The future can only be weak electric bikes with no character or potentially dangerous hydrogen-powered future craft. Ho hum.
At least, that’s what I thought.
WRONG!
I have just returned from a couple of weeks on holiday with the American side of my family (many of you will know that my wife Jackie is American) and this year we rented a house in Santa Cruz, California. While there, we did all the good touristy things like go to the boardwalk, rode the train at Roaring Camp and saw the Mystery Spot. But, I hadn’t been on a bike for a couple of weeks, so I took a look at the web to find something motorbike related I could go see.
I found an electric bike company based there called Zero Motorcycles, so I gave them a call and went to meetthem, and to go for a test ride.
With an idea that was formed in a Santa Cruz garage, the firm is now one of the world’s leading electric bike manufacturers. Zero saw that there was only one way for people to be convinced about their bikes. To use their own words “Since 2006, when the first prototypes were produced, Zero has invited motorcyclists to go for a ride. Some things are better experienced than explained”. I liked this approach and so after a quick tour of their facilities in hills of Santa Cruz, I went for a ride on an electric bike, for the first time.
I rode this S model....
I was given a quick explanation of the bikes controls and then Zero’s Service Manager, Matt Feinstein and I headed out for a test ride. It takes just a few minutes to get used to the bike. There are essentially just three main controls – throttle, front brake and rear brake, which are all pretty much the same as on a petrol-engined bike. There is no clutch, but one long gear, so no gear lever either for your left foot. It is pretty much twist and go, and oh boy, does it go!
Two things immediately struck me. The bike is almost totally silent and wow, it is just like riding a “normal” bike. The only noise you can hear is the wind, some tire noise and a slight noise from the electric motor, but the latter is very quiet indeed. The bike handled very well, the brakes were good and acceleration was a lot better than I thought it would be. Sure, it doesn’t have the initial grunt and low-down torque normally associated with bikes, but it wasn’t that far off. The bike handled just like any other and within just a few minutes, Matt had lead me down a section of freeway to get an idea of the speed (we were doing 70 mph) and then onto a twisty road to see how the machine handled the bends, which was very good indeed. Overall, I was surprised by just how good this bike was. We arrived back at the Zero premises and I had a huge grin on my face – it had been a blast!
Zero make a range of seven bikes... The Zero S, which was the street bike I rode, for normal urban street riding.....
The Zero DS, a street bike with on/off road capabilities, with longer suspension travel, slightly wider tires....
The Zero XU, which is more like a city commuter bike, including a removable power pack, so it can be charged in an apartment. This bike would be very easy for a complete novice to ride....
Then four dirt bikes, the first being the Zero X....
Then the same bike, but in street legal mode, with lights etc....
The bigger and more tuned Zero MX....
Finally, the same MX bike, but with lights etc making it street legal....
I found this Zero Motorcycles promotional video on the web.....
Range is obviously important on any bike and especially so on today’s electric bikes. The Zero street bikes do about 43 miles (of simulated urban riding) before needing to be charged, the commuter bike gets about 25 miles and the dirt bikes about 30-60 minutes of riding depending on how hard you twist the throttle. Speeds are just under 70 mph for the street bikes, 51 mph for the commuter bike and 53-57 mph for the dirt bikes. Batteries in all the bikes are Li-ion technology and the cost to charge the bikes is very cheap at $0.48 for the street bikes and $0.21 for the others.
I was told the cost of the bikes is between $7,500 for the smaller bikes to about $10,000 for the bigger versions.
For all electric bikes, the future is about improving the range and getting the battery charge times down. The launch of the Zero 2012 models will see street bikes with a range of about 100 miles, which isn’t too far away from some traditional engined bikes now. Present day charge times are about 4 hours for street bikes and 2 hours for the dirt bikes, which Zero hope to get down to about 40 minutes. That will make using future generation bikes as a replacement for petrol-engined bikes very possible, as a street bike with a 100 mile range that can be recharged in 40 minutes while eating lunch very realistic.
Thanks must go to Matt for taking me out for a ride and telling me about the company and the bikes, at short notice. He did a great job. This is Matt....
A couple of pictures of the Zero facilities. They were careful not to let me see the R&D department....
Finally, in the reception area was a Zero electric racing bike, which was entered into the TTX GP series for electric powered bikes....
Zero Motorcycles have an expanding dealer network. If you want to take a ride on one of these bikes yourself, check out their website.
Before I went to see Zero, I was worried about the future of motorcycling. What I found pleasantly shocked me.
I left there with the knowledge that the future of motorcycling would actually be quite good.
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