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[ColoPaul]

Such dramatic improvement over a short period of time has been rewarded in the marketplace: Zero has sold roughly 3200 electric motorcycles since 2009—and that’s just the start. Last year, the company boosted production to 1000 bikes annually and expects to double that volume in 2013.

Perhaps "boosted production to 1000 bikes annually" is not the same as "sold".

No, I would think "production" = "sold".   Anyway, thanks for pointing out the quote.  Sales #'s are a bit of a mystery and curiosity to me.

I was just remembering DoctorBass's "zero internal" presentation ( http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=2655.0 ) where they listed 277 bikes sold in 2012.  I know, it was dated "Sept 2012" and I think it's obvious they had to have sold more than that.

For example from the thread ( http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=2209.0 )  I did a quick scan of 2012 VIN's, kcoplan reported a VIN of 339; which is more indicative of higher sales.   Hard to guess volumes based on VIN's however - did they assign a different series to DS and S models?  If so 350*2 = 700 S & DS, throw in another 300 XU & X bikes and you're at 1000.   On the low end, assume S & DS share and they only sold 150 X/XU and now you're at 500 bikes.

They have ~60 US/Canada dealers.   I know that my dealer sold roughly 2 dozen 2012's.   60*24 = 1440.   But my dealer covered all of Colorado and Colorado had a tax break that cut the price literally in half; so it seems like the average dealer would not have sold so many.   Maybe 60*12 = 720?

[protomech]

Perhaps "boosted production to 1000 bikes annually" is not the same as "sold".

No, I would think "production" = "sold".   Anyway, thanks for pointing out the quote.  Sales #'s are a bit of a mystery and curiosity to me.

I was just remembering DoctorBass's "zero internal" presentation ( http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=2655.0 ) where they listed 277 bikes sold in 2012.  I know, it was dated "Sept 2012" and I think it's obvious they had to have sold more than that.

For example from the thread ( http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=2209.0 )  I did a quick scan of 2012 VIN's, kcoplan reported a VIN of 339; which is more indicative of higher sales.   Hard to guess volumes based on VIN's however - did they assign a different series to DS and S models?  If so 350*2 = 700 S & DS, throw in another 300 XU & X bikes and you're at 1000.   On the low end, assume S & DS share and they only sold 150 X/XU and now you're at 500 bikes.

They have ~60 US/Canada dealers.   I know that my dealer sold roughly 2 dozen 2012's.   60*24 = 1440.   But my dealer covered all of Colorado and Colorado had a tax break that cut the price literally in half; so it seems like the average dealer would not have sold so many.   Maybe 60*12 = 720?

I believe S/DS are serialized together and X/MX/XU are serialized together.

I would take that presentation with a small grain of salt. It had some placeholder graphics, text and misaligned images; clearly not the final draft. It could have easily had old sales information in it.. but I would have thought more than that many sales by September for sure.

[Richard230]

That figure of 1000 2012 Zeros sold seems kind of high to me, unless most of the sales are to various government agencies that would not be posting about their experiences on message boards. I always felt that police, military, ranger and other patrol services seemed like the perfect market for selling lots of electric motorcycles.  Fleet sales are a lot easier and more profitable than selling to one customer at a time.

If most 2012 Zero owners visit this board and are reporting running problems, than I would say that is a very small percentage of owners having issues and Zero motorcycles are very reliable - much more reliable than BMW motorcycles, as an example. (Consumer Reports surveyed thousands of motorcycle owners and recently reported that about 75% of BMW motorcycle owners reported that they had mechanical, electrical and other problems with their bikes.)

On the other hand, if only 25 or so 2012 owners post on this forum - where are the rest hiding out?     You would think that anyone buying a new electric motorcycle would want to learn as much as possible about their new vehicle and would want to connect with others who are similarly affected with the early-adopter disease.   

That neat Zero owner spreadsheet created by benswing isn't quite up to 1000 owners yet.   

BTW, I see that Terry (offthegrid) now has 25,000 miles on his much-modified 2012 Zero S.  If he has had any "glitches" during his travels, I haven't heard about it.  The only thing I have heard is that he blew up his motor when a bearing destructed.  I think he is still using the same batteries that his bike came with, along with the new ones that he installed. Perhaps the failures and glitches that we have been hearing about are less of a design problem and more of a assembly or component issue?

[kingcharles]

On the other hand, if only 25 or so 2012 owners post on this forum - where are the rest hiding out?     You would think that anyone buying a new electric motorcycle would want to learn as much as possible about their new vehicle and would want to connect with others who are similarly affected with the early-adopter disease.   

There are at least 3 or 4 times as many Vectrix' sold as Zero's. There are less are active owners on Vectrix forums than Brammo or Zero owners on their forums.

[frodus]

There are at least 3 or 4 times as many Vectrix' sold as Zero's.

Citation needed...

[kingcharles]

There are at least 3 or 4 times as many Vectrix' sold as Zero's.

Citation needed...

 http://www.voltforum.cat/voltforum/YaBB.pl?num=1257251983/0#0

They reached 2880 bikes in March 2010

[frodus]

Can't read it all, but 2880 TOTAL BIKES sold for Vectrix.

Compared to 3200 bikes sold by Zero since 2009.....
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/firstrides/122_1301_2013_zero_s_first_ride/viewall.html

Vectrix filed for bankruptcy in Sept 2009, was resold to Gold Peak later that year. So for part of 2009, all of 2010 and some of 2011 no bikes were produced or sold.

That's far from 3-4 times as many Vextrix sold than Zero.... in fact, Zero has sold 11% more bikes than Vectrix, going by those numbers alone.

[kingcharles]

Can't read it all, but 2880 TOTAL BIKES sold for Vectrix.

Compared to 3200 bikes sold by Zero since 2009.....
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/firstrides/122_1301_2013_zero_s_first_ride/viewall.html

Vectrix filed for bankruptcy in Sept 2009, was resold to Gold Peak later that year. So for part of 2009, all of 2010 and some of 2011 no bikes were produced or sold.

That's far from 3-4 times as many Vextrix sold than Zero.... in fact, Zero has sold 11% more bikes than Vectrix, going by those numbers alone.

Ah, thanks for that.
I was not aware of the high Zero numbers. Still I think Vectrix has sold a few more bikes and not less. I found a 3x00 VIN on visforvoltage dated in 2011.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that even with multiple 1000's bikes sold there is little activity on forums.

[dkw12002]

Since they call the Zero S a streetfighter, it needs to have good acceleration off the line, which it does. I want to get out ahead of traffic and not be stuck in it and risk people braking in front of you, changing lanes, etc. My experience is that people will race you off the line if you have a slower bike. Once you are clearly out in front, they back off a bit....as if cowering in shame at losing out to a motorcycle. I have looked everywhere and cannot find the 0-60 mph time for the 2013 Zero S. Anyone know?

[protomech]

As there is a lot of excitement about acceleration. Here are the Zero 2013 numbers...

S:   5.3 seg
XU:   5.5 seg
FX:   3.9 seg
MX:    4.3 seg

Take these numbers with a small grain of salt - I can guess at Lipo423's source, and let's say it's not 100% official. But they should be a good ballpark number.

Until a publication performs an actual instrumented test - or an owner gives us a better ballpark number - they'll have to do.

[dkw12002]

Still, it's not like you have to get the revs up and pop the clutch to do this. It is deceptively sneaky to stand there looking around and take off that fast. On my Gixxer 1000, everyone knows my intentions just from the sound. Thanks for the info.

[BSDThw]

I have a 2012DS ZF9 that is much weaker, but a lot of people (+motorcyclist) telling me the bike accelerate really fast.

I think the lack of sound and the constant torque make you underestimate the acceleration a bit. At the traffic light no (standard)car could outperform my up to know. 

[NoiseBoy]

I have a 2012DS ZF9 that is much weaker, but a lot of people (+motorcyclist) telling me the bike accelerate really fast.

I think the lack of sound and the constant torque make you underestimate the acceleration a bit. At the traffic light no (standard)car could outperform my up to know.

That is optimistic for a 2012, very few car drivers ever floor it from the lights.  Up to 40ish mph my friends 2.0 VW Passat estate keeps up no problem and that is around a 9 second 0-60.  The 2012 bikes are slow off the line, 2013 is a different story.

[BSDThw]

My experience is that people will race you off the line if you have a slower bike

I never had that problem with my stock 2012 DS. Maybe till 10-15mils/h its a bit slow but than... I don't talk off racing against ICE bikes!

[Richard230]

Even in Eco mode on my 2012 S, I have no problem keeping ahead of most all traffic away from a stop light - as long as I am not trying to take off up a steep hill from a stop.  I rode around all day yesterday in Eco mode, including up hill on the freeway, and had no problem passing all of the other cars and trucks on the road.  My bike will go 83 mph up a 6% grade in Eco mode, which is faster than I really need to travel. So I have no complaints about power, just about how fast the fuel bars disappear at that speed.