ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: Electric Terry on March 26, 2015, 08:25:18 PM
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Hit 75,000 all electric miles on my Zero yesterday! I've loved every day I've had it!
If you're waiting to get one for some reason, every day you wait will be a day you can never get back, just remember that. ;)
more pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/ElectricTerry (https://www.facebook.com/ElectricTerry) including one at 75,000 exactly, lol but it was taken at 70 mph so....
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CONGRATULATIONS TERRY!!! 8)
Trikester
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Congrats, buddy! Looking forward to riding with you again this summer!
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Pfft, you lot may gush over it, but I won't be impressed until Terry hits 100k...
Nah, just kidding, that's good going indeed.
Shows that the 2012's have it in them.
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battery deg??????
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Awesome Terry!
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Tell us how the battery charges. Have you noticed any loss of range? When the battery does deplete will all the bars still show full or will the 11th charge bar not light up...eventually, or is it just that each of the 11 bars discharges a little sooner than when the bike was new but all of them light up on a full charge?
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I did a full discharge/charge test a month ago. After dividing the two numbers (original vs current) the battery still has 99.4% of its original capacity. This is after about 2500 charges, although many of those are just quick 10 minute top offs. At this rate these batteries could probably go a half million miles or more before there is any noticeable loss in range, and even then they will still work fine for most uses. I think real soon people will realize battery life isn't an issue anymore.
If the batteries will last longer than a motor or transmission in a gas car before they blow up and need to be replaced it's actually a reason to buy an electric vehicle. In fact there's a good argument never to buy a gas car, as you know after 100,000 miles the transmission will fail and 150,000 the motor will need to be replaced. Electric vehicles don't have these problems.
We are so used to cars breaking down and service stations all over the place we forget how awful and problematic gas vehicles really are until you ride electric for a while and realize you'd never go back to gas ever again, and wonder why everyone else on the road puts up with a gas vehicle and doesn't get an EV. They just must not be informed yet is all I can think.
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It does make you wonder how EV dealers (and especially electric motorcycle dealers) will be able to stay in business. The motorcycle dealers in my area seem to be making a bundle on servicing and repair work. There is always at least 20 or 30 IC motorcycles lined up in the street waiting to be worked on. My daughter just made an appointment yesterday to get her BMW R65LS looked over (it is leaking gasoline) by a local independent mechanic and will have to wait 30 days before he can get to it. He is that busy.
But what will franchised electric motorcycle dealers do to make ends meet if EVs require very little maintenance or repair in the future? Unless you are someone like Harlan who can provide specialized after-sales service and modifications, I don't know how most shops will be able to stay in business, without letting IC parts and servicing income subsidize the EV's lack of regular (and expensive) servicing. ???
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It does make you wonder how EV dealers (and especially electric motorcycle dealers) will be able to stay in business.
Personally, I have a budget for my vehicle that now goes into upgrades [2014 brakes and heated grips, recently], but I'm sure without prompting that I do not go to the dealer now. I'm still saving money overall and definitely saving time.
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Richard, I think we're still a ways away from that scenario. Eventually dealers will have to deal with making less money off service.
You could ask Harlan about it. He's already selling/servicing all electric vehicles. I think there is less service, but as we already know, there is some service necessary.
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At some point, I'll want a new Zero even if mine is still good because the new ones have more range, better this, cooler that, ... Kind of like cell phones. And I'll fine someone who's willing to buy mine because I'm selling for less than a new one. Like cell phones. I'm sure dealers will be just fine.
Terry, I like your $$ argument though! I'd be interested in seeing the numbers for two comparable vehicles (one electric and one IC).
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I'm not so sure about these motorcycles needing less service. There are a fair number of people who have had significant warranty work done....like chargers and battery packs replaced for example. Fast forward to when the bikes are off warranty and that work is going to be very expensive. We all hope the major components go a very long time and 75,000 miles on a bike is outstanding, but the jury is still out about long-term reliability and maintenance costs. My 2011 S motor burned out and that replacement after warranty would have been $1 thousand or so. Scheduled maintenance costs are certainly less expensive on electric bikes.
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I was just speculating on the future of the retail business once the technology and the EV market matures.
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I don't put on the miles like Terry but I take my FX and my e-trike (Zero powered) into very remote and wild places solo (that's alone, nobody else, nada persons). I place a lot of trust in these electric vehicle systems. I'm retired EE so of course I know that any electrical system can fail but I'm betting on high odds against e-drive failure. \
When I used to do this with ICE powered bikes and trikes I would start thinking about all of the dozens of rapidly moving parts I needed to get me back.
Oh, and I'm 80 years old, another factor, my body could quit before my e-bikes do (more likely and replacement parts harder to get and a lot more expensive).
Trikester
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I'm not so sure about these motorcycles needing less service. There are a fair number of people who have had significant warranty work done....like chargers and battery packs replaced for example.
My 2014 has been in the shop more than I'd like to see, but honestly, it's not terribly unexpected. Zero is still a very young company, and EVs in general are still in their infancy. Tesla is proving that even if you have the resources of an Elon Musk to throw into the ring, there can (and probably will) still be teething problems.
The ICE vehicle industry has a 100 year head start on EVs. It might take a few years to catch up with that.
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I see in the news today that BMW is recalling 40,000 motorcycles that are in danger of having the rear wheel fall off.
Oops!
Trikester
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I see in the news today that BMW is recalling 40,000 motorcycles that are in danger of having the rear wheel fall off.
Oops!
Trikester
City Bike magazine says the number is 300,000! :o opps, opps, opps. ::) The reason is that they claim that owners of the affected R and K bikes (2003 to 2011) tend to over-tighten the flange bolts causing the rear drive housing to fracture. You just can't trust motorcycle owners to work on their own bikes. ::)
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I suppose some of the touring riders have 75,000 miles on their bikes, but there are probably less than 1% of the running bikes out there with that many miles on them. It's really a tribute to 2 things: 1) that it is possible to tour with a Zero, and 2) more importantly, the components, including the battery pack, should give you many years of service. Amazing how the general public thinks you replace the batteries on electric motorcycles. Maybe Terry could become a spokesman for Zero like Jared Fogle does for Subway and show up from time to time in their commercials...100,000 miles and still going, 150,000 miles and still going.
As recalls go, replacing rear axles and axle nuts if that's what they do shouldn't be so bad. Piaggio a few years ago had to replace fuel pumps across several years, makes, and models of scooters. Must have cost them a lot. At least they are doing it. Some companies try to deny there even is a problem.