FIRST RIDE
P68
2013 ZERO DS
cated on the handlebars
– and it also gives you a
more precise reading on
your battery life than the
meter on the dash display!
So there. I'm pretty
much sold on the Zero.
The mileage is there, the
speed is there and it finally works like a real motorcycle.
And you don't have to
be a nuclear physicist to
deal with it. You plug it
into the wall, wait until it's
charged and then ride the
>>We took the DS on some Jeep
roads where it performed admirably.
pounds.
The DS also gets a new frame
(the motor is now a stressed
member of the frame) for 2013
with a stiffer swingarm and adjustable rear axle. The handlebars are also two inches wider
than on the previous model and
the footpegs have been uprated.
The seat is also new and was
comfortable for both operator
and passenger – and passenger
pegs are now standard.
Our test unit was the green
version, but it's also available
in yellow. Both models have
blacked-out frames and there's
an integrated, lockable and removable storage compartment
inside the fuel tank where the fuel
would go if the bike used fuel.
Whew.
As if I needed one more use
an integrated,
" There'sand removable storage
lockable
compartment inside the fuel tank
where the fuel would go if the bike
used fuel. Whew.
"
for my iPhone, Zero has come
up with one. Yes, you can pretty
much control the Zero DS from
your iPhone (and Android devices). Using the Zero Motorcycles App and Bluetooth, you can
adjust the performance of the
bike – making it either sportier
or more economical – and also
the engine braking. Guessing
with the right kind of gloves, you
could do all that on the fly. Not
even Rossi can do all this from
his iPhone.
The App also serves as a useful display when you mount the
iPhone in the holder that's lo-
hell out of it until it needs another
charge.
But naysayers will still bring up
the hefty price tag (the DS starts
at $13,995 for the smaller battery
and goes up to $15,995 for the
larger one); the fact that electric
vehicles aren't as "green" as they
are claimed to be; and that you
still have to use power to charge
them. True, true and true.
But there is nothing truer than
this statement: The 2013 version
of the Zero DS is 1000 percent
better than the 2011 Zero DS we
last rode. And that, my friends, is
a fact.
CN
