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[Richard230]

Check your email.  I just received a message from Sylvie Denuit, Strategy & Analysis Manager for Zero Motorcycles, asking if their new CEO, Richard Walker, could give me a call and ask about my experiences as a Zero owner.  I was offered a number of dates and times during which the call could be scheduled.  Needless to say, I wasted no time responding.  I must say that is a great idea! 

I sure never had a call from BMW's CEO during my 25 years as a BMW customer, or anyone else in the company who wanted my input as a customer, for that matter. Mostly all they wanted was for me to buy their products and keep my mouth shut.  No customer opinions are needed by BMW's motorcycle division. It looks like things are different at Zero.   

[ColoPaul]

You lucky dog!   Very cool.. 
Tell him to have someone look into the glitch problem.

[Richard230]

Here are the questions that I will be asked:

Why an electric motorcycle?
    Why did you choose a Zero and in doing so, what were the benefits you were looking to receive ?
    How well has your Zero bike experience matched up to the expectations you had of the Zero brand before the purchase, during your use of the bike and afterwards?

        What's been positive?
        What's been negative?

    What could we have done differently to make your purchase experience and experience of our Brand an even better one?
    How do you feel when you're riding the Zero?
    What are you favorite brands (any product, service or retailer) and what is it about them that draws you to them?

I suppose that I could also recommend that Mr. Walker take a look at the comments from Zero owners posted on this forum.   

[craigq]

I received the email too, but I've not the foggiest idea what to talk about 

[Lipo423]

That's a great thing Richard, you lucky guy 

I would definitely suggesting him to take a look at this forum, or get someone from the service/engineering department to do it every day!!!

In my former company (totally different business -a big construction equipment one)no products were designed without customer's input -including field testing- and it took 2 years to launch a new product in the very best scenario...after a lot of testing...and still there were problems which we could not see at an earlier stage...

Yes, talk about the glitch, please 

[firepower]

Also talk about international customers, need dealers in Australia, Asia and Europe.

[manlytom]

yes, have sent an email to some Zero people already with reference of strong MC sales in Oz.

pls help and send "we need Zero in Australia" as well to:
sales.au@zeromotorcycles.com
sales@zeromotorcycles.com

[Richard230]

I received the email too, but I've not the foggiest idea what to talk about 

It appears that the conversation will be somewhat structured. The questions that Mr. Walker will be asking are apparently the ones that I outlined (copied from the email) in my second post on this thread.  This gives you a couple of weeks to think about how to answer.  Needless to say, I could keep talking about electric motorcycles for a few hours, but apparently the phone call will only last about 15 minutes, so I guess I will have to talk fast.   

[Nukie]

On the negative list, add the rear view mirrors. Would love to see those get changed. People should not have to be buying extenders in order to use them.

[Richard230]

My guess is that the reason we have short mirror stalks is that the bikes are designed and tested in California and you can split lanes here. So they wanted a bike a narrow as possible to wedge between cars when Highway 17 (the 4-lane highway that runs past Scotts Valley on its way to San Jose) stalls out, as happens a lot during commute hours.

[vchampain]

I had the same mail in Paris. My call is planned for monday. I have a Zero XU : great bike.
Limitations :
   - proprietary parts making change very costly (why didnt they use honda or other largely distributed parts) ?
   - no serious top case solution (need rain suit + cable storage)
   - no serious option for a antitheft solution (compulsory in Europe for insurance reasons)

+ they should market more the total cost of utilization - it is lower than an ICE 125cc for a XU - and include financing options.

V

[Electric Terry]

Who has had their call already?  Mine is scheduled for tomorrow.

[Richard230]

My call is scheduled for Thursday afternoon (PST).

[manlytom]

Hi Lucky ones to have an inteview !

please send Richard Walker our regards from the land downunder -- and that many Australian riders that are very interested to get Zero's back into Australia. Still so far it seems they are not interested to call anyone down under 

[Electric Terry]

Excellent chat with Mr. Walker today.  Was only supposed to be 15 min but went on for close to an hour.  He is definitely interested in what we all think and how to make the company better.  We shared lots of the same ideas. 

He has had someone working with Brammo to work together to get the tax credit for electric motorcycles up and active again.  He understands the business model of providing lots of accessories for profit but keeping the price point on the actual motorcycle as inexpensive as possible.  he said thats how Hewlett packard worked for years.  The computers and printers were literally sold for cost or no profit, but the printer cartriges, paper, cords etc is where the company made money. 

So I hope we'll see a lot of options and accessories in the future.  Looking for controller upgrades (Sevcon Gen 4 size 6 for more power), charger upgrades (up to 6kw charging for the ZF9), and perhaps extra battery modules in the future (ZF3 packs?).  At least those were my suggestions, and he seemed to agree with all of them.  He seems like a great guy to have at the helm.  I think good things are on the horizon.