Anybody ridden one of the electric bikes off-road? Would it work on a two hour single-track ride? http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ca/zero-fx-2013 freakin heavy though...
Excellent concept, only thing holding them back is the battery technology I think. Give them another 5-10 years and they might be able to become competitive.
Local Husky dealer had one. But when I asked to borrow it while my Husky was being serviced, was told that they´d got rid of it .... fast ....as endurance was nowhere near what had been promised. This was during a particularly cold winter, but that´s what we get here. So pretty useless at the moment.
I've always wanted to try one. Wonder how there Demo thing works? http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/ca/zero-fx-demo
Presumably they show up, and you ride them. I went to at least one of those, mostly to catch up with some ex-hvna staff who where at the event.
Did you ride one? Might have to hit them up for a ride. I am seriously interested in the idea and believe in a few short years someone is going to blow the lid of battery tech and gas burning engines will quickly disappear. With electric you have so much less maintenance costs (no gearbox, no clutch, no oil, no air filter, no gas, no piston, one moving part), way more toque, programmable powerbands, light weight, etc. The KTM E-free ride type bikes with even less weight because of battery breakthroughs are going to be fun. Put a motor in the front hub and bam, switchable 2wd. Special designed Dunlop 803 but more robust radials would be a cool progression for these as well. Hurry up already.
Agree. But it´s counter productive to act on a short fuze and spend hard earned cash on technology that´ll only be viable "in a few short years" (which usually turns out to be "never"). Apart from all that, I could imagine all the folks I might kill `cos they hadn´t heard me speeding up on them .... silently!
Nope.. looked a bit busy with the long lines. I've gone to at least 2 events about zero motorcycles. There was a "24 hours of MX at the "408 MX track"" which I did a report on, but cannot find. And there was another event held locally where they were giving demo rides. Richard Weeks and Scot Harden used to work for hvna, and as far as I know they are both working for Zero, in case you need some inside info to cut in front of the lines.
but not made for adults sad times. i cant see the electric engine being viable for any duration my moneys on hydrogen. as soon as they crack the extraction process the fuel companys will all be on it as its profitable and taxable. i do however love the idea of the zero fx tho
What I can add here, As to how the demo ride thing works, back in mid august of this year I clicked through their schedule a demo ride on their website and gave out all the personal information they needed. I wasn't in the location on my cafehusky profile. They found me a dealer north of Boston Ma. I wrote back you got to be kidding me there has to be a good reason for me through toll and traffic to do that. What is wrong with the on in Albany NY it is much easier to get to. They say yea I guess so the are a new dealer but should have a demo mode. So schedule a demo ride just harvests your information and does find a dealer. I found a follow up email asking if I was contaced, perhaps something got deleted or the phone was involved I don't think I was contacted by the one in NH and clearly it was up to me to contact the one in Albany. The process starts off a representitive will contact you if a dealer isn't near, apparently two hours travel one direction is near. If they actually have demo bikes and do demo rides like BMW, Harley or I think it is Victory with the company big rig traveling around they have my contact info. Minimum 4 hours travel time Is really too much I find a manufacturer that has no dealer network to protect in my other ventures. At an earlier date I had tried to get an altitude climb per charge, I am or was only intrested in the street legal model. No success getting a response as to that time or distance per charge are hard for me to convert to my intended application. Thre was an hour or so program on public access tv some part of an alternate fuel convention with the main tester of electric vehicles and hybrids from I think it is or was consumer report magazine. None of it was motorcycles but I took away very few people are foolish enough to buy one, chances are they get crushed when the lease is over. So the take away for Zero is that the battery technology is not the main hold back it that they don't lease them. Fleets of rechagrable golf carts go to public auction on a regular basis so one can get an idea, a rough idea of how the value would fall off over time. Fran
I rode one a few years back. Strange machine. Slightly smaller than a full sized dirt bike, and slightly larger than a big wheel mini racer. They have probably gotten somewhat better on ride time since I rode a Zero, but the one I rode was only good for a half an hour. I need a bike that can run for at least four hours to ensure that I have enough for a typical day of trail fun.
I've seen them, ugly was the first thought. Not going very far on that thing was the second thought. I happen to enjoy engine noise and the smell of burning dinosaurs. Being able to hit a gas station or go back to the truck and turn and burn is still the only way to fly. Sure you could get extra battery packs, but if they are anywhere close in comparison to the cost of those used by electric model aircraft and cars with enough mah capacity/ voltage, well.. ouch! You really gotta believe that you are saving the world single handedly to get with the electric thing.
Once they get the batteries to be light and efficient (its coming) and we have E-bikes that weight 200 pounds and go 100 miles per charge we will all be riding them because they will actually be better than our combustion engines. The lack of needed maintenance alone will be huge. These have almost no oil, no filters, no fuel, no transmission and a maintenance free motor. Chain and sprockets and brakes will be our only real maintenance stuff. I LOVE combustion engines but am all for high performance E-bikes when they are totally feasible which will be soon. E-cars and bikes are the future.
