Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/809757
FEATURE E-TOURING IN CALIFORNIA P100 we at last crested the summit, rounding a bluff in the road to suddenly see the lights of Lake Tahoe spread out beneath us— itself 6,225 feet in altitude as it straddles the border between California and Nevada. But we still had another 15 miles to go before we reached the lakeside hotel, which my dash reading told me I wasn't going to make, and several other parameters via the Bluetooth-enabled connec- tivity for both iPhone and Android mobile devices that's included as standard, via the Zero Motor- cycles app. There's an optional mount to clip the phone to the handlebar. So before leaving the Zero factory I'd asked Todd Ander- sen to dial in a high degree of regenerative braking to my Custom riding mode, which he did via my smartphone and the Zero app. It was about to pay off. Coasting down the descent gradient on U.S. 50 I saw the available charge on the DSR's dash start to gain numbers, until by the time I was down on the valley floor and had to start us- ing the throttle again I had 13% charge, and enough to make it to the hotel. I rolled in there after a 191-mile day with just 7% of charge left—you do the math. We'd chosen the Marriott Hotel for two reasons–one, it offered free hookups in its basement garage for recharging, and two, though still in California it was a short five-minute walk across the state line into Nevada, home of the 24-hour Harrah's Casino where we could eat late, as we did. I then set to work on the slot machines, aiming to earn back the $1.50 it had cost me in "fuel" getting this far. Five minutes later I was $3.15 ahead and ready for bed, having more than earned the cost of recharging the Zero during our entire trip. The Presi- dio access fee was the only time I paid to charge the Zero during our entire six-day ride. Well, directly, anyway, for next morning I had an unpleas- ant surprise on checkout when the Marriott front desk added a $29.95 parking charge for each bike to the bill for parking "I then set to work on the slot machines, aiming to earn back the $1.50 it had cost me in 'fuel' getting this far." with just 12 miles of predicted range, better get your foot ready to push me, Phil, I thought. But, regen to the rescue. The regenerative braking di- aled in to the Zero's controller has two different modes—one comes into play when you simply back off the throttle, and you can indeed feel some residual "engine braking" and watch the dash recording it when you do so. But there's also a sensor that monitors your using either brake lever (foot or hand) which also dials in additional regen, and this is a factor in making the Zero stop so well, in spite of zero mechanical engine…err, sorry, motor braking. But you can also dial up more or less regen via your smartphone, or alter the Custom riding mode Cathcart's journey started and ended at Zero's headquarters in Northern California's Scotts Valley.