ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

Quote from: vasuvius on May 12, 2019, 03:38:24 AM

Cost of insurance is yet another consideration.

The 2013 F700GS costs me < $300 for full coverage with high liability limits. The Zero DSR would be $1100.

I would suggest shopping around for insurance.  I only have the FXS, but the cost is under $100 for full coverage.  I don't think insurers have figured out where to place electrics in the risk spectrum, so there's a lot of variability.

Where do you live ? I'm in the metro NYC (northern NJ) region which has very high auto insurance rates

Honda DCT bikes are another hand relief option without having to go electric.

Yes. Also a scooter could be a better option with lots of storage room and better weather protection.

I don't think keeping the old bike is an option as I don't want to deal with 'more' stuff. I do have several other commute options - bicycles, car, truck and train. The traffic definitely has me riding a 2-wheeler or taking the train. My office building is right above the Holland tunnel entrance in Jersey city and I'm fighting with the worst of NYC traffic both ways.

I could post this in the general forum but I figured since Zero seems to be the most common electric motorcycle around, this will be my choice if I go ahead.

I commute on an F700GS year round in Northern NJ. My round trip commute is 45 miles and in the evening it’s mostly lane splitting which keeps speeds under 25mph. In the morning, I probably get up to 75mph for about 12-13 miles and the rest is much slower.
On nice dry days, I commute on a road bike (bicycle) instead.

The attraction for an electric motorcycle at this moment is the simplicity of no maintenance and the petroleum/chemical waste products of such maintenance. At 55mpg on the F700GS, my carbon footprint is somewhat mitigated.

I’ve spent the past couple days reading about electric motorcycles, Zero and charging standards, outlets, etc.
I do have a few more questions and thought I would ask here:

1. I ride down to about 20ºF and on occasion down to 10ºF. How badly will the battery range be affected at such low temps ? My garage at work does not have any charging ports. I need to be sure that the bike will start in the evening if I leave home with a full charge in the morning.
2. In the winter, I get a lot of salt on the bike and struggle to clean it off. Is an electric bike likely to handle salt worse or better than an IC motorcycle ? I’ve seen some Harley guys spray anti-corrosion stuff on their bikes but a naked bike like the F700GS makes that not so easy. It is easy to spray the bottom of the Zero with an anti-corrosive?
3. There seems to be complains of dealer / customer service and I notice that there are very few dealers even in the metro NYC area. Has customer service gotten any better in the past couple years ?
4. Accessories - I like heated grips and aux lights to make me more visible on the commute. Anyone run juice guzzling accessories ? And how bad is the impact on range - at the least I’ll add heated grips, LED aux lights - 20 watts ? , extra tail lights.
5. Charger ports - I would install a charger port at home and would like to future proof it for the next car purchase which will be electric in a couple years. NEMA 14-50 seems to be a pretty standard choice for most vehicles. Anything else I need to consider here?
6. The roads are pretty bad around the Jersey City area with moon craters - does the DSR handle bad roads well ?

Thanks in advance for responses. I need to find time to schedule a test ride and then make my decision.

-V
5.