion isn't very easily swayed when it comes to this MostlyBonkers.
While I can agree with you something like the scenario you've pictured is the most common, what about the times every once in a while something important comes up and you're not really willing/able to wait that long for a refill or when you're in a hurry and want to keep moving? That's what it comes down to for me. I very rarely DC charge my Opel Ampera-e (European version of Chevrolet Bolt), but I would never have bought the car without the DC charging option..

[Doug S]

...what about the times every once in a while something important comes up and you're not really willing/able to wait that long for a refill or when you're in a hurry and want to keep moving?

That's why very few of us have our electric motorcycles as our only vehicle (though there are a few). I think, at least here in my area (southern California) the same is true for motorcycle owners in general. Every once in a while (even here) the weather isn't very motorcycle friendly, or you need to carry something fairly large, or you need to carry more than one passenger.

Just for fun one day (and to join the 250-miles-in-one-day club), I did do a 260-some mile trip a few months ago on my 2014 Zero SR. It was a wonderful day's ride and I look forward to doing it again next riding season, probably more than once. I actually kind of like the fact that it makes you get off periodically for a while to recharge. There's none of this "I can make it to the next gas station" macho attitude that just winds up making you sore and miserable. It enforces a nice relaxed pace that I find very enjoyable.

[KrazyEd]

I did the 250 plus a couple times. An adventure each time. I am planning to go to ReFuel in Monterey in June.
Debating on towing SR or riding it. Still a Challenge to get from Primm ( state line ) to Victorville. Once there,
charge time is the only issue. Before Victorville, charge time is a MAJOR issue. I have  QuiQ and Elcon external
chargers but no Y cable so can charge at about 4KW per hour max. Don't have the money to spring for SuperCharger
and too cheap to spring for the Y cable. Neither of those options would really help between Primm and Victorville.
From what I hear, RV parks are becoming more EV friendly these days so that would help with that section.
We'll see

[Doctorbass]

- Enable 1C charging for people that have the Power tank!

1C for ZF13 is 13kW charging power

1C for ZF13 + ZF3.3 is 16.3kW charging power!

Actually BMS limit to 1C for the monolith ( ZF13 on the 2016-2017) without taking account of the presence of the power tank or not.

- Time for new fairings !  The actual Zero fairing platform is already 5 years old!
Chineese electric motorcycles look better than the Zero today... maybe a time for a change?

https://youtu.be/WoTo6YdDzvk?list=PLIKut_pH6iugnnWiuEfP1EDtXfrQ8edQn

All the following are 3000$ only....








Doc

[Hansi]

- Enable 1C charging for people that have the Power tank!

1C for ZF13 is 13kW charging power

1C for ZF13 + ZF3.3 is 16.3kW charging power!

Actually BMS limit to 1C for the monolith ( ZF13 on the 2016-2017) without taking account of the presence of the power tank or not.

Is the new Charge Tank just software restricted to 6kW, or is it hardware restricted?

[wavelet]

-- Optional sport-touring fairing that would improve 70mph range by 25%-30%
-- A standard 3kW onboard AC charger
-- A (likely optional) factory onboard fast charger (either CCS 20kW like Energica, or something like DoctorBass' belly pan solution for adding 10kW AC charging for a total of 13kW)

(neither of the above two taking any space in the "tank", rear luggage etc.)

Small stuff:
-- Real, standard, parking brake. This should be legally required given no transmission, and it's ridiculous Zero wants $600 for it when the required HW should cost  <$10.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Is the new Charge Tank just software restricted to 6kW, or is it hardware restricted?

It is not "restricted" - that's the level it can operate at without overheating.

The bike's limits are imposed by a combination of software (reading sensor outputs) and hardware (contactor operation and some critical fuses).

[E-Luke]

Power....

I agree with the "ludicrous mode" type thing. I had a smaller back sprocket put on my '16 DSR and always ride in Custom mode (max speed, torque, nil throttle regen, max brake regen) and I am always kinda left wanting. It's a quick bike, but I wouldn't mind it winding out a little quicker off the line, then again above 50. I want it to have a mode where it has the ability to put the front wheel up - not that I want to do that, but I will control the bike, jsut give me the power!

[Richard230]

It just occurred to me that what I want from Zero is no changes next year.  Any improvements would reduce the resale value of my 2018 model.   

[wavelet]

It just occurred to me that what I want from Zero is no changes next year.  Any improvements would reduce the resale value of my 2018 model.   

But... If they make changes that make the bikes significantly more attractive,  there'll be much more demand, which according to the law of supply/demand will cause prices (of both new & used bikes) to go up; I'm sure that Zero isn't yet set up for a massive increase in production.

[julianw]

I wonder why they haven't upgraded their lighting to full LED yet. I'm a simple man... and it annoys me that an electric bike is *burning* filament to generate light. :p