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[bigd]

Cycle world Aug 2014 issue, Intake pg 14. A subscriber replies to the Character article that included Zero. NOT THAT ELECTRIFIED "You had a nice feature going with your character-bike theme but then just had to go all political correct, greenie-weenie on us and include FX ZF5.7- perhaps hoping the sierra Club will send over a banquet invite. Why on earth is the motorcycling press slobbering over these expensive toys? For 12K you get a machine that has  a one-way 20-mile range and takes 8 hours to refuel, but hoooeeee!, is it ever fun to ride down your driveway. It even does wheelies! Wake up and have the guts to acknowledge that the electric bike craze has no clothes." David Nunley   ....(No, I didn't write it LOL)  No matter your opinion on AGW, using that as a selling point is NOT what the public wants to hear. If you want the electric bike to succeed, refute the expensive toys or driveway points. Just so you know it was the only mention of that article. 

[Richard230]

I saw the same letter.  But everyone has their own opinions and I was not surprised by this one, just a little disappointed.  There is no question that many motorcycle owners, especially in the U.S., are not happy with anything new or different from what they are used to.  It is just human nature, I guess.   

[Justin Andrews]

Talking green / AGW / environmental, I've found, is turn off for people these days, that drum has been banged so much over the past few years that people have a knee jerk reaction to it. Sad but true.

So I rarely, if ever, talk about the green credentials of my bike when discussing it with other riders. I keep the chat, depending on whom I talking too, to the techinical areas of the bike, its pros and cons, and its performance. Thus when chatting to most other riders I perfer to focus on the performance characteristics of electric motorbikes, its normally what most bikers are into, and high performance is what electrics excel at anyway.

Best way to convince other riders, as ever, is to give them a test ride.

[ultrarnr]

Justin Andrews,

I agree. The green argument is a real turn-off for a lot of riders. So many discussions go down the same path of how green the power is produced or the processes the factories use to produce components of the bikes. I think the percentage of current and potential future motorcycle riders who would consider an electric motorcycle based only on the performance characteristics of the electric motor is a lot higher than the number who would consider one based on the green or environmental factors of using electric power. When I talk to others about my SR I focus on power delivery and how smooth it is. ICE engine designers have been trying to duplicate the smoothness and torque curve of an electric motor for decades!

And getting people to ride them is the way to do this. Look at what H-D is doing! Would love to see Zero do the same. Deals Gap in western NC would be a great place to show the SR and there are a lot of other places where Zero could get a lot of butts on the seat of their bikes. It is the power delivery that will convince people to buy electric motorcycles. Many bikes have features that people are willing to pay a premium for. In some cases that may be ABS or a certain suspension or brake system brand. In the case of an electric motorcyle that feature is the smooth power delivery of an electric motor.

If you focus your discussions on smooth power delivery it is also a lot tougher to counter compared to the green argument. And while the Zero SR isn't the fastest bike out there the list of motorcycles that the Zero SR can smoke is fairly long.

[Justin Andrews]

Thats why I think the Lightening LS-218 could be an important bike.

Its blindingly quick, as fast as the best ICE bikes, has a good range, and charges quickly, most importantly costs around that of a good Ducatti.

It ticks all the right boxes, in an ideal world it would be the break out electric motorbike.

[ultrarnr]

Agreed. I wish that Lightening had competed in the Pike's Peak Challenge again this year. It is tough to argue with success and when you beat a Ducati by 20 seconds that sends a powerful message. And when you can have repeated success at it then heads will turn.

[frodus]

I try to keep the green side out of it too.... I tell them that I'm an EE and I just like electric stuff and this is my hobby, just like having an ICE bike is theirs. Driving one of these ain't going to save the world, but its damned cool to ride past gas stations IMHO. My GF even comments about how stinky ICE bikes are and how she likes how mine doesn't smell up the garage, or stink when i start it up or while we're sitting in traffic. Also, don't have to worry about overheating in traffic jams like a Harley does with their air cooled cylinder heads.

They ask about range, I say it gets me wherever I want to go. It fits all of my needs. I don't tour, and don't care about long-ass trips.
They ask about noise, I say it sounds like a Tie Fighter.
They ask about charging, I say I refuel it while its sitting in the garage or at work.
They ask about acceleration, I challenge them to a race at a stoplight

[bigd]

Great answers guys - Even Frodo (I cant believe I said that LOL). With the advantages, how can people not like them. The ones that wont talk about them are the Harley crowd that are not going to ride anything else anyways. Im good with that as it not my decision. I really think if the price drops the younger crowd will buy them like wild. In collage, I always worried about my ICE getting stolen, but this, Id just park in my living room because it isn't "stinky" :-).