smccrory Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 Has anyone had a chance to ride one yet? http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ - You can read stats on the bikes at the URL or even schedule a ride in Dayton or Brook Park (Cleveland), which I might do next spring, but I'd love to hear other's impressions especially if you've had direct contact with a Zero. See, I was at a Salesforce.com I.T. conference this week and Zero Motorcycles was there showing off their collaborative with the cloud company. I got a chance to see their 2014 Zero S and FX models up close and also talk with the CEO, product manager and operations manager. I was impressed not only with the bikes, but especially with their approach to business and building a next-gen customer experience. Keep in mind that I had just previously stopped by the Toyota (Prius) booth and the Tesla booth, and the similarity between strategies was striking, with Toyota probably being the pioneer 3 years ago. Here's what I came away with... One might expect an electric bike to have configurable controller parameters for different drive modes, and it sure does. You can go all the way down to define how much regenerative braking (aka engine back-pressure) you prefer without swapping cylinders, cams, mufflers, etc. There is no other technology that lets you do that to anywhere near this degree. You can also bias the torque curve to suit your wrist because it's a fly-by-wire mechanism - they told me about one customer with fused wrist bones from a previous injury - he was able to program the curve to increase sensitivity around the center where he does most of his riding, thus extending his ride times before he's too sore to continue. You can say he's a loyal owner now :-). You'd also expect to make all manner of telemetry data available via bluetooth, which the bike also does, and you can hit a "Help Me" button that automatically sends the controller logs to Zero for analysis and pre-staging of parts if necessary. They told me they're looking to add more telemetry in the future, and I gave them a bunch of ideas, like recording ride distances for logbook entries, being able to share select info to social media and even push telemetry into Virb/GoPro videos, and announcing alerts into a BT headset. The overall idea is that they know they are in business to sell an experience, especially since in our kind of climate, a motorcycle isn't a necessity, and certainly one costing $12-17k with a range less than 180 miles. They are also acutely aware that riders coming from other bikes, especially ones with big tanks, are worried about battery range and getting stuck somewhere (even if for several recharge hours), so I'd expect them to get more ride videos out that show riders managing battery charge in real-world situations. Do I think Ohio is the best place to own a Zero? No, nor is it the best for a motorcycle overall, but I do believe I'll own an electric bike someday, maybe in a couple years even. They won't replace the oily, greasy, noisy stink of an IC engine that's a core part of the experience for many of us, but they will offer a different, much higher-tech experience that I think cause many BMW riders to spend the extra coin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 I've had Zero chance 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted October 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) {facepalm} :-D Edited October 17, 2014 by smccrory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mello dude Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 Name change candidate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaCinci Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) I'd like to try one now that their range is well into the triple digits. Edited October 17, 2014 by ScubaCinci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mello dude Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Test ride in Dayton? I'm always up for a test ride.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Me too. I'm debating whether to ride one before winter or wait until next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschoolsdime92 Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Test ride in Dayton? I'm always up for a test ride....Joes cycle shop is a dealer. I've looked them over a bunch, but never ridden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Keep increasing that range, and I am gaining interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismo_2005 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 I would love to get a chance to ride one. A longer range would be a must for me.I tend to do rides of about 300 miles a day. Its bad enough that I have to stop and fill up my tank every 100 miles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Who makes electric dirt/trail bikes? It seems like that may be a more practical application with current restrictions on range. Plus, you can't stall an electric bike, which could be an advantage on a tricky trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismo_2005 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Ktm is starting to get into the electric dirt bike market.http://www.ktmfreeride-e.com/enIt is unclear if they will be available in the u.s.a. or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Who makes electric dirt/trail bikes? It seems like that may be a more practical application with current restrictions on range. Plus, you can't stall an electric bike, which could be an advantage on a tricky trail. I was thinking the exact same thing, especially the potential to upon up a lot more riding courses closer to civilization due to lower noise and smog emissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismo_2005 Posted October 22, 2014 Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Like I said ktm is making electric dirt bikes and a few others I believe.link is in my previous post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Zero as well, in the form of a DS: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-ds/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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