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[ZeroPointZero]

My wife and I purchased 2 of the 2014 DS models. Her's has been great, outside of a contactor failure on the ride out of the dealer (I dropped off the bike, and the manufacturer delivered it to my home, 40 miles away).  Mine has experienced chronic charging indicator problems, but we can live with that. We also keep them unplugged, remembering to plug in the night before a ride.

Model Year- 2014
Model- DS
Purchase date (mo/yr)- ~07/2014
Mileage- ~1500
Modifications? If so, what?- Changed tires upon purchase.
Primary terrain during use? touring through the Santa Cruz mountains
Max/min/average ambient temperatures during use- 70s-90s.

We always return, after 3-4 hours of riding, with >30% charge, since most speeds are under 45 mph.

So I noticed a lot of folks unplugging their bikes for extended periods of time, but the owners manual says to keep the bike plugged in for the best battery performance.  I have an amp/watts in line meter and when my bike is 100% its barely pulling 1-5 Watts and voltage is in the single digits as well.  I understand the BMS does some sort of cell balance cycle on occasion too.  I have my ICE bike on a battery tender, because if not the damn thing struggles to start if it sits for more than a week (parasitic power drain probably).  Considering the negligible energy usage when the zero hits 100%, Im leaving mine plugged in per the manual...

[ZeroPointZero]

Model Year-  '16
Model- SR
Purchase date (mo/yr)-  10/16
Mileage-  600ish
Modifications? If so, what?- windscreen and trunk
Primary terrain during use (city, highway, dirt, combo, etc)- Highway
Max/min/average ambient temperatures during use- 90/40/75F

Only issues thus far are the wobbly ass front wheel that still needs balanced, and the dash flashed all weird once after initial power up around 300 miles on the odo. I emailed the logs to Zero and the nice rep said I might need to reprogram.  Im waiting to see if it happens again, so far so good.  Other than that, giving the electric motorcycle presentation to slacked jawed on lookers is getting a bit repetitive... 

[NanoMech]

I have my ICE bike on a battery tender, because if not the damn thing struggles to start if it sits for more than a week (parasitic power drain probably).  Considering the negligible energy usage when the zero hits 100%, Im leaving mine plugged in per the manual...

I don't understand the "starting" reference,,, and assume it won't boot correctly when keying the power, a more serious problem than parasitic power loss while sitting. Our DS bikes are unplugged for 1-6 weeks during travel or cool weather, and power loss is very minor, as measured by the display, usually less than 1%/week.

[clay.leihy]

I have my ICE bike on a battery tender, because if not the damn thing struggles to start if it sits for more than a week (parasitic power drain probably).  Considering the negligible energy usage when the zero hits 100%, Im leaving mine plugged in per the manual...

I don't understand the "starting" reference,,, and assume it won't boot correctly when keying the power, a more serious problem than parasitic power loss while sitting. Our DS bikes are unplugged for 1-6 weeks during travel or cool weather, and power loss is very minor, as measured by the display, usually less than 1%/week.

Just in case you're not kidding... He did say "ICE" bike. I remember those. The battery turned a "starter" that would turn the gasoline engine to make it "start" running. It's a mechanical version of "booting up". My last ICE bike seemed to also use its battery while doing nothing, and like ZeroPointZero I also leave my Zero plugged in when idle at home.

[ZeroPointZero]

I have my ICE bike on a battery tender, because if not the damn thing struggles to start if it sits for more than a week (parasitic power drain probably).  Considering the negligible energy usage when the zero hits 100%, Im leaving mine plugged in per the manual...

I don't understand the "starting" reference,,, and assume it won't boot correctly when keying the power, a more serious problem than parasitic power loss while sitting. Our DS bikes are unplugged for 1-6 weeks during travel or cool weather, and power loss is very minor, as measured by the display, usually less than 1%/week.

Just in case you're not kidding... He did say "ICE" bike. I remember those. The battery turned a "starter" that would turn the gasoline engine to make it "start" running. It's a mechanical version of "booting up". My last ICE bike seemed to also use its battery while doing nothing, and like ZeroPointZero I also leave my Zero plugged in when idle at home.

What Clay said... 

[benswing]

My 2014 Zero SR with power tank was perfect during a 8,640 mile road trip this past summer!  The only issue was a broken belt, but that was my fault for riding in the dirt and getting a rock caught up in there.  Otherwise riding through the heat, rain, wind, altitudes, fast charging, etc. worked out great! 

I had plenty of challenges along the way, but the bike was completely reliable and rock solid!  (The challenges all involved securing and executing fast charging with 3rd party chargers.  The onboard charger worked like a champ!)

So were you able to fast charge with a power tank installed?  I thought the two were mutually exclusive?

Yes, I fast charged all the way across the US using a Power Tank, Elcon fast chargers and a Supercharger.  Charging rates up to 11kW.

[ZeroPointZero]

My 2014 Zero SR with power tank was perfect during a 8,640 mile road trip this past summer!  The only issue was a broken belt, but that was my fault for riding in the dirt and getting a rock caught up in there.  Otherwise riding through the heat, rain, wind, altitudes, fast charging, etc. worked out great! 

I had plenty of challenges along the way, but the bike was completely reliable and rock solid!  (The challenges all involved securing and executing fast charging with 3rd party chargers.  The onboard charger worked like a champ!)

So were you able to fast charge with a power tank installed?  I thought the two were mutually exclusive?

Yes, I fast charged all the way across the US using a Power Tank, Elcon fast chargers and a Supercharger.  Charging rates up to 11kW.

Thanks Ben, so I assume you documented how you hooked all that up so us neophytes can duplicate your handiwork?   

[benswing]

Yes, I fast charged all the way across the US using a Power Tank, Elcon fast chargers and a Supercharger.  Charging rates up to 11kW.

Thanks Ben, so I assume you documented how you hooked all that up so us neophytes can duplicate your handiwork?   

You bet I did!  Here is the first of 25 videos from my 4 Corners of the USA trip this past summer. 



This one focuses on the equipment and the others focus on the journey itself.  It is very easy to set it all up, the charging equipment is plug and play from Hollywood Electrics.  I'm not an engineer, just a guy who loves road trips and electric motorcycles!