Why is everyone freaking out about the S2 Del Mar 12v battery?

[@NewZeroland]

Kudos for pushing the limits! I really like your mindset of riding it for a while first, THEN modifying it to suit your needs.

[@AdventuresonZero]

Yup!

[@ChitFromChinola]

Ben embraces the Zero, so we don’t have to . . .

[@AdventuresonZero]

10000% stealing this tagline 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ChitFromChinola]

Ha, all yours, man. My Del Mar arrived last week. It’s January. I live in Wisconsin. It’s 8oF today. :-/ I guess production ramps don’t always match the seasons. Thank you for all you do.

[@AdventuresonZero]

@@ChitFromChinola awesome! You can sit on it and make ‘vroom’ sounds until spring hits 😆

[@TaxmanHog]

Glad to see that it's likely just your extra gear loads, the other 90% of riders won't stress the system to its max potential. Side note, sometimes it's a hardware problem, OT example .... my 2022 F150 Lightning and many 2023 will be needing an LVB [12v] BMS change simple little part between chassis ground and the negative AGM battery post was not sending out the correct data as to the LVB SOC, I just swapped mine out and it has improved the charging of the 12v from the traction battery. Just a thought for Livewire engineers to look into.

[@AdventuresonZero]

I've been communicating with them about the 12v. I do know that cold weather does have an affect. Just traveling from Richmond to Lexington with the bike in the back of my truck (20-30°F weather), drops the voltage from 14.4v (normal), to 13.4v. Add in all the gear, which is also struggling in cold weather, and it really increases the draw.

[@hlagunes]

Hi Ben, the bike is amazing, I’m going to get some saddle bags brackets and do a few changes, I already changed my mirrors, I’m like you, I ride the crap out of it, people think I’m crazy, but you are more extreme, thanks for the videos, I appreciated.

[@AdventuresonZero]

nice! what mirrors did you switch to?

[@hlagunes]

I have the KTM 1290 super duke mirrors, I broke the original ones and these work great@@AdventuresonZero

[@AdventuresonZero]

Nice!

[@brian32937]

There is nothing wrong with the 12 volt battery. What I think is catching everyone off guard is that the 12 volt battery does not charge when you plug the bike in, only when you are driving much like the battery on a gas bike. Given that you need to consider using a trickle charge/battery tender on it like a gas bike. You need to plug a trickle charge into the 12 volt battery any time you do a software update, that is what the Livewire Tech told me. You need to put it on a trickle charge whenever you are not riding the bike for a long time or storing it. And you need to plug it into a trickle charger if you only go on short drives that don’t give the bike time to fully charge the 12 volt battery. What is disappointing is that this is not documented anywhere. But hopefully with blogs like yours the word will get out.

[@bloochdog]

Thanks for your last video. The bike looks perfectly suitable if used within its operation parameters. There are always workarounds. Battery operated gloves and heated gear with a few extra batteries is always a good idea. I personally wouldn't tax the system with anything other than the operation of the bike itself. Thanks again again for a realistic take away and pushing the bike to its limits. There are plenty of critics of EV and it's refreshing to see realistic testing on these bikes.

[@AdventuresonZero]

Yep, normal use I don’t think anyone would have an issue. Even just riding with heated gear, I ride with it daily and voltage doesn’t change

[@bloochdog]

No doubt. Just ADV habits die hard. Always have a tool kit and never pass a petrol station when in doubt of where the never sip of go go juice can be had. Sing out when you roll near Elkton.

[@AdventuresonZero]

Yep! It's always those rides that will be "just down the road" that turn out to be the worst ones. smh.

[@brickrhymes984]

you are up early. I have yet to have any issues with my 12v

[@AdventuresonZero]

lol, had it finished yesterday but internet was slow due to the rain storm we had

[@pj10b]

I wonder if the factory 12v battery is lifepo4 with low temperature charging protection? I could see that causing it to discharge but not be able to recharge below freezing temps. It should have recharged once it warmed up though.

[@AdventuresonZero]

Hmm, interesting. No idea!

[@MarcoRyser]

Did you confirm with LiveWire that the 12V battery isn't being charged while it is sitting in the ON position? There shouldn't be need for it to behave like an ICE with its alternator only charging the 12V battery if the engine is running (at 2000rpm+ on an average H-D).

[@AdventuresonZero]

No idea, but I could ask. All I know is that the bike has a maintenance charge feature while the bike is being ridden, dunno if it’s attached to a certain rpm

[@MarcoRyser]

@@AdventuresonZero Definitely not RPM dependent as there is no generator creating charge. The question of interest is: is it charging the 12V from the big battery only when the wheels are turning or does it do this while the bike sits idle (power on)?

[@AdventuresonZero]

@@MarcoRyser from what I can tell, it’s only when the bike is moving. I’ve seen the voltage at 13.6v after stopping to fly the drone. When pulling out of a parking lot after flying, it shot back up to 14.4v

[@johnpaulgarzaniti5065]

You are destroying the image and the brand of the S2 Del Mar If I was Live Wire I would be suing you

[@AdventuresonZero]

What do you mean?