Great review. My mate's got a Zero and loves it in these times of fuel shortages. Myself, I have hip problems these days and can't swing a leg over a bike seat. I've tried a flat-floor, step-through, Honda SH300 and found it surprisingly good. So, I would like to see more UK based reviews of the Honda SH350/SH300 type of bike/scooter for all us older and less agile guys who still want the freedom of the open road on two wheels.
Really considering one. I drive 42 miles one way to work. Half of it in heavy traffic. I have the option to get off and take streets. So I can really see one of these working for me.
Been thoroughly enjoying these Zero reviews. Zero pulled out of Australia a few years back now, our market for anything electric has been too minuscule to be worth the bother it seems. So no chance for a test ride anytime soon!
Hello Mark👍 I have ridden 3 electric motorcycles and they feel so alien to me, after 32 years of riding ICE motorcycles I seem to be stuck in my ways however if they had a clutch and gear lever etc, I would feel right at home, it doesn't matter that they don't do anything just think of them like a comfort blanket and if they had a speaker that made the sounds of a ZX-10R gen 1 that would be great too other than that I see no problems in buying one in the future, could you pass this message on to the relevant people please, keep up the good work your channel really does help people decide which bikes to get a test ride on, I have identical triplets and when they reached the age of 17 two of them knew exactly which bikes they wanted that would suit their needs best based on your videos, and the third one well she never has a clue what she wants in life at the moment but she chose the Suzuki GSX-S 125, even though my wallet took the biggest beating of its life I'm glad they are happy first time round so thank you very much😁
As mentioned in your video, the only real issue with commuting with these bikes is pedestrians who tend to jump into the road in front of you having not heard you coming. But then you can't get too mad at them, having spent most of their life expecting to hear you coming. I find if you ride as if expecting this to happen, it shouldn't really be a problem. And the fact that they're so quiet means you can actually talk to pedestrians as you're approaching them. Saying thank you when they stop for you, and apologising when you catch them by surprise, seems to make for a more pleasant ride for both pedestrian and rider. That's my experience anyway, having used an electric bike in town for my couriering job for the past few months. And you're right, the silence and ease of use, really does give you a kind of 'zen' feeling when riding. Strange, but kind of enjoyable, in a completely different way to our usual chariots. Great video. Keep it up. 👍🏼
Excellent review as always Mark. I have decided to take the plunge and have traded in a Honda CBR650R for a Surron Road Legal electric mountain bike - it weighs only 67 kilos!! And it has a low seat height for shorties like me :) I could buy 3 new Surrons for the price of a Zero so folks, bear that in mind - when switching to electric i would advise buying a cheaper bike as the technology will evolve very quicky. The other advantage of a Surron (and similar makes) is that i can actually lift this bike into the house to charge or just remove the battery. Go on Mark - do a Surron review for us!! :)
@@markpulling12 hi Mark - yes they look totally fun and could be used for short commutes. What swung me was at the Scottish Bike show this year i was able to lift one off the side stand with one hand and it weighed nothing!! As the prices are very reasonable, I feel they would be a very good investment for an entry into the world of e motorcycles.
@@markpulling12 I test rode the Zero a year ago and really enjoyed it. I bought a SurRon and it's so much fun. Not for super long rides but a hoot, like the Zero.
Its great but not for my country offroads and unexpected roads, maybe adding mudguard at front and leg guard - will help to safeguard your leg and parts when you fall down,also with semi dirt tire.Of course price need to be inbetween 3000 to 4500 dollar USA, maybe with power generated of like 250 or 300 cc fuel bike.
Yep that price point would have to be near the $4000 dollar range for me to bite the bullet on getting one for my first bike !!!! I would love the user friendly portion of that bike a lot no clutching and no changing of gears just throttle and go with ease to match the traffic !!!!
You're the first vlogger that has got me interested in electric motorcycles. I wouldn't buy one at the prices they are at the moment, but something this light with say 100 miles range? If I was commuting, what fun that would be. Apart from the work when you get there. The only thing that would concern me was the silence.
it does look great fun. the spicy 110 channel reviewed on recently that had a 1 hour charge cycle although if its acheiving that by upping the amps / per charge cycle then it wouldnt be sustainable over long usage since the cells will perish by over charging or charging too fast. 9 hours though seems excessive.
All these bikes come with level 1 charging standard. 8-9 hours from EMPTY. They also come with a second port for an extra charger on the battery. You buy the extra charger and use BOTH ports and you can charge in 1.5-2 hours from EMPTY.
Thanks again Mark. Great video. Electric bikes are the future whether we like it or not. It's a good thing that they seem to be evolving in a good direction imho. If I was ridiculously rich, I would have one in my stable tomorrow. However, until the charging network, range and prices are sorted I'll just have to wait! ATVB.
Hello Mark, thank you for all of your informative and real-world reviews. I love them. I was wondering if you could review the Macrais ZX8 electric motorcycle as it looks interesting and at a good price for the 160ah model? Thank you. Cheers. Phil
Hi Mark 👋, thanks again for this review. It sounds like you've enjoyed riding these electric bikes Although the lack of sound from them would really unnerve me. Cheers.
Great review as allways but there is only 2 problems with this bike ,price and range, in the real world it needs about 200 mile range, and be about 5 grand,.
Nice review as always Mark. Nice looking bike. Reminds me of a Yamaha DRZ ha ha. Not bad price either really. Have you tried the Live Wire yet from Harley Davidson? That’s a serious electric bike but obviously more pricy than the Xero’s 👍🏻
@@markpulling12 hi Mark, yeah I’ve seen the Energica Eva Ribelle RS and that looks like an amazing bike but damn it’s expensive. Are you going to be riding the Energica as well?
@@markpulling12 ah no that’s a shame. Maybe one day. Keep up the good videos Mark. When I see your notifications come through on my phone. I know it’s a good day 🙂👍🏻
This is a great commuting bike and you can save a lot of money if you have a big commute to work each day , but the lack of at least type 2 ac charging is a big letdown and the lack of traction control as people mentioned make this deceptively dangerous for beginners since it is such an easy bike to ride.
Thanks for the comment Yes these use the cypher 2 operating system which doesn't have traction control .. but the top of the range srf and srs have cypher 3 which does have traction control Cheers mark
Hi Mark, great review. It was a nice dry day on your test ride but I guess with that much torque instantly available keeping upright in the wet or on mud etc quite tricky ..
Maxi scooter superior, same experience but with cargo room. If you want alternative to conventional motorcycle' same could be said for maxi scooters and also peanuts to run but with no range anxiety"
Do these bikes come with traction control as standard?....with all that torque I think you'd need to be a bit cautious in the wet. Great bikes but too expensive at the moment. Good effort from Zero. Thanks for the review.
@@markpulling12 I looked on the website and those DS models looks pretty good as well but again the price points just waaaaaayyyyyy tooooo dog gone much !!!!
This bike is just a facelift of the old one, for better and worse. It looks great but if It just had a slightly bigger battery and level 2 or even DC charging it would be so much more practical. And some of the parts still look a bit cheap for that price, if your gonna charge 11 grand at least make it look a bit more high quality. Like what's with the charging location, i know it's not really a big deal but it just seems like an after thought, like they haven't really bothered. Don't get me wrong overall it's a nice bike but it could be so much more.
You definitely need to be seen so wear high viz something or install some LED auxiliary lights to enhance safety. I never found that I needed to emit noise (noise can be non-directional in situations so it only alerts drivers that a motorcycle is in the vicinity, not exactly where they are). Never had someone make a turn in front of me. The Zero FXS was one of the most fun because of the light weight. As far as money is concerned, if you ride a lot within the range capabilities, it is much cheaper to have an electric motorcycle because fuel and maintenance costs are much cheaper. I have a BMW C Evolution scooter and I estimate that I hit the breakeven point compared to a BMW C 650 scooter in about 16 months. I have over 21000 miles (33800 km) on my scooter in 27 months of ownership.
@@markpulling12 I've worked out the TCO for my SR/F Premium at 67p/mile over 20,000 miles and 4 years (which includes selling it at the end). My 690 was 84p/mile over 15,000 miles / 5 years, and my X-Adv was 72p/mile over 12,000 miles and 2 years... and my wife's CB125R was 74p/mile over a mere 2200 miles and 2 years. So it's in fact cheaper to actually own and run the ludicrously expensive SR/F than my wife's 125, my beloved 690, and my awesomely useful X-Adv. And I guess that just blows the whole cost argument into the weeds really doesn't it... these are the actual figures rather than made up ones though I'm still homing in on the actual SR/F costs as to-date it's only 6 months and 5000 miles old but if it carries on the way it does it'll be more or less bang on.
Great commuting toy as any similar electric bike, but not viable for any longer rides due to charging time-wasting and charging poor infrastructure. Once the price comes down (at least by 40-50% to consider it as commuting vehicle) it might be an interesting proposition. At the moment no contest to petrol bikes and Japanese-4 know this too.
Im a little confused between the FXE vs FXS (super moto with the bug eyes), do you know what the differences are? Im in the market for the model with the lowest range and price. Great review BTW. i watch all your videos.
Hi the fxe is the newer version of the fxs ...I don't think you can get the fxs any more unless you find one at a dealer , range is about 70 miles,I'd try and find an as new fxs and save some money ...these are great bikes ...I'm looking forward to getting one in the future Cheers mark
mark ... im very interested in a comparison of the two bikes you have tested - the Honda CB500X or the Benelli Leoncino 500 Trail - which of the two would be the better purchase ?
Hi well both are brilliant ...the budget option new is the Benelli but still very reliable ,good looking and fun ...maybe If you're looking for very long term I'd go Honda but just for a fun bike for a few years I'd go for the Benelli ....I have the trk with 3000 miles now and it's been faultless Cheers mark
A lot of money . Several thousand pounds but the batteries can be charged over 1500 times / 200 000 miles I have been told ..so it will probably outlive the bike Cheers mark
@@markpulling12 nothing I like more then torque, but I don’t think these bikes are there yet with battery technology. I would take what any manufacturer says with a grain of salt. With what that cost, I purchased a 2021 zx14r and love it. I can’t wait for the future to get here already so I can finally have my electric flying motorcycle.
@@markpulling12 200k miles is for the bigger battery pack I guess. 1500 times charging about 60 miles real world range is 90k miles which is still a huge amount.
I heard the mileage on these with 100-0% batteries are just awful and the price they want for it is just crazy.It is really an overpriced piece of battery.Around £3000-4000 maybe!
The biggest problem with fuel bikes is the oil, petrol and fluids which are so bad for health and environment. If oil companies would stop being dicks we could syntesise these fluids and keep our awesome machines. ;_;
the bike looks good..but it's not a "true" commuter in my mind. If you use it only as a city ride, sure. But commuting using the highway is a no go. Most of these are out of juice at 70km / 45 miles +- when riding at highway speeds...which is frankly not enough. Their website states even, for this bike on highway speeds (70mph/113km/h -> 40 miles, about 64 km). And that is not fast by any means. Plus..most of these figures are in perfect conditions, ie no headwind etc.. Also, there are little to no storage options, which is essential for the type of rider they want to attract.. The cost is still way too high for what you get. 13.880 euro to start...and you don't even get a luggage rack. Let's be honest here..Get this as a second bike if you can afford it, to have some fun close to your home, be it in the countryside or in the city. like the little B-roads you did in the video. For that it must be fantastic. Use a conventional bike for commuting.
This FXE is a SM type motorcycle and has a smaller battery pack. So yeah for highway commuting this is probably is a bad choice. But it sure can be a commuter if your commuting doesn't include (too much) highway kilometers. Most people don't commute that far.
Because of all the carbon free shite that the green brigade ( theyre green allright) keep bombarding us with, we will be lucky to be able to charge anything up soon the way things are going , especially with the gas crisis looming. According to these people, we should not even be using gas at all in power stations !!!. Lovely bikes though.
