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[Alan. Yes THAT Alan]

This electric motor has 25 horsepower, yet this modern, electric motorcycle is slower (in both acceleration and top speed) than my ancient 1986 Honda, which has only 17 horsepower and weighs more.
 What is the bottleneck in the system that is limiting the Zero?

 Is it the battery? The 2011 came with a 3.9 kWh battery and the newer Zeroes come with either a 6.5 kWh battery (for 34 horsepower) or a 13 kwH battery (for 60 horsepower). Since the newer Zeroes all use the same motor, yet have different horsepower ratings, I conclude that replacing my original battery with a newer one will make my motor more powerful.
 Has anybody done that? How much does it cost? Is the charging system and controlling system able to handle a change in battery capacity?

 Or is it the electric controller? When I twist the throttle halfway, my Zero accelerates modestly. But if I twist the throttle completely, my Zero still accelerates modestly. No change in acceleration. The only change is that at full-throttle I can 'feel' something hum or groan through the frame. As soon as I reduce the throttle, the hum goes away. I've checked the belt, pulleys, etc. and nothing is rubbing or misaligned.
 Is the stock controller made to keep the motor slow on purpose, so beginners won't accelerate too quickly? Should it be replaced or is there a way to reprogram the controller to get more power? Has anybody else done that? How much does it cost?

 For reference, my Zero has a top speed of about 55 MPH, although I was able to get it up to 62 MPH once, when the wind was right. My estimated range is 30 miles before the battery dies. I know that because the farthest I've ridden is 27 miles and the dashboard started to flash that I was running low.

 This is the only Zero I've ever seen in my life, so I have nothing to compare it to.

 I appreciate any help, but keep in mind I'm a newcomer and inexperienced with electric vehicles, so try not to use a lot of acronyms; I tried reading other posts on this site about upgrading batteries, but couldn't understand what the author was trying to say.

[Richard230]

What you are describing is about how a new 2011 Zero would have performed, according to period magazine tests. That 25 hp is only theoretical and they likely actually made less than half of that for any length of time. The bikes were set up to accelerate slowly from a stop and you really only felt good acceleration after about 20 mph. Plus, by now the batteries are getting a bit tired and are probably not quite what they used to be when new. The 2011 Zeros had comparable performance to the Brammo Enertia of the time, but Zero's performance and technology has made huge advances since then.

[Alan. Yes THAT Alan]

If the advances have been in the batteries, then is that where an upgrade can take place? Remove the old battery and replace it with a new battery to get a whole new level of performance? That's got to be cheaper than replacing the entire motorcycle, right?

[Brammofan]

Remove the old battery and replace it with a new battery to get a whole new level of performance?

Oh, you sweet, summer child. That's adorable.

[igorbaldo]

Alan, the slow acceleration you describe is a factory setting, stored in the MBB (main bike board). It's possible to elimitate it, but you would lose all security features (warnings/interlocks) and energy gauge on panel. Besides, it's not a (un)plug-and-play operation; it requires some advanced skills.

Changing the battery will not affect this behavior, and the newer batteries won't fit the frame of your bike without modifications. A new battery would probably solve the groaning you feel, which is usually due to voltage sag from an old battery.

The best you can do is rebuild your battery, and get used to the performance, or get a new, higher-performance bike. See below some examples of sucessful battery reconstructions:

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=4498.0

[Richard230]

If the advances have been in the batteries, then is that where an upgrade can take place? Remove the old battery and replace it with a new battery to get a whole new level of performance? That's got to be cheaper than replacing the entire motorcycle, right?

Replacing the motor and the controller, along with the batteries, would likely be the way to go to obtain increased performance and range. But you are better off either just living with your Zero's performance and range, or buying a used 2013-and-up Zero, if you want one that performs better than your Honda.  From 2013-on, Zeros have a completely different motor (designed in-house, instead of using one "off the shelf") and they also use different batteries made by a different company. I even think they might have different controllers, but I can't recall for sure.

Motorcyclist magazine tested the 2011 Zero S.  The top speed that they achieved was around 64 mph and the bike's range varied between 19 miles and 38 miles, with an average of 26 miles. 0-60 mph time was 11.9 seconds and it covered the quarter mile in 19.2 Seconds at 64 mph. So it sounds like yours is not performing too badly, considering its age.

I owned a 2012 Zero S, with a 9.3 kWh battery pack.  It had a top speed of 85 mph and a range of about 50 miles at 60 mph and 100 miles at 40 mph.  I then bought a 2014 Zero S with a 14.3 kWh battery.  It had a top speed of 90 mph, a range of 80 miles at 60 mph and I once was able to travel 140 miles at an average of 40 mph. So, as you can see, there has been quite a jump in range and performance since 2011.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider trying to change the motor, batteries and controller on your 2011 bike in an attempt to increase its performance.  The cost and trouble to do so, especially if you don't have the knowledge, skills and time to make such modifications, would really not be worth the cost and effort.

You might find the attached power, torque and speed charts, comparing the 2010 and 2012 Zero models, interesting.  I believe that the 2010 and 2011 models were very similar in their equipment.

[igorbaldo]

Richard, where did you get those graphics? Thank you so much, I didn't know them!

[Richard230]

Richard, where did you get those graphics? Thank you so much, I didn't know them!

I can't recall where I got them, but they have been hanging around my computer for years.  I can probably find a few others.  Let me check.  In the meantime. This article shows a rare 2009 Zero:  http://www.motorcycle.com/mini-features/zero-electric-motorcycle-range.html

[Richard230]

And a couple more charts.

[igorbaldo]

Great, Richard. Thanks!  ;

[Alan. Yes THAT Alan]

Richard 230,
  Thanks for those details and comparison data; really helpful!

 A few days ago, I bought a USB-to-Serial cable at Best Buy and used it to connect my computer to the Alltrax controller. It's an AXE-7245. The only thing I changed was the 'output' setting from 90% to 100%. I've done a couple of test runs, but the motorcycle doesn't seem any different. If it's accelerating more quickly at all, I can't tell.
 I did notice that the sticker on the controller says it can go up to 72V. The voltage from my battery is 53.8V, so there might be some room to expand there. But can the motor handle 72 volts?

[NEW2elec]

At one point Zero had offered a buy back on the pre 13 bikes as a trade in for 2014 bikes.
I don't know for sure what they did with them but I hope they didn't resale them.
This is not fun to have to say but at this point you have a toy.
Like a hover board.
If it still goes at all enjoy it.
In 10 years time EV parts may be more mass produced and cheaper and you could upgrade all the things that need upgrading. It's pretty much everything by the way.

Your Honda gas bike has multiple gears which help give you more speed with the high gears and torque with first gear, that's also why it's 17 horses feel faster than even 25 (maybe) from Zero.

I wouldn't bother upgrading it at this time.  Just my opinion.

[Alan. Yes THAT Alan]

This is not fun to have to say but at this point you have a toy.

All motorcycles are toys.

After changing the 'output' setting to 100%, I noticed that the acceleration-grunt starts around 30 MPH. Also noticed that the top speed is about 45 MPH now and that I was only able to go for 17 miles on a charge! Not sure why everything got worse, but I lowered the 'output' setting to 89%, to see what happens.
I bought this Zero (used) with every intention of tinkering with it.

[NEW2elec]

Well a motorcycle is a fun vehicle. 
But 45 MPH for 17 miles is a toy.
If you got it to play around with that's cool.  Your OP asked what was the bottleneck though and what I'm trying to say is 2011 is the bottleneck.
The technology and money Zero had at the time is why the bike runs like it does.
I can't think of any component on that bike that isn't obsolete now.
Parts can be upgraded but it's still very costly to do so.  If you can accept you'd never get your money back out of it and you just want to see what you can improve on, then go for it.

[benis]

Hi,

Interesting thread - any update regarding the bike Alan?