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Messages - mattmccutchen

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1
Electric Motorcycle Events / Interested in bringing your motorcycle to EV shows near Washington, DC?
« on: May 26, 2022, 10:09:42 PM »
I live in the Washington, DC area, and I recently learned that in addition to the events listed in the well-known National Drive Electric Week and Drive Electric Earth Day directories, there are many other local events throughout the year run by different organizations that recruit people to display their electric vehicles through the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, DC.  In essence, if you join EVADC via the member portal and check the "Outreach" box, then you get invited to these events as they are scheduled.  It's nice to have at least one motorcycle at each event if possible and if the event organizers consider it in good taste for their mission.  So far, I usually seem to be the only EVADC member responding to these invitations and bringing a motorcycle.  This is starting to chew up too much of my weekends, and I'm going to have to cut back.  So if anyone else here is in the Washington, DC area and would be interested in showing their motorcycle at some of these events, that would be great.  For example, there's an event coming up on Sunday, June 5 in Arlington, VA.  I'm not sure whether a motorcycle is welcome at this particular event, but it would be worth asking.

Thanks for your attention!

2
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Newbie trying to fix 2012 Zero S slow acceleration
« on: January 25, 2016, 08:35:43 AM »
I was able to test the throttle resistance today.  I followed the throttle cable to the zip tie on the left side of the motorcycle, released the zip tie with a pocketknife, and disconnected the connector just past the zip tie.  The side of the connector away from the throttle has four wires: orange, brown, blue, and white (cut off).  As expected, the side toward the throttle is missing the pin for the white wire.  I tested the resistance between each pair of pins as the throttle goes from fully closed to fully open (corrected 2016-01-25).  The results:
  • Brown to blue: starts at 666 Ω, decreases slowly at first and then suddenly to zero.
  • Orange to brown: starts at zero, increases to around 3000 Ω and then decreases to 666 Ω.
  • Orange to blue: constant 666 Ω.
(I now realize I didn't pay attention to the polarity with which I connected the meter.)  Based on this, I should replace the throttle, right?

I found this thread about throttle models, and I'm assuming the options are the same for the 2012 Zero S, so the Magura throttle would be the exact replacement.  I might try the Domino throttle since it's supposed to be better, but how much more complicated is it to install?  Anything else I should know?

3
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Newbie trying to fix 2012 Zero S slow acceleration
« on: January 16, 2016, 11:52:45 PM »
Thanks for the ideas.  My forum notification settings were wrong, so I didn't notice anyone had replied until yesterday, and this morning was the first convenient time to do any tests.  Diagnostic results so far:

  • I took out and inspected all the fuses, and nothing looked obviously wrong, but I didn't have the tools to test them for conductivity.  I can do that later at the MIT EVT shop.
  • The acceleration does increase over the entire throttle range, and Eco or Sport mode does make a difference.  In 12 seconds, with the throttle open all the way, the motorcycle reaches 20 mph in Sport mode or 14 mph in Eco mode.  With the throttle open halfway, it reaches 7 mph in Sport mode or 3 mph in Eco mode.  (These numbers may be off as much as 20%, but I think the point is clear.)
  • No warning lights are lit on the dashboard.
  • I couldn't find the controller LED.  It looks like the entire controller is covered.  I may be able to do this at the shop.
  • I pushed the motorcycle and I don't think it was harder than before, but I could remember wrong.  A better way to measure this might be to measure the deceleration rate, but I didn't think to do that and it's probably not useful unless I have a standard to compare to.

In a private message, another member said the throttle resistance should range from 0 to 5 kΩ.  I'm planning to go to the MIT EVT shop tomorrow when they are open, and that will be the first thing I test.

4
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Newbie trying to fix 2012 Zero S slow acceleration
« on: January 09, 2016, 11:58:38 PM »
My 2012 Zero S recently developed a problem: it is accelerating much more slowly than normal in each mode (Eco and Sport), even when fully charged.  I had left it parked outside, and one time when I passed by, I noticed the tailbag had been opened and all the contents had been put on the ground; the next time I rode the motorcycle after that, I noticed the slow acceleration.  So my theory is that the same person searched the tailbag and tampered with the motorcycle in a failed attempt to steal it, causing the acceleration problem.  I further suspected the throttle or kill switch cable might be kinked (that happened to me a few years ago), but I wiggled the wires and it was unclear if it helped.

Normally I'd go to a Zero dealer for service, but the nearest dealer is about 200 miles away and shipping the motorcycle alone will cost about $600, so I'm hoping to repair the motorcycle myself.  I have no experience with this, but the MIT Electric Vehicle Team will let me use their shop and tools and may guide me through some of the steps.  Can someone summarize the steps I should take to diagnose and (if possible) fix the problem and point me to any documentation I'll need?

I suspect it may be obvious to many people in this community how to find this kind of information, but I'm struggling and would really appreciate some help.  I found a thread about a similar problem caused by the throttle, but if I'm going to test the throttle resistance, I need to know what's normal.  I also saw a thread about some diagnostic interfaces, but it's unclear to me from that thread which one I should use and where the port is on the motorcycle.  I'm guessing Zero headquarters won't be willing to help me, but I can ask if you think it's worth asking.

Thanks!

5
General Discussion / Re: Fragmentation of the electric motorcycle forums
« on: May 14, 2014, 01:49:20 PM »
The aggregate answer across the three instances of this topic: (1) people want to use their separate forums for different culture, post count, or whatever (which probably shouldn't have been a surprise), and (2) no one expressed interest in group rides, never mind choosing a single place to post them, which matches the level of response I've had to those posts since March 22.  I guess that leaves me posting community organization topics all three places and group rides nowhere in particular, but probably at least on http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/ to leave the door open in case someone new interested shows up and follows the trail.

6
General Discussion / Re: Electric Motorcycle Owners Map
« on: May 08, 2014, 12:47:07 PM »
It's great to have an idea of where the electric motorcyclists live.  I'd generally still announce group events on forums rather than by email to individuals as the map suggests, since forums have the advantage of being editable in-place and publicly visible, and emailing individuals without a prior relationship might be seen as intrusive; hence my separate thread on establishing a single forum for this purpose.

7
General Discussion / Fragmentation of the electric motorcycle forums
« on: May 08, 2014, 12:42:39 PM »
Currently there are three major electric motorcycle forums that I know of: http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/, http://elmoto.net/, http://brammoforum.com/.  The accepted practice to reach the entire community seems to be to post to (and read the replies on) all of them, as demonstrated recently by the owners map and my group ride announcements; this is a PITA.  To collect some data on how important this actually is: which forums do you read?  Would you be willing to help the community function better by standardizing on one forum at least for brand-independent group rides, and possibly for a broader range of topics if the fragmentation doesn't seem to be serving any purpose?

For myself: I check all three forums for group rides (though probably not often enough) and would be willing to standardize on any one of them, though I'd prefer one with a brand-independent title, and if I have to pick one, I'm partial to http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/ as the first one I found.

8
General Discussion / Electric-friendly group ride in Santa Cruz Mountains Sunday, May 11
« on: May 08, 2014, 12:28:31 PM »
I'm organizing another electric-friendly group ride this Sunday, May 11.  (please view using the old Google Maps): ~53 miles.  Leave from the charging station near Elm St & Boone Ln, Los Gatos, CA at 12:00 pm, stop for lunch in Boulder Creek, and return to the starting point about 4:00 pm.  I'll be keeping a moderate pace; others may go ahead and wait for us at the stops (or not).

If you're coming, I'd appreciate advance notice by public reply, PM, or email.  If you're interested in traveling with me from Mountain View, let me know.  If you will be late to the meeting point, please contact me (email is OK) before 12:00 pm, otherwise we won't wait.

9
General Discussion / Re: Electric-friendly group rides in San Francisco Bay Area April 12, 26
« on: April 23, 2014, 04:10:18 AM »
Please note, I modified the plan for April 26 also to include lunch.

10
General Discussion / Re: Electric-friendly group rides in San Francisco Bay Area April 12, 26
« on: April 12, 2014, 07:12:17 AM »
I'm changing the meeting time for the ride April 12 (tomorrow) to 11:00 am at the suggestion of one attendee, since I got no other responses.  If you planned to just show up and didn't check this thread again, sorry...

11
General Discussion / Re: Electric-only group ride on San Francisco peninsula, Saturday, March 22
« on: April 10, 2014, 12:43:19 PM »
Responding to various tangents...

Quote from: offthegrid on March 21, 2014, 10:16:14 PM
Please ask to speak to the owners of Alice's about installing a charging station.

I have thought about rides to and from Alice's for lunch before with electric motorcycle riders, but you can't charge there.  There is a J1772 plug a few houses down but it's someone's house.  With all the electric motorcycles in the area and that being a favorite place for motorcycles, it really needs a station.  Not just for bikes, but cars too.  Remind them that while someone is charging with 10 cents of electricity an hour, they will be spending a lot more with their friends on the deck!
I asked them some months ago.  They basically wanted someone to make the business case to them and take responsibility for installing and maintaining the station, and that process had stalled.  The lack of a proper station hasn't been a problem for me yet (electric motorcycles are rarer than we might expect or hope in the wild), but I suppose it might be if I tried to organize a big group and Alice's was the best place on the route to charge.

Quote
Also when you get to Half moon bay are there EV chargers there?
PlugShare lists one residential station in walking distance of downtown; I haven't needed to try it yet.

Quote
When I go ride around SF with guys I bring a J1772 and a splitter and can charge 6 bikes at the same time if the planned stops are at restaurants with EV charging stations.
What are you splitting: the C13/C14?  Where did you find a splitter rated for the current?  This would be more useful if the other motorcycles could charge at double (or higher) speed; do you let them use your extra chargers?  I'm currently set up to carry only one external charger; I realize that buying (and finding a way to carry) more might be more versatile and cost-efficient than trading for a newer Zero with CHAdeMO support.  I'm not much of a DIYer but might try something if the benefits were compelling enough.

12
General Discussion / Electric-friendly group rides in San Francisco Bay Area April 12, 26
« on: April 10, 2014, 12:23:58 PM »
Hey!  I'm planning two group rides in the San Francisco Bay Area that might be of special interest to this forum inasmuch as (1) I'll be on them with my 2012 Zero S ZF9 and (2) consequently, they're organized around a "fun" segment within range of a 2012 Zero S ZF9 with J1772 stations at both ends.  (Bring your own adapters, etc.; I'll be using mine.)  (Please view links using the old Google Maps; the new one is miserable for plotting complex routes.)
I'll be keeping a moderate pace; others may do as they wish.

If you're coming, I'd appreciate advance notice by public reply, PM, or email.  I'll be charging before each trip but may not wait at the station; if you contact me, we can try to meet early.  If you are running late to the meeting point, please email me.

(I'm posting this announcement on multiple forums because no single forum reaches everyone; it's a PITA.  If you consider this abusive, let me know what you think would be reasonable.)

13
General Discussion / Electric-only group ride on San Francisco peninsula, Saturday, March 22
« on: March 20, 2014, 10:56:33 PM »
I'm planning a group ride for electric motorcycles (and scooters, etc.) only this Saturday, March 22, starting at 9:30 am at Alice's Restaurant, Skyline Blvd & La Honda Rd, Woodside, CA.  Here's the planned , which we might adjust on the day of the ride.  I prefer a conservative pace, but this may be open to negotiation and/or we could split into subgroups.  Two of my friends are going, and I wanted to invite anyone else from the forum who might be interested.  If you will come, please reply to this thread or email or PM me so I know to wait for you.  I don't want to post my cell phone number publicly, but I will be monitoring those other channels up until departure time.

Cheers!

14
General Discussion / Re: National Plug In Day this weekend
« on: September 27, 2013, 10:46:05 AM »
Richard, of course I and the organizers would rather have you bring your Zero, and I'm willing to go to some trouble to make that happen.  You can use my J1772 adapter, splitter, and external charger to get a double-speed charge.  I'll be at the rally 10:00-1:30, then I have to leave for an appointment; if you need to charge longer than that (supposedly a full double-speed charge for ZF9 is 4.5 hours), I can come back to pick up the equipment later.

15
General Discussion / National Plug In Day this weekend
« on: September 26, 2013, 01:35:14 PM »
National Plug In Day is this weekend, September 28-29; events will be held at various places and times across the US.  (Should it be called National Plug In Weekend?  Go figure.)  If you like to hang out with other EV enthusiasts, this is for you.  Terry Hershner and I will be at the rally in Cupertino, CA.  The organizers of that rally asked me to help recruit more e-motorcyclists, hence the post here; the same would probably apply to any of the events.

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