ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

Hey folks,
This is what I think of my new 2010 Zero S.  It is a great bike and I am really loving it.  I am a happy, satisfied customer.  Handling:  I have only owned 650 cc road bikes so that is my baseline for comparison.  The S handles very well and is clearly superior to the 09 in terms of acceleration, details and stylling.  I guess I would compare it to a 400 cc bike but having never ridden on one I could be way off.  It is spry (which it should be for 270ish lbs.) corners well, brakes fine (the brakes are on the light side but so is the bike).  I took it down a steep it at about 40 mph and had no problem breaking for a stop sign at the bottom of the hill.  My Suzuki DL 650's breaks gave me more confidence than the Zero's do though.  The lack of engine breaking is not as much of an issue as I thought, but it takes a bit more forethought when entering a tight turn.  At about 50 mph I started to notice that it is pretty stiff legged and transfers a lot of road surface bumps to the rider.   This of course could be a matter of adjustment.  I love the way it leaps up to speed in city traffic.  An import part of a motorcycle for me is the ability to be quick and agile and the Zero is both.  On the freeway I had no problem reaching 67 mph with a very solid steady climb to max just as advertised.  This was without any tucking in and I weigh 185 without any gear on.  0 to 60 (calculated using my wrist watch in light  freeway traffic so I could be little off) was just under five seconds without tucking in or ducking down.  My first ride I took hard and pretty fast to check out acceleration and watch for over heating.  No problems.  I did notice that my range was pretty limited while I was "aggressively taking on any urban environment."  I could probably have gotten a max of 23 miles out of it before having to charge.  Once again this is full throttle from almost every stop sign and light and full throttle onto the freeway. 
I was a bit thrown at first by the battery charge gauge.  When the bike is pushed hard the gauge reads a rapidly diminishing remaining charge in the battery.  When you lay off the throttle you get an accurate reading.  I will ask Zero about this.  After about five rides I would say that Zero's advertised range at different speeds is pretty accurate if you don't gun it.  An average range of about 40 miles on surface roads, maybe about 30 miles on the Freeway if one is careful with the throttle and a max range a little below 60 miles (with careful riding, speeds around 25 and no stop and go situations).  A caviat to all of this is that I have only had the bike for a couple of days.  Time will provide better data.  The bike did come with a free Hero helmet cam and I asked for a shirt and hat and they they were also given free.  I don't know if this is standard or because i have volunteered to promote Zero at "green" events and at the TTXGP.  I can't get my pics to upload so I will have to learn how to do that.  I hope to have some pics posted soon.

~GC

Hey folks,
I spoke with Lisa at Zero today 4-14-10 and I will pick up my Zero S at the end of the day this Friday!   I will leave work early, rent a van and head down.  They are including a helmet cam free with the bike.  Wow!  Is this normal?  If I can figure out how to down load digital video and upload it to this site then I will post some stuff.  I hope this means that other folks out there waiting for Zeros will get them very soon.

!GC

Thank you ultrarnr and skadamo for the responses and the information.  Much appreciated.  Once again, I will post my first impressions when my bike arrives.

I hope you hear from me soon,
~GC

Hey folks,
Ok, this is likely paranoia but does anyone out there worry about electro magnetic radiation from electric motors.  I almost died of cancer a few years back so it’s on my mind.  I scanned the Internet and after tossing out the crunchy loony toon opinions found that the research is inconclusive.  Some studies show problems like childhood leukemia and brain cancer other studies show no ill effects.  EMF is listed as a work place hazard but welders exposed to the highest levels of EMF have no increase in cancer.  Opinions??  Thoughts??

Thanks
GC

Hey folks,
I had the chance to attend Zero's open house and factory tour and I went on a demo ride.  It was all a heck of a lot of fun.  I attended in the late afternoon hoping to avoid the crowds but it was still busy.  There were bikers all over the place.  It was gratifying to see so many Zeros ripping around and to see a factory with a row of frames ready for assembly.  Clearly they are drawing a lot of attention for their bikes.  Hey I noticed they even made the cover of an Italian motorcycle magazine and had a very favorable review.  The coolest thing about the open house was of course trying out the new Zero S with the new specs.  They took about six or seven of us out every hour on a five mile ride on a local back road.  Good twisties, a good hill to test the torque on and ample opportunity to get a feel for the bike.  They had the new Zero multisport bike, an X and a bunch of S's.  The bikes performed great.  I was very, very pleased at the improvement in acceleration.  We jumped away from all stop signs encountered with ample power for a bike in this class.  It is not 750 or 1000 cc bike after all.  I would put it in the 400 cc class with moments when I thought it compared to my 650 (sort of).  It charged up the hill like it wasn't there and it is so damn light that it handles like a gazelle.  I did not feel any issue with fork flex in front as some people have mentioned and the bike was easy to control and thrilling to push to its limits. I am more excited than ever to get one.  After having ridden this new version I am sure it will be worth the wait.  I also heard a rumor of a new torqueier and faster motor coming out.  Hmmm.  I asked about delivery delays and they said it was simply a matter of suppliers getting all the parts in on time to assemble the bikes.  Like any new product it will take extra time to coordinate things initially. 
I this is all useful info.
Good riding,
~GC

Hey Russ,
Thank you for the long post.  It has a lot of great info which I appreciate.  My Zero S ship date is September 15th so it sounds like I will have regen on my bike which is great news.  Hey, was there any mention of why they had dropped the top speed, increased the weight and ditched the fancy headlight?  I don't mind staying to 55 mph if it means better low end torque so I am hoping that this is the case.  Heard anything?

Thanks again for the info.

~GC

This is a response to drivin98 and quity.
First of all, quity, your ride on the S sounds seriously disappointing.  Ya know if i were Zero I think I would make sure that customers were only riding bikes that really work.  The S i rode had diminished initial acceleration but above about 15 mph it kicked in solidly.   I was told it was an experimental bike and that the "real" S would have 15 to 20% more torque from 0 mph than my test bike.  I think this answers your question drivin98.  My ride showed a full charge when i sat on it, I was very heavy on the throttle till I hit about 30 mph then eased off.  I could have wheelied on it.  I didn't take it up to 70 because the rep. wanted us to stay on the surrounding residential streets ( I was taking his word on the top speed), but I hit 50 without even a tiny hint of slowing and no instrumentation weirdness at any time.  I was one of four guys test riding this bike and we probably put around 10 to 15 miles on it all together.  It was down one bar by the end of our rides.  guity, your test ride raises some worries for me.  Clearly the proof will be in actually riding a "real" S.  I will assume at this point that I will be more impressed when I take my final test ride when i pick up the bike.  I will take your suggestion and ask for the two year no fault warranty with its 1/2 price upgrades for buying the bike early and missing out on the rebate.  If the bike doesn't pass muster on the final test ride I will wait for the fabled Zero street bike which I have not seen or heard about except on forums like this one. 
I wish you much better luck on your next test ride. 
-GC