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[AustinSZF8.5]

Hey all, I'm Jeff, and I'm in Austin, TX. I'd been watching the Zero and Brammo spaces for years, waiting for the performance envelope to cross my expectations of a bike which would be ridden on urban central Texas highways. That finally happened with the Z-Force drivetrain in '13, and I started saving my pennies. A few months ago some jerk totaled my parked '03 Triumph Sprint in a lot, and with the insurance payout I decided that I had enough to start seriously looking at the electrics as a replacement. I rode a Triumph Street Triple and Brammo Empulse back-to-back and loved the electric, but I wasn't sold on the transmission or water cooling. The Zero dealer was out of '13s and waiting for the '14s so I held off. I checked back in March and they had a demo S ZF 11.4 so I took it out for a spin. 15 minutes into the test ride I decided that I needed one in my life. I placed my order for an S ZF 8.5 a couple weeks later, and just picked it up yesterday.

Needless to say, I'm super psyched to have this little beast. This will be my primary commuter, and I'm sure I'll be happier and happier with it every time I pass a gas station without needing to stop. The Zero slots into the garage alongside a '97 Honda Magna and '08 Kawasaki Versys, with some dumb roundel-wearing 4 wheeled thing that I occasionally use as a last resort sitting in a dusty corner. 

Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone. Not sure how often I'll make it back to the forum, but I'll try for "periodically."

Cheers, and see ya' out there!

[trikester]

Welcome! However, I must warn you that these e-bikes are highly addictive.

Trikester

[biolife]

Welcome, and congrats on the new bike! A lot of guys with ICE bikes have reported that they start to neglect them more and more as time goes by, and the Zero becomes their go-to choice. Will be interesting to see if the same happens to you...

[dkw12002]

Welcome. We have some similar experiences, I think. I own a 2013 Zero S 8.5, and bought mine from Ed Cook at AF1 Racing which is probably where you bought yours. I traded in a 2012 Street Triple R when I bought it. I also test rode the Brammo Empulse at Lone Star which is likely where you test rode yours, and I decided on the Zero instead..both because of the added weight of the Brammo, clunky noises from the chain/transmission, plus I have had excellent experience with AF1 Racing and their New Braunfels dealership is just a couple of miles away.

[AustinSZF8.5]

Welcome. We have some similar experiences, I think. I own a 2013 Zero S 8.5, and bought mine from Ed Cook at AF1 Racing which is probably where you bought yours. I traded in a 2012 Street Triple R when I bought it. I also test rode the Brammo Empulse at Lone Star which is likely where you test rode yours, and I decided on the Zero instead..both because of the added weight of the Brammo, clunky noises from the chain/transmission, plus I have had excellent experience with AF1 Racing and their New Braunfels dealership is just a couple of miles away.

We sure do! Though it was Tovas Brown at AF1 in Austin who helped me with the Zero order.

How many more do we have in this area? Enough to make a meetup worthwhile?

[dkw12002]

Jeff, there's a map on this forum for people to enter their location. I've been unable to get it to work, so I'm not listed, but there are a couple of others listed for Austin. Not many for sure. If you do decide to do a meetup, I could ride one of my other bikes over from New Braunfels though. I ride every day and look for excuses to hit the road.

[frodus]

Welcome!

Add yourself to the map for sure.

Let me know via email if the map doesn't work.

www.evfr.net

[AustinSZF8.5]

I'm actually already on the map. I registered last week after it was posted on the Electric Chronicles blog. I'm #106. Maybe as the map fills out I'll start firing off emails and gauging interest. I know there are at least a few more around here who aren't on the map. I've seen a 2011 Zero DS, Brammo Enertia, and Brammo Empulse in the wild around town.

[oobflyer]

Congrats on the new toy!

I just sold my gas bike ('06 Honda Shadow) in January - it was just sitting in the garage collecting dust ;-)

[AustinSZF8.5]

I just sold my gas bike ('06 Honda Shadow) in January - it was just sitting in the garage collecting dust ;-)

Don't tell my other bikes that, they might revolt! I do enough DX riding that I need to keep at least one gas powered machine around. Both my Magna and Versys are set up for street riding, I'm thinking about taking the Versys in a different direction. It already looks a bit dual-sport or adventureish. There have been some Versys adventure builds that I might borrow some ideas from. I toyed with getting a DS instead of an S, but there just aren't that many places within range that I'd use it, and I don't want to buy a truck to haul my motorcycle around, ya' know?

Gotta' admit though, the Zero has been getting all the attention since I picked it up last week! I couldn't be happier with this bike, just wish there were some better luggage options for it.

Does anyone have a contact at Zero to use for suggestions and/or improvements? For instance, it would be really nice if the brake light would activate or flash when using regenerative braking. A USB (or dual USB!) socket instead of the standard lighter socket accessory port would be nice as well... And what's with all the incandescent lighting???

[ultrarnr]

AustinZS8.5,

What kind of luggage did you want? I have SW-MOTECH on my SR. The mounts are quick release so it is really easy to put them on when needed. The mounts that Zero sells are Givi so just look for adaptors that will fit Givi for whatever luggage you want.

Have you looked into brake light modulators for your Zero? I have one. Not going to activate when you close the throttle though. It is really the same thing on an ICE bike, if you back off the throttle and slow down not a bad idea to tap the brakes a bit so someone behind realizes you are slowing down. Twisted Throttle sells dual USB ports.

[AustinSZF8.5]

AustinZS8.5,

What kind of luggage did you want? I have SW-MOTECH on my SR. The mounts are quick release so it is really easy to put them on when needed. The mounts that Zero sells are Givi so just look for adaptors that will fit Givi for whatever luggage you want.

Have you looked into brake light modulators for your Zero? I have one. Not going to activate when you close the throttle though. It is really the same thing on an ICE bike, if you back off the throttle and slow down not a bad idea to tap the brakes a bit so someone behind realizes you are slowing down. Twisted Throttle sells dual USB ports.

The Givi Mounts are likely what I'll end up going with, especially since I already have Givi hardware for the Versys (bags didn't come with it but the brackets were still on the bike when I bought it), it just seems that the bags stick way out to the sides. It'd be nice if there was something a little more integrated looking. Do the SW-Motech bags hug the bike a bit tighter? Got a pic?

I agree about the similarity to ICE machine engine braking, and I do tap the pedal to flash the light if I have someone behind me on anything I'm riding, it'd just be nice if the Zero would do it automatically especially since I'm using regen more than I use compression braking on the gassers. I've thought for a long time that this was needed on ICE bikes as well, but it seems that it'd be easier for the Zero since it knows that it's regenerating and how much deceleration it's causing, etc. With an ICE bike you'd have to rig up an accelerometer or mercury switch or something.

As far as the USB ports, I meant something that would fit in the dash space reserved for the AUX power accessory. It'd be nice if they offered a USB accessory in addition to the cigarette lighter plug since most accessories these days are or can be powered via USB.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Putting Motech cases on a Zero just means using the Motech adapter plates on the Givi rack, so it will offer no possibility of slimming. He's shown pics of his setup before: basically big boxy TraX cases, which I own but would not recommend outside of a camping/adventure use.

[AustinSZF8.5]

Putting Motech cases on a Zero just means using the Motech adapter plates on the Givi rack, so it will offer no possibility of slimming. He's shown pics of his setup before: basically big boxy TraX cases, which I own but would not recommend outside of a camping/adventure use.

Ah, okay. I've been a street rider all my life and am just now starting to look into adventure gear. I'm familiar with the big aluminum side cases, but thought maybe they made something a bit sleeker that I didn't know about yet. Nah, I'd like something a little less wart-ish. The Givi Monokey panniers are looking like my best bet. I might get a set of soft cases in the interim but ultimately I'd really like something lockable.

While we're on the subject of luggage - and I know this isn't a new idea as I've seen it suggested before - how about a locking hard panel for the "tank" storage compartment ala Honda NC700? Under-seat storage with matching key lock access would be nice too, I'm already finding that I'm missing that a bit.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

There are some aerodynamic cases for the Motech brackets, which I've used as sport replacements for TraX (http://www.twistedthrottle.com/bags-connection-aero-abs-sidecase-system) but I have been using the E21's that Zero packages with the side rack successfully for grocery runs, and I just rely on a larger top case for more capacity.