Zero DS small improvements

[Erasmo]

Hi all,

After riding motorcycles a few years earlier this year I've bitten the bullet and bought a Zero DS.
It is now being used for errands an fooling around locally but I'm planning to use it for my commute later this year(about 250km one way)
I'm currently working on a fast charging system because I will need to top up at least once and maybe even twice in the winter.

The current range is on the motorway is about 130-160km depending on factors like the weather and my right hand.

It is a really nice bike to ride but as you can see it has the drag of a small house:



I've already tried a windscreen I've ordered from Ebay but that gave wind buffering straight into my helmet, not so comfortable when riding on the motorway!

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The goal is to reduce the drag a bit and make it more comfortable on the motorway. I'm not looking for a Vetter-style full aeromod because I still want to filter through traffic jams and occasionally do a bit of trails and dirt roads.

Current to do-list:
- Finetune fast charging
- When the tires are worn replace them with more road oriented ones
- Get rid of the front fender and install some modest fairing on the front, a bit like this perhaps:



After that work on making the tail a bit slippier while creating a bit of storage.



Now the latter two will take a lot of time because I will need to source and adapt old fairing or even design custom ones.

Perhaps start off with a parabellum windshield to keep at least my helmet out of the wind at higher speeds:

[MobilOne]

Your modification ideas for your bike make a lot of sense. Go for it.

[Erasmo]

Thanks, although the fairing part is a long term thing.
Experiments on another forum have already shown that a proper screen can reduce consumption up to 20% on higher speeds.

[Grant-53]

Running a second charger in parallel cuts the charge time. A tail box doesn't have to be super long just tight to your back.

[Erasmo]

Originally Posted by Grant-53

Running a second charger in parallel cuts the charge time. A tail box doesn't have to be super long just tight to your back.

Working on that. I'm currently prototyping a Chademo top case but have also ordered a Super charger from diginow which should arrive later this month.

[Erasmo]

So if you look at these specs:
Zero S Electric Motorcycle - Specs || ZERO MOTORCYCLES
Zero DS Electric Motorcycle - Specs || ZERO MOTORCYCLES

The difference in range is mostly because of the tires and the front fender. I'm guestimating that with more roadish tires and a proper windscreen 15% extra range should be doable.

[Grant-53]

There are a number of paper model sites that have designs for sport bikes. Some 0.062" ABS plastic would take a fair amount of abuse and is easy to work. At recumbent.com there is a fabulous HPV Shell design program to custom make a body. It can be used for any rider position. Parabellum is run by some very knowledgeable people especially Charlie Perethian.

[Erasmo]

I've mailed Parabellum to ask if they have something interesting lying around.

I'm more interested in adapting a existing fairing from another (scrap)bike then designing and building my own.

For the front side I'm fond of the Yamaha Tenere style fairing, but with a larger windscreen to keep my head out of the wind:


Of course adapted a bit because I don't need no fancy airflow cooling holes:


Now this won't give the super efficiency that you see in some projects here but it would increase the range significantly while retaining agility.

Current stock consumption is about 70-80Wh/km.

[Erasmo]

Meanwhile here's the Chademo top case:

[RedDevil]

Project "From Zero to Aero"...
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