Zero DS small improvements
 

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:

http://i.imgur.com/wf0lUTm.jpg

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!

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

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:

http://i.imgur.com/BO2qdKq.jpg

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

http://i.imgur.com/pqW8gTY.jpg

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:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/uploads/m...1441926125.jpg

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:
https://cloud.yamahamotorsports.com/...id=30221&w=840

Of course adapted a bit because I don't need no fancy airflow cooling holes:
http://i.imgur.com/49rC4nG.png

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.

Meanwhile here's the Chademo top case:

http://i.imgur.com/F0YvRKm.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/W2a6nf8.jpg?1

Project "From Zero to Aero"... ;)
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Got a reply from Parabellum, they're interested in making windscreens for Zero's but they need a loaner to design it. Too bad that I live a continent away from them.

Anyway, did some more digging for a nice fairing and suddenly remembered on of Vetters unfinished projects, the Alcan:

http://i.imgur.com/9laHjyZ.jpg

More or less the future generation of the Windjammer. Too bad it never went past the prototype stage because I frigging love the thing.

Small update, I'm now looking to see if I can put an FJR fairing on the Zero.

Found a local listing with an interesting fairing:

http://i.imgur.com/oKypM2g.jpg

Might go for this. It will definitely improve comfort and might give some better aerodynamics on the front side.

Adding a tail box to the FJR fairing should do the trick nicely. The Yamaha Rifle shell from Vetter would be ideal but rather hard to ship from California.

Even just a paper sheet sized windscreen made a 20 km/h difference in top speed on my Honda CB 400 N, plus I no longer had to hold the handlebars like a cliff hanger.

The FJR fairing looks very nice indeed.

Above is not a FJR fairing but an aftermarket fairing for the Honda Revere. First mount that and then we'll work on the tail.
The Yamaha Rifle is nice for economy runs but for commuting and filtering through traffic jams not so. I've looked at a Vetter streamliner but I'm in the market for something more rugged since I do a lot of allroading.

I've experimented with a windscreen and it gives some extra efficiency, about 5Whr/km @ 100 km/h but the buffering goes right into my face.

Usually on gasoline engines, changing the gears will result in largest efficiency gains.
On an electric bike, gear changes are directly related to acceleration and torque, since the bike doesn't have any gears.
Efficiency gains are also minimal, since electric motors don't have that much of more friction at higher rpm, but I would be interested to see if gearing can affect range on these bikes.
More than likely, the bike has plenty of acceleration anyway, so changing the gears by 20% should still give you reasonable acceleration.
If you're lucky, you can find a front belt pulley from another bike, thats slightly larger. If not, you could do a chain conversion, and hope that the gains in gearing doesn't affect the chain over belt losses.

Fast charging through more amps, is a good way to destroy the batteries.
The first 50% might be ok, but after, the slower you charge, the longer the batteries will last.
The only other option is to find a storage space (like under seat, rear storage compartment, side storage), go to bms batteries, and install a battery there, that you can connect to the bike's charging port.
But your bike's weight will increase significantly.

For a windshield, it is best to buy a very curved one.
The curved ones will blast more wind to the side, and leave little bufetting at the face.

Actually I love the belt, no more greasing. Just tighten it every so often and whack a new one on every 40.000km.

Fast charging does not destroy the batteries, it's the heat that comes with it. With correct monitoring and the right profiles charging at 1C and even higher are no problem.

Did a rough mockup of a similar fairing as the red one:

http://i.imgur.com/2CiYdxd.png

Great satar
 

I like what you have started with that fairing, it looks aerodynamic. As for the wind buffeting, you could try a spoiler that attaches to the top of the wind screen. I have heard of good results with them, I'm in the process of figuring out a windshield arrangement for my Honda PCX.

Here is one such example.
Puig Clip-On Windscreen Visor - RevZilla

I raked the windscreens on my bikes down so that my helmet was in the full airstream, but my chest* was in the windshade. At a certain angle the buffeting drops noticeably, which helps of course.
The AM windscreen on my XJ750 was narrow and rounded and could be held fairly upright.
The windscreen on my CB400n was flattish and kept buffeting somewhat even when tilted back strongly. In both cases though my helmet needed to be in full air.

We'll see if it is needed after a few test rides. Should be easy to mod on if needed but I hope not because it is not good for the streamline.

I'm trying to get a bit higher windscreen so me helmet more or less is beneath the buffering. I also ride in the winter so some shading from the wind would be neat.

Cheers from the electric motorcycle forum
 

I'm on a similar track as Erasmo, but haven't been able to coordinate well.

My DSR has a Parabellum windscreen with MRA spoiler, custom mount (tuned for slow airflow over the rider's body), and crude wheel covers.

I'm crossing fingers that the local fabricator I hired can finish up the Airtech dustbin DBL2 mount shortly. I use a kayaking/duffle bag to hold the auxiliary charger in the passenger seat and provide a bit of aerodynamic continuity between my back and the top case.

I use a high-powered AC charger instead of Erasmo's DC CHAdeMO charging kit. These things are temperamental right now, but reliable enough for technical adopters to achieve 400 miles per day while traveling. I hope to raise that figure or reduce the charging hours involved with aerodynamics.

The idea once the dustbin is on is to sculpt some aluminum-skeleton Coroplast around the rear luggage rack for a bit of a tail. Or something like that. I'm digging around intently between the Vetter/Hershner guides and others to piece something together to start with.

I've attached a recent photo.

Here's a shot showing the windscreen arrangement more clearly, in addition to the crash bars which will be adapted to support the dustbin.

Did you lose any efficiency after adding the big windshield?

Not at all. My efficiency and range went up by 10-15% generally. I did spend two months adjusting the mount just to get the best airflow over and around my body. Air quietly runs over the top of my helmet and down my back. I use an aerodynamic backpack to hold my hydration bladder when traveling in addition to the duffle on the passenger seat to close up that gap.

I did make the mount adjustable-length at the lower-end, though, so that in the face of heavy headwinds, I can tilt it down a bit and tuck to maintain that. I usually only use that while traveling; for example, to cross a stretch of Big Sur with 100 miles of no casually-accessible chargers, I took the spoiler off and tucked behind the screen. I got 120 miles of range out of that charge at ~45-55mph through fog and a small headwind.

I should say that I wound up with a long commute this year after switching jobs, and ride an 85 mile round trip along highway 880 which is windy and rough, and sitting straight upright I can usually get 100 miles of projected range at 65-70mph (mph varies based on headwinds).

If the Zero's cockpit space were not as short and small as it is, I'd be able to use a smaller windscreen to get the same effect, and I did start with a smaller screen, then added the spoiler, and then decided to mount the Parabellum.

I forgot to add a relevant note to explain the drag reduction:

There is a three-inch gap between the lower edge of the windscreen and the headlamp, so there's just the right amount of air flowing up from under the screen to minimize the pressure difference at the trailing edge, which keeps down the vortices. I definitely experienced strong vortices in initial testing with a naive lower mount!

My forum thread with the process I went through to make it work satisfactorily (link originally obfuscated because I hadn't made enough posts here yet):

Larger Windscreen: http://www.electricmotorcycleforum.c...php?topic=5525

Dropped the fairing at the panel beater this weekend, the bike will follow soon. Still have to source a new fender but my guy says he should be able to adapt an upside down fork fender to match the mounting holes, which make the search a bit easier.

Ah I've seem to lure you out of the lurking status after 3 years :p I'm waiting for the V2 version of your charger but as you know the development has hit a bit of a rough patch...

I've met another DS owner who's also looking in designing a more cargo oriented tail but for bot of us it is more of a long term project...

How are your wheel covers working out? Can't wait to see the finished dustbin on your bike.

Nice.

Heh, yes. Well I didn't want to speak up until I had a real project going, and while this year certainly has pushed me further into this area than I was prepared to go while I lived in Seattle, there've been a lot of hiccups that delayed my goal.

For the record, I'm only a Supercharger customer who does technical documentation and testing in exchange for early access. But yes there's a V2, I've seen a prototype and looked over the specifications and sourcing, and it has a much better story all around. I think it'll be much more quickly deliverable, too.

So, the rear ABS plastic has been reasonably robust and I've had CAD drawings for fabrication for a while, but my front set were shattered by a rock at highway speeds, which was quite concerning and that's why you see Coroplast in my photos. The Zero front wheel for 2015+ models has 5 stanchions supporting the brake disc on one side as well which makes fitment trickier.

I've decided based on this to make a custom Moon disc order and will clear the stanchions by drilling holes. I'll probably line the edges with rubber trim and backing with a little foam to reduce wear, but I need to work out how to mount them against or through the cast wheel robustly. Probably stainless steel bolts of the right length with nyloc nuts and nylon washers. Any thoughts?

Ref http://www.mooneyesusa.com/product-p/md116mc.htm

Fred Hayes uses the Airtech dustbin and tail section on his Vetter Challenge diesel bike. Some of the other riders noticed he had some wobble at speed so a bit of vertical fin might be useful. Check with low&slow for his input.

Right. He had the MV Agusta fairing:
http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/.../MV1751965.htm
http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/201...Challenge.html

I'm using the DBL2 featured on the CB750:
CB750 CAFE BAGGER DUSTBIN SADDLEBAGS SINGLE OVERHEAD CAM, CB 750, SOHC STREET TRACKER, DIRTTRACK, DIRT TRACK

I mainly picked it because it's already designed around a cutout, and I have the Zero DSR which has a high mudguard by default and wanted to have a fairing that didn't require fundamental frontend rework. Once we started mocking it up, it's been clear that the mudguard swings just underneath it relatively easily, and I'll likely use spacers to push the mudguard down a bit more and bake up some polycarbonate to fill in the cutout in front of the headlamp.

I did manage to show up for the 2016 Vetter Challenge at the Corbin factory, using my windscreen. I *believe* I placed third to David Ewart on his Zero S and Vic Valdez's streamliner, which was fine as a first showing, especially since I was still using the off-road-oriented Pirelli MT-60 tires that came with the bike and no wheel covers. There were also a lot of headwinds and high speed running and I tried my best not to tuck to see how well I could do that way.

I've since replaced my rear tire with a 90/10 Metzler Tourance Next and will get to the front when it wears down... some day... Zero tires wear down very slowly.

Here's my bike as it was set up the day of the challenge.

I had a slightly compromised Givi rack at the time (insurance replaced this rack with a new one on my 2013DS when a car knocked it over pretty hard) and I'd quickly mounted it on the DSR the night before with my Bags-Connection Aero cases, which I like quite a bit and are reasonably aerodynamic. I bought those originally for my V-Strom after noticing the mileage penalty I was paying for the stock TraX case kit Suzuki was selling (TraX reduced 58mpg to 48mpg in headwinds at 65mph, Aero brought it back up to 55mpg).

I've since installed a wider sturdy Happy Trails rack to support a tail or something, but it'd be nice if there were really slim aerodynamic side cases to bolt on, or even slimmer cases to bolt to the inside of the rack and have the outside frame a tail.

Come to think of it, it was seeing Vic's bike in detail that day that inspired me to start with the wheel covers.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...6&d=1480496574

That's interesting. That fairing was designed for Land Speed Racing (LSR), so you would expect it to be extremely stable as speeds increase - especially in that range.

Saw some new specs on the other forum and it looks promising, the possibility to maybe charge above 1C would be amazing.

Hmm I'm holding off moondisks for the moment, I live in an area that has gusty storms. Even on my XJ600 with top case I sometimes have to struggle to stay in my lane.

I'm working on a non-dirt front fender for the DS now, I'll post some stuff when I got results.

Those bags do look good as a temporally solution.

Could be some side winds I guess.. That's on of the main reasons for me not to go dustbin.

Current to list:
- Work on the new front fender
- Find a sealed led headlight that is slightly below 7 inch(the hole in my fairing is a 16,4x16cm oval)
http://i.imgur.com/imx06tI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZuPDM4T.jpg
- Find some led indicators for the front side
- Drop stuff at shop
- Wait
- Enjoy more comfort and hopefully a better range.

LSR runs are done in low or no wind conditions I believe. A dust bin needs enough fin area behind the CG for the center of pressure to keep it stable. Cargo containers count as fin area as well.

My current wheel covers have a noticeable effect but have been ok (the rear makes the bike more stable, really, and then the front takes some of that benefit away). I think the Moon discs would fair better by being a bit less flat.

Looking forward to it. Especially if the result is reproducible.

They're the best I've been able to get my hands on. They are scuffed quite a bit on one side now from a get-off at 5mph (bumped into a car that braked hard right when I was distracted). I'm hoping to dig up something narrower or more streamlined for cheap, or to semi-destructively modify the cases to enclose the mounting plate (holes with grommets made where the mounting struts join) and use the inner waterproof liner bag primarily.

I'm hoping that the DBL2 openings allow enough crossflow to mitigate the risk there. The 2015+ DS suspension is tall enough that crosswind effects are easier to deal with up to a point.

If you can get the shop to provide a parts list and good description of how they did the work, I'd appreciate it! One-off efforts are fine but I feel like making sure efforts are documented to grow our collective knowledge and so each successive effort can start more quickly and hopefully scale.

I'll ask them to document the process, but it is mostly some bracket adapting.

About the fender, I've procured a BMW GS fender. It is 19' and should be roughly the same width. The shop isn't sure if they can adapt it but for €30 I'm willing to gamble. Part of why I chose this one is because they should be readily available everywhere.

Small update, fiddled a bit with the windscreen again, this time mounting it more in an aerodynamic position. Still being helmet buffered like crazy but a small 20km test ride with and without gave an improvement of about 10%:eek:

Tomorrow I'll do a longer one to minimize the variables.

The bike is at the shop now, new fender fits really good. I will post some pictures when I get home.

Photo time!


A BMW GS front fender seems to fit nicely after adapting the mounts:
http://i.imgur.com/QJf9ixz.jpg

A first impression of the fairing:
http://i.imgur.com/WqotbHp.jpg

It will be a bit lower and angled forward but it looks promising. Now we have to wait and let the panel beater do it's work.

Oh and after this he is interesting in making a mold for a bit more aerodynamic rear that has storage capability.