Print

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

[Jarrett]

Just curious what's the model with the most range capability.

Will the DS go farther an the DSR?  Same for S and SR?

I'm assuming having a power tank is required for this.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

The S/SR models will travel about 10% farther than the DS/DSR models, because of rolling resistance and frontal surface area differences.

Other than that, maximize your battery capacity by buying a Power Tank, and then buy a generous windscreen or install a fairing to get another 10-15% range on the highway.

I have a 2016 DSR with Power Tank and the Hollywood Electrics fairing, and I tend to average 125 miles on the highway throughout the year, and more like 135 miles in warm weather. I switched from knobby tires to sport touring tires as well, and made some wheel covers to reduce drag from the spokes in the wind.

[JaimeC]

I saw those wheel covers you use, Brian, and I'm curious how the bike feels in cross winds?

[DonTom]

Just curious what's the model with the most range capability.

Will the DS go farther an the DSR?  Same for S and SR?

I'm assuming having a power tank is required for this.

The S or SR with power tank will give you the best distance--also will take longer to charge.

Seems to be no difference in range between the S and SR. Just the SR has more power--which will only give less range when you're using the extra power. 

Same goes for the DS vs. DSR, which will be slightly less range than the S or SR.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[Jarrett]

Thanks for the info.

So if you can stay off the throttle, the SR w/PT will deliver the same as we the S w/PT, that's interesting.

I can't stay off the throttle myself.

Is there a big ride ergonomics difference between the S and DS? 

I've ridden the FX, DS and SR/F, but no S specific models.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I saw those wheel covers you use, Brian, and I'm curious how the bike feels in cross winds?

It's very stable. The rear cover helps the bike lean subtly into a crosswind direction, and the front cover hasn't negated this effect. I've ridden in various all-weather conditions, including wet bridges with metal joints in crosswinds, and the bike handles fine.

One surprising effect of the wheel covers is that the ride is even smoother than stock. Those spokes rotating in the wind do in fact chop up the air a bit and you can't perceive it until it's negated by the covers.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

For what it's worth, I made a Google Docs spreadsheet that scrapes Zero's website occasionally and builds a comparison of all their data, and I built a metric of price-to-range to compare the models on.

Here's a slice:

Configuration   City   Highway, 55 mph (89 km/h)   Combined   Highway, 70 mph (113 km/h)   MSRP
S ZF7.2   89   54   68   45   $10,995
S ZF14.4   179   109   135   90   $13,995
S ZF14.4 +Power Tank   223   136   169   112   $16,890
SR ZF14.4   179   109   135   90   $16,495
SR ZF14.4 +Power Tank   223   136   169   112   $19,390
DS ZF7.2   82   49   61   39   $10,995
DS ZF14.4   163   98   122   78   $13,995
DS ZF14.4 +Power Tank   204   122   153   97   $16,890
DSR ZF14.4   163   98   122   78   $16,495
DSR ZF14.4 +Power Tank   204   122   153   97   $19,390
FX ZF3.6 MODULAR   46   28   34   19   $8,495
FX ZF7.2   91   56   69   39   $10,495
FXS ZF3.6 MODULAR   50   30   37   20   $8,495
FXS ZF7.2   100   60   75   40   $10,495

[vinceherman]

Brian, I did a quick search but failed.  Can you link me to the discussions on your wheel covers?

[Jarrett]

Good info, thanks.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Brian, I did a quick search but failed.  Can you link me to the discussions on your wheel covers?

I have not discussed them broadly. I wanted to get someone to produce wheel covers, but discussions fell through to my regret, as often seems to happen around the Zero aftermarket.

All I did was create a simple shapefile to cut into ABS plastic, and then I drilled a hole pattern to fasten them to the wheels using UV-resistant reinforced zip ties. These are then padded against the wheel surface to avoid marring and to minimize the effect of strikes on the covers from kicked up road gravel.

The front wheel design was ultimately vexing because of the way the brake disc is supported by stanchions from the wheel. I mean really quite troublesome to the point that I only now cover one side of the wheel.

The vendor I was in contact with received spare Zero wheels for the project but then expressed concerns about safely attaching to the wheels, and then stopped responding to emails. So, I've been riding around with my mockups for about three years now.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

FYI, the SRF model range is about the same as the DS/DSR. It is not included yet in my tables because Zero created a new HTML structure for the new page and I've been fiddling with the ETL/reshaping logic to normalize it into the existing tables.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

If you're wondering how many projects I'm sitting on for improving Zero's, I think I've lost count. I could use some sponsorship.

[Moto7575]

Adda fairing and you'll win 10% miles for 30 $...

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

A fairing won't cost $30, once you implement bracketing and so on.

FWIW the Hollywood Electrics fairing does basically increase range by 15%. It's expensive because bulk orders were not achieved - something that OEM support would impact.

[nnelson65]

A fairing won't cost $30, once you implement bracketing and so on.

FWIW the Hollywood Electrics fairing does basically increase range by 15%. It's expensive because bulk orders were not achieved - something that OEM support would impact.

I'd guess Moto7575 meant windscreen, not fairing. 

Anyone looking for a more economical solution to increasing range than the HE fairing, I cannot recommend the Givi A660 Airstar windscreen highly enough.  I've now put ~45k on my 13.0 DS, 15k of which were travelled using this windscreen. Nearly all of those miles were following the same 40mi route every day.  That screen gives me a consistent 15% increase in range (10%-20%, depending on my speed and the wind conditions...it's most effective at ~60mph). 

On most days, I can now do ~70-75miles at 75-80mph or ~110miles at 55mph, seated upright.  Before the windscreen, those numbers were more like 55-65miles @ 75-80mph and 80-90miles @ 55mph, and I had to do a partial tuck to get those numbers.