OK, since this is a *wish list*
1. A true touring bike on the order of the Goldwing bagger. A bike this size would allow 8-9 battery bricks. Assuming an incremental increase to 3.5KWh = 28-31.5KW pack capacity. That's plenty to facilitate CCS DC fast charging. The batteries would be oriented longitudinally with 3x2 across the front with 2 stacked vertically behind. The big innovation would be the 9th battery below the low rider's seat. This is made possible by a hub motor integrated into the rear wheel. Aggressive regen would replace the mechanical rear brake. The fairing should be optimized for efficient cruising at 75-85mph.
2. A muscle cruiser using 7 bricks 2x2 in front 2x1behind and 1 under the low rider's seat. Again, using CCS charging, hub motor rear wheel with a super fat tire for burnouts in front of the bar. A visible beefy frame but have a cover panel for the batteries. The panel should be easily replaceable and used as a canvas for custom paint jobs. Just swap panels based on your mood for the day. You could even paint a fire breathing V-twin on it if you get nostalgic. The single most important part on this bike would be the subwoofer to mimic the rumble of a V-twin (switchable into stealth mode).
Hey, you said it's a WISH list. 
Yes exactly! I think the touring crowd agrees. It's difficult to get this to be seen at Zero tho. Previous marketing VP Scot Harden was a dirtbike legend, almost the entire R&D team are really good dirt bike riders and enjoy off roading in their own time. Almost no one there rides cross country for fun, so while I want a very heavy bike to be stable on the highway, most everyone at Zero can't understand this and wants lighter and lighter and lighter. Even the CTO owns a lightweight Zero FX instead of an SR so there isn't really anyone at Zero, except the head of R&D who is a bigger guy and also an Iron Butt member himself who might understand the benefit of a nice heavy bike for the touring market.
I have added some extra batteries and have 35 kWh of battery and about 200 miles highway range right now and it feels great! Been to LA and back 4 times in the last 6 weeks and the 400 mile trip is so easy, you are down there so quick you can still put in a half day's work after you arrive.
The owner of Hollywood Electrics, Harlan, took my bike for a test ride the other day and was shocked how light feeling and easy to ride it was, even being twice the weight of his racebikes. Having a heavy bike doesn't mean it has to feel heavy or be hard to handle. I think lots of people don't understand this and are afraid of heavy bikes for no reason. I've seen a 95 pound girl toss around a 900 pound Goldwing like a rag doll. So for most riders averaging 150-200 pounds, an 800 pound touring Zero, with 250-300 miles range and fast charging would be perfect.
If a touring bike was done right I think it could be one of Zero's biggest sellers. With longbricks costing about $3k today for 6.5 kWh and 80 pounds, making a touring bike to compete with an 800 pound $35k BMW K1600 GTL exclusive shouldn't be too hard from a weight or price standpoint. With fast chargers my Zero today can go further than 99% of the current BMW K1600 owners probably ever do in a day. The time is right to have Zero make a $25-30k touring bike, but I have a feeling until Zero hires an Iron Butt or touring rider to be part of the executive team, no one will understand the purpose as it's not something they could see themselves riding.
I would love to see Zero make an 800 pound bike with 250-300 miles highway range with a nice touring fairing and aerodynamic luggage with 500 liters of storage space total in different spots on the bike. The heavier the better for high speed highway riding. The heavier the bike the less the wind blows you around, and if the wheels stay about the same weight, the bike rides butter smooth as the ratio of sprung to unsprung weight increases in your favor so the bike stays steady and the suspension alone moves over bumps and bridge gaps. A lightweight bike will leave you with a sore ass after 500 miles of highway riding and need 3 days to recover. I'd like to see a nice strong frame that holds 6 longbricks in the belly and has a 15 inch longer wheelbase for better highway stability. Something like 65-70 inches or so. All we can hope is a great touring rider from the AMA Hall of Fame perhaps can join Zero in the near future and add this necessary influence otherwise I don't see who's going to push it to happen.
But at a minimum I hope they can offer a kit like the powertank that will allow adding up to 4 longbricks as panniers or front "crash bar" mounts for those who would like to do electric touring in the meantime. For the short term however you will have to do these mods yourself or see if a company like Hollywood Electrics can develop a touring kit they can sell or perhaps even rent by the week for those who want to take a 2-3 week journey each year but otherwise don't need the range on a daily basis.
It's going to take time for this demand to increase tho, as most of Zero's current owners are not touring riders. Because if you already were a touring rider, you probably didn't buy a Zero. it's the chicken and egg scenario. But the riders won't come to Zero first and try to modify it themselves, Zero will have to build a touring bike to pull all these riders in.
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Topic: What are your dreams for 2018? (Read 14598 times)