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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Dacookie on December 12, 2020, 11:08:21 AM

Title: Help me find a bike
Post by: Dacookie on December 12, 2020, 11:08:21 AM
Hello I'll try keep it short and sweet. I travel at least 9 months of the year living in a toy hauler/camper with a ramp that a truck pulls and stay in rv parks. The truck gets bad mpg, about 17mpg unloaded and since I have some outlets in the toy hauler I'd like to use that to charge a bike every day overnight. I'm not looking to spend much over 10k as otherwise I don't really see it saving me enough money to be worth it.

I was looking for recommendations on bikes. I have absolutely no interest of riding in the dirt or mud but those rv parks have gravel or dirt usually but then once on the road it's pavement over 99% the time so I'm looking at street bikes.

I was looking at the zero fxs. I won't reliably be able to plug in at work but I'd still like 100 miles of range. I'd be willing to spend a bit over 10k for that but can probably make it work with less like 60 miles of range. Need something capable of 70mph but I don't mind if I need to go 60 or so to improve range.

Would rather get something that has already depreciated a bit but won't have any problems as a main commuter. I love how the zero srs and srf look but it's my first bike and the price tag is out of my range.

So I suppose I am limited to the fxs and sr. I havent done any research on other brands though.

Thanks for your help.
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: TheRan on December 12, 2020, 11:17:53 AM
You won't be getting 100 miles from an FXS or any of the other 7.2 Zeros, you'll need either a 14.4 or maybe a 7.2 with a Power Tank (or one of the older models that are less than 14.4 but more than 7.2).
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: Dacookie on December 12, 2020, 11:49:22 AM
I'd be fine switching out batteries if it brings the price down considerably. Is there any used 14.4s for less than 10k?
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: Dacookie on December 12, 2020, 12:20:51 PM
Also forgot to say I'd be willing to go for a cheap ICE bike since this would be my first bike but obviously this is an electric bike forum. If the numbers add up and it gets 60mpg+ that is. I'm guessing the range on these bikes will be double at same price point in 5 years
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: Crissa on December 12, 2020, 12:37:45 PM
You'll want a 14.4 DS for that kind of range and adaptability.  The X platform (FX and FXS) tops out at the 7.2 battery.  It's just skinnier.  It has half the charger, too.

Range is a stickler for bikes because they're very space-constrained.  In five years, sure, maybe, those bikes will be new and expensive.

Today you could get a used Zero, tho, for about what a comparable ICE bike would be.

-Crissa
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: NEW2elec on December 12, 2020, 07:43:37 PM
I'd say any of the "S" bikes S SR DS or DSR with a 13kWh battery or better fills the need.
The DS and DSR give you a bit more suspension travel and will likely have 80/20 dual sport tires 80% street 20% dirt.  This does trade off maybe 10-13 miles range over the street bikes.

Where are you located?
Title: Re: Help me find a bike
Post by: Crissa on December 13, 2020, 05:12:51 AM
Yeah, I do fine on unimproved streets with my S, but I wouldn't recommend it ^-^

-Crissa