ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

I reckon I can raise the ante a bit: I ordered my FX never ridden, site unseen.  I had to pay the full price upfront, plus a whole lot more for god-knows-what mark-up and taxes.  The importers "Cayenne Racing" South Africa assured me it would arrive within 6-8 weeks.  After 15 weeks I asked them what assurance I had that the bike was coming and that they weren't going to go bankrupt before that.  They laughed at me.  They said the delays were due to importing potentially explosive batteries.  It took 16 weeks and a few days.  2 weeks later Cayenne Racing went bankrupt.

But that doesn't matter, I have the bike and almost loathe riding my ICE bikes.  Now I have to somehow import a DSR for longer rides and a bit more madness.  Once bitten you're hooked.

My late 2018 FX has the some sort of half-baked effort, just a bit worse.  The cable is ONLY cable tied with the bolt end left unattached and no bolt.  Which is to say it has never been grounded and now I've cut it free.  I haven't noticed anything odd but I don't listen to the radio 

On the plus side, the FX onboard charger only draws 7A at 110V, and 4A at 220V, so most consumer outlet timers should be able to manage controlling its load without any major concerns.

So, there's no harm in trying although I agree with above comments that you should mostly not worry about it (except long-term storage like more than a week at a time where 70% is a good target).

If you do, focus on a timer that is easy to adjust and built for operating under outdoor loads and protecting against faults.

pedantic question:  why would it draw 110W less in some countries?   7A x 110V =  770 Watts vs 4A x 220V = 880 Watts.   Or is that just roughly 7A and 4A?

Easy to adjust timer would be essential.  My experience is that mechanical ones are generally easier to use than electronic ones.  Perhaps I just haven't stumbled across the right electronic one.  Though, easiest by far would be something like Tesla's phone app.. 

Quote from: marsfix on July 27, 2018, 05:30:35 PM

...(sht hle country)...

On behalf of many, many Americans, I apologize in the strongest possible terms for that quote. A huge number of us cringed as badly as you did when we heard it.

As far as battery maintenance is concerned, I'm with MrDude. There seem to be a lot of people stressing about maximizing battery life, and it's just not necessary. The battery pack is rated for 2500 full-charge cycles, which is nearly seven years of doing a full charge EVERY SINGLE DAY -- and then it's still got 80% of its original capacity left! Personally I think this is pretty conservative. There are several people around, including me, with lots of mileage on their bikes (I've got 41,000 miles), and no sign of capacity dropping at all.

I know people are going to do what they're going to do, and they should, but I still highly recommend using the bike however you want to use it, and keeping it plugged in the rest of the time. The daily convenience factor more than makes up for any minuscule improvement you might see in battery life.

Haha, too kind of you.  And absolutely no apology required (unless you feel responsible for Trump ;-)  Trump, it seems, was sent to entertain most of the English speaking world with his buffoonery and, at this, he's doing a disturbingly good job.  Of course there are plenty of countries that qualify for the sht hle moniker though the poor folk living at the bottom of those ditches certainly don't need their noses rubbed in it.

Agreed, 2500 cycles is more than I'll ever use and with battery density increasing inexorably who knows what options will be available in 7 years time.

So, thanks, I'll do my damnedest to stop worrying about it.

Hi EMF Folk

My Zero FX is 2 days old, and a rarity on the Southern tip of Africa (sht hle country) but I've been an EV nut for years and a motorcycle nut for even longer.  I've trolled this site a bit and can't find the topic/answer I'm looking for so excuse this post if it's already been addressed.

As almost every Tesla owner knows they should only fully charge the vehicle if that is what's required for the next trip.  If a full charge isn't specifically required JB Straubel, for instance, has suggested charging no more than 70% of capacity for daily use.   

(This is generally true for all Liion batteries.  There are apps to keep a laptop's battery between 40 and 75%, say, which can result in the battery life being extended by a factor of 4 rather than keeping it fully charged whilst plugged in.)

Tesla's interface makes this dead easy to do.  But the only(?) way to do this for a Zero would be to physically stop the charging before it reaching full charge.  It could be done by using a plug timer.  Does anyone on this forum do this?

The timer could also facilitate ensuring that on those days when a full charge is required it is timed to reach 100% comfortably before you need the bike, not days in advance, for instance.

I realise this sounds a bit anal when mixed with the freedom of biking, still, if the best Liion battery technicians in the world are recommending it it seems foolish not to consider it if it can easily suit your lifestyle..

any thoughts on this?