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Not your usual Zero questions

M

MotoCat

New member
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Location
Bay Area
Moto(s)
Yes
Okay, let's get it out of the way that electric motorcycles are too expensive, take forever to charge and don't have enough range.

I'm thinking of going electric-only and am looking for opinions on new 2017 Zeros.

S or FXS for city riding? Are the removable battery packs of the FXS convenient for daily charging away from the bike?

Is the federal tax credit gone for 2017? Not a deal breaker but no tax credit and the same MSRP is kind of a bummer.

I'm not planning to do any adv rides but how is the suspension, brakes and comfort for 2-up city riding? How much would range be affected with 2-up riding?

Regarding maintenance - "drive motor commissioning and timing"...does this mean it will need to go to the factory every 8,000 miles?
 
If you are not tall, I would get the ZERO S ZF13.0 with 122 miles 'combined' range.

Go for more range, because even if you buy it for X, you will have fun on it and quickly want to do X+Y.

The ZERO FXS ZF6.5 MODULAR has 68 miles of "combined' range.

That is not enough form me since I speed on the highway which is really aerodynamically inefficient, so it sucks down the range. Range doubles from highway to riding the backroads of the Santa Cruz mountains.

"MODULAR" has the hot swap batteries. I think that is a lot of hassle, but it may work for you.

Federal Tax credit is gone for electric motos, but California has a $900 clean air rebate for a limited time.

I'm a short 5'6", so the S/SR fits me well. Its bars are not that wide or high so it splits lanes well under the mirrors of pickup trucks. I think tall people complain about the size.

You can test ride Zeros at San Jose BMW/Zero or at the headquarters in Scotts Valley.

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-fxs/specs.php

Range is not affected by 2 up riding.

I don't know about the motor timing maintenance. Mine does not require that. Sounds lame. Maybe more info here on EMF:
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?board=35.0

Guess where this is:
2017_zero-fxs_outdoors-09_777x555_gallery.jpg
 
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artyom666 said:
Unless you riding downhill it's not true.
Click to expand...


Power to overcome aerodynamic drag on a motorcycle a much bigger factor than the weight of the moto+riders+gear. Aero drag exponential with respect to speed.

My areo 2000 Honda Insight will coast down Highway 17 at ~65 MPH, but My Zero might do ~30 MPH coasting.


A naked motorcycle has a "drag area" of ~.5 m^2, which is very close to a 2000 Honda Insight, but a 2-up motorcycle is less than half the weight.
 
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Not to sidetrack , but I loose about 10% MPG on my tiger 800 riding 2up. Should be about the same for zero bike.
 
I rode the SR and the FXS last summer and I liked them both. I don't think the suspension is great, but the brakes are OK. They would be on my list for upgrades for sure. The range on the FXS is really significantly lower than the SR.
 
artyom666 said:
Not to sidetrack , but I loose about 10% MPG on my tiger 800 riding 2up. Should be about the same for zero bike.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I lose zero mpg on my BMW GSADV no matter how much weight I carry. The variances for me are how much city riding I do and how fast I ride. Surprisingly, it gets its best when im off pavement. However, it is about as aerodynamic as a billboard.

I'd rock an electric bike if there was one that had the range I desire. Zeros are cool.
 
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Guess where the pic above is...I give up! I'm guessing somewhere in the Bay Area. Can you narrow it down to North Bay, East Bay, etc?

To those who have an electric bike as your only bike, do you miss silly things like shifting and the sound of the exhaust note?
 
The SR I rode was small, but not uncomfortable by any means. The FX fit me better being 6ft tall.

I think if you're just wanting a super short distance play thing, go FX. If you want any semblance of practicality, go S.
 
GordonGekko said:
Guess where the pic above is...I give up! I'm guessing somewhere in the Bay Area. Can you narrow it down to North Bay, East Bay, etc?

To those who have an electric bike as your only bike, do you miss silly things like shifting and the sound of the exhaust note?
Click to expand...


Its on a bike path.

Its on the Guadelupe River Trail and Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose. The Adobe building is right there.
 
I love my fxs for city riding, commuting and weekend jaunts. the long travel suspension is nice for our off road like pavement in the city.
 
With no federal tax credit and no adjustment to msrp, it will be interesting to see how it affects sales. That's $1000-1500 that you could be getting back.
 
GordonGekko said:
Guess where the pic above is...I give up! I'm guessing somewhere in the Bay Area. Can you narrow it down to North Bay, East Bay, etc?

To those who have an electric bike as your only bike, do you miss silly things like shifting and the sound of the exhaust note?
Click to expand...

I don't miss shifting and clutching.

I have owned my Zero for ~1.5 years. Last August, I went to Portland rented a Triumph Tiger and put ~1000 miles moto camping with my cousin and a friend through the amazing Washington Cascades. Shifting, clutching and idling seems like a Rube Goldberg machine, but I still can do it better than most riders and the Tiger was great. I don't miss it. I would rather focus on staying alert on the road, turning, braking, power - AKA throttle.

I have a theory that with a much more quiet moto, less feathers are ruffled on the roadway.

"He can't be going that fast, I don't even hear anything"
 
I don't miss shifting. I don't miss the sound of the engine. Being in stealth mode is its own sort of cool. It's like shooting a gun vs shooting a gun with a silencer.

I've done some really stupid things on the bike and no one bats an eye cause its quite.
 
R3DS!X said:
I've done some really stupid things on the bike and no one bats an eye cause its quiet.
Click to expand...

I feel like this should be the main pitch for electric bikes - it's certainly why I'm excited to try one.
 
R3DS!X said:
I love my fxs for city riding, commuting and weekend jaunts. the long travel suspension is nice for our off road like pavement in the city.
Click to expand...

Do you have the modular version? How much does each power pack weight? Is it something I can throw in a backpack or will I need a hand truck to carry it inside?
 
I have the modular version. Never removed the battery.
 
i'm enjoyingy first E-bike. Definitely not something that would be my primary transport but is very handy to have a full tank every morning and not worry about stopping to refuel.

Also the new 2017 Zeros just had a recall go out regarding the ABS system needing to be reprogrammed. Make sure it is taken care of at some point.

Also Zero just came out with new guidelines to not leave bikes plugged in and charging, they now reccomend unplugging after reaching full charge.

My 13 DS has been a fun bike!
 
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