Fastest production motorcycle!

[Major Softie]

A really good aerodynamic fairing will come close to doubling the range but of course look dweebish and uncool for real motorcycle lovers ... of course that's the way I'd go. This one has touring range.



After making it safely through a 3500-mile (5630 km) trip and into the Guinness Book of Records, iconic electric bike rider Terry Hershner is on his way back to Florida aboard his Zero S.

However, the Zero S is no longer the skinny bike he rode to California: the old attire was of course, quite cool, but now Terry is bent on doing things better and with even more efficiency. So he brought his Zero S to aerodynamics guru Craig Vetter for an upgrade.

With an ultra-aerodynamic fairing now in place, the Zero S is as close to the ultimate performance as it gets, and can pack around 18 kWh under the hood. This means a huge improvement in range: while the bike could do around 63 miles (101 km) at highway speed, the vetterized beast can now ride in excess of 200 miles (320 km) on a charge.

It remains to be seen whether Terry will be able to break his own record... and how will Moto Electra Racing's electric “Norton” fare. It's really nice to see people picking up on the cross-continental racing... we're heading the right way.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/zero- ... 60512.html

I have only one comment: cross-winds.

[Sibbo]

A good comment and one that has been discussed at considerable length on the Ecomodder forum. That particular fairing is very good in cross winds, the aft section balances the fore and the open section in the middle vents the differential pressures generated by the NACA airfoil that the body presents.

It works and more than halves aerodrag and thus power requirements . The cd of that fairing is around .4.

At the moment aerodynamic efficiency is a good alternative to more .... very expensive ... batteries. Motorcycles are really the pits when it comes to drag.