A sign of things to come?

[Woody_393]

Those are cool but I agree, I need some sound. It could certainly be quieter, but something would be nice.

Even in trains where they have electric wheels, they have Diesel generators to keep them going (transmission-less) so you still get to hear them. Something about the sound of an engine (diesel or otherwise) that just makes me smile.

[ninjamonkey_16]

im pretty pumped about the new zero bike.the quantya was cool but the zero can go farther, and it has 23hp with 50 pounds of torque.

think about it though. an electric bike needs no gas, oil, or has any high wear engine parts. the only thing i can think of to wear would be the brushes. and alternator brushes last for 100k miles.

anyway, the bike needs nothing but electricity. technically, and ive talked to the manager guy there, you could hook up a portable solar panel and have limitless energy. you could pretty much go anywhere and not have to worry about stopping. of course, this is assuming you dont have problems with the motor or battery.

the only bad things would be the battery range, charge time, and the solar panel efficiency.

maybe when zero makes a real chassis for it it could compete in real motoX racing. they need to throw out the bicycle based one.

[kschilk]

The inherent problem with battery powered electrics, is that the power output diminishes with the charge. Sure, you may get 23hp for the first few minutes but after that, it steadily drops as the battery weakens. It'd take a battery the size of a D-9, to keep constant power for a whole moto...even for the abbreviated racing they try to pass-off as mx, these days.

[VAL]

I agree that these vehicles still have a long ways to go but I just though it was cool. As far as needing brushes, I have forklifts that are batery operated that do not use brushes. The batery voltages is converted to AC and the motor is an ac motor. The power is modulated by the cycles fed to the windings. If they could only get the storage part down to a mor manageble weight and duration this would be great. I like that they are progressing.

As far as batteries, a long time ago I saw something on tv where they had a metalic grid that was placed in a bath located on the vehicle. As the grid was consumed, Electricity was generated. When the grid was gone, you would change the grid and the vehicle was ready to go. Much like filling your gas tank, no rechrge time or cool off period.

---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:02 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Woody_393

Those are cool but I agree, I need some sound. It could certainly be quieter, but something would be nice.

Even in trains where they have electric wheels, they have Diesel generators to keep them going (transmission-less) so you still get to hear them. Something about the sound of an engine (diesel or otherwise) that just makes me smile.

I am right there with you as far as the gratifying sound of a perfectly tuned engine. But think about this, zooming through the forest, almost silent, birds and dear and other wildlife surprised by your presence. Almost like snow skiing. It’s neat to think about.

[Woody_393]

Yeah, that is pretty cool, other than, I don't terribly care about trail riding.

Oh well, I'm sure it's coming, but I'll really miss the sound of a finely tuned motor.

[bikepilot]

Cool technology and one day may be something I'd ride. Not there yet, needs drastically increased range for a start. More power wouldn't hurt either.

BTW re an alternator, unless it worked only off regenerative braking, powering it off the electric motor as implied would shorten, not increase battery life (also, the physics cops would nail you if you got it to work - you'd have broken the second law of thermodynamics).

[cowboyona426]

Originally Posted by Woody_393

Yeah, that is pretty cool, other than, I don't terribly care about trail riding.

Oh well, I'm sure it's coming, but I'll really miss the sound of a finely tuned motor.

Some of us do though!
Trouble is for trail riders, that even if we were to go hit the trails with electric bikes, the greenies would still find something else to ***** about. I don't know what, but I have faith they would give an all-out effort to ruin it for us again.

[Mainjet2001]

Originally Posted by Woody_393
Yeah, that is pretty cool, other than, I don't terribly care about trail riding.

Originally Posted by cowboyona426

Some of us do though!

A lot of us do!
Actually the biggest numbers do......

[Woody_393]

Merely stating my opinion. For me, I could care less, but I know it's important to a lot of others. Again, just stating MY opinion

[VAL]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

BTW re an alternator, unless it worked only off regenerative braking, powering it off the electric motor as implied would shorten, not increase battery life (also, the physics cops would nail you if you got it to work - you'd have broken the second law of thermodynamics).

I am not catching what you are saying here. ??????

[triplendo]

He's sayin that the alternator would be using the power of the battery to charge the battery. Not effecient

[VAL]

I got that part, but when did an alternator come into the discussion.

[ninjamonkey_16]

i agree about the shortcomings. maybe in like 5 years these bikes will be able to compete with real motox bikes. i doubt it, but hopefully they'll at least be more trailworthy.

[DRGSin393]

One thing I dont see in any of these vids, is the bike hitting big jumps. I wonder why. Right now, to me, they look like those faux dirt bikes you buy at Toys r Us. Except for the KTM

[pjg351]

Originally Posted by DRGSin393

One thing I dont see in any of these vids, is the bike hitting big jumps. I wonder why. Right now, to me, they look like those faux dirt bikes you buy at Toys r Us. Except for the KTM

Hey Doc check this out!





Zero MX Beats Gas Bikes at Gironville Race
October 30, 2009

By Cycle Canada

A Zero MX ridden by Thomas Aubrey won the Electric Motorcycle Challenge at an off-road event in Gironville, France on Oct. 18. Aubrey handily beat four other electric bikes from Swiss manufacturer Quantya. More impressive though is the fact that the electric racer finished third overall in its class against approximately 40 gas powered machines, after placing 5th in the first moto and winning the second.

“This was quite an event! We didn’t even know about it until two weeks prior so we really pushed to get our team in order and race ready. This was our first appearance in a European competition like this and the Zero MX out-performed all other bikes in our category,” said Edwin Belonje, director of European sales & marketing for Zero Motorcycles. “We are excited to capture this win and are looking forward to taking on even more competitors as the development of electric motorcycles continues to evolve.”

As we reported previously, Zero motorcycles are available directly from the manufacturer online and they do ship to Canada.

[Woody_393]

Wow, that's pretty impressive.

[slama4]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[VAL]

I told you guys at the begining of this thread that the guy was flying around the track, and he he was just a guy, not some pro.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[pjg351]

Originally Posted by VAL

I told you guys at the begining of this thread that the guy was flying around the track, and he he was just a guy, not some pro.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I think the point a lot of the inmates are missing Val is the torque these things put to the ground. Obviously a good lesson learnt here, a 20 hp bike can beat a gas guzzler with 40hp.

[Woody_393]

Well, it is the torque, but it's the exact same torque from 1 RPM - 10000 RPM (or whatever the max on that motor is). You thought diesels had torque, they aint got nothing on electric.

I still think they need a sound though... Maybe programmable sound would be cool. So you change it up. 2 stroke one lap, thumper the next.