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Messages - Iowa

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1
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Appropriate Commute for a Zero ?
« on: May 05, 2011, 11:19:46 AM »
Hey, just wanted to give a quick update.  I received a 2011 DS last week.  Wanted to provide some quick notes.
   
  • Love the bike!
  • Bought it through Hollywood Electrics.  Harlan has been great.  Folks at Zero have been great.   Even the delivery guy was awesome.
  • Bike shipped about two weeks after I paid for it.  Shipping was probably delayed a week.  Was delivered in just a few business days half-way across the US.
  • Five commutes under my belt so far.  Just over 200 miles. Barely made it home first few days.  Learning to control speed, and become more aerodynamic.  (Bike just wants to go.)  Getting better.  Last two days, I had 2 bars left out of 11 when I arrived at home.
  • At 45-55mph, I'm riding like I'm on a cafe racer to increase aerodynamics.  Because of this, I kind of wish I would have purchased the S instead of the DS.
  • Strapped backpack to bike in the "tank bag" position instead of wearing it on my back to try and reduce drag.  Then lay on pack at higher speeds.
  • High wind around here makes this super-light bike feel like it's going to be blown out from under me sometimes.
  • Power bars show six left when I arrive at work, but eight when I turn bike on to leave work.
  • Only negative point I've found is the rear brake pedal. I have a habit of tapping the left side of my right foot against the bike, then pushing straight down to find the brake.  On this bike, you will step on a piece of plastic molding instead of the pedal.  I have to consciously keep my foot a little ways out from the bike.  I plan on remedying the situation by continuing the plastic molding up so that it keeps my foot farther out to the right.  (I'll get some picture so this makes more sense.)
  • The DS is TALL in the seat.  I have ridiculously long legs, and I'm up on the balls of my feet at stop lights.  I really don't want to spend $450 to get a lower seat, but that would get my feet flat on the ground.
  • Wheels look great.  In the pictures on the web sites, they look to me like a raspberry color.  In person, however, they have the look of a red aluminum MagLite flash light.  Very nice.
  • Bought a Kill-A-Watt.  Great device.  It shows just under 4kW to charge the bike overnight.  This works out to be either 16 or 32 cents, based on my tiered-pricing power bill.  Assuming 32 cents, and riding 35 miles, that's obviously less than a penny per mile.
Hope this helps a prospective E-bike owner!  I want to get a small web page going to collect some stats on my commutes.  Would like to get a Cycle Analyst.

2
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: sudden loss of power
« on: May 05, 2011, 10:30:43 AM »
I received a 2011 DS last week, and just had a similar situation this morning--my fifth commute to work.  Moving along about 45 mph, all the lights went out except for the red exclamation mark inside the triangle.  Pulled off the road, cycled the key-switch off-and-on, bike booted and took off.  No problems the rest of the way to work, or on the commute home. 

I noticed when I arrived at home that when I hit the kill switch, the same red exclamation point/triangle comes on.  I was thinking maybe I didn't have the kill-switch properly set this morning.  I hope that's all it was.  Other than that incident, bike operates great!


3
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Upgrading Zeros
« on: April 13, 2011, 10:16:42 AM »
Thanks for the post!  That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.  I recognized the Agni in the Zero bike descriptions, but I figured I'd have to wait for the bike to start tracking the rest of the parts.  The 2011 bikes might still be a little different, too, I guess.

I remember hearing the power pack had microprocessors in it.  It sounded like a "smart battery."  I'm not clear on how this affects the controller or charger.  If they're OEM, there probably wasn't additional functionality added to make either device talk to only the Zero power packs.  So if you replace the pack with a custom battery configuration, is there a chance the controller or charger won't "recognize" it, and then refuse to operate?  My main concern is upgrading/replacing the batteries after a few years as I assume higher energy density technologies will become available.  Also, if Zero doesn't go down the original path of planned upgradability, I'll have to come up with something. 

Great blog, by the way!

4
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Appropriate Commute for a Zero ?
« on: April 13, 2011, 09:57:08 AM »
I figured out the Aussie Zero blog I tripped over was in gasdive's signature line:
http://zerods.blogspot.com/

5
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Appropriate Commute for a Zero ?
« on: April 12, 2011, 09:45:37 AM »
Thanks, it sounds like I might still be right on the edge for range. 

I tripped over someone's Zero blog last night, but I can't find it.  For some reason it sees like it was an Aussie, and I thought maybe it was yours(?).  Let me know..

Also, are you using the "Cycle Analyst" picasso posted about?  There are four variations, so I'm waiting to get my bike before I order one.

6
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Upgrading Zeros
« on: April 12, 2011, 09:29:01 AM »
In another thread, manlytom had some advice for me, which I sort of took:
Quote
don't want to make you worried but I am yet to find out how to upgrade from my Zero S 2010 to items from the 2011 model. Guess if I end up needing a new battery I will find out. In terms of size it will fit. electronics etc. not sure.

You might quiz Zero on upgrades and what this in particular entails.

The bike is fun to commute with, ride around, and the 2011 models add a lot of missing items - belt drive, 17" tires, better battery pack, controls displays. Would love to "upgrade" to all of these but guess I need to try and trade-in when the bikes come out in Australia eventually.


So I email Zero March 23rd, received a reply March 24th, responded March 24th, and haven't heard back.  Below is the back-and-forth...

My Inquiry
Quote
I'm interested in a 2011 DS.  The Locator on the web site isn't showing me the closest place I can go to see one.

I'm curious about the upgradability of the bikes.  I saw Neal Saiki's Google Tech Talk presentation where he mentions the bikes would be upgradable.  Are parts like the dash and power pack from the 2011 DS going to be able to go into the 2010 DS models ?

Reply from Zero:
Quote
We are still in the process of getting a dealer set up near you.
At this time the closest dealer we have is in Oklahoma City

When Neal was talking about the upgradability of our bikes he was talking mostly about the battery.
All of our batteries are modular so they can come out and be replaced.
As technology improves I am sure we will have new  batteries that will fit in the older bikes.

I replied back promptly, assuming it must be easy to figure out who the Zero dealer in Oklahoma City would be--it's not.  I think I remember Neal specifically saying the dash was going to be upgradable.  Maybe that was a longer-term-goal. 
So my reply:
Quote
My only question would be "can I put a 2011 Zero DS battery in a 2010 Zero DS bike?"

(I see some leftover/used 2010 DS bikes around.  If I can't get ahold of a 2011 model, I'm wondering what I can do with a 2010.)

I understand this is a relatively small company with limited resources at this point, so I don't expect prompt answers to my every little question.  My best customer-interface so far has been Harlan at Hollywood Electrics.  I'll be voting there with my dollars.  Hope this gives some insight to my experience so far.
Now, shifting gears a little bit regarding upgrades...  The Zero gets you a basic E-bike platform.  In a few years, as everybody's batteries improve, does anyone think it would be possible to get another company's battery/controller to connect to the Agni motor?  (Maybe an EV supplier like electricmotorsport.com?)  Seems like the nice rectangular area where Zero's power pack sits would make using something different fairly straight-forward.  (As opposed to the Brammo Enertia, which is like a stair-step of batteries sitting on the slanted frame.)

7
Brammo Forum / Re: New Brammo Enertia Plus
« on: April 09, 2011, 11:19:26 AM »
Hey, Brammo Lovers, just wanted to share a reply to an inquiry I made with Brammo.  This is from a March 29th 2011 e-mail reply: 
Quote
Thank you for your interest in Brammo and the Brammo Enertia Plus motorcycle.  Currently we are still commissioning manufacturing facilities and establishing the supply chain, so predicting build dates for Enertia Plus pre-orders is not yet possible.

Unfortunately, the Enertia cannot be upgraded to the same battery pack as the Enertia Plus.

Hope this helps someone. 
I was really interested in the Enertia Plus's extended range, but I don't have the patience to wait for it. ;D

8
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Appropriate Commute for a Zero ?
« on: March 24, 2011, 12:38:31 AM »
Thanks for all the replies!  I thought my commute might be right on the edge of the range.  Zero's range scenarios did leave me optimistic.  (I hadn't thought about the "natural wind," aside from just going 55mph.)  The link that Harlan posted is great because of the data they add to back it up.  I'd like to see more e-bike owners, of all brands, do something similar to help us prospective owners.  I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to track their metrics with that much detail.  I'd like to get a Zero, and I intend to create something to help out in this manner.  Gathering info is especially tough with all the brands, all the models, the different years they have been available, and the different options within a given year.

Last night I just watched the one-hour Google Tech Talk with Neal Saiki(from 2009) on YouTube.  Someone posted this in another thread.  It was promising to hear that he designed the bike to be upgradable.  So I'm guessing worst case is in the meantime I charge up at work and be careful on weekend errands, etc.  Then a couple years from now I get a battery-pack upgrade.

That's a great video BTW.  He covered a lot of design points, like "why a brushed motor instead of brushless?"  His overall presentation made me feel a lot better about Zero versus the other brands I've been considering.

Thanks again!

9
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Appropriate Commute for a Zero ?
« on: March 21, 2011, 11:10:08 PM »
Hello!
I'm interested in the Zero S/DS (mainly because they seem to be the only e-bikes with belt drives). 
I've only seen a few descriptions of the commutes people have been taking.  Regarding range, could I get some advice on this commute?

34 miles total round-trip, flat terrain (Iowa)
One-way trip:
3 miles @ 55 mph (back-highway approaching city)
5 miles @ 45 mph (back-highway approaching city)
9 miles @ 35 mph (urban stop-n-go)

I can charge-up at work, but I'd like to be able to do the whole loop on a single charge.
Thanks in advance,
James

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