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Messages - rcavetroll

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Electric Motorcycle Events / Re: 2017 East Coast Road Trip!
« on: August 15, 2017, 07:18:52 AM »
Looks like a great ride! Hope the traffic and weather around eclipse-time isn't too bad. If you make up to Boston later, hit me up... we can go riding to one of the swing dances in town. I would say we should meet up at Frim Fram, but until I get some more charging and batteries installed, New York is a bit far for my FXS.

2
General Discussion / Re: Welcome!
« on: August 08, 2017, 01:04:21 AM »
Figured I should finally introduce myself. I've been a part of two university electric motorcycle teams in the last few years, and just recently had the incredible good fortune of buying one of the project bikes from my school after many of the electric vehicle team members graduated, and the team shifted back towards electric cars for their next project.

So I have a 2016 Zero FXS that has low (but pretty hard) miles on it, and has been wrenched on by students with varying levels of attention to detail (e.g., they lost the ABS unit after removing it from the bike). I'm working to get it back into street-running shape (sans ABS for now), and this forum has already been really useful to start troubleshooting some of the problems I've had.

While working on my past electric motorcycle projects, I've usually been "the motorcycle guy," and haven't gotten too deep into the electric powertrain systems. Now, that gets to change. I'm working on getting together what I need to talk to the SEVCON controller, and hope to get to know the Zero battery and powertrain systems a lot better.

Also, I'm hoping to put together what I need to swap the FXS between supermoto and dirt configurations. I currently have a DR-Z400 that I use for off-road trail riding, but I'll sell the DR-Z if the Zero can fill both roles with a little more than a wheel swap. The wheels are one thing (a $500 thing, if I get the wheels new), but I think the front brake caliper location is going to be the complicated part. I'll be posting on the Zero board about that before long.

So that's me. Great to be here, and looking forward to the ride!

3
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ / Re: Did I just fry my motor controller?
« on: August 07, 2017, 10:32:39 PM »
Thanks for all the replies. I left town for a bit, and am only getting back to thinking about my Zero again now. And, I've got a new behavior...

- turn ignition key (kill switch in off position)
- display goes through its startup sequence (flashing all segments)
- temperature display alternates between 16 C and 555 C
- contactors open, contactors close, repeat about 5 times
- whole display starts's flashing

Here's a video of the sequence. I don't do anything in that video except turn the key.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0ri2jknn0be4hj/IMG_2280.MOV?dl=0

Any ideas? My local dealer (not Hollywood Electric, unfortunately) is on vacation for a week or so, but I'll ping him when he gets back.

4
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ / Re: Did I just fry my motor controller?
« on: July 03, 2017, 04:01:13 AM »
Error codes are: 0025, 0044, 0048, 0049

I got the recommendation to check the position sensor from a friend as well... will check that and report back.

Unfortunately, it's not under warranty. It was modified for racing (different motor and controller), then rebuilt back to street configuration. I've got a bit of experience with EVs though, so will take a crack at fixing it myself before going to the dealer.

5
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ / Re: Did I just fry my motor controller?
« on: July 02, 2017, 07:38:46 AM »
Thanks for the responses! Now the display is wonky as well... speedometer displaying random numbers. Here's a link to a short video (https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5p3udyz8qxwyxd/FXS_display.MOV?dl=0), though unfortunately it didn't really catch the noise. I'll try to get a better one tomorrow. To me it sounds like the motor is chattering... mechanical sound as opposed to an electrical one.

The first time (when I arrived back home after my ride), the noise started up as soon as the contactors closed. This time (a few hours after that), the motor/chatter sound was silent for the first ~20 seconds, but the speedometer display was displaying random numbers from the start.

6
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ / Did I just fry my motor controller?
« on: July 02, 2017, 12:41:18 AM »
Hi all,

First time poster... just bought a used 2016 FXS, and took it out for my first real ride this morning. Loved it!

When I got it home, the batteries were at about 30%. I hit the kill switch, got off the bike, and started pushing it backwards into its parking spot. It got a little hard to push though, and I was really confused. I finally turned the key switch all the way off to open the contactors. Still hard to push. I rolled it forward around in a circle, and then it was back to normal, and I pushed it backwards into its space. Now when I turn the key on or plug in the charger, as soon as the contactors close, I get a loud buzzing sound. The last time I tried it, the motor even seemed to turn just slightly (kill switch in the off position and kickstand down). Any ideas what happened, or what to test first?

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