Rode the Zero

[backinthesaddle]

Was hanging around Razees and they said take the Zero for a ride. Did a quick 30 minute ride. Was fun. Lack of engine sound was odd. Throttle response instantaneous. It was the higher power model. Lots of fun grabbing the throttle. Didn't miss up shifting as the torque doesn't sign off. Only took a a couple stops to realize I didnt need to downshift. Felt light riding it. Didn't feel as light rolling it around. I guess you'd have one a while before you stop looking at the battery level on the LCD dash. 30 spirited minutes took the charge from 97 down to 87 percent battery.

I'll admit it put a smile on my face. But I think right now it's like a consumer electronic device. As each year goes by battery capacity and performance will increase, and resale will probably suffer. And I think sticker was over $16k. I'd ride one for my 20 minute back road commute but not at that price. Wish they had the motard version to try but I think that has a much smaller battery capacity.

[nhbubba]

Which model? Was reading the latest specs and they sound downright viable now. Cost gets defrayed some by tax incentives.
My employer has charging stations in our lot now. More Volts and Leafs every day. Soon these things will be downright normal.

[backinthesaddle]

The SR. One cool thing is they charge as delivered with standard 110v cord. The bad is that takes 10 hours. There is a charging station adapter available as an option. The torque delivery is impressive.

[nhbubba]

Adapter? I thought these had the SAE standard "smart" plug that would fast charge at 220 or something.
If they aren't directly compatible with the car chargers popping up all over.. then really, why bother?!
Half the reason I was interested was just to be able to park @ one of the chargers and piss off a whole new demographic of car driver for taking "their spots".

[Tekime]

Badass, I'd love to hop on one of these. Still can't imagine waiting 10 hours when a tank of gas takes 10 seconds, but it seems like the tech is finally coming along.

[reks95]

They are compatible, but they don't come with the right adapter out of the box.
This is a topic of discussion on their facebook group.
There's a couple guys selling adapters for pretty cheap online.

[FriskyDingo]

Was hanging around Razees

Cool, just saw they were a dealer when I stopped in yesterday, hoping to get a test ride (too late yesterday), still too $$$ but i'm curious how they feel on the road.

how about that deal on the EBR 50% off

[nhbubba]

They are compatible, but they don't come with the right adapter out of the box.

That's really dumb on the part of Zero.

[OreoGaborio]

Very cool. I like this thing a lot & would love one for commuting & tooling around...... but that price tag.

I was really hoping the Brammo would end up making some break-throughs before Victory took over. Looked WAY cooler.

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/wp-c...-empulse-3.jpg

Still hoping Victory can turn it into something.

[Pittenger5]

Would be awesome as a commuter bike ... but I think thats it. Maybe the occasional weekend sprint.

[TheIglu]

Cool, just saw they were a dealer when I stopped in yesterday, hoping to get a test ride (too late yesterday), still too $$$ but i'm curious how they feel on the road.

how about that deal on the EBR 50% off

2016 MSRP for the 1190RX is $13,995.

They are asking $9,750. Some funny math right there.

[backinthesaddle]

I think the mortard while low in range would be fun in the right dirt oval backyard or an impromptu parking lot race.

[backinthesaddle]

The EBR is the 2014 leftover. Those were more like $16k originally so not 50% off but still one heck of a markdown. I still don't think I'd buy one due to history of the company but a lot of bike for the price.

[nhbubba]

Running a Boxshop kind of thing all electric tingles my inner greenie.

[OneCheekRider]

I rode the Victory Empulse which is a rebranded Brammo if I'm not mistaken. I love the idea of an electric bike for commuting/around town. The torque was really addicting! I wasn't impressed at highway speeds since there isn't much oomph when passing -- maybe was due to the gearing?. It was interesting since they use a traditional motorcycle transmission (which requires oil changes), however, it was a 6 speed and I never needed to get out of 3rd, even on the hwy. I really want to try out the Zero - comparing specs on paper it seems like a much better buy than the Victory. I think I would need prices to drop a bit and range to increase if I ever were to purchase one.

[reks95]

That's really dumb on the part of Zero.

I'm not sure why they don't. I suspect that it's a cost/weight thing.
They're modifying the plug standard to add high voltage DC charging.
Once they do that, I think it makes the AC adapter obsolete.

[nhbubba]

Won't most (existing) chargers still be AC? Don't get rid of that adapter quite yet.

[reks95]

I'm not sure. I guess it depends on how quickly they get retrofitted.
But when all the batteries are charged with DC, it seems silly for
everyone to carry around their own AC/DC converter.

I'm not sure it would make any difference to me if I owned one.
I'd use it to go back and forth to work and I'd be charging it in the garage overnight on 110.
When you take out one of the batteries, the FX is like 240ish.
Might not be terrible in the dirt.

[scottieducati]

Aside of commuting, I am really interested in one of these for late-night city rides.... it'd be nice not worrying about a wailing exhaust note giving you away....

[RyanNicholson]

We had the motard here at the shop for a while and I took it out for a quick spin. As far as power delivery I felt the same as most comments here, addicting torque. I think it was so different to me I had a hard time really forming an opinion other than "that's pretty neat". If I had a more urban commute or did a lot of city riding, it would definitely be something I'd look into. Especially since the battery life is much better with city riding vs highway.

[Paul_E_D]

I rode the police bike a couple years back at Loudon. Pretty cool, though I thought the chassis felt a bit like a chinese pitbike in terms of quality. It seemed to handle fine though.

[jakesv650]

I stopped by Mark's Motorsport in Enfield, CT last week and they are also a new Zero dealer. They have a SR and FX which will be used for demos in a few weeks once they get the go ahead from the insurance company. I can't wait to try one!