Cycle News

VOL. 54 ISSUE 14 APRIL 11, 2017 P103 refused to accept any money. Thanks, guys. We needed 90 minutes to return the batteries to 100%, while we had lunch at a nearby diner, then set off again heading for our overnight stop at Hollister, 80 miles away, where after a 172-mile day I recharged the bike's batteries at a free hook-up behind the Town Hall, just around the corner from my motel room at the Hollister Inn. Next day it was time to head over the hills to Monterey and nearby Carmel for a look around, before heading back up the coast to Santa Cruz and the Zero Motorcycles factory, where I arrived with 13% of charge remaining after a 98-mile ride. After covering a total of 891 miles in those six days with no electrical or other mishaps, no running out of charge (just!), but on the contrary the convenience of riding a twist-'n'-go machine with significant performance and especially acceleration, and much better handling than I was expecting—especially fully loaded—I needed no further con- vincing that Zero has succeeded in making electric motorcycles practical for the long haul, as well as for shorter journeys. You do have to plan strategically, as Electric Terry warned me, but in a way that's all part of the fun of going touring with an e-bike. And it's undeniably satisfying when your plans work out, as well as being the closest thing to free travel you're ever going to get, at least in the USA. The Zero DSR had been a comfortable companion for the long haul thanks to its quite spacious 843mm seat height, surprisingly slim build, and zero vibes. My only criticisms of it are minor ones, which I'm sure Zero will address if—as I hope— America's third-largest motor- cycle manufacturer develops a customer-ready Touring version of the model. The detachable side panniers need to be more substantial and better integrated into the styling, which is asking to be revised—at the moment Zero's products look functional, rather than desirable, thanks to the battery block in mostly plain view. A bigger screen needs to be available, at least as an option, plus it needs a cruise control, and an outside ambient temperature display. The seat could be a bit more comfortable, although it's adequate at pres- ent, and if it can be delivered without affecting range too ad- versely, heated grips would be a good option, too. But the basics are all there, and indeed I'd say that doing 180-mile days on an EV like this is much less tiring than on a combustion-engined bike. The lack of noise, vibra- tion and heat really does make a difference over a long day in the saddle, especially with the con- venience of not having to work the clutch lever and change gears to keep the engine at the right revs, which is especially tiring in traffic. And that's before you think about the low, low cost of "tanking up." The pace of development of electric motorcycles continues to rise exponentially, although this shouldn't be any surprise, just look at your cellphone and think back a mere six years to those pre-4G days, let alone two decades to those huge bricks we used to carry around, to appreciate the rate of advance in electronic and battery technol- ogy that's making this possible. As the most practical all-round real world E-bikes currently avail- able, Zero's products undoubt- edly represent the benchmark by which other future such bikes must be judged, and they are indeed now proper motorcycles that just happen to be powered by an electric motor, rather than an internal combustion engine. They're the real deal for short rides or long ones, both. CN

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