2011 Zero XU Complete Upgrade 20KW Brushless Conversion - Ready to Ride

If you have been following along with me in my quest to upgrade my 2011 Zero XU Electric Motorcycle with pretty much a complete new electronics system, well the wait is over and it is now ready to ride. There are still a couple of small things I want to address but it is at least 95% done now! As a recap I installed a new QS165 50H Motor with a Fardriver 72890 Controller and this all came with a new speedometer, a complete wiring harness, and the left and right controls including the throttle.

There where a few challenges along the way, but I was expecting that to happen, and if anything things actually went better than I was expecting them to. Some of my concerns where making sure I got all the wiring correct, as I did need to integrate some of the old system in with the new, but not a lot. The only real electrical issue I came across was one wire that went to my speedometer needed to be swapped out to a different wire, this was to get my actual speed to register and also what gear I was in (Gears on an Electric Motorcycle are just power levels).

Mounting the motor went really well and I thought that was my biggest challenge, but I was able to mount the rear motor mounts using my foot peg holes with some spacers and so I only needed to fabricate the front mounts using some aluminium flat bar. I would say my the hardest part of this build was the gearing and chain, I did end up having to revert back to the original 61 tooth 420 sprocket and 420 chain as the new 428 sprocket and chain where just geared too high, which made made the acceleration weak, kind of like staring out in 4th gear. Now back to the original gear setup, I have good torque off the line and a nice top speed of around 120km/h.

I was expecting to get more amps to my controller and motor as my battery is rated at 200 amps nominal and 400 amps peak, but it seems anything over 250 amps shuts the battery BMS system down, resulting in having to restart the bike to get it going again (Turn it on and off). At 250 amps with the 72 volt battery that gives me 18kw of power, but when my battery is fully charged, it is actually sitting at 84 volts which gives me right around 25kw of power. That's 33.5 horsepower with a even more torque. So she rips along pretty nicely now with the upgrades.

So here is what we achieved with this full electronics upgrade:

• We went from the stock 4.8kw (6.4 horsepower) to 25kw (33.5 horsepower).
• We went from a top speed of 82 km/h (51 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph).
• The battery was also upgraded before I got it from the 1.7kWh pack to a 7.2kWh pack, more than quadrupling the range. From around 40 to 161 kms (25 to 100 miles).
• With the electronics being all new, it will be super reliable.

All in all I am super happy, the upgraded 2011 Zero XU is a lot of fun to ride with lots of power at any speed and it handles like a dream. Now it's time to get my wife out on it so the two of us can go riding, her on the 2011 Zero XU and me on my 1993 Ducati 750SS.

2011 Zero XU Complete Upgrade 20KW Brushless Conversion - Parts Finally Arrived

It took about three weeks to finally arrive but I now have hopefully everything I need to complete my 2011 Zero XU Complete Upgrade with a new Brushless motor and controller setup. The complete kit I purchased comes with the QS165 50H motor which has a nominal rating of 10kW and can put out as much as 40kW if you have a battery and controller with enough power. The Controller that came with my kit is the Fardriver ND72890 capable of 450 battery amps and 890 Phase Amps to the motor. This should get me around 35kW or even more... The Kit I bought also came with the SCJ5066-1 Speedometer, a full wiring harness and left and right controls along with a throttle.

I have most of everything else I need to in terms of nuts, bolts, spacers, washers, connectors, wires, metal bits for fabricating mounts but I am sure there will be something I missed but that is part of the process. So far I have figured out mostly how the motor will be mounted by using the foot peg holes for the rear mounts, some fabrication will be need for the front mounts. I am pretty sure I have the wiring harness figured out now, it was a bit more complicated than I originally thought as there are many of the same connectors so I needed to really dive into the wiring diagram to make sure I use the right connections.

Hopefully I can get the 2011 Zero XU all setup over the next week or so baring anythign I may have overlooked.

SLY-08 Electric Mountainboard Added to My PEV Collection

If you know anything about me by following me along in my videos, then you know I have a passion for PEV's (Personal Electric Vehicles). I have owned or tried pretty much all of the fun ones :) I currently own an eMountain Bike which my wife uses mainly, I have a pretty decent Electric Scooter we all use for short trips or to take on vacation to get around. My favorite PEV is my KingSong S22 EUC (Electric Unicycle). It is by far the fastest and longest distance ride that I own, and it can go on virtually any terrain with its large off-roads tire and spring suspension setup.

I have also owned a couple of Electric Longboards, I had a BackFire G3 with Cloud Wheels but sold it a while back, I had too many PEV's! I also bought an Uditer Electric Longboard when I was in Oceanside a few weeks ago and was going to bring it back with me but unfortunately it died on me from a battery issue :( I did have it for just enough time to remember how much fun Electric Skateboards are, and so when I saw an SLY-08 Electric Mountainboard come up at a good price on Facebook Marketplace, I had to have it. The SLY-08 Electric Mountainboard is a bit larger than my previous two Electric Skateboards but not by much, It mainly has taller tires and a wider truck setup better suited for off-road riding and trails.

I have only ridden my SLY-08 Electric Mountainboard this one time while I made this video so I don't have a lot to say about it. I mainly wanted to get out and try it and let everyone know I have it and it may be showing up on some future videos. I do plan to make a quick thoughts review for it once I have ridden it a bit more, so stay posted for that video in a couple weeks or so...

Eevee's Cypress Electric Scooter Unboxing Review

Can you imagine, I bought yet another PEV (Personal Electric Vehicle). This time I took advantage of a great deal and purchased an Electric Scooter from Eevee's Online. Eevee's had a promotion on for their Cypress Branded Electric Scooter selling it for $499 rather than the regular price of $1199. What a deal $700 off!

Here are some specifications for the Eevee's Cypress Electric Scooter:

• Single 600W hub motor (1200W peak power).
• 720Wh 48V Internal Battery.
• Top speed up to 50km/h. (More like 45km/h).
• Three speed/power settings: Eco - Drive - Sport.
• 35-45km max range (We will find out).
• 58 pounds total weight.
• Solid rubber 4 inch wide tires (Puncture proof).
• Dual front and rear suspension (Very stiff indeed!)
• Somewhat water resistant.

So why another PEV? Well for one, I simply can't help myself as I really love ripping around on just about anything with an electric motor in it. I also wanted something easier to transport around and take on trips as compared to my eBike which my wife really enjoys riding but when bringing an eBike is not practical, then a mid sized Electric Scooter is a better fit literally.

In this preview unboxing video I open the box up, figure out how to get the Eevee's Cypress Electric Scooter out, set it up and powered it on. Enjoy watching me stumble through the process...

Onewheel vs EUC Which is Better

Onewheel vs EUC Which is Better? The great debate! If you own a Onewheel, then you probably think the One Wheel is the better machine. If you own an EUC (Electric Unicycle), then you probably think the EUC is the best! What if you own both?

So I'm not going to give a definitive answer here as both PEV's (Personal Electric Vehicle) have their own strengths and weaknesses. In this video I try and cover the Pro's and Con's for each PEV and let you decide which one is the best for you!

Here are some strength and weaknesses for each Personal Electric Vehicle:

• Speed for sure goes to the EUC as some can go as fast as 100kmh, mine does around 70kmh, compared to a Onewheel, where max speed is typically 30+kmh if you are brave.

• Battery life again goes to the EUC as many are capable of 100km to even as high as 200km! A Onewheel tops out at 30-40km and that's for the latest and greatest GT version, older versions can have a limit of around 10km.

• Size and weight would in most cases go to the Onewheel as they typically weigh around 25-30 pounds with the GT version weighing in at 35 pounds. Earlier versions of EUC's did weigh around the same but the trend for EUC's is to "go big or go home" with some larger faster units weighing in over 100 pounds. My personal Kingsong S22 weighs in at around 75 pounds but has some big ass batteries in it giving me a range of up to 100km.

• Portability: I would say it ties in to size and weight but I portability is more about carrying the PEV around and stashing it in a trunk or under a seat. Again earlier smaller versions of EUC's would be comparable to a Onewheel here but since most of the new much larger more popular EUC's are now the norm, I would have to go with the Onewheel in terms of portability.

• What about power: Kind of like speed, but power does not always equal speed, it often represents how much torque a motor has which is usually measured in Watts. Most Onewheel's have a 750 Watt motor and so do some smaller lighter EUC's. You can however get an EUC with a motor capable of 3500 watts that have a peak watt output of up to 6000 watts, that's crazy I know! This power means you can climb almost any hill on an EUC while Onewheel's do have their limitations when it comes to hill climbing.

• Coolness Factor: I would say both are equally cool so this one's a draw.

• Fun Riding: And this one again is a draw for me as both are fun in their own way. When riding a OneWheel I am more relaxed and just having fun while on the EUC I switch in to intensity mode as the speed and acceleration kind of takes ahold of me. I guess it really depends on the day as to what PEV I feel like riding and what kind of trip I plan to make.

• Price: A Onewheel can cost anywhere from around $1000US for a Pint up to $2200 for a GT, that would be new prices but Onewheel for sure do hold their value. On the other hand you can also get an EUC for even under $1000US but they also go up to well over $4000US for the latest and greatest high speed long range EUC's. So considering average price to buy new and resale value I would give the win to the Onewheel here.

• Terrain you can ride on: The EUC has this category in my books, many new EUC's even have suspension giving them the ability to ride even on extreme Mountain bike trails and do crazy jumps. On the other hand the Onewheel is not as functional off roading as an EUC, but you can ride trails and hop off curbs and even take small jumps if you are a more experienced rider.

Hopefully that gives you a good idea on a Onewheel vs EUC and Which is Better. It really comes down to what your needs are and what you plan on doing with one of these very awesome PEVs...