Back with a new scooter - its electric!

[R1K SU]

I have the Zero FXS EV it's amazing, the best commuter bike I've owned and at 135kg super light. Tops out at 86mph and can hold a constant 70/75 on the motorway.

[roadster]

Here is a picture...

DSCF2258.jpg

[Normsthename]

I have the Zero FXS EV it's amazing, the best commuter bike I've owned and at 135kg super light. Tops out at 86mph and can hold a constant 70/75 on the motorway.

What range do you get out of the FXS
Looks like an interesting bike

Andy

[roadster]

Using GPS tracking here is the unvarnished truth about speed and range over a trip which recorded 10.96 miles. The GPS track recorded distance was 9.6 miles. Battery level dropped from 98% to 78% which would equate to a full battery range of about 50 miles. This included sections in sport mode and some significant hill climbs. The route was a two way one but with very few flat areas. Speedo accuracy was not good with true speed being typically 10% less than the speed displayed by the instruments. Conditions were dry but chilly 8 degrees C no wind. Moving average speed was 35 mph ( i.e. not including traffic stops at junctions ). Maximum speed was 56 mph indicated 62 mph.
For this test I deliberately avoided any attempt to save energy and even overtook a 50mph queue at one point so this could be called realistic or even unsympathetic, and in summer conditions I expect significant improvement.

The other unrelated issue is the harshness of the suspension which seems to be sprung for a heavy load. Again I hope this will get better with a few more miles covered. It is also made worse by the high recommended tyre pressures. A trade off between comfort and range I suspect.

[muddyfox]

Nothing wrong with your Speedo being "out" by 10%. Industry practice. They deliberately calibrate it lower so you cannot make a claim against them over speeding fines. Even the police acknowledge this by factoring this into speeding limits. This is why you get fined for doing over 33 mph in a 30mph area and it equates to over 77mph in a 70mph area. Cheers.

[MrGrumpy]

No it works the other way....Police normally have a 10%+2mph allowance before prosecution - though they don't have to. However, if your speedo is over reading (like most do), even if your speedo reads 79 mph, in reality you are only likely to be going 72 mph. To get over the genuine 79mph 'barrier' you probably will have to be doing something 85 on the speedo! Not that I try this of course, nor would recommend anyone try it!

[2wheelover51]

That sounds about right Mr G. I got "done" for doing 37mph in a 30 zone, which ties in with your figures.

[roadster]

Nothing wrong with your Speedo being "out" by 10%. Industry practice. They deliberately calibrate it lower so you cannot make a claim against them over speeding fines. Even the police acknowledge this by factoring this into speeding limits. This is why you get fined for doing over 33 mph in a 30mph area and it equates to over 77mph in a 70mph area. Cheers.

Not to bothered about having to make a mental adjustment in order to ride at the actual speed limit ( and therefore not impede other traffic ) but I don't like the recorded miles being incorrect especially as I have insurance with an annual mileage limit. For electric vehicles the remaining range will be misleading too in one way or another. My understanding is that construction and use regulations that require a speedometer to be fitted stipulate that it must be accurate within a tolerance of -0/+10 percent, but it would be very easy to calibrate more accurately now that its just software driven. In the US cars are usually accurate within 2%, not sure about bikes. In any case the digital speed on the S01 is extremely difficult if not impossible to maintain in a steady state at 30 ( or 33 ) mph because of the oversensitive twist grip and lack of damping on the readout which constantly jumps around +/-2 on the last digit.

[Ralph]

Test the miles against the gps you may find they are closer than the speed, I
seem to remember the speed could be out by 10% but distance had to be much closer.

[MrGrumpy]

Yes the accuracy of speedos is a tricky thing. I can see that manufacturers might like to set the speedo to over record speed - slightly, after all its easier to tune the speedo rather than the engine! And its probably safer that way....But sometimes they take the piss - the mk6 Tmax was outrageously optimistic - as soon as I got on it I could tell that the figures were nonsense. I read somewhere that someone tested one and found that when it was reading 100mph, it was only doing 82! And my Burger 650 was way out as well. The snag comes when you start thinking you can't rely on the speedo to be accurate so you start to ride a bit faster to compensate...
I always think that car speedos are more accurate than bikes, but is this true? Has anyone tested their car speedos???