My brother just bought a 2020 Zero S

[peterbaron]

Happy birthday Pdedse

[LongRanger_imp]

Ferret, great write up. Sounds like a blast! But for me, my desire to own an electric anything is... zero.

[the Ferret]

LR I think it would be interesting to live with for a month and see how it goes. Where you live, not enough range. Where I live for "just a ride" around some country curvy local roads the range would be fine. My every day rides are generally in the 50-75 mile range, with the occasional 100-200 miler. Couldn't do those longer ones on the Zero, and of course rallies and trips would be out lol.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Here's my report from riding one a couple of years ago in 2017 reported on here.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....ectrifying

but here is what I reported:

well, it was strange and cool at the same time. The dealer rolled it out and turned the key and said "OK, it's running". I looked at it like what's running? There was no noise. There was no vibrations. It was just sitting there totally silent. seemingly dead to the world. He explained the two modes..eco and sport. Suggested I ride a loop of their test route in eco to get used to it. Then run a second loop in sport. No clutch, no gears, belt drive. Twist the right grip and it silently moves out. Brakes are in the normal places. First stop sign I come to I squeeze the brakes, it comes to a stop, and I thought "it died". I mean there is no sensation that the thing is alive. There is no tachometer. Just silence. I twisted the grip and it took off again. I go several blocks, and slow to turn right and notice there is no compression braking, so use the brakes, signal my turn (all switches are normal like ours) make the turn, cancel the t/s, then give it some gas. Throttle response is instantaneous. Woosh, and I watch the big digital speedo climb. Pretty soon another stop sign. Now used to the dying feeling, it doesn't freak me out anymore lol. Twist the throttle again and woosh jetting right along. After a few more miles and a few more turns I am back at the shop. He is waiting outside. "Whatcha think?" I tell him. He says "ok take another loop in sport mode and really give the gas when you get up around the corner...and hold on". So I push the button to put it in the sport mode, take off, go up around the corner and hammer it. Wholey moley, this thing accelerates very quickly, very quickly. Pretty soon I am back at the shop again.

We stand there and talk about the bike awhile. I told him it was really cool, and that I had a great time, although the suspension was jarring. He answered all my questions. Battery life is 400,000 miles. It would take a whole day to change out a battery pack, but he has been a Zero dealer since 2012 and hasn't had to do that yet. He asked if it was something I would buy. I said at $6K we would probably be talking. At $15K no chance.

For me the limited range would be the buggaboo. It has a range of 100 miles at low speeds. It was 160 miles round trip for me to go test ride it.lol

If you ever get an opportunity to test ride one, it is something you should jump at the opportunity to do , if nothing else for the experience. I'm afraid some day, maybe when my son is my age, it's going to be the only thing available I'm afraid, and it won't be so bad after all. Riding is still riding and it beats being inside a Prius.

Amen to that.

[cooldrum_imp]

Happy Birthday Pdedse! go for a ride today!

[pdedse]

Happy Birthday Pdedse! go for a ride today!

I'm gonna try, but the cold rains of Oregon sometimes have me thinking of alternatives.

Here's my report from riding one a couple of years ago in 2017 reported on here.

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....ectrifying

but here is what I reported:

well, it was strange and cool at the same time. The dealer rolled it out and turned the key and said "OK, it's running". I looked at it like what's running? There was no noise. There was no vibrations. It was just sitting there totally silent. seemingly dead to the world. He explained the two modes..eco and sport. Suggested I ride a loop of their test route in eco to get used to it. Then run a second loop in sport. No clutch, no gears, belt drive. Twist the right grip and it silently moves out. Brakes are in the normal places. First stop sign I come to I squeeze the brakes, it comes to a stop, and I thought "it died". I mean there is no sensation that the thing is alive. There is no tachometer. Just silence. I twisted the grip and it took off again. I go several blocks, and slow to turn right and notice there is no compression braking, so use the brakes, signal my turn (all switches are normal like ours) make the turn, cancel the t/s, then give it some gas. Throttle response is instantaneous. Woosh, and I watch the big digital speedo climb. Pretty soon another stop sign. Now used to the dying feeling, it doesn't freak me out anymore lol. Twist the throttle again and woosh jetting right along. After a few more miles and a few more turns I am back at the shop. He is waiting outside. "Whatcha think?" I tell him. He says "ok take another loop in sport mode and really give the gas when you get up around the corner...and hold on". So I push the button to put it in the sport mode, take off, go up around the corner and hammer it. Wholey moley, this thing accelerates very quickly, very quickly. Pretty soon I am back at the shop again.

We stand there and talk about the bike awhile. I told him it was really cool, and that I had a great time, although the suspension was jarring. He answered all my questions. Battery life is 400,000 miles. It would take a whole day to change out a battery pack, but he has been a Zero dealer since 2012 and hasn't had to do that yet. He asked if it was something I would buy. I said at $6K we would probably be talking. At $15K no chance.

For me the limited range would be the buggaboo. It has a range of 100 miles at low speeds. It was 160 miles round trip for me to go test ride it.lol

If you ever get an opportunity to test ride one, it is something you should jump at the opportunity to do , if nothing else for the experience. I'm afraid some day, maybe when my son is my age, it's going to be the only thing available I'm afraid, and it won't be so bad after all. Riding is still riding and it beats being inside a Prius.

Do you mean that when you back off accelerator that the bike doesn't slow down considerably as if it were braking? I ask because I drove a Tesla a few years ago and my friend (the owner) was encouraging me to play with that concept. His point was that you don't even need to use the brakes much, that you develop a sense of timing as you let off "the gas" and you can do turns and never touch the brake--that there's not much "coasting" going on. He could also come to near complete stops w/out braking if he "timed it" right.

But if you can let off the accelerator and let that action brake or reduce speed fairly qickly--not needing brakes--then the brake light is never coming on, and so people behind you don't realize you're slowing down--if this is the same on the Zero, then I imagine a rider would want to tap the brakes so that drivers behind you would have a heads up that you're decreasing speed.

But, Ferret, you're saying this doesn't happen on the Zero, that in fact it does "coast" after letting of the accelerator?

[GoldOxide_imp]

Zero does utilize regenerative braking which drives the gen set when the binders are squeezed. Driving the generator (thus charging the battery) will load the driving wheel and put a drag on velocity (i.e. slow the bike down).

[the Ferret]

Well, I wrote that right after I rode it so that must have been how it seemed to me. There is no compression in the "engine" for compression braking. Ask your brother if he has ridden his and what he thinks.

Here found this.. see point 4 under summary what to expect

https://motoress.com/ride/how-to-ride-an...otorcycle/

[GoldOxide_imp]

Well, I wrote that right after I rode it so that must have been how it seemed to me. There is no compression in the "engine" for compression braking. Ask your brother if he has ridden his and what he thinks.

Here found this.. see point 4 under summary what to expect

https://motoress.com/ride/how-to-ride-an...otorcycle/

I reckon an internal combustion engine would produce more back pressure (engine braking) than a charging EV battery in regenerative mode (braking)?

[the Ferret]

actually if you read the" What to expect" summary in the link I provided, it reads very similar to my review. They just said it in bullet point form.

The lack of tactile and acoustical cues is quite disconcerting at first. Nothing you won't get used to, but very strange after riding petrol bikes for more than a half century.