Zero SR/F spotted today

[Bill_Walker]

At the tail end of a local ride today, I was passing near Moto Forza, my local Ducati dealership, and decided to stop and take a gander (they moved a year or two ago and I hadn't been inside the new store).  It turns out they've recently picked up Triumph and Zero, and had a new Zero SR/F parked outside.  It's a good looking bike, IMHO!

 

 

 

A closer look revealed that somebody's been pushing it pretty hard:

 

They told me they take it out to their shop track days and let people try it on the track.  I should have asked for a demo ride, I guess.

 

[TEWKS]

Sharpest looking sparky to date! 

[fourteenfour]

Zero has been doing a spectacular job of flubbing the launch. Bikes promised in April, as in people with deposits, are still in the dark, Zero's insistence that dealers all get demo bikes they cannot sell before any customer gets theirs.

 

the 6kWh charger of the premium model is actually 2x3kWh chargers which limits its usefulness and more than one person riding a demo has had it overheat, just like other Zero motorcycles can and do.

 

I was looking forward to this bike but the range isn't there and the price is high for what it offers.

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, CommuterChris said:

Zero has been doing a spectacular job of flubbing the launch. Bikes promised in April, as in people with deposits, are still in the dark, Zero's insistence that dealers all get demo bikes they cannot sell before any customer gets theirs.

 

the 6kWh charger of the premium model is actually 2x3kWh chargers which limits its usefulness and more than one person riding a demo has had it overheat, just like other Zero motorcycles can and do.

 

I was looking forward to this bike but the range isn't there and the price is high for what it offers.

 

Afternoon  CommuterChris   

 

That is my biggest complaint, it just doesn't have the range at speed, might make an OK (but expensive)  city commuter bike but the range at speed is a BIG limiter. At 80+ mph I couldn't even get to my favorite breakfast restaurant & back home without a recharge.

[ESokoloff]

5 hours ago, CommuterChris said:

 

 

I was looking forward to this bike but the range isn't there and the price is high for what it offers.

 

 

Relitive to the Live Wire the SR/F is a bargain....

 

But your right, not much to get excided about until solid State battery's get here.  

[fourteenfour]

Latest I heard is that Zero has put deliveries in three groups, A, B, and C.  A comprises early orders up to the first week or so of March and depending on location should see their bike by end of June. B is July comprising a group up to some period in May or Late April who should see their bike in July, the rest are in C which is August at the earliest.  A few lucky A group people will see a bike this week.

 

if you ever seen pictures of their production it pretty much is a garage.

 

Just a peak inside their building area

[Selden]

The most compelling case I have seen to date for an e-bike is Yamaha's trials bike. Maximum torque at zero RPM, and range isn't really an issue. Anybody know who the rider is in this video? I can't even dream of being able to ride like this.

 

 

[Bill_Walker]

5 hours ago, Selden said:

The most compelling case I have seen to date for an e-bike is Yamaha's trials bike.

 

Similarly, I think the dirt bikes from the late Alta Motors made a lot of sense.  But they just cost so much more than gas bikes.

[fourteenfour]

Zero has the ability in some of their bikes to swap packs easily and some off road fanatics do use that ability quite a bit

[TEWKS]

On swapping out battery packs.

 

Imagine if they could come up with five different batterys for all the electric vehicles out there. Service stations could have them on charging banks & you just swap out the low batt. 

[fourteenfour]

1 hour ago, TEWKS said:

On swapping out battery packs.

 

Imagine if they could come up with five different batterys for all the electric vehicles out there. Service stations could have them on charging banks & you just swap out the low batt. 

 

I have a Tesla Model 3 LR, so my maximum rated range is around 325 but I tend to keep it charged to 85% which is 276 miles. While the idea of pack swapping might be interesting that would only work in a system where you buy a car devoid of any batteries of its own and then lease the battery packs. The down side though is how much range would be guaranteed out of those packs, as in with frequent swapping you stand a chance of eventually cycling older packs through the system. Though based on some Tesla large mileage drivers they see little degradation. 

 

However with all EVs, the EPA numbers are the least optimistic of any measure by any agency and tend to be most accurate. Still this is fair weather range, temperatures approaching the forties Fahrenheit see range drops and fairly quickly at that. Approaching 0F and it can be a third with energy and driving required just for the battery to warm up to give a true state of charge. Summer time in my TM3 or my previous Volt is like getting free charge, the efficiency just goes up to where my likely real range would be easily be ten percent more approaching fifteen percent.

[TEWKS]

After thinking about it a bit more, the weight of the batterys would probably shutdown that idea pretty quickly.

[fourteenfour]

10 hours ago, TEWKS said:

After thinking about it a bit more, the weight of the batterys would probably shutdown that idea pretty quickly.

 

Zero has for some of their machines packs that they call power tanks that add 3.6 kWh of battery which weigh in around forty odd pounds. Sadly it mounts up high compared to the existing pack so it can affect handling or perception of it. 

 

The issue with battery technology like Zero uses is that it is air cooled. Remember the stories of the Leaf batteries degrading and such. Well all air cooled batteries are subject to much more extreme temperature ranges and Zero has never really fixed that. If the pack gets too warm it slows the bike down a lot and you might not even be able to charge it till it cools. Until they liquid cool their batteries and motors I am not buying one. I also want to see a fairing equipped model, I would think the 96 RT fairing would do nicely to improve aerodynamics of EV and provide a range increase, so amazed no EV bike maker has gone that route.

[Bill_Walker]

On 6/14/2019 at 3:53 AM, CommuterChris said:

I would think the 96 RT fairing would do nicely to improve aerodynamics of EV and provide a range increase, so amazed no EV bike maker has gone that route.

Energica and Lightning both have electric sport bikes with typical sport bike fairings, but you're right that there are none (to my knowledge) with touring bike fairings and ergonomics.

[roadscholar]

BMW may be getting ready to join the club..

 

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0297309EN/bmw-motorrad-vision-dc-roadster?language=en

[fourteenfour]

unless it is liquid cooled it is another pointless exercise

[Bill_Walker]

3 hours ago, roadscholar said:

BMW may be getting ready to join the club..

Of course it's only a concept, but I'd say the riding position looks quite extreme.

 

Also, Zero's electric bikes are already priced like BMWs.  What's a BMW electric bike going to cost?  

 

(note that I'm all for EVs, I believe they're necessary.  But a motorcycle is a hell of a packaging challenge for an adequate battery today).