ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

I avoid the arc issue altogether by using one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072F9DGRL/

Plug in bike in whatever order is convenient, then start the juice flowing with the remote.  When done, shut off the power with the remote, and then unplug however you like.

This lets me leave the cable plugged into the wall in a hard to get to location, and just leave the plug on the garage next to where I park my bike, with the remote next to it.

I can vouch for the one I linked, I've had no issues with charging the Zero for the past year of daily use.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the BMS won't allow the motorcycle to charge if the pack temp is too low. I seem to recall people trying to charge in the middle of the night when it was freezing out, and not being able to - but if they rode it and charged immediately, while the pack was still warm, it allowed it to charge.

I'd like an answer on this also; I have no option but to charge it in the garage at this point and it's quite cold.  Will the bike protect itself?

I have also ridden a couple times around freezing as I had thought that was ok, and now I'm worried that I shouldn't be.

There doesn't seem to be a good answer.  Zero used to say leave it plugged in, because the risk of the battery getting very very low was too great, and holding the battery near 0 is one of the worst things you can do to it.  Then they said, ok, hold it at 60%, that's better.  Presumably someone thought that if you didn't keep up with it that was your fault and the warranty was voided.  My thought is if you might forget to check on it every few weeks, its probably still better to leave it plugged in.

Now the new models have long term storage mode so this is moot for new bikes.  I am hopeful they will push that in a software update to the rest of us.  In the meantime, I don't think any of the options available to us cold-weather dwellers are great, but the "best" thing is to hold it near 60%.

My concern is that charging the battery below freezing, and especially far below freezing, is supposed to not be too great for it, so do we come out ahead keeping it at 60% if that includes occasional charging in very cold conditions.

Ultimately, that is what I do.  From what I've read on the topic, as long as you don't keep it near 0 for a long time, nothing you do is going to be much worse for the battery than the natural aging with time anyway, so I don't worry about it.

You would need to also replace the monolith and I believe the BMS.  I think the realistic answer is it would be cheaper and easier to buy a new bike.

I recommend getting the larger one from the get go, even if you don't think you need it. 

Unintuitively, the S actually has more leg room than the DS.  The dimensions are the same between the seat and the pegs, but the pegs on the DS are larger.  We are talking about an inch or less, but for me at 6'5", I was positive I was going to get the DS and ended up with the S because of range and this tiny different in height.  I also thought it looked better, and knew I wouldn't need/want the knobby tires.  I think the biggest difference is the look; decide if you want to look more like a sport bike or more like a dirt bike, and buy accordingly.

Quote from: stevenh on October 24, 2018, 08:36:54 PM

Local dealer just quoted me $2800.00 for the charge tank installed, in my 2016 DSR.

Steve

At the prevailing shop labor rates, $500 (over $2300 cost) sounds about right for the install process. There's a lot of time-consuming and difficult to access bolts depending on how your bike is configured. The electronics are also "scary" to work with for old fuddy duddy moto techs but in fact are bolt-in and not any problem and you could do the install yourself if you wanted to. Try getting a quote from AF1Racing to sell you the upgrade.

Do we know for sure that the "new" aftermarket Charge Tank will be as difficult?  I sort of got the impression that something is different now.  The old Charge Tank was technically installable aftermarket, a shop in FL has a video of it, but yes it was involved.  Zero adding it as an aftermarket option and it not being available until Spring 2019 made me think that perhaps they did something to simplify the install.  Otherwise this is just a policy change and not any kind of new product, and it should be available now.  Right?

Anyone have any details on what this does?  And why it shouldn't/won't be a software update?

To add another data point, I had the identical experience as described in the first post.  Everything seems fine with my bike though I haven't exercised the range estimation yet.