I have been riding my Zero SR/F for a couple of months now, and thought I'd share my experiences with the community.
I used to ride the Zero DSR 2016, which I have generally been very happy with, and the review points out the upgrade experience when coming from this model.
Some of the selling points to make me upgrade was:
- Traction Control. I had several scary experiences with my DSR where I accelerated faster than the roadgrip allowed, and I felt I was really close to crashing.
- Fast charging and built in type 2 connector.
- Wider tires for better roadgrip
- 4 years of riding causes some wear and tear. I am not that into mechanical maintenance, so it seemed like a good choice to sell the DSR before I would have to start changing and maintaining any broken things.
One of my concerns before upgrading was the Zero SR/F falls into the heavy category (which needs it's own type of drivers license here in Norway), while the DSR is considered medium weight class. So, I worried the SR/F might be a bit harder to drive somehow. But I was happy to find the exact opposite was true.
I felt the new driving experience was much smoother, and due to the rounder shape of the tires it seems more natural to tilt while turning. It feels a lot more stable due to the increased weight, especially on windy days. The steering felt looser and I generally feel more relaxed while driving the SR/F. My girlfriend said she noticed it also feels smoother as a passenger.
I found the SR/F is not as quiet as I was used to, it makes a pretty loud humming sound when accelerating fast. At first I found it a bit distracting, but now I come to enjoy the audible feedback from the engine.
I feel the SR/F is a motorbike showing that Zero Motorcycles has really grown up and are starting to catch up on a lot of the things other manufacturers has been having for a while, and beyond. There was a lot of details I really appreciate when coming from the DSR, such as:
- Lockable storage compartment. It is a small feature, but knowing my stuff is relatively safe while parked gives me greater peace of mind. The storage space is actually quite roomy, and can even fit the rather bulky charge cable if necessary.
- Two USB charging spots in the storage compartment. I havent used these yet, but imagine it is nice to charge your phone on longer trips.
- Built in Internet connection. I was really surprised to find the motorbike is always online to submit it's GPS location, provide status about charging as well as pull down the latest firmware updates automatically. I always assumed I would need to set up some subscription with a local telecompany in my country to initialize that, but it works right out of the box. It is really nice to be able to use the app and see the charging status, so that the MC wont need to be parked at a potentially expensive charging station longer than necessary.
- Two helmet anchors under the seat, and also a bonus small storage compartment there. Handy for storing registration papers, keys or similar.
- Heated handles. This is only in the premium model, but I live in Norway and thought it would be an useful addition. And it really is. I have been riding around in temperatures down to 6 Celsius and the heated handles does help a lot. The heater gives you three temperature settings, I generally maxed it out and wished for an even higher setting though.
I think there is still room for some improvements on some details though, such as being able to drive in reverse (it is a pretty heavy MC, I actually nearly got stuck once when trying to back up uphill using my legs) and safety details like turning on the brake light when braking through regen. Regen braking is a real thing on the SR/F by the way, I had entire long trips where i barely touched the brakes at all.
I was surprised to see how efficient charging with a regular wall outlet is. I havent measured charging times, but the SR/F charges a lot faster from a standard wall socket than the DSR did (at least with the electricity standards used at homes here in Norway). I expected I would have to go to a vehicle charging station to see an improvement in charging times. Just be careful using other electric appliances connected to the same circuit at the same time as the bike drinks juice so fast. My fuse said no when trying to run the dishwasher while charging for example. But I just had to plug my Zero into another circuit, and all was well.
It is really nice to be able to drive around without a charging cable hogging all the storage space. With the integrated type 2 connector, most charging stations provide cables already for you to hook up directly, and I enjoyed using the storage space for other things.
Talking about charging cables, I think different Zero retailers provide different packages, but in my case I got the official Zero Type 2 to Schuko cable included with the SR/F. I did not like this one, as it has a big box in the middle of the cable and you have to manually press some buttons on it to actually start the charging. The Schuko end was really long and dropped down so it nearly fell out of the outlet. Too bulky and needlessly complicated. What if you forget to push the button when plugging it in a hurry, or I press it but dont wait to make sure it gets the message and start charging? This happened to me, and it sucks to come back to a charger-connected vehicle that did not charge at all because some button on the cable needed to be pushed more firmly. So, I bought another charging cable online that is more compact and without those pointless buttons. I'm sure those things increase the charging safety somehow, but I rather take my chances. Never had any issues with the new cable.
So far I have been very happy with my SR/F. Only issue I had is the front brake seems a bit flimsy, and sometimes makes a pretty loud sound when I use it, however it functions well. And in the beginning the brake blocks were touching the wheel even when not braking, making a low scratching sound. But the retailer told me I should just let them wear down a bit and the sound would disappear, and it did. Another small issue is I feel the varnish on the tank in front of the seat gets scratches very easily. I cannot even remember to have touched it, but there are many visible lines there already. The strong red color makes it quite visible. I guess I will need to fix that somehow in the future.
Thanks for reading, hope it is useful.
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Topic: My quick Zero SR/F review, upgraded from Zero DSR (Read 969 times)