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[BenS]

If you had a chain kit, or a 13 military mmx or your bike set up like thoes/ im sure you wouldnt be scared to offroad it as hard as your other bikes.

Maybe on slow, mild single track, but there's no way I'd hit big, high speed sand whoops or jumps on the FX! Even the KTM E doesn't have a full size chassis like their ICE bikes.

Do you honestly think anyone could race competitively on an FX in a GNCC or Baja race?

I'd love to have a fully race capable (affordable) electric bike, and hopefully they're not too far away from now, but for now, I'm happy with the FX, 'cause it's the only electric bike available to me at the moment, and I can have fun riding straight from my front door without annoying anyone. ZERO didn't intend it to be, nor do I expect it to be a race bike, it's just a fun bike to me.

[Cortezdtv]

They are doing baja on a zero this year....

[SuburbanDad]

They are doing baja on a zero this year....

The Baja 1k?  Link? 

[SuburbanDad]

... ive done numerous things on the bike side and programming side ...


If you had a chain kit, or a 13 military mmx or your bike set up like thoes/ im sure you wouldnt be scared to offroad it as hard as your other bikes.

What kind of things have you done to make it more trail worthy?

[Cortezdtv]

Zero and hollywood electeic have both said something



Look up
Monkeybuisnessproducts on instagram they are h
The ones running the bike

[mrwilsn]

To race on the top levelor be able to performance wize keep up in a pro class is still a few years away IMO, the problem is its very hard to squeeze every last hp out of a gas bike, its easy as hell to tune an electric bike (for the right people just like building a high hp motor) you can bolt on a bigger controller program and walla.... To gain 30% power on a gas bike is extrememly hard.... Easy as a controller upgrade and well punching your batteries in the face with said new controller...

Yes, to an extent.  The current battery tech limits the size of the controller you can use for the FX/FXS.  The reason you get less power with one battery is because when you have two batteries each battery only needs to supply half the current as when you have only one battery.  More current means more power and torque.  The SR and DSR can use a bigger controller because they have 4 batteries to split the current load.  Even though the FXS has the high temp magnets in the motor I don't think the bike could handle a size 6 controller because of the batteries.

The batteries I have seen that are coming in the next 1-3 years increase capacity but don't significantly increase C rating for discharge.  Increase in capacity is great for obvious reasons but you need higher discharge rates to be able to get the most out of a bigger controller.  Or Zero could up the pack voltage which would also decrease the current requirements but they seem pretty content at the pack voltage they are using right now.

That's not to say you wouldn't get better performance if you hooked up a size 6 to an FXS (or FX) but I don't think you will get everything out of the bigger controller without better batteries with a higher discharge rating.  The BMS will protect the batteries from exceeding the recommended max discharge rate but you will really be giving them a beating.....to the face 

[Cortezdtv]

... ive done numerous things on the bike side and programming side ...


If you had a chain kit, or a 13 military mmx or your bike set up like thoes/ im sure you wouldnt be scared to offroad it as hard as your other bikes.

What kind of things have you done to make it more trail worthy?

Changed tires obviously
Chain kit
Hand guards
Left rear brake
Rear shield for rear shock is not a bad investment
Bike towing kit
Dielectric grease all connectors
S motor
(Looking at changing front suspension to showa)
Rear has a fox shock
Mmx agressive pegs


Programming:
Mmx tune, (must do with s motor on fx)
Change isolation fault to ride through fault instead of hard cut then i cant get stuck waiting for water to dry on water crossings
I Used to enjoy a size 6 fx that was shortlived ..... Now im just waiting for zero to make it offically or somethin similar, I beleive the  fx needs 30% more power, this creates the instant "snap" that everyone thinks these bikes should have. Not that they arnt fast already, i just always need more


I have also had the bike 100% apart and back together a few times, so im always checking connections re greasing, makeing sure its up to snuff

[mrwilsn]

In the end you are always chasing something if the controllr doesn't overheat the battery will if the battery doesn't overheat the motor will if the motor doesn't overheat you go all the way back to the controller it's a vicious circle part of racing


The 2 fx bricks can discharge 250 amps each.... Its more than enough to supply a size six id tuned properly.
 Everyone always thinks that matching the amp (controller) to the system is always better I do not believe this at all!!! the bigger amplifier is always going to be better!  Yes you're going to use a little bit more it idle and a tiny bit more on the initial start but overall the larger controllers are much more efficient at the lower amperages that they are  capable of compared to a size for that is maxed out at 440 A mps. To FX bricks can easily take a size 6 all the way up to almost 550 AMps. Yes this is not the maximum potential of the size 6 but you don't need it to get 30% free Percent more out of the FX

  Yes you're right you're not going to get everything out of a size 6 but I think you're underestimating the amount you will get and .....
 Two of the new 3.3 FX bricks can take 100% of a size 6 controller so I completely disagree considering my 2.5's could take 550 of it when I was punching them in the face.  Can't even imagine a 660 amp FX that is a bike that nothing will be able to keep up with!  I always thought that the 550 I had was fucking bad ass.  If I had a new 3.3 FX I make a real race bike!!!! I wonder what the fastest production 0-60 time is? .. Because a size 6/8 fx 6.6 would make a sr seem slow.... Stoplight to stoplight something zero cant have happen....

Yeah, I think we are pretty much on the same page. My point was just that there is a limit to how big you can make the controller before you need to turn your attention to something else.

That's awesome that you actually did it....why was it short lived?  I'm surprised that a single brick can provide 250 amps....is that measured or did you get it from data logs or just a spec sheet somewhere?  I was under the impression that the reason Zero doesn't offer a 3 brick SR was because 3 bricks can't provide enough juice to properly drive the size 6.....but maybe it can but they just don't offer it because of safety margin?

[kingcharles]

Some electric race worthy off road bikes are built in Italy by Tacita.

Check their site:
www.tacita.it/

[rayivers]

Some electric race worthy off road bikes are built in Italy by Tacita.

Those look like cool bikes!  I take it this company is still in the 'concept' phase (prototypes, racing, demo rides) and not actually producing any motorcycles for sale to the public yet?

Ray

[acacia1731]

What kind of things have you done to make it more trail worthy?

For me, hand guards are an immediate must have (to protect me, and the controls when I drop the bike).  Here's some info that hopefully helps somebody.

After calling Zero and Cycra, I learned that the $169.99 handguards available from Zero are custom bent versions of standard Cycra products.   I was able to piece together an equivalent set for my 2015 FX, for a total cost of around $135 + shipping (or $113 if you skip the shields).  Details below:

• Bars - $60 (I had to manually bend the right side to get around the front brake reservoir)
  http://cycraracing.com/cycra-7006-12-black-anodized-aluminum-probend-crm-bars-black-plastic-bumpers/
  
• Clamps - $45
  http://cycraracing.com/cycra-1361-12-probend-crm-center-reach-mount-1-1-8-handlebar-clamps-black/
  
• Bar ends - $8
  http://cycraracing.com/cycra-1053-02-probend-bar-end-set-for-composite-and-alloy-probend-handguards/
  
• Shields - $22 (I don't care for shields, so I didn't buy them)
  http://cycraracing.com/cycra-1015-12-replacement-classic-enduro-handshields-black/
  

[BenS]

Some electric race worthy off road bikes are built in Italy by Tacita.

Check their site:
www.tacita.it/

Yeah, they look nice. I couldn't see any info on seat height, weight, or price, though.  It has nice features like a 5 speed gearbox, liquid cooling, nice forks and shock with HI/LO speed compression and progressive linkage, and 300mm front brake disc. I imagine it would be fairly heavy and pricey!

[Christian Frankl]

Hi everybody,

in my opinion the FX has only poor real offroad Qualities compared to my KTM 500 EXC.
If you ride to fast in medium heavy offroad, the motor gets too hot pretty soon, especially with warm outside temperatures.
This comes to a complete stop, if you don´t descend your speed.
But the most worse is the suspension.
The fork is not very sensible and the it has no reseve, if you jump a little bit. (just for your info: My weight is only 70kg)
The rear shock is the same: You can adjust it to be sensible, but then without rest-resource for a hard hit.
Or you adjust it harder, but then without any sensibility.
A progressive rear shock mechanism would have been better here.

To all this comes the very water-sensitive bearings of the wheels and the rear swing. Maybe its only the retaining ring of the bearings, that do a bad job...

Anyway, I have now 3000km on my FX 2013, and I had to change two times the front wheel bearings and one time the rear whell bearings ans well as one time the swing arm.

I have to admit that I do ride in dirty, slashy areas too, because I don´t want to carry my FX over a water-puddle.

So my result is: FX is and motorbike with an enduro look, but better to stay on the asphalt or gravel street. And keep away from water...


Best regards from Bavaria,


Christian

[rayivers]

So my result is: FX is and motorbike with an enduro look, but better to stay on the asphalt or gravel street.

My 2014 2.8 'MX' has worked very well in the dirt for me, but I've done a lot of work on it (especially the suspension), only ride for short time periods (it's never overheated with one battery), and never take it through water.  It's got 1,800 miles / 2,880km on it with no excessive-wear problems so far, but I'm sure I'll have to replace the bearings at some point.

The fact that it's nearly silent has also made it possible to ride in places I couldn't before, which is what I like about it the most.  I'd rather have a good bike I can ride than a great one I can't.

Ray

[acacia1731]

Great reports on your real-world experience Christian and Ray, thanks!

The 2015 model received upgraded bearings and suspension front and rear, hopefully addressing some of your top concerns.

Other than bearings, have you run into any other problems with extreme mud (loss of cooling ability, cleaning, etc)?