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[Richard230]

Ride Apart just published an article regarding Zero.  Nothing new and their facts are a little distorted, but it is still a decent story.  It appears to be aimed at the general public though and not Zero enthusiasts:   

https://rideapart.com/articles/zero-motorcycles-breaking-records-building-better-bikes?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HellForLeather+%28Hell+For+Leather%29

[protomech]

Noone peeing on the side of the road?

[MichaelJohn]

I would like to see Wes Siler review the SR. After his video fiasco on the Zero that ran out of battery on the freeway while he watched the charge go to zero and did nothing but continue riding and let it die. He then cursed the bike when it had given him plenty of warning. He also complained that the scooter that his buddy was riding was quicker than the Zero he was riding. I have that same scooter and the difference in performance between it and my SR is monumental...incomparable really. Yes, I would like to see the guy responsible for "The Shocking Truth about Electric Motorcycles" put his butt on the SR and see what he has to say.

[CrashCash]

Eh, Siler was paid the big bucks by Brammo. When I went to test ride an Empulse, the dealership had no fewer than 6 different 15 minute Brammo videos by Siler on the big screen TV, and another one featuring Ben Bostrom.

He's about as much a "journalist" as Jeremy Clarkson reviewing the Tesla. It'll be comedy and laughs, but not much actual fact.

Edit: granted, I almost ran into the same situation about the 3rd day I had my Zero. I was unprepared for how the "sit-up-flat" aerodynamics at 75mph sucked the battery dry on I-4 and I was sweating bullets while I waited for an exit and watched my charge dropping. I ended up at a rest stop with 45% battery going "ohshitohshitohshit" and then I got an error 0044 and thought I'd broken it. There was another 10 minutes of swearing before I discovered I'd bumped the kill switch.

I switched to ECO, poodled to the next exit at 60 and still got home with 13% on the back roads of Longwood, which turned out to be an absolute blast.

Lesson learned: The interstate's why I've still got the FJR. However I am really looking forward to a Vetter fairing.

Another edit: As soon as I get my power tank installed and some fast chargers from Hollywood Electrics, I'm riding the 125 miles to that dealership, just to ask "how dem Brammos sellin'?". It's A Mission, A-Team theme and all. A snootier bunch of Ducati/BMW riders would be difficult to find.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, the whole power required is the square of speed means that power requirements stack up alarmingly after 40mph. Which is why getting the drag co-efficient down with something like a Vetter fairing is really useful.

[roma258]

Eh, Siler was paid the big bucks by Brammo. When I went to test ride an Empulse, the dealership had no fewer than 6 different 15 minute Brammo videos by Siler on the big screen TV, and another one featuring Ben Bostrom.

He's about as much a "journalist" as Jeremy Clarkson reviewing the Tesla. It'll be comedy and laughs, but not much actual fact.

Edit: granted, I almost ran into the same situation about the 3rd day I had my Zero. I was unprepared for how the "sit-up-flat" aerodynamics at 75mph sucked the battery dry on I-4 and I was sweating bullets while I waited for an exit and watched my charge dropping. I ended up at a rest stop with 45% battery going "ohshitohshitohshit" and then I got an error 0044 and thought I'd broken it. There was another 10 minutes of swearing before I discovered I'd bumped the kill switch.

I switched to ECO, poodled to the next exit at 60 and still got home with 13% on the back roads of Longwood, which turned out to be an absolute blast.

Lesson learned: The interstate's why I've still got the FJR. However I am really looking forward to a Vetter fairing.

Another edit: As soon as I get my power tank installed and some fast chargers from Hollywood Electrics, I'm riding the 125 miles to that dealership, just to ask "how dem Brammos sellin'?". It's A Mission, A-Team theme and all. A snootier bunch of Ducati/BMW riders would be difficult to find.

As far as I remember, the review of the Zero S was one of the earlier model, whose performance was, let's be honest pretty lacking. So when the Brammo Empulse came out, it indeed blew it away. Ofcourse Zero kept improving every year and the Zero SR is a proper beast. However, that Rideapart article, like most others on that site these days is barely more than a manufacturer press release. Siler had his flawes, but at least he had a point of view backed up by some expertise and wasn't afraid to express it. How many mainstream publications can you really say that about right now?

[protomech]

I doubt Wes was paid directly by Brammo. World-first access to the bike (which he used to write reviews for several different publications) was enough.

[Richard230]

I doubt Wes was paid directly by Brammo. World-first access to the bike (which he used to write reviews for several different publications) was enough.

I concur.  I know an independent contributing motorcycle journalist (no it wasn't Ted) who used to get invited to all of the BMW new model launches (free flights, room and board and other perks) all over the world.  Then he made the mistake of injecting a couple of negative opinions into the review of a new BMW model (I think it was the original R1100S model).  That got him blackballed by BMW.  His future articles would no longer be accepted by the major motorcycle magazines and he was never again invited to a BMW new model launch. 

That is how the manufacturers keep the journalists under their thumbs and why they keep writing glowing reviews of every new motorcycle model - followed by a review of next year's model, when they tell you what was wrong with last year's model that has now been rectified by the new version.   

[CrashCash]

And that's why I no longer buy any motorcycle magazines except Motorcycle Consumer News, and I still don't believe any of their reviews either. I buy it for the interesting columnists. I also get Roadracing World, which is a different kettle of fish.

And I consider being "on the gravy train" to be just as much compensation as being directly paid, since you lose it if you displease your masters. Either one means you're not a journalist, you're just another paid hack.

Speaking of BMW, it's interesting how many letters in MCN are "this broke on my BMW" and the response is "yes, this is a long-known problem that BMW won't admit, here's how you fix it." - far more telling than any review.

Edit: plus you don't really think he was paid some sort of fee to be in those videos? Seriously?