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Messages - aelwero

Pages: [1] 2
1
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: 2012 Zeros Recalled!
« on: May 05, 2018, 02:53:42 AM »
Quote from: Richard230 on May 05, 2018, 02:09:07 AM
I just returned from my Zero dealer, where I spoke with the shop's business manager.  She said that all of the dealers participated in a webinar the other day and were told that the recall letters would be sent out on May 11.  Apparently, she must have been confused with the date of the start of bike retrievals.  She said that the shop would make arrangements to pick it up at your home.  She also said that there were some paperwork procedures that would have to be accomplished during the transfer of the title back to Zero.  She also said that the refund checks would be sent to the dealership and they could be picked up there once the check arrives (whenever that is). I can see how this process might be a little confusing until it is performed a few times.

Screwed some more...  my zero dealer opted out of supporting zeros not long after selling me one.  Couldnt get a firmware check, couldn't get diagnostics, couldn't get ****.  I got 7k miles out of my 2012.  Put a new hall sensor in last year, got a couple hundred more miles, then it was back to being glitchy and unridable.  If they give me 6k for it, I'll have spent over a dollar a mile on it :(

Having said all that, if the buy assist is enough, I'll throw more money down the money pit on the slim hope of having a reliable electric bike... I friggin loved the 7,000 miles I managed to get in...

If they send the check to my "dealer" though, I'm probably screwed, and I'll just keep the damn thing.

2
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / aftermarket maybe?
« on: April 02, 2016, 09:27:40 AM »
so...  I have a 12S, and it's starting to look my encoder is toast.  Went to my dealer to have em plug it up and all, and they have decided they aren't a zero dealer anymore, and they won't do anything.  I rather like my bike, it's been modded a fair amount, and since the warranty is up, I'm up for modding it a bit more (specifically, I'd rather like to have the controller mounted above the battery, with a "tank" for storage over it, and a saddle style seat, as the zero platform just screams "modern bobber" to me... there can just be so little to it)

So now I'm looking at a 6 hour trip just to get diagnostics ran, and the normal leave it sit until who knows how long, for who knows what, at whatever cost, out of warranty, at the mercy of the manufacturer, and I can't help but wonder what would stop me from just getting an aftermarket controller and motor and simply making it MY software that I can just plug into my own laptop and skip all this "official" crap? 

Montenergy and sevcon make products that are DIY friendly, so can I just replace everything after the battery and sort it out myself?  As near as I can tell, that would run me around $3k, and leave me with ZERO reliance on zero... 

thoughts?   I know absolutely that I can physically make it all work together, but is the battery just a battery, or am I going to run into some weird proprietary crap that will prevent a different controller from working with it?

3
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Accessory Port
« on: September 25, 2014, 01:47:06 AM »
I have a surface mount USB port I got at autozone for $15 or so.  wired straight off the accessory fuse on the fuse block.  Took all of 30 minutes to install it.


4
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: **reserved** potential resolution for continuing motor glitches
« on: September 20, 2014, 03:29:45 AM »
My 2012 S  has done the "growl" occasionally.  Maybe a total of ten times in 3K miles.

It has shut off in motion only once (on the freeway, naturally) cycled off/on no problem.

It also, once, would cycle, jerk a couple feet, then cut out.  Did it 20-30 times over 20 minutes or so, and I had actually called the old lady to bring the truck even.  I reseated the fuses in front (I've replaced the plastic "tank" with a tank bag and added a USB port underneath it, so that may have been a factor) and it worked fine after that, so probably not "glitch" but in the ballpark :)

5
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Broken rear tail light support bracket
« on: September 09, 2014, 08:43:45 PM »
Quote from: ColoPaul on June 15, 2014, 02:54:49 AM
This seems like a good thread to add this to.

I have now had the plastic supporting the rear turn signal break, the first about a month ago, the other side today.
The pictures show today's break, and the repair I made about a month ago to the other side (epoxy and a cut piece of reinforcing plastic).
When I repaired the first side, I did inspect the other side carefully, and found no damage or cracks, so when it goes, it goes pretty quick.

I'm 100% sure I did not clip a fixed object with either turn signal.  Anyone else have this happen?

removed all the plastic before any had a  chance to break, but one of my tailights actually snapped in half at the flexible rubber part.

6
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Total Miles on Zero Motorcycles
« on: July 28, 2014, 08:16:44 AM »
Quote from: BrianTRice on July 25, 2014, 05:06:44 AM
Quote from: aelwero on July 25, 2014, 02:31:42 AM
taking a few liberties with your document...  hope it's ok...  I'm just one of those excel guys.

added a column for purchase date, so that the math can calculate miles/day ridden since purchase...  better representation than by using model year, especially with a few us having bought 2012 models this year :)   also extrapolated the formulae to the end of the sheet, so it will work for any new folks that fill it in. 

for those who put purchase date in comments, I added the info in the new column, so your math is correct.  for the others I'll simply copy the model year over, and your new math will match your old math, and updating the purchase date will update the miles/day to new math.


If you guys have any special requests for it, let me know, I'm pretty good at this spreadsheet/math thing :)

Thanks! I had tried to do this myself, but Google Spreadsheets documentation was inadequate, and I'm typically a coder not a spreadsheet wiz.


google docs is a little weird because of right click limitations, but it follows typical spreadsheet formula systems close enough to sort out if you're into that kinda thing :)

debated fixing it for like 15 minutes actually.  usually don't "take over" with something like that, but it was pretty obvious where the math was trying to go, and I knew I could fix it easily, so I sorta took off with it a little.  good to hear nobody is upset by it ;)

7
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Extending Range with LED bulbs ?
« on: July 25, 2014, 02:36:11 AM »
you'll have to change your flasher module to an electronic one.  autozone has them on the shelf.  the stock one will blink super fast with LED bulbs.

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3608.0

8
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Total Miles on Zero Motorcycles
« on: July 25, 2014, 02:31:42 AM »
taking a few liberties with your document...  hope it's ok...  I'm just one of those excel guys.

added a column for purchase date, so that the math can calculate miles/day ridden since purchase...  better representation than by using model year, especially with a few us having bought 2012 models this year :)   also extrapolated the formulae to the end of the sheet, so it will work for any new folks that fill it in. 

for those who put purchase date in comments, I added the info in the new column, so your math is correct.  for the others I'll simply copy the model year over, and your new math will match your old math, and updating the purchase date will update the miles/day to new math.


If you guys have any special requests for it, let me know, I'm pretty good at this spreadsheet/math thing :)

9
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: DS mods
« on: July 25, 2014, 01:46:37 AM »
remove the charger...  20lbs...  hm...   that would be cheaper than buying the 1772 adapter so I can use public stations.  I currently am "locked in" to charging only at home, because all the public stations here are sans 110 outlets :/

I'm apparently quite the minimalist...  my entire tail section and all the plastic are removed.  planning to remove the rear seat horns, relocate controller on top of the battery, and fab a much lower seat, so that I can eventually create or buy a short windscreen and have both as little weight as possible, and a smaller and mildly streamlined front cross section. 

pushing air takes a lot of electrons... a one sq ft home fabbed plexi square made a noticable improvement in economy.  Sounds odd, but it helps on the freeway quite a bit :)

10
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Advice please - I need help convincing my wife...
« on: July 25, 2014, 01:35:41 AM »
Quote from: WindRider on July 22, 2014, 12:30:29 AM
My 2 cents on this debate:  your wife and child are more important than any motorcycle, and I am an admitted motorcycle junkie as well as a husband and Dad. 

Life is about choices and deciding to be a husband and a Dad will involve sacrifice. 

Sell your gasser and buy a Zero or forget about it.  Work overtime or save the money, don't finance it. 

Put your wife and kid's future first and pay for your motorcycle addiction with cash. 

I had a Zero DS as my only motorcycle for a season and it satisfied 90% of my motorcycle needs and desires and a year later I added a cheap gasser to the stable with cash for the rest. 

There are always deals to find on Zeros if you are patient and have cash.   Your wife should outlast any motorcycle you buy so don't fight her on it. 

My 2 cents, full face value.

can support this in the other direction :)

I own a 1971 DJ5B (postal jeep), and I'll never get rid of it because it's awesome :)  for the family car, it's always been whatever fit well...  silverado, olds delta 88, and the one vehicle my wife agreed to buy new.  a 2010 wrangler 4 door. everybody fit, it was offroadable, kids loved it, went on many fishing trips with everybody along for the ride, just a really nice all around family vehicle. 

after our 4th child was born, not enough seats...  bought an old mark 3 van, and the new jeep just became my work/play vehicle, and got reduced to "toy" status.  at $30K, getting 11mpg, on $1,500 tires, it was just no longer reasonable, not for a "toy status" vehicle, so I traded it for a zero.  Still pretty fun, but with trade, reduction of insurance, and gas, that thing is paying me.  I ride it everywhere.  rain, desert windstorms, triple digit heat...  bring it on...  every mile puts more money in the budget :)

occasionally, I miss my jeep, but I still have the old one, and I can afford college for the oldest :)  maybe when she's left and off on her own the van can get traded for something fun again, but for now, I'm not paying for gas, and my wife and kids are worth it :)

11
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: Two identical Zero DS 2012s, sorta
« on: July 18, 2014, 01:09:25 AM »
Quote from: ColoPaul on July 12, 2014, 08:18:10 AM
Quote from: Doug S on July 12, 2014, 02:04:39 AM
The range on my SR improved by an honest 20% (maybe even closer to 25%) when I added my Slipstreamer.
Isn't a Slipstreamer just a big plastic windscreen?
Yep.
20% is hard to believe.  Here's why I think that:  If Zero could get 20% improved range (170 miles is now 200+) by shipping the bike with $150 (retail) $30 (wholesale) fairing, why wouldn't they?  In the EV game where range means so much, what's $30? 
2kWh in batteries to get the same 20% range increase would add thousands to the cost of the bike.

I think this is a realistic estimate personally...  I made a small windscreen, basically an upside down triangle with the sides rounded to make it rigid, and that single square foot of plexi diverting air upwards off my chest made an actual noticeable difference at freeway speeds.  not only is it "growling" at higher speed, but the temp indicator takes around 30% more distance at max speed to turn on. 

As far as why zero doesn't ship with fairings, I totally agree with you that it doesn't add up.  It could be a marketing thing...  more folks might be amenable to buying them if they look more like a normal motorcycle.  Appearances are a big thing for vehicles.  hard to say for sure though :)

12
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: 2012 SR vs 2013 S
« on: June 27, 2014, 07:57:11 PM »
everything about this makes me think of guys in the 40's/50's chopping their fenders off, putting in cutouts, dropping a merc engine in their ford buckets...

we're totally starting a whole new history :) 

13
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: 2011 Zero X Gearing Question
« on: June 20, 2014, 12:23:32 AM »
Quote from: motorfiets on June 18, 2014, 06:27:25 PM
Quote from: aelwero on June 18, 2014, 08:35:36 AM
and increasing the amount of torque you have to produce when you start from a stop.

Are you saying having more torque (i.e. - 71T sprocket) will drain the battery quicker than say a 51T?

only when accelerating from what's been explained to me, but I've never had the chance to sit down and pick the brain of an EV guru... I looked into converting my jeep, and being so short, it would be a ton easier to make it direct drive, but the limitation has been explained to me as "more weight = more torque required to overcome inertia = power consumed with less efficiency"...

still trying to get my brain wrapped around wattage being a replacement for HP...  I understand the "volume vs flow" for volts and watts/amps, but when you try to bring it over and equate it with an EV and torque/HP, it starts looking like apples/oranges to me :)

The "pushing air" thing is my own observation.  It only took me about a week to realize that air becomes a really big deal at freeway speeds, and going through vetter's webpage recently solidified that pretty well for me. 

14
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: destroyed!!
« on: June 19, 2014, 11:40:54 PM »
lol...  dealer here still has "new old stock" 2012's...  that alone makes the suggestion seem really unlikely in EV1 context :)

If the frames are the same, I could see them repurposing old frames to meet demand for the new models, because they're notably better, making "new old stock" sales even less likely, not to mention the 2012's on the road now will need the other parts eventually, but as far as a circus like the EV1 debacle goes, I just don't see it happening in today's climate and economy...   

Government is actually leaning way in the other direction and putting more money into alternative energy than it will ever get back out...  Fort Bliss is being covered in solar panels in a huge bid to be the first "zero energy" military installation.  we got fields full of panels, and over half the roofs got panels.  They're getting close to a net zero consumption from city power (which is awesome, don't get me wrong), but the return on it will take a very long time, if ever, if you account for the maintenance and personnel to keep it going that long.

15
Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older / Re: 2011 Zero X Gearing Question
« on: June 18, 2014, 08:35:36 AM »
pretty sure the main losses in range will be from pushing air harder at top speed (for something so light, air sure uses up some energy to move...),  and increasing the amount of torque you have to produce when you start from a stop.  I think the difference in energy from the RPM's is actually very negligible. 

I'm totally new though and could be way off, so smart guys... how close am I? :)


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