Drive belt tension

The drive belt on the SR/S is almost maintenance free. Just keep it clean, and check the tension and alignment from time to time. In theory the belt shouldn't stretch much at all, so if the rear wheel doesn't move relative to the swingarm, the belt shouldn't need the tension or alignment adjusting often. To check the tension there's a tool made by Gates called the Krikit gauge. There's two versions of the Krikit, one for tensions between 15kg and 75kg, and one for tensions between 50kg and 150kg. The Zero SR/S belt tension should be between 51kg and 102kg, so the Krikit II (part number 91132) is the gauge for the job.

The gauge is easy enough to use. Slide your finger into the cream-coloured elastic holder, and press the green arm flat with the body of the gauge. Then hold the gauge under the drive belt, mid-way between drive sprocket and wheel, and press up against the belt until the gauge clicks.

Then read off of the scale where the green arm is poking out. You should rotate the wheel and take a couple of readings, although a belt doesn't get 'tight' spots as a chain would, so the readings should be pretty similar to each other.

In this case the tension is about 55kg, within tolerance but quite close to the bottom end of the allowable range. Next weekend I'll take a look at adjusting the tension to bring it up to around 75kg.

Handlebar risers

I have found that at slow speeds there's more weight on my wrists than I'd like. It's a combination of my lower than average height and the ergonomics of the SR/S. To be fair to the SR/S almost every bike I've had in the last 20 years has had the same effect on me, my stately BMW tourer being the exception. So I usually fit handlebar risers to my bikes and that makes a world of difference.

The bars on the SR/S are tapered, being 28.6mm at the clamps to 22mm at the grips. Not knowing how much rise I would need I bought the Bike It modular kit from Infinity Motorcycles online, and had a chance to try them out over the weekend.

I was meeting up with friends in Wales for a walk up Cadair Idris, so had a 160 mile round trip to evaluate them. We stayed overnight locally so we could get an early start on the mountain.

The roads out that way are epic, and with perfect riding weather it was very hard to maintain right wrist discipline. Alas, no photos to capture the ride.

While we were prepping for the next day's walk in the pub, one of our host's neighbours had spotted the SR/S and come to give it a good look over. I think it'll be a while before Nick Sanders goes electric for a global circumnavigation, but like a lot of riders there's an interest in seeing how electric bikes are maturing.

The next morning at the Dôl Idris car park there was a lifeless SWARCO eVolt charger, and a parking bay marked up for electric vehicles. Hopefully there'll be charging available there soon.

We had a slow jaunt around the horseshoe to the summit of Cadair Idris, in what I've been assured was the best weather of the year, then back down for refreshments at the café, and retracing those amazing roads back to Shropshire.

The risers had a noticeable effect on my comfort, and crawling through towns in traffic at 20mph isn't so much of a pain in the wrists now. I might add one of the spacers to see if a little more height is better, but I think the effect is likely to be marginal.

In theory I could have ridden out to Machynlleth on one charge, used the Dragon/GeniePoint 22kW AC chargers there, and got home on a second charge. But to give myself more margin for exploiting the roads to their fullest I charged at the Tesco Pod Point chargers in Newtown on both the way out and back again. 

350 mile round trip

I needed to do a couple of days work in deepest Berkshire, so with a good weather forecast I decided to take the SR/S. This would be my first 'just get from A to B' ride using the motorway. The charging plan was to head for a top up at the M5/M42 junction, before a full recharge in Banbury, which would see me good to my destination in Maidenhead. 100 miles of motorway and 40 miles of country/urban roads.

What actually happened is that I arrived at Singletons Nursery before they opened, so decided to stop at Warwick Services instead.

I should have known that the old Ecotricity 43kW AC charger wasn't going to work, so continued on to the Tesco Extra in Banbury, arriving with 8% left in the tank.

Whilst charging back up to 90% I had breakfast and later arrived at the office 15 minutes later than I had planned. Those 15 minutes spent arsing around with the Electric Highway charger at Warwick. All the motorway miles were spent with the cruise control set to 74mph (70mph on the GPS).

I was staying overnight with friends near Oxford, so routed via Wallingford to use the 43kW AC charger at Lidl. That gave me enough range to return to the office the next day, where I was offered a full charge during the working day.

That evening after my work commitments were complete I retraced my steps up the M40 to Banbury for a charge and dinner, then back home with no other stops. It was windier on the way back, so I got home with 4% of the battery left, but without having to moderate my riding style.

In total I covered just under 350 miles over the two days, using three Pod Point chargers, at a total cost of £1.43. The cost of returning the bike to 100% overnight at home is £0.60, so the real cost of the trip was £2, or 0.6 p/mi. (The petrol cost for this trip on my 50mpg ICE motorbike would be about £42.)

On the downside, the condensation in the dash is still there. It is very noticeable when the bike has been sat in the sun all day. And the headlight alignment is way too high, something that I have only noticed now I've ridden at night. Things that I need to take up with Alec at EEMC.

Into Wales

Had time for a 100 mile loop out to Llanfair Caereinion today. Mostly country A and B roads with many, many corners.

Started out taking the road to Atcham via Buildwas, with lovely views of the Severn floodplain. Then around the Shrewsbury bypass and out to Welshpool with the agricultural and tourist traffic. There's free 7kW AC chargers at the Tesco Extra in Welshpool, but I was headed for the Pod Point 22kW AC charger at the Llanfair Caereinion end of the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. 

The road out to Llanfair Caereinion is great; well surfaced corners and expansive views of rolling hills and the railway line hugging the river.

After a 20 minute charge, to make time for a bacon roll and mug of tea, I turned south to Berriew and onto Montgomery. After Church Stoke the road cuts across the middle of the Shropshire Hills AONB with a series of fast flowing bends. A short dash up to Church Stretton, then onto the rollercoaster B road to Wall Under Heyward, and up onto Wenlock Edge for the final leg back through Much Wenlock.

100 miles almost on the dot, and 160 Wh/mi (6.25 mi/kWh) consumption, which is pretty good for a spirited ride.

Water traps

First couple of rides under my belt, and now for the first wash. Generally the SR/S is an easy bike to wash, with not as many nooks and crannies as an ICE bike. But surprisingly there are a few places that aren't very well protected against water ingress, and places where water can pool. This is also a good indication of where rain will get trapped if the bike is parked up outside.

First there's the charging cover, with the finger pocket not having a drain hole in it.

Then there's the charging socket itself, not having a dust/rain cap.

The frame where the left footrest and motor mount are bolted on is both a water and debris trap, catching dirt and small gravel thrown up by the rear wheel. 

The small stowage compartment under the pillion seat does have a drain hole, but a small raised lip around the edge would prevent the majority of water ingress in the first place.

And finally the four mounting holes on the rear rack also don't have drain holes.

I'll see if I can fill the charging cover and motor mount cavities with some cut foam, slap a charging cable dust cap on the charging socket, and get some plastic plugs for the rear rack mounts.

Range testing

I went out for a ride to get a feel for how the range varies with road and riding style. I fully charged at the Tesco Extra chargers, then headed cross country via Bridgnorth towards Stourbridge and Hagley to the M5. That's a mix of fast A road and stop/start urban roads, with an overall average speed around 30mph. The dash reported an average consumption of 120 Wh/mi (8.3 mi/kWh) which would be a range of 100 miles. I then headed out on the motorway with the cruise control set to 75mph, but the bike's speedo reporting 73mph, and my phone's GPS saying 70mph. The dash now calculating a consumption of 180 Wh/mi (5.5 mi/kWh) which would be a range of 65 miles. I guess that gives me the kind of spread of consumption I can expect to get, which I can factor in with route planning.

First ride

For the first ride I went out into the Shropshire countryside, to get a feel for the different riding modes, and to start to set the bike up for me. I've fitted a Quad Lock handlebar mount and wireless charger, so I could keep my phone in sight, and Zap-Map at the ready to take me to a charger.

I've previously ridden big singles and twins, and like the engine braking that comes when you roll off the throttle. I've never been the last of the late brakers, preferring to alternate between rolling on and off the throttle in between corners. So when I get to set up my custom riding mode I'll be looking for the best value for the neutral regeneration setting.

As the SoC fell towards 25% I headed to the Pod Point chargers at the Tesco Extra just off J6 of the M54. There's a 50kW DC charger (Type 2 CCS or CHAdeMO), two 22kW AC chargers (Type 2) and two 7kW AC chargers. I plugged into one of the 22kW AC chargers, and saw it supply 114A (11.8kW) to the bike. I charged to 80%, then headed home. Happy days!

The Audi e-tron SUV next to me can charge at up to 150kW on a DC charger, so I expect that it was plugged into the 22kW AC charger as these are currently free, whereas the 50kW DC charger costs £0.25/kWh.

I also noticed that there was some condensation at the corners of the dash. If the dash has been designed properly there'll be a vent to enable the moisture to escape, so the issue should clear with a few rides.

Order to Delivery

Here's the timeline from ordering to delivery:

I'd had some great pre-sales support from Alec Sharp at EEMC, so I phoned him on 23rd June to confirm the details of the bike I would buy from them. The initial estimate was that they could get a bike in from Zero's European warehouse in the Netherlands, and fit the Charge Tank within 7 to 10 days. Al Ashington at EEMC emailed an invoice over on the 24th, so I paid the deposit, sent over a copy of my driving licence, and selected the registration number on 25th June. I also requested an updated invoice from Al with my name spelt correctly, which came on the 26th.

I heard nothing for a week or so, so emailed for an update on 6th July. I didn't get a response so phoned in and was told that the bike was on the boat from the Netherlands. This was already outside the original 7-10 day estimate, but with Brexit and a pandemic I guess things take a little longer. On the 13th I got an automated email to say that the bike was going through the pre-delivery inspection (PDI) process on the 14th. I sent another request to get my name spelt correctly on EEMC's systems.

On 16th July Oli Knights at EEMC emailed to confirm the delivery address, followed up by a call from Mandy at A2B Motorcycle Movers to agree the delivery date of 29th July, after they'd picked it up from EEMC on the 23rd. But on the 22nd Alec emailed to report that Zero hadn't sent a complete Charge Tank fitting kit, so the bike wouldn't be ready for A2B to pick up the next day. If the part came in by the 27th, then potentially the bike could still be collected from EEMC on the 28th and delivered to me on the 29th.

On the 23rd I paid the balance of the invoice, and then had to email on the 28th to get confirmation that the payment had been received, which arrived later the same day. The delivery date of the 29th came and went without any contact from either EEMC or A2B, so on the 30th I emailed for another update. Oli responded that they'd still not got the missing part of the Charge Tank, and would be back in contact on or before 3rd August.

I sent another request for an update on the evening of the 3rd. On the 4th Oli emailed to confirm that the bike was on the bench and would be ready the same day. Mandy from A2B phoned later in the day to arrange a new delivery date to me on the 11th. That's 7 calendar weeks on from placing my order on 23rd June, a tad longer than the 7 to 10 days originally promised.

On the 10th I got a call from Mandy to confirm that Matt would be arriving on the 11th with the bike, which he duly did. The bike arrived with 17 miles on the clock, a Type 2 charging cable (more on that later), and a little pouch containing the final invoice, the PDI checklist, 3 keys and a EEMC keyfob, and the owner's manual on a credit card shaped USB memory stick. I had a lookover the bike, and apart from the signs it had been ridden up and down a muddy track (as a part of the PDI test ride?) all looked to be in order, so I signed on the dotted line for Matt, and he went off to the next job of the day.

All in all, not the buying and handover experience I was expecting after spending over £20k. Maybe in the coming days someone from EEMC will get in touch to follow up on my purchase, but based purely on my own experience I would not recommend buying a bike from EEMC.

To be constructive, once it became clear the original schedule wasn't going to be met they could have shipped me a demo bike to ride until mine was ready. More pro-active communications throughout the process would have been great; I shouldn't have to chase at every step and missed milestone. And finally, given how late the actual delivery has been, some sort of gesture of apology, such as a discount on future servicing or even a free t-shirt, would have shown some acknowledgement on their part. Just making sure the bike was clean prior to shipping would have been nice. One or more of these would completely change my perspective and likelihood to recommend EEMC to others.

DC fast charging

On 30th July an Energica Eva Ribelle rider called Zero Fun from Virginia, USA set off on a 6 day cross country trip, riding from Washington DC on the east cost to Santa Monica, California on the west coast. There are daily videos on YouTube and a route map on Bluelane.

The majority of the trip was on Interstates 70 and 75, where he (for we do not know his name) mostly travelled at 60 to 65mph and stopped every 100 miles or so to recharge. The Energica has a 21.5kWh battery and can charge at up to 24kW from a DC charger. During the trip the weather was hot, daytime highs above 30C, with the only rain and poor visibility at the very end.

The hot weather had a negative impact on the charging speed of the bike. With the high ambient temperature and the constant power draw, the battery temperature was also high. The bike therefore throttled down the charging speed to avoid overheating the battery. On day 5 of his trip he described how at the start of the first charge of the day the bike can achieve 24kW, then then starting the next charge is down to 16kW, and the third is under 12kW. He tried limiting the charging speed to 12kW from the first charge of the day, but wasn't able to achieve 12kW for the second charge. So on balance he preferred to charge at the maximum the bike would allow.

The conclusion to draw from this is that battery temperatures affect charging speed. During this ride the ambient temperatures were pretty high. I've ridden at 40C and it isn't comfortable. But it is worth noting that manufactures claims around charging speed are under ideal conditions (just like their range claims), so it seems sensible to moderate your riding style and monitor your battery temperature as you approach a charging stop, if you want to minimise your charging time.