ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

Quote from: bigd on July 10, 2014, 02:26:09 AM

AustinSZF8.5 "bike is nice and light, center of gravity is placed well for very easy handling." I have read where the power tank makes the SR a bit more top heavy, Have you rode one and if yes do you think it does ? thanks

I haven't ridden one with the power tank so I can't say for sure, but thinking about where it carries the weight I wouldn't think it would be all that drastic. Would it affect it? Sure. Would it make it a crappy handling bike? Doubt it.

Battery capacity is just a matter of range. In fact, larger batteries will hurt performance due to the extra weight. I'd get the smallest battery you think you'll need for the tasks you'll be throwing at it. For instance, I have a 6.5 mile one-way commute. Including running around on my lunch break, I've only been using around 40% of my 8.5kwh pack per day. Weekend day trips scrambling around the city typically don't use more than 60-70% of my available capacity. To have bought more battery capacity would have just been a waste of money.

I also didn't think about using the app to limit torque output for new riders. That's a great idea! Can also limit top speed if you're worried you won't be able to keep your wrist out of it! 

Quote from: scZero on July 10, 2014, 02:53:09 AM

I'm not concerned about top speed, as long as it can do 85mph to get out of danger I'm happy.  But there's really no point in going fast.  Its really all about quick acceleration and good handling.

My thoughts exactly, but don't forget the joys of passing up gas stations and waking up to a fully charged battery each morning!

FWIW, I'm about 190 lbs and I have no issues with performance. 30-60 roll-ons are breathtaking, and this is coming from someone used to a Triumph 955i triple with 128hp and 70ish lb-ft (though also 540 lbs). As far as performance comparisons to ICE bikes, I'd rate it comparable to a 650 (twin) Ninja in most areas, but with much more mid-range acceleration, maybe even close to a 675cc Triumph Street Triple, though the Trumpet will blow it away both off the line and at speeds above 70mph or so. However, if you think about what speeds the bulk of your riding will be done, you'd probably rarely be in those ranges where the Trip would get away from you.

In all, awesome awesome city bike. For commuting and city scrambling, I can think of no better tool for any rider of any experience level. For tours and day trips, maybe not so much, but for the less than 50 mile per day job, you can't go wrong. Just a matter of whether you can stomach the expense and how much you trust yourself as a rider to not wad it up.

This is some great info, I'm kind of in the same boat where I live right around 5 miles from my work and most everything is city driving unless I need to go see my parents which are about 20-30 miles on the highway. I wouldn’t be doing much touring or long trips with it, most everything is within city limits here so that should be fine.

Thank you guys are all of your help, I'll have to get in touch with my "local" dealer to see if they can order in the base S, since this seems like it would be a good all around bike for my needs. I just wish they would let me test drive one with and without the extra battery power to see if its a huge difference.

It all depends what you're looking for.  I personally would go for more range and longevity of the bike.  Also your resale value will be higher if you have the larger pack.  I'm personally not a big fan of the powertank. But if you really wanted to do a long road trip, just think about the range of a 11.4 + a 2.8 powertank!

I think the 231k miles before the battery is only good for 80% of its capacity is more than enough , that would take me 15 years to use up if I drive 15k a year and I'm sure there will be something bigger and better within just a few years that I would be willing to trade up to in the years to come.

The powertank on the SR is optional.  Note that the SR has an 11.4kw pack (without the powertank), so that alone will make the bike heavier than the 8.5kw equipped bike.  Lastly strapping any weight above the center of gravity line on the motorcycle will make it unstable and less nimble.  Same goes for a rider that's 160 pounds vs. a 220 pound rider.

Yeah I'm closer to the 220 mark than the 160 haha that was another question of mine. Since I’m a larger rider, will this hurt the bikes performance a lot if I get a S?

Also with that said, is it also worth upgrading to the larger batteries since they really only add range and not speed?

As long as you respect it, I think a Zero S would be a great first bike. It does have enough torque to get you into trouble in corners if you tweak the throttle too hard while leaned over, but that's really the only tricky bit about riding them I think. Low speed throttle response is very linear and predictable, bike is nice and light, center of gravity is placed well for very easy handling. The bike has plenty of power even for seasoned riders (I've got well over 100k miles under me and I LOVE this thing!), and it handles beautifully and really inspires confidence. The only bad part is that if you drop it - as most new riders do - you're dropping a $13-17,000 bike as opposed to a cheap learner beater that won't sting as much if you damage it... If it were my money, I'd go get a $1000 Craigslist crapcan rustbucket special, put a couple thousand miles on it to get your wheels under you, then look at something shiny and expensive. But that's my money, your change pocket may be able to withstand more of a beating than mine...

SR as a first bike... ehhhh... that seems like trouble, but again, if you respect it, I don't see why not. 106 lb-ft is a lot for an inexperienced rider, and it's that much more $$$. Only you know your limits, capacity for restraint, and budget.

Thanks for the response, it gave me a lot of great information! I thought the S would be great, but its hard to compare it to any other bike because there is a lack of CC, so I cant say its like a CBR250R, CBR 600R, etc so this has helped. I think if I do go with one it will probably be the S, because its a bit cheaper to get into and if by some reason I want to upgrade, I  might be able to just trade it in to help with some of the down payment.

Well that's a touchy question.

If you buy an electric bike right from the start you would not benefit the "Wow that is much more fun to drive than my previous bike". However, those bikes are really really easy to drive, to learn, they are predictable. I never drove any bike that is as easy as this one. In fact I'm less scared and tend to go over the speed limit a few times, which is not a good thing, especially if you are a beginner 

As for the long term reliability, we could see many people in this forum having no issue since they purchased the bike. I would say if you have no issue for the first 5000 miles you are good for 50000 ! There are however a few people having issue from the start. When you are an early adopter this is the risk.

Thank you for your response. I have ridden before, just havent fully owned my own to ride around. I would be normally only be doing city driving as most of our hilly fun areas are way outside of this bikes normal driving range.

With the reliability portion though, if there are issues are dealer good about getting the issue corrected? I know it depends on the dealers now, but I mean if there is an issue are they required to correct it under warranty. Also are the newer 14s better than previous models on reliability?

Thanks again and I really appreciate your advise.