Zero Electric Motorcycles

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jay Leno had an electric bike on his "Jay Leno's Garage". The bike seemed very practical for everyday riders and had good performance, but like you said, the price was way too high.
 
I rode in a trial today, one of the guys there is importing electric trials bikes. Electric is perfect for a trials bike, instant and flat line torque. There will have to be a special class for them....without a clutch some will see it as cheating. He was saying they have power settings on the bars, and a switch for engine braking - so you can choose between 2 or 4 stroke....
 
At first glance electric powered bikes seems like the answer but then
you do a direct comparison of range between a tank of gas and a bank
of batteries

Electric motors can produce power at a very competitive weight...
Current 4 stroke street bike engine and transmission are in the
neighborhood of 150 pounds and can produce 150 horsepower for about 1
pound per horsepower ratio... compare that with the motor of the
248-bhp Tesla Roadster which weighs 115 pounds... Add in the
transmission and controllers and the Tesla's total drive train weight
is still less than 250 pounds that pound per horsepower figure that is
better than our bikes...

Electric motors are really efficiency... 75% of the fuel energy in
your tank is lost to heat... only 25% of that fuel energy turns the
crank... compare that with the 90% efficiency of the electric motor...
only 10% of the electricity is lost to heat... not to mention the
Tesla is air cooled and does not require a exhaust system...

Electric vehicle manufacturers are reluctant to make direct
comparisons between gas and batteries preferring to de-emphasize
weight and range and stress recharging speed and cost.

Electric powered racer might be interesting but the only hurdle is the
batteries... current state of the art in battery technology just can't
compare to the energy in a ounce of petrol... gas still sports 60
times the energy of an battery... fill your tank with 4 gallons of gas
and it weights 25.6 pounds (6.4 lb per gallon x 4)... a 32 pound
Lithium-Ion battery would equal only 11 ounces of gas... that really
negatively effects range... you'd need about 1489 pounds in batteries
to equal 4 gallons of petrol or 80 MotoCzysz's patented suitcase
lithium polymer battery packs that weight 18 lb each... Michael ran
ten batteries which totals 180 lbs... 10 batteries equals about the
energy in a 1/2 gallon of gas... that limits range to 40 miles at race
pace... a rider can either swap out the packs or plug into the grid
and take a break......


It takes 80 MotoCzysz's lithium battery packs to equal the energy in 4 gallons of gas...
MotoczyszElectricRacer_zpsda1cc35e.jpg
 
A guy I've known and ridden with for years, races the Brammo Electric bike. He says the rate at which they are improving, is impressive.
 
It's a very young, but promising technology. The price is too high, but that will change.
 
The Zeros do look interesting. Saw them at the IMS in Phoenix this year.

They sure recall a lot of their bikes, though. Seems like there's a recall notice on Zero motorcycles in most every issue of a motorcycle magazine I subscribe to. Maybe it's not so frequent, but it surely _seems_ that frequent.

They'd be great as commuters, if range would improve. Kinda like electric cars. For those in Europe, much of Asia, and lots of the eastern US, they'd be great commuters. For the rest of N. America, they're utterly useless.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
Fork oil differences besides viscosity?
2
Replies
34
Views
1K
ChristianReske
F
WHAT was in my crankcase?
Replies
16
Views
2K
flhr
A
Electric Company offers Solar Panel to rent on their Farm - Hoping for valuable input
2 3
Replies
52
Views
2K
JHZR2
Brons2
  • Locked
Austin....so over it
4 5 6
Replies
117
Views
4K
alarmguy
A
Cheap Electricity in our new energy efficient home - Compare if you can
2 3
Replies
46
Views
2K
DwightFrye
Back
Top