ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older => Topic started by: JustPassinThru on May 05, 2016, 10:54:33 AM
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Okay...700 miles on my Zero now, so far. I'm lucky to live in a small town, where it gets warm early...and friendly to bicycles, scooters, motorcycles...and environmentally aware. That's not that important to ME; but it cuts some slack when I look to plug in.
The question is: The headlight. And its current draw.
The bulb that came in it, maybe not the original, is a 55/60 halogen H4. Right away, I figured that was too much power - you can kill a car battery in an hour with the headlights on. I know the Zero is somewhat different; but the principle remains: Every bit of juice that goes to the headlight is power not going to the electric motor..
I got hold of a Chinese scooter H4 xenon bulb...18/20 watts. Too dim. It's fine for VISIBILITY in the DAY; but if I'm about after sundown, I can't see to save my life.
Sooo...I had a package of "Show Lites" LED gimmick lights, from the dollar store about six years ago. Before the breakthroughs in LED lighting. I didn't expect much; but I put one of them on on a homemade bracket above the headlight.
I have a pigtail wired in (if I keep it I'll put a switch on it). During the day, low-beam powers the LED bar. High beam is still wired in.
If I'm out after the sun goes down, I can just plug-n-play with the old low beam, deactivate the LED bar.
So fur, so good...but that LED bar isn't really very visible in bright sunlight. It does jump out at you in twilight or overcast; but not so much in daylight.
So...is there a better way? I'd rather not spend money on LED H4 inserts - yet. Also, the ones that are top-rated draw about 30 watts. Not enough savings to make it worthwhile.
Does it all matter? I seem to be getting about ten extra miles in average per charge. But I'm sure I'm also inviting traffic problems - not being seen as expected.
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It would take a week of continuous use for the stock headlamp to drain the battery. Just divide the kWh by W from the bulb and you get about 200 hours or at least 7 days. I got an LED headlamp but only to reduce heat in the assembly and make more room for other 12V loads.
There are other threads here about bulb replacements where we've identified LED bulbs that fit.
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The usage of the headlight is close to marginal next to the motor, IIRC the 2012 DS has something like 22KW.
The difference to 22000W and 22055W draw you won't even notice, it even could be that your led bar adds more drag than the headlight consumes.
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Thanks for the input. I figured the techno-geeks would have the numbers.
I guess it goes without saying: I'm not a teckkie. I bought the Zero as a motorcyclist - I love the quiet, vibration-free running, and the cheap cost of operation. But I never cracked the numbers or even knew how.
8)
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Also, you have about a 15kWh battery, which is 15,000Wh. The original light draws 55W and you only ride for 1-2 hours. If you go for a super-long ride (4 hours at slow speeds) the light will draw about 200Wh of 15,000Wh which is 1.3%.
In other words, the headlight draws a negligible amount of electricity. And the explanations before this one are good too.