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Detroit, 3:33 PM
Fri Dec 11
28 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #2009zerox more →

    2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of joekewe joekewe
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    I ride an electric bike to work every day in Berkeley. Added a 48V Crystalyte rear hub motor and controller to a used Trek mountain bike. Just upgraded to a 20Ah Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LFP) battery which gives me about 30 mile range at top speed of 30 MPH (not officially street legal), and 50 mile range at 20 MPH with a little pedaling. It accelerates nicely, handles Berkeley hills and I can always pedal as much as I want for exercise or dead battery. Total cost under $3K. You can do it yourself or have a bike shop assemble the parts for you. Screw gas.
     Reply
    joekewe was starred joekewe was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    02/19/09

    @joekewe: I hate to break it to you, but there may be nuclei in your electric bike, making it illegal in Berkeley.
     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    Being silent, it could be a good Border Patrol Bike if they could keep a couple of batteries around to hot-swap.


    Theoretically less maintenance, too.

     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of Elhigh Elhigh
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    It's powered by batteries, you use it by putting it between your thighs, gripping it hard and making it go faster increases your enjoyment, and the knobbly parts make it even more stimulating.


    Don't tell me electric motorcycles aren't sexy.

     Reply
    Elhigh was starred Elhigh was unstarred
    Image of Mad_Science Mad_Science
    02/19/09

    @Elhigh: COTD.
     Reply
    Mad_Science was starred Mad_Science was unstarred
    Image of Duffman Duffman
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    For Everyone talking about a street legal version there is a Zero S coming soon. Go to the Fast Company article, it has some more info on the background and future developments.
     Reply
    Duffman was starred Duffman was unstarred
    Image of DoctorNine DoctorNine
    02/19/09

    @Duffman: Yeah I talked to these guys sometime around Christmas. They are coming out with one soon. I intend to get one for my around 3 mile commute when the weather is nice. Should be fine for that short a city type duty.
     Reply
    DoctorNine was starred DoctorNine was unstarred
    Image of wolfcry0 wolfcry0
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    You have a couple errors in there:


    it says 300 Watts, You mean Amps, 300 watts will barely make a motocross bike move much less vaporize a wrench. (300 watts at 48 volts is 6 amps)


    it says 95% efficient, that's pretty much impossible considering the amount of current they pump through the system, around 80% is where a 15HP motor with a 300 amp 48 volt controller will be at.


    (I've used the same motor and controller system in a go cart at home.)

     Reply
    wolfcry0 was starred wolfcry0 was unstarred
    Image of Dr. H. F. Danger Dr. H. F. Danger
    02/19/09

    @wolfcry0: You got the first part correct,

    specs:

    Torque 50 ft-lbs (67.7 Nm)

    Peak horsepower 23 horsepower

    Peak electrical input 17,400 watts
     Reply
    Dr. H. F. Danger was starred Dr. H. F. Danger was unstarred
    Image of Wes Siler Wes Siler
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    2nd Para: 151 Lbs. This'll eat a 250 two-stroke's lunch in a straight line.
     Reply
    Wes Siler was starred Wes Siler was unstarred
    Image of Dr. H. F. Danger Dr. H. F. Danger
    02/19/09

    @Wes Siler: If they would make a dual-purpose version of this, it would make a great city bike.
     Reply
    Dr. H. F. Danger was starred Dr. H. F. Danger was unstarred
    Image of BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat
    02/19/09

    @Wes Siler: They had some show on history or TLC that had this exact bike vs a Yamaha WZ250F Dirtbike. Now that's a 4-stroke, I wouldn't know what a 2-stroke 250 would do, all I know is you'd probably have to wind the piss out of it to make it do anything useful.
     Reply
    BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat was starred BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat was unstarred
    Image of Wes Siler Wes Siler
    02/19/09

    @BraappBraapp: Some Assembly Required!: This is a new model with upgraded performance, it's about as twice as fast as before.
     Reply
    Wes Siler was starred Wes Siler was unstarred
    Image of dohcspit dohcspit
    02/19/09

    @Dr.Danger and the Masters of the Jalopniverse:

    A street bike is in the works, see [www.zeromotorcycles.com]
     Reply
    dohcspit was starred dohcspit was unstarred
    Image of Dr. H. F. Danger Dr. H. F. Danger
    02/19/09

    @dohcspit: Yeah, I was just looking at their site about that. I hope the design turns out well.
     Reply
    Dr. H. F. Danger was starred Dr. H. F. Danger was unstarred
    Image of Number_Six Number_Six
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    Hey Wes, can you wheelie it?
     Reply
    Number_Six was starred Number_Six was unstarred
    Image of Wes Siler Wes Siler
    02/19/09

    @Number_Six: I didn't write the review, Grant did. But yes, it'll wheelie off the throttle.
     Reply
    Wes Siler was starred Wes Siler was unstarred
    Image of PetroSapien PetroSapien
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    I must be missing something. Does this thing not strike anyone else as a cross between a Moped and a Segway?
     Reply
    PetroSapien was starred PetroSapien was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/19/09

    @PetroSapien: Mopway? Seged?
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of Miscellanea Miscellanea
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    Yeah, I've always fancied the idea of an electric bike. I would like to see a street version that's a viable commuter bike.
     Reply
    Miscellanea was starred Miscellanea was unstarred
    Image of BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    No two-stroke noise and no Castrol-R smell, For the moment I´ll stay with my Cagiva. I´m about to convert it to ethanol.
     Reply
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was starred BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was unstarred
    Image of IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!
    02/19/09

    @BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ: Ethanol is only for Brazilians, American corn farmers and stupid Americans who bought into the "flex fuel land yacht" as being "green".


    The Brazilians are the only ones that are actually doing it green, so you are excused?

     Reply
    IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred
    Image of BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat
    02/19/09

    @bpapa9013: FYI, no one rides two strokes anymore. Just don't have teh torques.
     Reply
    BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat was starred BraappBraapp is losing faith in the commentariat was unstarred
    Image of BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
    02/19/09

    @BraappBraapp: Some Assembly Required!: I´m not a competition rider so I don´t care to much, me like the high reved screaming 2-stroke sound.
     Reply
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was starred BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was unstarred
    Image of Elhigh Elhigh
    02/19/09

    @BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ: Instead of burning Castrol R smell, you've got burning Captain Morgan smell.


    Mmm, rich.

     Reply
    Elhigh was starred Elhigh was unstarred
    Image of aSoundofSleep-less nights aSoundofSleep-less nights
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    This makes me happy in the pants.
    Once the production costs get down on theses I can see them being huge sellers as christmas presents, etc..
    The fact that it's totally quiet makes it sound like you're riding a pedal bike when in reality you're flying down the street (which I can see being dangerous).
    But oh well, I still want one.
     Reply
    aSoundofSleep-less nights was starred aSoundofSleep-less nights was unstarred
    Image of aSoundofSleep-less nights aSoundofSleep-less nights
    02/19/09

    @aSoundofSleep:


    Just out of curiosity, what does a comparitve gas dirtbike cost?

     Reply
    aSoundofSleep-less nights was starred aSoundofSleep-less nights was unstarred
    Image of IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!
    02/19/09

    @aSoundofSleep: Hard to say, a 250cc (that is a 4 stroke i.e. street legal), prob won't have as much torque off the line, but it will have way more top end...


    But as a raging generality, I would say: about the same maybe slightly less. It really depends mostly on the amount of good racing kit the gasser comes with.

     Reply
    IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    I think you guys should rock a few of these at next year's NAIAS. Get some leathers and wildly painted helmets and terrorize the furriners 2 hours at a time.


    Now, all this talk about eating batteries has made me hungry.

     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of layabout layabout
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    I am i the only one seeing a safety issue with silent motorbikes?
     Reply
    layabout was starred layabout was unstarred
    Image of pauljones pauljones
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power:


    In graverobber's absence: loud pipes save lives.

     Reply
    pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Same issue as with cars.


    Did they put a high-frequency whine at low speeds on these?


    If not, may I recommend this?

     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage!
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: If you're counting on being heard to save you, you're boned anyway. Ride like you are silent and invisible at all times and it won't matter how quiet the bike is!
     Reply
    Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! was starred Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! was unstarred
    Image of pauljones pauljones
    02/19/09

    @engineerd:


    Much too complicated.


    Just stick the resumes of former Saturn and Pontiac employees in the spokes.

     Reply
    pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred
    Image of Syrax Syrax
    02/19/09

    @engineerd: Desmosedici is the ultimate bike. Too bad that front end is as ugly as hitting your mother.
     Reply
    Syrax was starred Syrax was unstarred
    Image of layabout layabout
    02/19/09

    @Gearhead_42: Thinking more of the bike that hit my gf's car last year. The guy was riding like a moron & if she hadn't heard him he would be dead,luckily she did hear him & he just had a few broken ribs,a broken shoulder & a shattered ego.
     Reply
    layabout was starred layabout was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/19/09

    @Syrax: I figure if you're going to give a bike a sound, it might as well be kicass.


    @layabout now with V8 power: Yup. Motorcycles already have a disadvantage at being seen. The motorcyclist could be doing everything right and not driving like an ass and still have people walk out in front of it or pull out in front of it.


    Its not necessarily the motorcyclist I'm worried about. Its the other asswipes that don't think they got the "rear view mirror" option on their car.

     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/19/09

    @engineerd: kicass=kickass. Apparently I haven't had enough scotch this morning.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Nothing a aftermarked sports loudspeaker can´t resolve.
    Loudspeakers by Akrapovic.
     Reply
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was starred BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was unstarred
    Image of Jeb_Hoge Jeb_Hoge
    02/19/09

    @BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ: And then play ice-cream truck music, that way everyone will be looking for you.
     Reply
    Jeb_Hoge was starred Jeb_Hoge was unstarred
    Image of Graverobber Graverobber
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Silent, but deadly.
     Reply
    Graverobber was starred Graverobber was unstarred
    Image of fodder650 fodder650
    02/19/09

    @graverobber: 100% Shovel Ready!: I hate the loud pipes save lives bull. I own two bikes. The GS500E isnt to loud unless you wind it up. I havent installed loud pipes.


    I own a Suzuki Boulevard as well. Still stock pipes. Loud pipes irratate neighborhoods. And cause people to hate you and still not look at you. Plus if you decide to ride at odd hours (i work 2nd shift myself). You just piss off even more people.


    So for those who think Loud Pipes Save Lives! Get your head out of your asses. And like it was said earlier. Ride like everyones out to get you. Because they are.

     Reply
    fodder650 was starred fodder650 was unstarred
    Image of BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
    02/19/09

    @Jeb_Hoge: especially the small ones
     Reply
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was starred BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was unstarred
    Image of DoctorNine DoctorNine
    02/19/09

    @fodder650: "..Ride like everyones out to get you. Because they are..."


    Especially the Aliens.



    Look out for the lowrider spaceships. They're killer.

     Reply
    DoctorNine was starred DoctorNine was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Stick a baseball card in the spokes.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of HammSammich HammSammich
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Look, I tell my wife this all the time. I wear all black and ride a black motorcycle, because if someone wants to try and run me over, they've got to see me first. I would imagine that making the bike silent, only adds to the safety...right?
     Reply
    HammSammich was starred HammSammich was unstarred
    Image of Plecostomus [Tyrrell] Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
    02/20/09

    @HammSammich: I like your logic.


    As said earlier, ride like you're invisible and silent and you'll be safe.


    /Motorcycle Safety Foundation

     Reply
    Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was starred Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was unstarred
    Image of layabout layabout
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    "$700 for six day airmail to Europe"


    I can't see it fitting through the letterbox.

     Reply
    layabout was starred layabout was unstarred
    Image of dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity
    02/19/09

    @layabout now with V8 power: Six day airmail? Who is doing the flying? The Wright brothers?


    Thank you, I'll be here all week and through the weekend. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

     Reply
    dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity was starred dwegmull comments for the purpose of obscurity was unstarred
    Image of pauljones pauljones
    02/19/09

    In reply to 2009 Zero X, First Ride: Fastest Production Electric Dirt Bike Ever
    Even with a ride time of only two hours, the instantaneous power delivery and the fact that the battery unit is easily interchangeable makes the trade-off worthwhile. I like the idea.


    So for the man who has it all: Tesla, Volt, Karma, and an electric lawnmower, we give you the 2009 Zero X.

     Reply
    pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred
    Image of Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage!
    02/19/09

    @pauljones-feeling the carpocalypse hangover: 2-hour charge time... I'm betting ride time is more like 20-30 minutes?
     Reply
    Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! was starred Gearhead_42 - Nibbles ate my garage! was unstarred
    Image of pauljones pauljones
    02/19/09

    @Gearhead_42:


    Did I misread that?


    Yep. I'm an idiot.


    In that case, you are probably quite correct. 20-30 min sounds like a realistic estimate.

     Reply
    pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred
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