This weekend I got the chance to test out the DS and FX all electric motorcycles by Zero. I have been following the company for about 4 years now, watching and listening to both negative and positive feedback. Watching the price of the tech come down from around 25k to as low as 10k now. and Generally trying to hold my opinion until I could ride a viable product with at least as much "gas" in the tank as my bike. That time is now.
Me pensive about electric bikes but curious... and helmet hair, so 80s
First of all a little info on the DS and the FX:
The DS I rode had the following specs, combined range of 119 miles, 81 ft-lb of torque, 60 hp, a limited top speed of 98mph (bummer at least let it do the ton) and cost $16,690. Now honestly that is still a little steep for what you're getting in my opinion. However, the bike itself felt better built, more solid, and was WAY more likely to make me ride it hard than my Vulcan cruiser. It was a deliciously fun bike to ride. It begged me to ride it, it begged me to drop a knee and corner it, it wanted to play. I could easily envision myself running up into the mountains with this thing on a trailer, then heading up into the woods for an overnight campout. The cons of this idea, of course, are a 457lb dead weight if you run it out of juice while you're still in the woods. There are solutions to extend this life, but they are a couple years out still I think.
The FX I rode had the following specs, combined range of 52 miles, 78ft-lb of torque, 46hp, a limited top speed of 85, and cost $10,995. This is a compared to the average dirt bike out there this is a fun little bird. Lightweight (or at least to a cruiser rider) at 337 lbs this machine was nimble, reactive, and fun. I could certainly see bombing the desert, or dropping some single track trails on this machine and coming home with a smile on my face.
Speaking of smiles, that was the order of the day on sat. Smiles for days. Even the heavy sportbike riders were peeling their helmets off with shit-eating grins on their faces. It was like the first time you really goosed the throttle when you were learning to ride, that moment of joy, of power, of on the edge control. The electric motor does not have any weird torque so when you pull that throttle the bike jumps forward not right and forward or left and forward just straight like a hyper arrow. the silence was weird at first, pulling out of the parking spot with no motor sounds, no blap, blap, rumble, rumble was... odd. People walking by would stop and stare with that WTF look.
once on the open road the bike handles exactly like I would expect, save there is no clutch and no gears to shift through. This felt odd as well. At first, I reached for my clutch handle a couple of times, but by a couple of blocks, I nearly forgot about the difference until it was time to stop. That was where the safety of no clutch really stood out in the crowd. With no clutch, no neutral to find, no nothing, I was worried about breaking and what was going on around me, that was it. Now I have been riding enough that I dont really even notice clutching anymore (unless I am on a long ride in traffic) so there was that much difference that I took notice of the extra subconcious brain power freed up. NICE!
the silence was also fun with kids, I could hear them and respond to them as we rolled past the farmers market, because they were not drowned out by exhaust. It also let me hear other cars on the road, I jumped a couple times because I could hear the cars in the next lane so clearly I thought they were coming into my lane. While the silence does nothing for letting them hear you, it sure does up your defensive driving game.
All in all I was impressed. I see this clearly as the path of the future now, and I look forward to jumping on my own Electric motorcycle once my current bike is paid off. The future is here already, and it is changing the game, I for one am a convert. Well played Zero, well played.