A couple of friends asked if I would write up a post on my impressions of this bike. Thought an electric motorcycle forum would be a good place to put it. So far I love this bike!
In February I purchased a Zero-S electric motorcycle. Normally there is little joy in riding a motorcycle at 65mph in 30 degree weather, however this has been a warm winter and I really wanted to ride!
Context: I am a tree hugging daredevil and have owned an electric motorcycle before. My previous bike was a Vectrix, which was 525 lbs and was very utilitarian. It looked like a big scooter, had a handy trunk and went 62 mph. The new bike looks awesome and is only 340lbs. I hate using gasoline with a passion for a variety of reasons (environmental impact of drilling, money going to the middle east, pollution, etc.), and I am not (yet) independently wealthy enough to buy an electric car. But I am financially responsible, and willing to splurge to make a statement.
The bike: Electric motors make for a fun bike! Zero Motorcycles have made themselves a high performance machine. Electric motors have a great deal of torque, so you get that exciting feeling of getting off the line fast whenever you want. The top speed is 90mph (I've been up to 80 while "taking it easy"), and the effective range is somewhere between 60-114 miles. Closer to 60 on highways, 114 on smaller roads. The throttle acts as a smile-creator whether on highways or on local roads, it's just fun!
The battery is an amazing piece of technology and Zero Motorcycles designs their own batteries for their bikes. It is Lithium Ion, making it light and it doesn't have a charging "memory". It takes about 8 hours to charge fully, but I haven't come close to that yet. I laugh while riding past gas stations because I don't need to pay for gasoline any more and it is next to free to ride electric. Charging the bike at night gives me a full charge every day so I rarely even look at the battery charge.
Performance: This bike is nearly silent and the ride is totally smooth. Since the motor is electric, there are no explosions going on in an engine (what engine?!?), so there is no vibration whatsoever. The motor gives off a nice-sounding gentle groan when pushed hard, and when I ride at highway speeds the wind makes much more noise than the motor. Because of the smooth ride, it's easy to wind up going faster than you intended.
Miscellaneous: My overall impression is that the Zero-S has far superior performance, rideability, and sex appeal. The Vectrix had a lot of little details that made it handy as a commuter vehicle (placement of ignition, information panel, mirror placement, etc.). However, I am very happy to be riding my Zero-S and look forward to seeing them develop into greater range and faster battery charging.
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Topic: Zero-S 2012 (ZF9) in Jersey (Read 1644 times)