2021 Zero SR/S Test-Ride

[petshark]

As I had expected I really enjoyed this ride. As before I'll quickly write down my impressions, as much for my own benefit as for anyone who is interested.

Pro: 

• Seems well built. Things like the kickstand and mirrors feel very robust compared to the Tracer.
• You can hear so much better what is going on around you.
• Wind protection is good for me. Clean air on the helmet. Wind screen is not adjustable AFAIK. 
• Torque and HP are really great but not as much of a huge difference to my Tracer as I had expected. I have 120 HP at the wheel  after the ECU flash and the Zero had 110 so that's no surprise. But yanking open the throttle on the highway to overtake is a thing of beauty.
• Extra weight is really low and you don't feel it at all. 
• Excellent ergonomics. My knees fit perfectly in the "tank" just like on the Tracer. Unlike the KTM SAS 1290 and Honda CB1000R that I tried earlier. More sporty riding position but still very comfortable. 
• The throttle response is great. I read that this was the hardest part of building an electric motorcycle. It felt completely natural and a lot smoother than on "normal" bikes. Well done Zero!
• The spring on the throttle is also a lot lighter, I'm thinking of modding it to be the same on the Tracer. I often get wrist pains and I think this will help.
• Showa Suspension is not as refined as my Ohlins but I don't think that I would upgrade. It's a lot better than the standard Tracer suspension (as it should be at this price-point) and was set up quite hard.
• Pirelli Diablo Rosso III from the factory. I liked them, first time I tried these. I felt the rear slide a little under hard acceleration out of a corner but they were still a little cold I think.
• Mirrors are positioned low which is also new to me but pretty normal for a sports bike probably. I had good visibility and did not have to adjust which is also a first. I guess that they are further away which means that my height and position has less influence on the reflection than when the mirrors are near to my head.
• Looks. I really like the styling. The tail light looks amazing from the top. It's silly but I can imagine enjoying the look of it each time i turn the key (if I'm not yet sitting on the bike that is). The color scheme is very understated, especially this grey one. I might add some stickers which I would normally not do but that is the only thing that it lacks (which is very subjective of course).
• There's an app to tune the bike but I did not check this out.

Con:

• Not as smooth a riding experience as I had imagined. I felt some clunks in the chassis that I couldn't trace. I could just be small stones between the drive belt perhaps. Also the motor makes a noise at low speeds that I don't like. It sounds unhappy somehow to be moving that slowly. High speeds sound great (think Battlestar Galactica). I am extremely sensitive to anything heard or felt through the chassis so it's probable that it would not bother most people.
• Range. It's still impossible to do tours without planning stops at special terminals to quick-charge. That quick charger is also very expensive add-on, without it it's 4 to 5 hours to charge.
• Dash. Getting back on my 2019 Tracer GT felt like an upgrade in visibility. The zero's layout is fine but it has less brightness and contrast which bothered me. If you have great eyesight this will not be a problem.
• No LED blinkers standard but available as an option. Really?
• Expensive options to unlock extra power and charging capabilities. So this is limited and released via software if you pay even more. I really don't like this. The dealer said they took the idea from Tesla.
• Saddle is really hard. Maybe it should be on a sports bike but I like it softer.
• The brakes are not really a con but I had expected Brembo sports brakes or equivalent. I didn't think that they were better than the Tracer's (with EBC HH pads), although they did feel a bit less squishy. 
• The rear wheel is not weather protected. Riding in the wet will result in your and the bike's backsides getting filthy. That "hugger" doesn't work (I have a Givi on the Tracer that sits a lot closer to the rubber and it does practically nothing).
• The biggest downside is the price. With the right options it's double the price of the Tracer. 
• I will miss working on the bike as there is almost nothing to do. The drive belt can go 40.000 km but they advice to change it after 2 years. Tires and brakes last a lot longer too (engine braking recuperates energy and no gears means less stress on the tires according to Zero dealer)

 

So I'm going to keep enjoying the Tracer but can see an electric bike in my future. I'm all for the technology and have now confirmed that I will surely have as much fun. Batterie technology will improve a lot very soon I am sure. I'm not going to be an early adopter but I'm excited for the future. 

 

[angrygirafe]

How long did you have it for?
 

They’re niche machines for sure. I’ve put almost 8k miles on my 2018 S commuting over the last year, and while it’s fun to ride, commuting is ALL it can do. I keep looking at that SR/S and the SR/F, but $20k is a lot of money for a commuter. 
 

Surprised your seat was hard; mine is way better than my FJ-09 was. And I don’t think there should be any clunks. I have never had any clunks. 
 

The no maintenance/no gas is the best part. I charge at work so I pay no “fuel” costs. No chain maintenance is awesome. BUT mine is getting picked up for maintenance tomorrow for it’s standard 8k mile service, troubleshooting of the charge tank (overheats), and troubleshooting of the ride modes (randomly changes modes even with the switch disconnected). So, while you don’t have to do much, anything that really NEEDS to be done you can’t do yourself. 
 

If I had anytime for just fun riding, or a longer commute I’d sell it and get another FJ/Tracer. 

[petshark]

11 hours ago, angrygirafe said:

How long did you have it for?
 

They’re niche machines for sure. I’ve put almost 8k miles on my 2018 S commuting over the last year, and while it’s fun to ride, commuting is ALL it can do. I keep looking at that SR/S and the SR/F, but $20k is a lot of money for a commuter. 
 

Surprised your seat was hard; mine is way better than my FJ-09 was.

The test ride was just 45 minutes.

I do have a comfort seat on the Tracer and never experienced the stock seat so I can't really compare the two.

This is an interesting take. When you say that commuting is all it can do, are you talking about range only or also that you don't enjoy it as much as, say a Tracer? There.'s no substitute for a year of testing but it stands to reason that using a bike for commuting only can maybe create the negative association that that is all it's good for. 

I also think that anyone (with an open mind at least) will really enjoy a first ride on an electric but that doesn't mean it actually is as much fun in the long run. I dread paying so much for a bike to find that out in the end so if you care to elaborate, I'd be really interested. Especially coming from a FJ owner this information is gold.

[angrygirafe]

5 hours ago, petshark said:

The test ride was just 45 minutes.

I do have a comfort seat on the Tracer and never experienced the stock seat so I can't really compare the two.

This is an interesting take. When you say that commuting is all it can do, are you talking about range only or also that you don't enjoy it as much as, say a Tracer? There.'s no substitute for a year of testing but it stands to reason that using a bike for commuting only can maybe create the negative association that that is all it's good for. 

I also think that anyone (with an open mind at least) will really enjoy a first ride on an electric but that doesn't mean it actually is as much fun in the long run. I dread paying so much for a bike to find that out in the end so if you care to elaborate, I'd be really interested. Especially coming from a FJ owner this information is gold.

Happy to answer any questions or share my experience! You definitely want to know what you’re getting into with the electrics. The tl;dr is: FJ/Tracer is more fun.

Something specific about my experience: I do not own a four wheel vehicle. My wife does, but for myself I rely completely on my bike, and have since 2015. The bike (whatever I own at the time) has to always work because I won’t take the car if the weather is bad or something’s wrong with the bike. Don’t have a car. 
 

Here we go!

For me the range and charge times make it only useful for a commuter. I have a 13kWh battery, which Zero claims is good for 161 mi. That’s not happening in real life. At freeway speeds,(70-80mph) I’m going to get 40-50 miles depending on environmental factors. On surface streets, stop and go at ~40mph, I might get 100 miles. Since I live in Phoenix, there are no 100 mile routes from my house that are fun to ride at <40mph. It could be fun if you had really tight twisties right outside your door, but you’d have to be happy with only riding what was right there and not going farther. 
 

And you’re totally right about the fun factor wearing off. The first time you twist that grip and and take off in silence with no shifting (and no engine vibrations!) it’s a giant smile. And it stays fun for a while. But eventually you start thinking about everything you can’t do. Take the wife out on a bike date? Range depleted. Add luggage so you can carry stuff? Range depleted. Wear a backpack? Range depleted, though not as bad. The weather is cold (<45F)? Range depleted, sometimes significantly. Having fun and going fast? Bike too hot to charge. Weather is hot? (>90F) Risk of charging failure due to heat. Charging in the garage overnight when it’s really hot? (>100F) I hope I don’t wake up to my house burning down. Range anxiety is real. Anytime I have to go to a field location farther than my normal commute, or I have to go to a doctors appointment on my way to or from work, I get nervous about making it back. 

The FJ did everything for me. When I bought it I had a 50 mile commute one way in California. I would take winding backroads going 50-70mph, or freeway at 90+mph. I could do 200-400mile mountain and canyon rides on the weekends. I could put on the cases and do multi-week multi-thousand mile cross country trips. I can do none of that on the Zero. I’m not even sure I could have made it to the beach and back from Temecula without charging at the beach.  
 

The Zero is a good commuter. Even if I was paying for the electricity, it would cost me about 25 cents a day compared to the $3 (before the current madness) in fuel the FJ would need. Not having chain maintenance or oil changes or valve services or throttle body adjustments is awesome. Normal maintenance is every 8k miles, and is just making sure the motor is still in sync; a quick and cheap computer test. Assuming nothing else has popped up. I think my belt is okay, but it’s a few years old now, and I’ve never heard of anyone getting the actual expected life out of one. My charge tank (6kW charger) is messed up and my ride mode has been changing itself. That one is scary. 
 

At my current company (utility), I rotate departments every 6 months. My commute is 9 miles one way. I’m hoping for a future assignment at a power plant with a commute greater than 40 miles, so I can justify selling the Zero and getting another Tracer or something similar. 
 

I believe electric vehicles will be the future, and some of the currently exotic technologies for batteries and charging are insane. But not affordable. If I got another electric bike, I’d want something with DC fast charging, which right now is basically just Energica, which makes Zero look cheap. And the DC fast charging infrastructure is almost non existent. It’ll get there. Eventually. 
 

One quirky potential advantage of a Zero, and it’s kind of true now, is I could install solar and a backup battery on my house, and use that to charge my bike. If gas prices become truly insane, or if there’s a gas shortage, or even a power outage, I could still be mobile. I’m surprised the “prepper” community hasn’t figured this out, but I guess they’re too busy stockpiling offroad diesel. It would be a great apocalypse vehicle 😂

[petshark]

This is really great info! Thank you so much for taking the time.

[micah2074]

I’m not buying into the notion that electric vehicles are the future. 

[kilo3]

17 minutes ago, micah2074 said:

I’m not buying into the notion that electric vehicles are the future. 

You won't have an option to buy an ice vehicle in 15 years.  Probably have to have some sort of special exemption or license to even buy gas by then. I foresee some sort of cash for gas program in the near future when it comes to older cars to get people into battery.

I like the idea of an electric motorcycle, especially dirt bikes, but I'd need a 10-20 pack of batteries just to make it through a weekend. That's pretty cost prohibitive.

[micah2074]

4 hours ago, kilo3 said:

You won't have an option to buy an ice vehicle in 15 years.  Probably have to have some sort of special exemption or license to even buy gas by then. I foresee some sort of cash for gas program in the near future when it comes to older cars to get people into battery.

I like the idea of an electric motorcycle, especially dirt bikes, but I'd need a 10-20 pack of batteries just to make it through a weekend. That's pretty cost prohibitive.

And that’s why I’ll fight it tooth and nail. Electric isn’t better for the environment. It isn’t cheaper. It isn’t more convenient. I don’t see the appeal. It’s almost as if it’s being forced on us. That’s something we maybe should question. 

[angrygirafe]

17 hours ago, micah2074 said:

I’m not buying into the notion that electric vehicles are the future. 

You don’t have to. I don’t think it’s going to happen soon, or even that it’s the best option. Hydrogen fuel cells could be more practical. But it is where all the money is being spent, and there is more and more support to ban the sale of ICE vehicles, so you can draw your own conclusions. Whatever way it goes, I don’t think ICE is the final evolution of personal transportation. 

[PhotoAl]

16 hours ago, micah2074 said:

And that’s why I’ll fight it tooth and nail. Electric isn’t better for the environment. It isn’t cheaper. It isn’t more convenient. I don’t see the appeal. It’s almost as if it’s being forced on us. That’s something we maybe should question. 

I generally agree.  Long post but want to give some insight into something that frustrates me.  EVs have advantages but also disadvantages and are not an environmental panacea.

I do have an electric car (2020 Chevy Bolt) which I bought simply for economics.  Had a 1st gen Volt which I bought for economics when they had big discounts.  Late in 2020 started noticing the Chevy Bolt had substantial discounts.  In January GM sent us letter offering $3,000 in bonus earnings on our GM card which was almost maxed out at near $3,500.  After a "discussion" with my wife we looked at them and I bought a new 2020 from Donohoo Chevrolet in Fort Payne AL.  Besides a fantastic deal it was one of the nicest and easiest car buying experiences I've ever had. Out the door for $21,322 with no trade for a car that sticker over $44,000!  GM is making it up on volume haha.  Didn't need a new car but deal was too good.

I have van for big stuff, pulling a small trailer and trips.  For local driving it is the Bolt.  It is a really fun car to drive with good acceleration and handling although the OEM tires are not so good.  It's like getting into a car with a full tank of gas every morning.  No oil changes, maintenance has been really complex - I need to check the wiper fluid!  Driving is very nice, smooth acceleration with no shifts, no hesitation and great acceleration for a small car.  With better tires it could almost be a hot hatchback.  An EV does not suffer from the inefficiency when accelerating like a conventional vehicle does.

IMO most of those pushing EVs are trying to get rid of oil consumption and do not evaluate the total picture well.  But isn't that tru of most people?  Want a simple fix without having to think too much.  Seems like most of the push to shift to our electric is from governments and not consumers.  Use EVs where good and cost effective but don't mandate.  Electric motors have advantages but EVs are not the panacea and I really don't want to have to drive one on a long trip and have to plan around where to charge and wait for it to charge.  I've had a van and a car for a while with the van for trips and hauling stuff and the car for local trips.  If I had to get rid of one it would be the van and would just rent for trips and hauling stuff - that's how much more I like driving the Bolt than the van.