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[Justin Andrews]

News story covering the Zero pull out from the UK... 

http://transportevolved.com/2013/10/03/citing-lack-of-support-poor-sales-zero-pulls-out-of-uk/

[Richard230]

Pieter de Waal, who was mentioned in that article, used to run BMW's North American motorcycle operation.  I once met him at a BMW rally and he is a very nice guy and really smart too.  But he always was looking out for their dealer, feeling (correctly) that a happy dealer makes for happy customers.  My guess is that Zero pulled out of the UK before their low sales volume gave them a permanent poor reputation with motorcycle dealers and tainted any hope for a future return to the market.

[Justin Andrews]

Interesting you should say that Richard, speaking to one of the UK Zero guys, the feeling he was getting was that Zero was going to pull out for a couple of years, then re-assess the UK market for re-entry. So what he said seems to agree with what you are saying.

I suppose I can't really fault that approach, though it is rough on the people who were in UK Zero. Good people, who have made sure that there is still some level of support for Zero products in the UK even after the pull out. For which I am very gratefull. Zero have lost some good UK employees sadly... 

Ah well, my plan was to use the ZF9 for a few years, and look at another electric bike in 3 years or so. So when Zero returns to these shores, I'll welcome them with open arms and wallet...

[NoiseBoy]

Interesting you should say that Richard, speaking to one of the UK Zero guys, the feeling he was getting was that Zero was going to pull out for a couple of years, then re-assess the UK market for re-entry. So what he said seems to agree with what you are saying.

I suppose I can't really fault that approach, though it is rough on the people who were in UK Zero. Good people, who have made sure that there is still some level of support for Zero products in the UK even after the pull out. For which I am very gratefull. Zero have lost some good UK employees sadly... 

Ah well, my plan was to use the ZF9 for a few years, and look at another electric bike in 3 years or so. So when Zero returns to these shores, I'll welcome them with open arms and wallet...

It's a shame but Brits seem to be terrible for range anxiety, not to mention the absurd obsession with uncomfortable and impractical sports bike. Unlike Europe the realisation that naked and touring bikes are actually better to ride is happening very slowly.

If you do want a new Zero in the future importing vehicles from Jersey is fairly straightforward.

[Justin Andrews]

uncomfortable and impractical sports bike

My time with the YZF750 cured me of that rather quickly. I traded to a Diversion 900 and did'nt look back till the ZF9.
Now of course I want a more comfortable seat and better angled handlebars on my ZF9...


Its daft that range anxiety is an issue, britain is a small country after all, but I know what you mean. Frankly I've not found range to be an issue at all...

[Crawling Finn]

So it looks like I have got the only 2013 bike then. Just wondering when are they planning to tell me how they are going to support my purchase.
The bike took 6 months to arrive with all kinds of excuses for the delay. Feeling a bit conned at the moment.

[Justin Andrews]

Bedford Supermoto should be handling UK support...

Hey were you riding a Green 2013 DS while you were waiting?

[firepower]

Zero also pulled out of the Australain market and still waiting for their return.
after reading this i have little hope, UK is far more EV friendly than Australia, we have no subsidies for any EV.
and few charging stations, can count them on one hand.
http://www.bikesales.com.au/news/2012/zero-motorcycles-on-hold-in-australia-30054

[Crawling Finn]

Bedford Supermoto should be handling UK support...

Hey were you riding a Green 2013 DS while you were waiting?

Lets hope Supamoto is fine with that.

Yes I did have the green DS for few weeks and almost 3000 miles

[Justin Andrews]

I believe Bedford are ok with it, Dan was discussing it with me when he picked up my ZF9.
As for the Green DS, I'm riding it at the moment while my ZF9 is being sorted out. 

I hope your 2013 S is working out ok.

[Olav]

Zero also pulled out of the Australain market and still waiting for their return.
after reading this i have little hope, UK is far more EV friendly than Australia, we have no subsidies for any EV.
and few charging stations, can count them on one hand.
http://www.bikesales.com.au/news/2012/zero-motorcycles-on-hold-in-australia-30054

It's interesting that with all of Zero's gains in selling their modified products into police departments such as  Bogota, Colombia Police dept they couldn't make any inroads into the UK  or Australian police departments especially since the Australians would have a similar use case as here in California where police departments have adopted them.

There seems to be more going on behind the scenes I suppose.

[Justin Andrews]

I believe the UK government were interested/approached regarding some Zeros, possibly as escort bikes for sporting events (such as the London Marathon) I don't know what happened about that, and its unlikely to go ahead now I suspect.

[NoiseBoy]

I always thought that a sufficiently substantial electric bike would make a great camera bike for a cycle race or similar. Always annoying to hear the ICE droning away during the coverage.

[Justin Andrews]

I totally agree, not only that but the ride on an electric bike is slightly smoother than on an ICE bike, so camera frame stabalisation would be slightly easier too.

Lets face it, electric bikes are better than ICE bikes in a number of ways... 

Now we just need to get people to realise it. 

[kingcharles]

I always thought that a sufficiently substantial electric bike would make a great camera bike for a cycle race or similar. Always annoying to hear the ICE droning away during the coverage.

Not enough range for a cycle race. Also not big enough to safely carry a cameraman with gear.
Perhaps it could be used as an escort bike for a marathon.