Lunch Box
Useful idiot
Greetings, folks. As many of you are aware, I recently picked up a 2015 Zero FX. This bike will be used to zip around town now and then, but its primary use will be as a trail bike and training toy. Having had the good fortune of riding an Alta Redshift a couple of times (thanks Butch!) I wanted to start a thread for the Zero.
Obviously, the foci of the two bikes are quite different. The Alta is made to be a serious MX bike, and does quite well against the 250s on track. The Zero, on the other hand, was really designed as an urban assault bike. The center of gravity is a bit forward, the suspension has significantly less travel than that of the Alta, and the final drive is a belt instead of a chain.
The first step towards converting the bike to a trail bike was to remove the dualsport tires and put on some proper knobbies. The next step was to test the real world range in a trail riding scenario. I should point out that I am a big guy (270 pounds) and I REALLY like to hammer the throttle. This, of course, is a bad combination when it comes to battery life.
Range test number 1:
I took the bike to Metcalf a couple of weeks ago to see how far I could get on a charge during my normal trail riding activities. Here it is in the parking lot before the ride:
The answer was 5 miles. :wow :wtf I'm sure that the battery would have lasted considerably longer, but I managed to snap the drive belt as I landed a jump while on the throttle. Oops.
Next order of business: order the chain conversion kit. BARFer Farmer John works at San Jose BMW and was kind enough to order the kit for me. Accessing the front pulley requires removal of the swingarm. Fortunately, it is an easy task. Removal of the front pulley and installation of the countershaft sprocket from the kit proved to be challenging. It is a pretty unique design, to say the least. After much effort and the purchase of a gear puller, I was able to remove the pulley. Installation of the sprocket proved to be equally challenging. Let's just say that my rubber mallet got a serious workout.
Given the fact that the bike is VERY undersprung, I decided to pull the forks and shock and take them to Jason over at JPH Suspension for a re-spring. Yes, the bike is undersprung; I'm not overweight
:laughing
I should have the boingy bits back on Thursday. My schedule this week is pretty full, but I'm hoping to be able to squeeze in at least a little rip around my neighborhood (bonus for the bike being plated) on Friday morning.
I'll post an update once I finally make it back down to Metcalf for range test number 2.
Obviously, the foci of the two bikes are quite different. The Alta is made to be a serious MX bike, and does quite well against the 250s on track. The Zero, on the other hand, was really designed as an urban assault bike. The center of gravity is a bit forward, the suspension has significantly less travel than that of the Alta, and the final drive is a belt instead of a chain.
The first step towards converting the bike to a trail bike was to remove the dualsport tires and put on some proper knobbies. The next step was to test the real world range in a trail riding scenario. I should point out that I am a big guy (270 pounds) and I REALLY like to hammer the throttle. This, of course, is a bad combination when it comes to battery life.
Range test number 1:
I took the bike to Metcalf a couple of weeks ago to see how far I could get on a charge during my normal trail riding activities. Here it is in the parking lot before the ride:
The answer was 5 miles. :wow :wtf I'm sure that the battery would have lasted considerably longer, but I managed to snap the drive belt as I landed a jump while on the throttle. Oops.
Next order of business: order the chain conversion kit. BARFer Farmer John works at San Jose BMW and was kind enough to order the kit for me. Accessing the front pulley requires removal of the swingarm. Fortunately, it is an easy task. Removal of the front pulley and installation of the countershaft sprocket from the kit proved to be challenging. It is a pretty unique design, to say the least. After much effort and the purchase of a gear puller, I was able to remove the pulley. Installation of the sprocket proved to be equally challenging. Let's just say that my rubber mallet got a serious workout.
Given the fact that the bike is VERY undersprung, I decided to pull the forks and shock and take them to Jason over at JPH Suspension for a re-spring. Yes, the bike is undersprung; I'm not overweight
:laughingI should have the boingy bits back on Thursday. My schedule this week is pretty full, but I'm hoping to be able to squeeze in at least a little rip around my neighborhood (bonus for the bike being plated) on Friday morning.
I'll post an update once I finally make it back down to Metcalf for range test number 2.
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