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All right. For trip #4 I found a charger next to a highway with a 55 mph speed limit. I charged up fully and drove out and back twice over the same section of road. I did it twice because the speed limit turned to 65 after a while, and I didn't want to irritate other drivers too much.

• Trip 4 (2x round trip): 83 miles, 1h39m, 50 mph, 99% SoC used. 69°F, 55 mph highest speed
  

As you can see, with a 50 mph average speed, I was pretty good about setting the cruise control the whole time. I think this is the best I can hope for, since I'm not going to tuck for nearly 2 hours.

Hi all,

I'm a 6'1" Zero SR/S Premium rider. I have the lower seat installed, as well as the touring windscreen. When I ride, I don't tuck. There's no power tank, so it's the stock 14.4 kWh battery.

When driving at 65 mph, the bike reports between 140-150 kWh/mile. Is that normal? At 55 mph, I'm around 120 kWh.

I just don't see how Zero can quote 103 miles of range at 55 mph. Even when my speed never exceeds 55, and my average is 45 (see trip 2), I get around 67 miles of range.

Below are some recent trips I took. Do these numbers sound right?

For the first trip, I drove to a town 54 miles away, recharged, then returned. The route had 12 miles of toll road, where I drove 70 mph.

• Trip 1 there: 54 miles, 83 minutes, 39 mph, 77% SoC used. 51°F, 70 mph highest speed (for 12 miles). 70 mile effective range.
  
• Trip 1 back:  54 miles, 72 minutes, 45 mph, 93% SoC used. 51°F, 70 mph highest speed (for 12 miles). 58 mile effective range.
  

For the next two trips, I chose a closer target that allowed me to drive there and right back in a single charge.

• Trip 2 there: 27 miles, 43 minutes, 40 mph, 46% SoC used. 51°F, 55 mph highest speed
  
• Trip 2 back:  27 miles, 45 minutes, 38 mph, 34% SoC used. 51°F, 55 mph highest speed
  

67 mile effective range for trip 2. Here I'm computing effective range as (27+27) / (.46 + .34). Basically assuming the last 20% of the battery performs the same as the previous 80% (doubtful).

• Trip 3 there: 32 miles, 44 minutes, 44 mph, 42% SoC used. 72°F, 65 mph highest speed
  
• Trip 3 back:  32 miles, 44 minutes, 43 mph, 39% SoC used. 72°F, 65 mph highest speed
  

79 mile effective range for trip 3.

In an effort to try to prevent myself from buying the SR/S, I thought I'd install an aftermarket turn signal control. I get annoyed by not having one. I installed it on my 2015 Zero DS.

I chose the STS system: https://safer-turn.com/smart-turn-system/

The basic operation of the system is that you insert it between the signal control and the relay. There are two other connections to give it power from a 12V switched source. Finally, you modify the turn signal so that it can't "lock" to the left or right.

The wiring harness from the left control unit disappears into a bundle of wires behind the front headlight. Here's what I did to get it installed:

• Take off the seat
• Remove the front fender, to give better access to some screws holding the tank plastics
• Remove the tank plastic unit. 2 screws inside the storage, 3 on either side of the wing-like front fairings, 2 underneath near where the front fender was, two at the rear where the seat was.
• Remove the 2 black screws holding the left control unit to the handlebar, then remove it from the handlebar
• Remove the 4 brass screws holding down the switch unit. (Actually, 2 are holding the bracket that secures the wires leaving the unit.)
• Pull out the switch and note the wire colors. See attached pic.
  Red with black stripe = left
  Black with blue stripe = flasher
  Cornflower blue = right
  
• Insert the 2 smaller spacers provided with the STS into the spaces on either side of the movable cam. Secure them with some tape while you reassemble, so that the spacers don't fall out. These spacers prevent the cam from moving so far to either side that the switch "locks" to that side.
• Reassemble the control unit
• Remove the front headlight. 4 screws.
• Cut the zip tie that is retaining the bundle of wires.
• Locate the connector at the end of the wiring bundle that comes from the left control unit. Find the 3 wires, which are reversed if the connector is facing down. See  attachment.
• Cut back some of the plastic sheathing to expose more wire. Cut the 3 wires, and install the crimped connectors that come with the unit. Consult the instructions to get the right ones. Use a proper crimping tool.
• Look to the left of the wiring bundle to find the cigarette lighter shaped 12V power. Remove some electrical tape to expose more wire. Install the vampire-like tap connectors. (There might be a better switched 12V power source, but this was conveniently located.
• Connect up and test the unit as described in the instructions. If you disconnected the wiring bundle, don't forget to reconnect it before testing.
• Finish the connections.
• Turn on the ignition, and test it. Note that you may have to press pretty hard to the left or right to get the blinker to come on.
• Route the control unit to the left, into the space under the storage. Route the cable bundle behind the metal bracket at the front of the space. If you put it behind, then the storage box won't be able to go down properly.
• There's a squarish box in the front of the space. Maybe that's the DC voltage converter? The right side isn't quite flat, but is a good mounting point. I taped a 1/4" chunk of wood to the control unit so that it would sit more flat against that box. Then I daisy-chained 2 zip ties around that box to secure the control unit. I did that again with some zip ties of my own to double-secure it.
• Check the left-right handlebar movement to make sure that the cables don't pull.
• Re-assemble the motorcycle.

Some thoughts on the unit:

• There should be an accelerometer in the unit, and it should be able to self-calibrate about which way it's oriented relative to gravity. That would make the installation much easier. As it is, we have to route the wires back and then forward in a "U" shape so that the unit can point forward.
• The unit is very good about detecting normal stop-turns. It's not as good about detecting lane changes at speed. If the blinker is left running, then you have two choices (1) wait about 10-15 seconds for the timer to cancel it, (2) briefly flip your hazards on/off. The normal cancel doesn't work because it is based on the "locking" feature of the switch, which has been disabled.
• I was worried that the spacers inside the switch wouldn't stop it from locking in position. It turns out that I have exactly the opposite problem... I have to mash pretty hard to the left or right for the signal to start. In fact, after I got it wired up my tests failed because I didn't push hard enough. I'm hoping that it softens up a bit over time. If not, I might have to open it back up and replace the shims with thinner ones.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the installation process. I only thought about posting instructions after it was all done.

I might do an update to this post after I've lived with it for a while.

If anyone can recommend a good after market traction control system, how to upgrade the engine, etc., perhaps I can get an SR/S "One Piece at a Time" ().

Hi all,

I'm installing a turn signal controller into my 2015 Zero DS. It will automatically cancel my turn signal. This one: https://safer-turn.com/smart-turn-system/

The instructions say that I need to intercept the 3 wires for the left, right, and flasher. But the left side controls go into a bundle of 9 wires. See attached pic. Does anyone know where I can find out which of these wires are the ones I want?

Or should I just jam a pin in the back of the connector, and use my voltmeter while I fiddle with the controls?

Thanks,
David

Hi all,

I bought my 2015 Zero DS used. The previous owner shortened the tail. But I installed the Givi side cases, and need the longer tail for it to look right.

Does anyone know where I can get the stock tail? I also tried getting the rain guard tail, but Zero doesn't sell it any more.

Thanks,
David