@@wrightwells The bikes have been nearly bulletproof, there was a charger supplier issue but that has been very well handled by Zero. We've sold 20+ and had 1 charger issue. I'd say that's a fantastic track record.
I had a Harley. Now I own and ride almost daily, my 2018 Zero SR and absolutely love it! I will never go back to a gas bike. Phil is a true subject matter expert. I visited Cleveland Moto last Saturday and talked to him for about two hours. Always a pleasure to talk to someone who actually knows what they are talking about when it comes to Zeros and EVs in general. Keep spreading the good word, Phil!
Absolutely the best description of Zero motorcycles I've seen. I will definitely check out these bikes for my next purchase. Thank you for takiing the time ro make this video.
I have a 2018 SR slightly customized. My gas bikes now gather dust in the garage. Of all the things I have ridden, floated, or flown, this is by far the most fun.
I have a 2015 Zero SR. I ride it to work an average of 4 days a week. I calculated my bike has saved me over $3k in this time. The only other cost is tires which is comparable to a gas bike. It’s probably the most reliable vehicle you could own by virtue of minimal moving parts. That said, I have so much fun riding it. It’s fast as hell and nimble. It’s lack of noise I appreciate more each time I ride it. Here in CO I can get close to animals without scaring them away. And to bust a myth. A quiet bike will save your life over loud pipes. You can’t hear that truck coming at you to get your attention to move out of the way with loud pipes. I could go on about the virtues of this bike but gotta go.
@@513eis ...gotta go....ride baby ride!! 2018 zero fx owner. Ride everyday, fn love my bike!!!! Agree with the pipes comment. Relying on loud pipes means relying on others to be paying attention and give a damn. Never a safe plan on a bike.🤘😎 ride safe, have fun
Great video. I own a Tesla and my next motorcycle will be a zero. Two USA companies everyone should be proud of, but these haters of new tech or change.(Big oil/Auto). Thx!
Literally the best endorsement of Zero motorcycles I've seen so far! Thank you for sharing this. Love your take on electrics and the pride for a USA-built product as well!
Dear Cleveland Moto Owner up until now I‘ve just watched a clip about the Electric-Bike “Lightning LS 218" and 2 of the Yamaha Electric Bikes. But this evening I‘ve stumbled upon the “Zero SR/F“ Clips from Your shop. And I have to say: Even with that many clips I‘ve watched about Motorcycles, NONE OF THEM were so INFORMATIVE, GRIPPING and EYE-OPENING as Your presentation. I ride bikes since the year 1984 and currently own a “Yamaha MT 09" or “FZ 09“ (like it‘s called in the United States of America) I VERY MUCH would like to go for a TEST-RIDE with a ”Zero SR/F but I live in Switzerland not in the USA. But maybe (I think very likely) in the near future, the dissemination of this WONDERFUL AWESOME BIKE will greatly increase, I will have my chance (even though I can‘t afford one) to go for a ride with One. In this spirit Carpe diem and never give up hope Greetings from Winterthur (Switzerland)
That is an excellent video. I have solar and all my electricity is free. As soon as my wife’s car is paid for I want one of these bikes. Great job explaining some things I was curious to learn about.
This Limited Warranty covers parts, including the motor, motor controller, frame, swing arm, fork, rear shock, brake assemblies, wheels and electrical sub-assemblies, and approved Zero accessories installed at the time of purchase by an authorized Zero dealer. The power-pack is covered by the 5 year warranty.
I'm only 8mins into this 26 min video and already feel like this might be the most knowledgable, thorough breakdown of any bike brand I've ever seen. Cheers dude.
This is, HANDS DOWN, the absolute BEST possible breakdown of Zero Motorcycles anybody could ever ask for BY FAR. I have been researching my ass off trying to piece together the puzzle pieces of scattered info to decide which Zero bike I want to get, but my eyes would start to cross after trying to remember which bike did what and why specs-wise etc. This guy just painted it beautifully by numbers. Suddenly everything is crystal clear. I personally can't thank you enough for making this invaluable video with such a wealth of easy-to-grasp information. "We are not worthy!" THANK YOU, SIR!!!!
Thanks for this great run through of Zero's lineup. I was a bit overwhelmed with all their options as a new rider, but when a used 2016 S showed up on Craigslist for a good price, that made my decision for me. I took my basic rider course last week and just got my license. Would've been great to take my skills test on my Zero, it's so much easier without a clutch, gears, and the jerky throttle that my practice gas bike had in the school. The Zero's throttle is smooth as butter on a hot day. It's a JOY riding around with a motor that happily spins at any speed and zero fossil fuel guilt. The acceleration on it is nuts, and being able to adjust the torque and regenerative breaking and all that is fun. I think we're gonna see a lot more electric motorcycles on the road in the next few years.
The lower mileage on the freeway is not just down to wind resistance. It's down to the fact you are working the motor harder to achieve the higher speeds. If you work the motor harder, you drain the battery quicker. Gas bikes are designed to work at higher revs for fuel economy. Electric motors are more economical at lower RPM.
@@pogo1140 electric bikes are single gear/direct drive. no transmission. gas bikes have a transmission optimized to keep the RPMs low at highway speeds.
Wind resistance is why it's working harder. Once an object is in motion it takes next to nothing if there was no rolling resistance or areo resistance to keep it moving. Wind resistance is compounding so the faster you go it exponentially gets worse.
@@duck9191 That's true for ICE motorcycles as well. But all motors, even electric ones, have a torque curve. And if the bike is geared for acceleration, then by default it's going to sacrifice top end and cruising speeds.
Thank you (from UK). One of the more informative videos. Difficult making a choice between DS & FX. The batteries seemed to have changed this year: only one #7 in the FX now. Cheers, Pete
did a demo on a Fxs and loved it. during the ride, I watched an older rider ahead of me apply too much throttle (torque)while turning. the bike went out from under him doing a 180 and he and the bike ended up in a ditch. ( cold tires on a cool day.) I dont know if he had to pay for the damages. but definitely a safety spot check for newbies on electric power.
This is one of the most informative videos I have ever seen about the Zero bikes. It answers so many of the questions I have about these electric bikes, that it effectively becomes an advertisement. I am moving to Cleveland in a few weeks; I expect to be coming by to have a look at these bikes once we get settled in.
I believe once they get an electric bike to 200 all roads mileage range and a 1 hr recharge it will severely hurt gas bikes. I think that will happen by 2025.
Sadly, I'm in the middle of Canada, and the nearest Zero dealer in this country is 1,000 miles away. Great video, thank-you! (Riding a Zero is on my bucket list)
Just found you. Brilliant video. You are one of the few people who say that wind restance is why motorway speeds are so bad for economy. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for this video. I spent way to much time on Zero's site trying to understand the differences and you broke it down so their model names now sound logical.
Talked to an owner yesterday and he confirmed the charging and mileage, the bike looks and runs brilliantly. Said it cost him 1/10 penny per mile, pure magic. By the way, I live in the UK and we love em.
One thing to note with 2020+ models: now only the R variants come with the 14.4kWh batteries, and the standard S/DS come with the 7.2kWh. You cannot equip a base model with a 14.4kWh battery and you cannot equip an R model with a 7.2kWh battery. This is likely to optimize production so they don't have to make as many variants. Also, as of 2016, all 4 S-frame bikes come with the same "racing" motor, but the R variants have a higher end motor controller that can feed the motor much more power. To my knowledge it is possible to upgrade the controller later on through a dealer.
Couple of things. A transformer is AC to AC. AC to DC is called a rectifier. Also I think maybe there missing a trick. There a company in India that is leasing there electric bikes and have set up a network of battery stations. You walk in hand them the dead battery and they give you a charged battery put it in the bike you're good to go. Faster than pumping gas.
For the curious what is the energy consumption? Well I found that in 38,000mi on a Zero DSR the average energy usage was 100Wh/mi and on the same terrain and routes in 14,000mi a Tesla Model 3D averages 300Wh/mi. You can do better or worse but that should be interesting if you want to get something energy efficient the Zero motorcycle lineup is very efficient without saying anything of the range on a single charge.
I would love to own an electric bike but, I often do long trips with my bikes, a 2008 Kawasaki GTR 1400 and a 1999 KTM 640. The longest trip with the GTR was from Cape town to Johannesburg, just under 2000 miles return, on a long weekend. With the KTM I have done 2 trips over 1000 miles In the Karoo and West coast. No charging points there. Just a nice Sunday ride in the Western Cape, around Cape town exceeds the best range on a Zero. My second problem is the wind. Here in Cape town we have got the South-Western wind. Not a pleasure with a bike without a proper fairing, like my KTM. A Zero with a good fairing will give a much better range than one without one. I will have to wait for much better range or keep on riding my dinosaur fed bikes.
You could try using an electric vehicle as a secondary vehicle to your petrol counterparts. An EV in the city and for daily commutes and petrol for long distance sounds noice.
Thank you SO much for simplifying the Zero range. But that doesn't change my mind on anything. I still would like the SR F. My commute is only 10 miles, 3 days a week so one charge should do me fine. Now all I have to do is find £19,000 and I'm away.
To elaborate, I think he’s got it backwards. The MAIN reason for the difference in range is the use or regenerative braking and coasting. Aerodynamics is a minor part of the difference. As evidenced by the fact that electric cars (with better aerodynamics) have the same longer range in stop and go driving.
That was a very good presentation.... only one negative comment though. If you've never hopped on a bike and rode to Wyoming... you're really missing some thing special that will change your life!! Give it a chance, and I might just trade in my new BMW RT
Sell it with 3 and the owner can take out 2 for “heats”. Selling it with ~200 mile range gives a more realistic comparison for shoppers. When you price it with a 40 mile range = not a realistic comparison and increases likelihood of dissatisfaction.
The reason for higher city mileage than highway only partly due to aerodynamics. It's ALSO because you don't waste any energy idling at STOPS and you recoup the electricity when stopping through regenerative breaking--benefits you don't get with an ICE engine.
At about the 18 minute mark, a Level 2 charger was being discussed. That is not a Level 2 charger. That is a 110v charger with a J1772 connector. Level 2 is 220v/240v that can be installed at home (240v) or can be found at charging stations (get the Chargepoint app to get a map that shows locations and other info) that uses that same J1772 connector. A good amount of L2 charging available is actually free!
@18:05 You can plug a level 2 charger in a 110 outlet and you will get level 1 charging speed, which means still 10-11 hours to charge. To charge at level 2 speeds, you need a 220 outlet, like what an electric clothes dryer uses.
Brilliant! Nicely done. Incredibly useful information. The best I have ever seen. Thank you so much. all this data is so important.I've been looking at electric for a while. I need distance, not speed. I'd rather buy American if I can. I am working at exporting these products to Asia and Africa too. The price point is important, but not the most important. USA made is a huge advantage. After market warranties Innovation and support too. Customization and local franchises. Wifi and Bluetooth enabled.
Commute 108 miles a day round trip to work for USPS. Question is do they have to provide electricity? I would never mind paying for it I would just have to be sure I could know it was ever going to be an issue. I put 25K on a XT250 95% commuting. On The FXS why not keep a battery at work and simply exchange with a charged one? Yes and I don't at all feel like I will change the earths weather patterns by ridding one of these or add a second to a single second to a polar bears life. I do think it would help air quality and I like the technology very much. Very nice video on the whole sir thanks and yes made in America. Not sure how I feel about the concept of "borrowing" electricity any more than borrowing gasoline. I had tenants that were "borrowing" electricity with a double male end chord so I loaned them a hatchet and gave them a bunch of more manageable length chords and left it o their kitchen table. Steeling is indeed steeling.
not even great 125ccm bikes cost 5k, maybe 7-8k. atleast the ones i know of. Also the Zeros have a wide array of driver assistance and ABS, big tires and good brakes. Not everything that the 11kw models have is in other 11kw gas bikes. Just more future and more features, i bought a DS for 12k Euros
Novel idea and certainly one I have been interested in but it's just not affordable to me yet. $16k before the extra battery or charge tank options is quite pricey. After tax, delivery, registration, tags, ect it's now $20k. And because the idea is fairly new there aren't that many qualified shops who can perform service on them. Time always levels the playing field and I look forward to when that is. 15 years ago people were dropping $6000 on a flat screen 50" plasma tv that was 1080p. Today I can get a 60" 4k ultra HD smart tv for $300. I'll be waiting for THAT day one one of these lol.
Both cars and bikes have more wind resistance at high speed. Electric vehicles get better range in town because they don't spend any energy when stopped (cars idle), Regenerative braking returns some energy to the battery when slowing down (car engines consume fuel even when braking), and electric motors are much more efficient when accelerating (Cars rev up in each gear while accelerating). Cars also get better mileage at slow *steady* speeds. It is stopping, idling, and accelerating that ruin mileage for internal combustion engines.
one thing that he got Slightly incorect is CCS charging. He said that it makes it so that the external charger charges the battery directly without the use of the internal charger. Thats slightly incorrect as while it is DC, It does have to pass through the charger as BMS (battery management service) is required. Basically CCS is a general solution that is meant to work with a wide array of battery technologies, both ones that are already "outdated" and ones that have yet to be invented. As a result the offboard charger just tries to feed electricity and doesnt really know when the batteries should slow down charging. BMS is required as a basic principle of all battery powered vehicles as when you charge, you create heat and also expansion, and the closer you are to 100% capacity, the larger this effect is, so the BMS uses its computer to slow down the charging to protect the longevity of the battery cells and prevent explosions. Obviously the BMS also stops charging when it detects the cells are full or reached a pre determined charge. also that black/yellow box charger that he references as is basically a offboard AC to DC converter and a BMS, as it bypasses the onboard charger and it connects directly to the battery terminal. The upside is that you can have one of these for every battery on the bike. The only downside (aside from price) is that you have to stick your hand inside the bike cowlings, disconect the battery and reconect it to the charger, then do it again when you go to drive. so if you have LARGE hands.... think twice before buying. Fyi brother got a Zero S and I geeked out looking up stuff about it as an ev nerd and he just got one cuz it was supposedly easy to maintain and well.... one year it all fine (excluding a popped tire but that was from a nail not zeros fault). So yeah, This guy is pretty much right in principle, as an electric Nerd and geek it was the only thing i found wrong wich isnt bad. TL;DR : that yellow box on the SR seat in vid is a seperate offboard charger. CCS still does have to go through the bikes charger for simple safety reasons. Bro has one; they are as good as he says
Based on the length of your reply you'll understand why I'm stoked that I only got 1 thing wrong in this video. I was waiting for the tech guys to jump on and tear me apart. I made a decision to simplify the system because the BMS systems are built into the battery modules and not a part of the actual AC charger.
You guys build a recumbent bike with wind shield and a optional trailer you will get 2x range and 10X the thrill probably could make a rain proof version.
$42,000 is the cost of a battery pack for a zero.. A buddy of mine found this out the hard way .. The battery pack consists of seven batteries, each battery costs $6000.-6 x 7 = 42 My friend took the advice of someone on a blog, which was to discharge the batteries, that way when you re-charge them you’ll get more range out of the batteries. Obviously this was bad information for the type of batteries used with the zero, they are not lead acid deep cycle batteries such as with boat trolling motors .discharging them and then re-charging them is a good thing.. My friend had the zero technical support on the phone talk him through the correct procedure for charging the batteries., Nothing worked. His batteries were actually swelling up, and they told him that those batteries were in danger of catching fire in that state.They also told him that those batteries were toast. I went on eBay searching for a used battery to help my friend out. I discovered a battery for a Tesla car, used, two years old for sale on eBay. The starting price for the auction on that two-year-old used battery out of a wrecked car was $26,500 starting bid.. so it’s not just the batteries for the zero that are so pricey. Personally I tend to keep my motorcycles a long time. I kept my First Yamaha venture royale for 16 years, 138,000 trouble free miles... I kept my 1979 Moto Guzzi sp1000 14 years... I still have my 2007 Moto Guzzi norge... and my 1994 Honda pacific coast is now 24 years old...that’s just the motorcycles I keep a long time. I still have my 1958 MGA automobile which I bought when I was 16 years old in 1968. And I had a 1978 Ford Econoline van that I bought new in 1977, I drove that till 2008.. My point is, if those vehicles were electric ,I wonder how many batteries I would have had to buy? How long did the batteries last?? Do they perform as new all the way up until they expire? Friends of ours live in Florida. They own a tesla. They were without power for almost 3 weeks a few years ago after a hurricane... they didn’t dare drive the car and discharge the batteries because they did not know how long their neighborhood would be without power to recharge it.I wonder if homeowners insurance or automobile insurance would’ve covered their battery that due to an act of God could not be recharged..I’ll have to ask my insurance man about that, maybe an umbrella policy would cover it.
Wow, it's pretty impressive they can sell the two-battery bikes for $68,000 less than the cost of the batteries! You should keep that secret to yourself, you can just buy eight bikes and make half a million dollars selling the batteries!
Bob, that was a fairly decent attempt at humor.Unfortunately, that is no help to my friend stuck with a dead zero that has a battery price that displaces the $600 toilet seat as a big joke
Christian Lyness That’s great news. Tell me how much they are so I can relay that information to my friend that has a useless zero motorcycle. And don’t forget to tell me where to get the complete battery pack for a zero motorcycle. His zero has been sitting with an expired battery for almost a year now. So please pass the information on to me so I can tell my friend this great news. But it’s not going to be that great if the batteries happen to be $38,000 instead of $42,000 as he was told by the zero company.. even if the batteries are as cheap as $30,000, or even $25,000, that’s actually not great news. I don’t have a zero, I did not even want to ride my friends when it was running. I am a long-distance rider, and I could not put up with a machine that can only go half the distance I get out of a fuel tank for distance between charges
@@harrylime5147 have your friend rebuild it himself. take the battery apart, and he will find out buying all the cells for his bike will cost $3,000.00
I just sold my bike it was broke down more than running fine. Got it used , clutch went out , finding an affordable tech was why . Last straw was the carb acting up and I was not about to fix it. Just sold it , my car mechanic is very reasonable bike mechanics cost way too much. Electric will be excellent when you can get charge as you ride.
Just to say the bike are not selling like crazy in Europe because the zero motorcycle are delivery the fast tank with the US standards (we call it Type 1) and not the EU standard (we call it Type 2). And traction control is missing with so much torque and thin tires.
the "reserve tank" as you called it isn't designed as a reserve. Batteries are not like fuel tanks. They should never be completely emptied and should limit the amount you fully charge the batteries.
This guy just is awesome! Excellent presentation skills.....he just literally sold me the bike!
Yeah, he's a serious talent. If he were explaining it, I'm already 50% more likely to buy a product.
Great sales yes but he said they don't have any warranty claims, what about the charger issues? Honesty sells better.
Hell yes. I agree. He sold me.
He's sold every bike in his shop to me!
@@wrightwells The bikes have been nearly bulletproof, there was a charger supplier issue but that has been very well handled by Zero. We've sold 20+ and had 1 charger issue. I'd say that's a fantastic track record.
I had a Harley. Now I own and ride almost daily, my 2018 Zero SR and absolutely love it! I will never go back to a gas bike. Phil is a true subject matter expert. I visited Cleveland Moto last Saturday and talked to him for about two hours. Always a pleasure to talk to someone who actually knows what they are talking about when it comes to Zeros and EVs in general. Keep spreading the good word, Phil!
Absolutely the best description of Zero motorcycles I've seen. I will definitely check out these bikes for my next purchase. Thank you for takiing the time ro make this video.
I have a 2018 SR slightly customized. My gas bikes now gather dust in the garage. Of all the things I have ridden, floated, or flown, this is by far the most fun.
I have a 2015 Zero SR. I ride it to work an average of 4 days a week. I calculated my bike has saved me over $3k in this time. The only other cost is tires which is comparable to a gas bike. It’s probably the most reliable vehicle you could own by virtue of minimal moving parts. That said, I have so much fun riding it. It’s fast as hell and nimble. It’s lack of noise I appreciate more each time I ride it. Here in CO I can get close to animals without scaring them away. And to bust a myth. A quiet bike will save your life over loud pipes. You can’t hear that truck coming at you to get your attention to move out of the way with loud pipes. I could go on about the virtues of this bike but gotta go.
ELECTRICITY PRICES WILL be made higher,they can,t have us getting away with that
@@513eis ...gotta go....ride baby ride!!
2018 zero fx owner. Ride everyday, fn love my bike!!!! Agree with the pipes comment. Relying on loud pipes means relying on others to be paying attention and give a damn. Never a safe plan on a bike.🤘😎 ride safe, have fun
I like my 2017 sr . but the high way range in the winter is terrible
best hope nothing breaks if something dose your screwed any customization voids the warranty
Great video. I own a Tesla and my next motorcycle will be a zero. Two USA companies everyone should be proud of, but these haters of new tech or change.(Big oil/Auto). Thx!
You are 'so right' !!
Literally the best endorsement of Zero motorcycles I've seen so far! Thank you for sharing this. Love your take on electrics and the pride for a USA-built product as well!
Wow, thanks! We're getting ready to do another one with the 2021 bikes right now. It will have some great new information.
Dear Cleveland Moto Owner
up until now I‘ve just watched a clip about the Electric-Bike “Lightning LS 218" and 2 of the Yamaha Electric Bikes.
But this evening I‘ve stumbled upon the “Zero SR/F“ Clips from Your shop.
And I have to say: Even with that many clips I‘ve watched about Motorcycles, NONE OF THEM were so INFORMATIVE, GRIPPING and EYE-OPENING as Your presentation.
I ride bikes since the year 1984 and currently own a “Yamaha MT 09" or “FZ 09“ (like it‘s called in the United States of America)
I VERY MUCH would like to go for a TEST-RIDE with a ”Zero SR/F but I live in Switzerland not in the USA.
But maybe (I think very likely) in the near future, the dissemination of this WONDERFUL AWESOME BIKE will greatly increase, I will have my chance (even though I can‘t afford one) to go for a ride with One.
In this spirit
Carpe diem and never give up hope
Greetings from Winterthur (Switzerland)
That is an excellent video. I have solar and all my electricity is free. As soon as my wife’s car is paid for I want one of these bikes. Great job explaining some things I was curious to learn about.
i love how articulate you are, and you take the time to gather your thoughts before speaking
Superbly presented. The 2020 SR/S has my undivided attention.
7:30
The bike does NOT come with a five year warranty. It comes with a 2 year warranty.
Five years is the warranty on the battery only.
The battery is the most important detail on this bike, I think...
@@8104 My previous motor having about 123.000 km on his counter. It sounds to me impossible to do it with a Zero ???
This Limited Warranty covers parts, including the motor, motor controller, frame, swing arm, fork, rear shock, brake assemblies, wheels and electrical sub-assemblies, and approved Zero accessories installed at the time of purchase by an authorized Zero dealer. The power-pack is covered by the 5 year warranty.
unixtohack check the Zero group on FB, you'll find plenty of Zero owners with that kind of longevity.
@@ClevelandMoto Thanks, I have found several owner blogs. If I visit Cleveland sometimes I will come for a little talk.
I'm only 8mins into this 26 min video and already feel like this might be the most knowledgable, thorough breakdown of any bike brand I've ever seen. Cheers dude.
edit after finishing vid: yep, I'm sold.
One of the best vids on UA-cam. Precisely what I was looking for. Sorry I watched 4 other vids before getting to this one.
Great presentation! I have owned an FXS for 4 years (maintenance cost so far: $0.00) and I learned a lot watching this. Thank you!
This is, HANDS DOWN, the absolute BEST possible breakdown of Zero Motorcycles anybody could ever ask for BY FAR. I have been researching my ass off trying to piece together the puzzle pieces of scattered info to decide which Zero bike I want to get, but my eyes would start to cross after trying to remember which bike did what and why specs-wise etc. This guy just painted it beautifully by numbers. Suddenly everything is crystal clear. I personally can't thank you enough for making this invaluable video with such a wealth of easy-to-grasp information. "We are not worthy!" THANK YOU, SIR!!!!
Thanks for this great run through of Zero's lineup. I was a bit overwhelmed with all their options as a new rider, but when a used 2016 S showed up on Craigslist for a good price, that made my decision for me.
I took my basic rider course last week and just got my license. Would've been great to take my skills test on my Zero, it's so much easier without a clutch, gears, and the jerky throttle that my practice gas bike had in the school. The Zero's throttle is smooth as butter on a hot day.
It's a JOY riding around with a motor that happily spins at any speed and zero fossil fuel guilt. The acceleration on it is nuts, and being able to adjust the torque and regenerative breaking and all that is fun.
I think we're gonna see a lot more electric motorcycles on the road in the next few years.
The lower mileage on the freeway is not just down to wind resistance. It's down to the fact you are working the motor harder to achieve the higher speeds. If you work the motor harder, you drain the battery quicker. Gas bikes are designed to work at higher revs for fuel economy. Electric motors are more economical at lower RPM.
I suspect it's a gearing issue as well with the bike geared for acceleration rather than top end.
@@pogo1140 electric bikes are single gear/direct drive. no transmission.
gas bikes have a transmission optimized to keep the RPMs low at highway speeds.
@@mountainbikerdave And that's what you'd have to do if you want to not lose 1/2 of your range when going faster than the slowest truck on a highway.
Wind resistance is why it's working harder. Once an object is in motion it takes next to nothing if there was no rolling resistance or areo resistance to keep it moving. Wind resistance is compounding so the faster you go it exponentially gets worse.
@@duck9191 That's true for ICE motorcycles as well. But all motors, even electric ones, have a torque curve.
And if the bike is geared for acceleration, then by default it's going to sacrifice top end and cruising speeds.
Thank you (from UK). One of the more informative videos. Difficult making a choice between DS & FX. The batteries seemed to have changed this year: only one #7 in the FX now. Cheers, Pete
What a fantastic video! Comprehensive, informative and well presented.
What a great video Phil! For me this totally changed my view on Zero's. I had no idea the charging was so though out. Thanks!!!
did a demo on a Fxs and loved it. during the ride, I watched an older rider ahead of me apply too much throttle (torque)while turning. the bike went out from under him doing a 180 and he and the bike ended up in a ditch. ( cold tires on a cool day.) I dont know if he had to pay for the damages. but definitely a safety spot check for newbies on electric power.
I love my 2018 SR... and so does every MC instructor that takes me up on the "free instructor test rides".
As soon as I can get 250 hwy miles on a single charge, I will buy one in a heartbeat. I travel twice a month that distance.
This is one of the most informative videos I have ever seen about the Zero bikes. It answers so many of the questions I have about these electric bikes, that it effectively becomes an advertisement. I am moving to Cleveland in a few weeks; I expect to be coming by to have a look at these bikes once we get settled in.
Brilliant presentation and information! Answered every question I have about Zero.
Very nicely done, explained many of the details I have wanted to understand.
Excellent, comprehensive, informative video. Well done, Eamon
I love the power from electric transport! 200 mile range on and off-road for an ADV bike is a level that will get me to buy right away!
I believe once they get an electric bike to 200 all roads mileage range and a 1 hr recharge it will severely hurt gas bikes. I think that will happen by 2025.
Sadly, I'm in the middle of Canada, and the nearest Zero dealer in this country is 1,000 miles away. Great video, thank-you! (Riding a Zero is on my bucket list)
Test driven a Zero from Cleveland Moto, and I can tell you they are AWESOME bikes and would love to own one in the future!
Great video. However I've never figured out how to "return" electricity that I've "borrowed". :-)
Buy a few cans out of that vending machine and leave them sitting there. :)
Patronize the business. I kw/h is around 13 cents.
Just found you. Brilliant video. You are one of the few people who say that wind restance is why motorway speeds are so bad for economy. Keep up the good work.
Thank you I’m seriously in the market and you cleared up 80% of my questions.
Excellent video, super informative, super clear and detailed. I feel now like I understand the machines.
Great video. I have learned so much from you and you explain it so well. Keep up the good work.
Just got told about this bike company and this vid sold me on them.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for this video. I spent way to much time on Zero's site trying to understand the differences and you broke it down so their model names now sound logical.
Talked to an owner yesterday and he confirmed the charging and mileage, the bike looks and runs brilliantly. Said it cost him 1/10 penny per mile, pure magic.
By the way, I live in the UK and we love em.
About to move over there from the US. Do they have any dealerships you recommend that have one to test ride/purchase?
One thing to note with 2020+ models: now only the R variants come with the 14.4kWh batteries, and the standard S/DS come with the 7.2kWh. You cannot equip a base model with a 14.4kWh battery and you cannot equip an R model with a 7.2kWh battery. This is likely to optimize production so they don't have to make as many variants.
Also, as of 2016, all 4 S-frame bikes come with the same "racing" motor, but the R variants have a higher end motor controller that can feed the motor much more power. To my knowledge it is possible to upgrade the controller later on through a dealer.
Phil is the man at explaining these beauty bikes! great job!
Waiting on my 2014 S model to get here. Already looking for a windscreen and a level 2 charger. Thanks for the video.
Couple of things. A transformer is AC to AC. AC to DC is called a rectifier. Also I think maybe there missing a trick. There a company in India that is leasing there electric bikes and have set up a network of battery stations. You walk in hand them the dead battery and they give you a charged battery put it in the bike you're good to go. Faster than pumping gas.
Thank you answer all my questions, now I want to buy one.
Excellent breakdown, thanks. Looking to get an SR in the UK.
Would love to see similar videos about Super Soco's electric motorcycles, really impressed by the detail in this video. Great stuff.
Wasn’t even considering a bike 🏍 UNTIL NOW. MOST EXCELLENT PRESENTATION. Any dealers in Seattle Tacoma ?
For the curious what is the energy consumption? Well I found that in 38,000mi on a Zero DSR the average energy usage was 100Wh/mi and on the same terrain and routes in 14,000mi a Tesla Model 3D averages 300Wh/mi. You can do better or worse but that should be interesting if you want to get something energy efficient the Zero motorcycle lineup is very efficient without saying anything of the range on a single charge.
Best Video Presentation EVER!!! Thanks for explaining this to me. I'm Planning on Buying One for the summer 2020.
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Yes. Love the knowledge.
I would love to own an electric bike but, I often do long trips with my bikes, a 2008 Kawasaki GTR 1400 and a 1999 KTM 640. The longest trip with the GTR was from Cape town to Johannesburg, just under 2000 miles return, on a long weekend. With the KTM I have done 2 trips over 1000 miles In the Karoo and West coast. No charging points there. Just a nice Sunday ride in the Western Cape, around Cape town exceeds the best range on a Zero. My second problem is the wind. Here in Cape town we have got the South-Western wind. Not a pleasure with a bike without a proper fairing, like my KTM. A Zero with a good fairing will give a much better range than one without one. I will have to wait for much better range or keep on riding my dinosaur fed bikes.
You could try using an electric vehicle as a secondary vehicle to your petrol counterparts. An EV in the city and for daily commutes and petrol for long distance sounds noice.
@@KaschitShah Good one. If I only had the money and space....
Thank you SO much for simplifying the Zero range. But that doesn't change my mind on anything. I still would like the SR F. My commute is only 10 miles, 3 days a week so one charge should do me fine. Now all I have to do is find £19,000 and I'm away.
Better mileage in town because of regen braking -- not aerodynamics exclusively!
He said that.
To elaborate, I think he’s got it backwards. The MAIN reason for the difference in range is the use or regenerative braking and coasting. Aerodynamics is a minor part of the difference. As evidenced by the fact that electric cars (with better aerodynamics) have the same longer range in stop and go driving.
Hard to image there is much aerodynamic in those bikes, and about zero in town.
I was hoping someone would make this clarification, thank you!
No it's because kenetic energy=m*v^2 and because electric is almost equally efficient at all rpms compared to ice
That was a very good presentation.... only one negative comment though. If you've never hopped on a bike and rode to Wyoming... you're really missing some thing special that will change your life!! Give it a chance, and I might just trade in my new BMW RT
my 2014 zero sr is the best commuter bike, I prefer my zero over other 15 ice bikes I've owned.
thank so much for explaining the charge tank and power tank those were confusing the hell outta me
Sell it with 3 and the owner can take out 2 for “heats”. Selling it with ~200 mile range gives a more realistic comparison for shoppers. When you price it with a 40 mile range = not a realistic comparison and increases likelihood of dissatisfaction.
The reason for higher city mileage than highway only partly due to aerodynamics. It's ALSO because you don't waste any energy idling at STOPS and you recoup the electricity when stopping through regenerative breaking--benefits you don't get with an ICE engine.
At about the 18 minute mark, a Level 2 charger was being discussed. That is not a Level 2 charger. That is a 110v charger with a J1772 connector. Level 2 is 220v/240v that can be installed at home (240v) or can be found at charging stations (get the Chargepoint app to get a map that shows locations and other info) that uses that same J1772 connector. A good amount of L2 charging available is actually free!
The turbo-cord charger is a level 1 110v cord with a J1772 Connector - Essential for home charging of Level 2 vehicles - The EVMiles kit we mention (
finally someone who can explain in English. Great video 👊.
Glad it helped! We love these bikes.
@18:05 You can plug a level 2 charger in a 110 outlet and you will get level 1 charging speed, which means still 10-11 hours to charge. To charge at level 2 speeds, you need a 220 outlet, like what an electric clothes dryer uses.
I'm looking forward to trying the SR/f when it comes to the UK 👍
Brilliant! Nicely done. Incredibly useful information. The best I have ever seen. Thank you so much. all this data is so important.I've been looking at electric for a while. I need distance, not speed. I'd rather buy American if I can. I am working at exporting these products to Asia and Africa too. The price point is important, but not the most important. USA made is a huge advantage. After market warranties Innovation and support too. Customization and local franchises. Wifi and Bluetooth enabled.
Commute 108 miles a day round trip to work for USPS. Question is do they have to provide electricity? I would never mind paying for it I would just have to be sure I could know it was ever going to be an issue. I put 25K on a XT250 95% commuting. On The FXS why not keep a battery at work and simply exchange with a charged one? Yes and I don't at all feel like I will change the earths weather patterns by ridding one of these or add a second to a single second to a polar bears life. I do think it would help air quality and I like the technology very much. Very nice video on the whole sir thanks and yes made in America.
Not sure how I feel about the concept of "borrowing" electricity any more than borrowing gasoline. I had tenants that were "borrowing" electricity with a double male end chord so I loaned them a hatchet and gave them a bunch of more manageable length chords and left it o their kitchen table. Steeling is indeed steeling.
Thanks! That was informative and helpful, great videos on Zero electric bikes.
Best Zero product review on the tube.
Great video, I need more educational videos like this on electric vehicles. Mostly because I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of my SR/F :)
"borrow some electricity" hahahaha
I want one of these bikes so bad.
Great presentation. I'd surf this 'wave of the future'....if they can get the price down to about 5,000 USD
not even great 125ccm bikes cost 5k, maybe 7-8k. atleast the ones i know of. Also the Zeros have a wide array of driver assistance and ABS, big tires and good brakes. Not everything that the 11kw models have is in other 11kw gas bikes. Just more future and more features, i bought a DS for 12k Euros
Literally sold me the bike! Tomorrow I’m set a date to go to zero it’s next to my work anyways ;)
holy shit, when u mentioned the energy price... Christ that's beautiful
15:14
Novel idea and certainly one I have been interested in but it's just not affordable to me yet. $16k before the extra battery or charge tank options is quite pricey. After tax, delivery, registration, tags, ect it's now $20k. And because the idea is fairly new there aren't that many qualified shops who can perform service on them. Time always levels the playing field and I look forward to when that is. 15 years ago people were dropping $6000 on a flat screen 50" plasma tv that was 1080p. Today I can get a 60" 4k ultra HD smart tv for $300. I'll be waiting for THAT day one one of these lol.
Both cars and bikes have more wind resistance at high speed. Electric vehicles get better range in town because they don't spend any energy when stopped (cars idle), Regenerative braking returns some energy to the battery when slowing down (car engines consume fuel even when braking), and electric motors are much more efficient when accelerating (Cars rev up in each gear while accelerating). Cars also get better mileage at slow *steady* speeds. It is stopping, idling, and accelerating that ruin mileage for internal combustion engines.
Oh, and ride fast, take chances :)
trouble is...most places are removing or turning off their external AC outlets.
Absolutely awesome video. Very informative.
FXS!!! For the most fun in a commuter.
one thing that he got Slightly incorect is CCS charging. He said that it makes it so that the external charger charges the battery directly without the use of the internal charger. Thats slightly incorrect as while it is DC, It does have to pass through the charger as BMS (battery management service) is required. Basically CCS is a general solution that is meant to work with a wide array of battery technologies, both ones that are already "outdated" and ones that have yet to be invented. As a result the offboard charger just tries to feed electricity and doesnt really know when the batteries should slow down charging. BMS is required as a basic principle of all battery powered vehicles as when you charge, you create heat and also expansion, and the closer you are to 100% capacity, the larger this effect is, so the BMS uses its computer to slow down the charging to protect the longevity of the battery cells and prevent explosions. Obviously the BMS also stops charging when it detects the cells are full or reached a pre determined charge. also that black/yellow box charger that he references as is basically a offboard AC to DC converter and a BMS, as it bypasses the onboard charger and it connects directly to the battery terminal. The upside is that you can have one of these for every battery on the bike. The only downside (aside from price) is that you have to stick your hand inside the bike cowlings, disconect the battery and reconect it to the charger, then do it again when you go to drive. so if you have LARGE hands.... think twice before buying. Fyi brother got a Zero S and I geeked out looking up stuff about it as an ev nerd and he just got one cuz it was supposedly easy to maintain and well.... one year it all fine (excluding a popped tire but that was from a nail not zeros fault). So yeah, This guy is pretty much right in principle, as an electric Nerd and geek it was the only thing i found wrong wich isnt bad. TL;DR : that yellow box on the SR seat in vid is a seperate offboard charger. CCS still does have to go through the bikes charger for simple safety reasons. Bro has one; they are as good as he says
Based on the length of your reply you'll understand why I'm stoked that I only got 1 thing wrong in this video. I was waiting for the tech guys to jump on and tear me apart. I made a decision to simplify the system because the BMS systems are built into the battery modules and not a part of the actual AC charger.
You guys build a recumbent bike with wind shield and a optional trailer you will get 2x range and 10X the thrill probably could make a rain proof version.
This video is Wildly Informative.
The faster charging capability will be one giant stride forward. The other will be a *minimum* range of 180 miles at *highway* speeds.
O for Awesome !! I will take two :) Only problem is we don't have a local Zero Dealer :(
$42,000 is the cost of a battery pack for a zero.. A buddy of mine found this out the hard way .. The battery pack consists of seven batteries, each battery costs $6000.-6 x 7 = 42
My friend took the advice of someone on a blog, which was to discharge the batteries, that way when you re-charge them you’ll get more range out of the batteries. Obviously this was bad information for the type of batteries used with the zero, they are not lead acid deep cycle batteries such as with boat trolling motors .discharging them and then re-charging them is a good thing..
My friend had the zero technical support on the phone talk him through the correct procedure for charging the batteries., Nothing worked. His batteries were actually swelling up, and they told him that those batteries were in danger of catching fire in that state.They also told him that those batteries were toast.
I went on eBay searching for a used battery to help my friend out. I discovered a battery for a Tesla car, used, two years old for sale on eBay. The starting price for the auction on that two-year-old used battery out of a wrecked car was $26,500 starting bid.. so it’s not just the batteries for the zero that are so pricey.
Personally I tend to keep my motorcycles a long time. I kept my First Yamaha venture royale for 16 years, 138,000 trouble free miles... I kept my 1979 Moto Guzzi sp1000 14 years... I still have my 2007 Moto Guzzi norge... and my 1994 Honda pacific coast is now 24 years old...that’s just the motorcycles I keep a long time. I still have my 1958 MGA automobile which I bought when I was 16 years old in 1968. And I had a 1978 Ford Econoline van that I bought new in 1977, I drove that till 2008..
My point is, if those vehicles were electric ,I wonder how many batteries I would have had to buy? How long did the batteries last?? Do they perform as new all the way up until they expire?
Friends of ours live in Florida. They own a tesla. They were without power for almost 3 weeks a few years ago after a hurricane... they didn’t dare drive the car and discharge the batteries because they did not know how long their neighborhood would be without power to recharge it.I wonder if homeowners insurance or automobile insurance would’ve covered their battery that due to an act of God could not be recharged..I’ll have to ask my insurance man about that, maybe an umbrella policy would cover it.
Wow, it's pretty impressive they can sell the two-battery bikes for $68,000 less than the cost of the batteries! You should keep that secret to yourself, you can just buy eight bikes and make half a million dollars selling the batteries!
Bob, that was a fairly decent attempt at humor.Unfortunately, that is no help to my friend stuck with a dead zero that has a battery price that displaces the $600 toilet seat as a big joke
Dude they aren’t 42grand. You’re wrong.
Christian Lyness
That’s great news. Tell me how much they are so I can relay that information to my friend that has a useless zero motorcycle. And don’t forget to tell me where to get the complete battery pack for a zero motorcycle. His zero has been sitting with an expired battery for almost a year now. So please pass the information on to me so I can tell my friend this great news. But it’s not going to be that great if the batteries happen to be $38,000 instead of $42,000 as he was told by the zero company.. even if the batteries are as cheap as $30,000, or even $25,000, that’s actually not great news. I don’t have a zero, I did not even want to ride my friends when it was running. I am a long-distance rider, and I could not put up with a machine that can only go half the distance I get out of a fuel tank for distance between charges
@@harrylime5147 have your friend rebuild it himself. take the battery apart, and he will find out buying all the cells for his bike will cost $3,000.00
CITY OF CLEVELAND? AS IN CLEVELAND OHIO? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS LOCATED? ID LIKE TO MAYBE TEST DRIVE ONE OF THESE THINGS
Gosh I’m really considering getting one of these.
Awesome information. Very informative! I am sold. 🤓
I just sold my bike it was broke down more than running fine. Got it used , clutch went out , finding an affordable tech was why . Last straw was the carb acting up and I was not about to fix it. Just sold it , my car mechanic is very reasonable bike mechanics cost way too much.
Electric will be excellent when you can get charge as you ride.
I never thought i would want an electric bike but..............i want an electric bike lol you sold me
Can you plug a j1772 into that yellow quick charger? Also, how can you charge the fxs with a level 2 charger?
When can be sold in the Philippines. This one will revolutionize rider experience.
Great video & Great information!
Very clear, thorough, and concise...
I learned a lot here, thank you for sharing this.
Well done, love the belt buckle :-)
Delivered very well! Good job!
If i only could afford one i'd buy one instantly...
Great video. Started with features, and ended with transportation economics.
A brilliant review ... just brilliant
@ 15:11 you said "…'borrow' some electricity". How the hell are you going to give it back?
The specs of the live wire is a joke and the price of a live wire is a bigger nearly 30k joke. Am zero motorcycles all day baby.
I was so excited for it until I saw how short its range is... not good enough.
@@craigfirman1809 electrek.co/2019/03/28/lightning-strike-electric-motorcycle-launch/
Just to say the bike are not selling like crazy in Europe because the zero motorcycle are delivery the fast tank with the US standards (we call it Type 1) and not the EU standard (we call it Type 2).
And traction control is missing with so much torque and thin tires.
the "reserve tank" as you called it isn't designed as a reserve. Batteries are not like fuel tanks. They should never be completely emptied and should limit the amount you fully charge the batteries.
I'm feeling an urge for the DSR/BF, but with road tires to use as an errand/light shopping/food runs bike.
The BF is a whole different level of sexy.