Electric Zero SR Motorcycle Review - First 1000 Miles 

Friendly Tip from the zero users group. Most of us run the bikes with full braking regen but NO rolling regen. This way you can roll down hills and coast, using no power, but if you LIGHTLY touch the front brake lever it’ll turn on regen when you want it. This way you avoid the sudden deceleration you mentioned coming out of cruise.

My friend and I just started riding motorcycle last summer so as far as riding experience goes I'm a noob. He's been riding more than I have. I only got to ride here and there on the weekends since my bike was stored at his house. I've driven clutched machines before having grown up riding atv's as a kid, but I haven't had a clutched sport quad in so long that I'm no longer good at it. Going back to clutching and shift on a quad or dirt bike is fun. Doing it on a road bike is just a big headache. It's one thing to ride off road and stall your bike with no one else around as you can take your time and get comfortable. It's another thing to stall your bike trying to take off from a stop or at a light with an impatient motorist behind you who has no clue of what distance is. I love the riding aspect of motorcycles I don't miss the shifting and clutching in a road environment. I'll save that for off road stuff. I was looking into one of these bikes as it would give me the full bike riding experience without the aggravation of clutching and shifting. Plus I wouldn't have to worry about fueling it up or changing any oil when the time comes. I see a bike as a fuel saver so I don't have to drive my truck all the time. But you're not saving money on fuel if you're still buying fuel for the bike. So something like this makes more sense to me versus a full size car. Especially since my town is nothing but hills, intersections and stop signs so an electric bike would be perfect for the conditions. Since my job is right in town the bike would last a long time on a charge just going back and forth. :)

Thank you for sharing your experience with the bike. Your matter of fact presentation is like a breath of fresh air.

Great to hear real analyse how things are working. Thanks! The best from Sweden.

Great Video. I did my first Firmware update on my SR/S today and it went well with no issues. Love the bike. It works perfect for my purpose. I only charge at home so far.

Good honest review Steve thank you.👍

Great review, Steve. Zero is right over the hill from us in Santa Cruz, and I’ve been following them since their inception. The nice thing about your idea for changing cruise control behavior is that it could likely be done with an software update. One of the things I love about my Tesla is that it does a lot more now than it did when I bought it. I’m watching with interest how Ford and other companies who aren’t used to this business model manage updates. But Zero has a “Silicon Valley” attitude(actually over the hill from SV), and they seem to have a good mindset in this regard.

You could add some static cling film to protect the screen. I don't mean cling wrap, but clear contact paper type material. I've seen sheets for sale that can be trimmed to fit. That way you could wipe it, and replace if it gets too grotty.

great review

Crazy the salesman told you that huge crucial feature was available and here you are 1000 miles later and it's still being postponed. I get you're not the average consumer but if I was a regular guy in that position, buying maybe my only big toy, I'd be looking for some serious recourse from being misled

great review 👍👍👍and at 20k not a bad purchase.

great stuff thanks

That screen problem... It is possible that the screen actually has a protective film on it from manufacturing so that is worth checking to see if there is something to peel off. I have known people to miss things like that... for years! If not, it should be possible to get a film like used on phones or tablets.

Learned this sales tip from my uncle, an executive at IBM in the 70s and 80s. He always had his sales team "eat the product". They would literally break it down, do maintenance, go on service calls with the technicians and contribute to technical manuals before they could sell the products. You can tell a good salesman from a lazy one based on their knowledge of the product. If they know it through and through, they're more likely to be good at their jobs.

Hi! I plan to buy Zero S 14.4 but worrried about no fast charger at public charge stations. I think the basic model they offered me has no Charge tank installed. I have to travel 250km at Europe and needs a Type 2 fast charge option. (I live in Hungary and Type 2 AC is common here.)

In sports mode my zero SR already does 126mph or 200kmh. Though, I can't add a custom mode with a speed above 100mph. I'm running panel firmware version 23 and battery management firmware version 4 Although there's newer firmware available (24 and 5) I'm hesitant to upgrade because I'm afraid I'll loose the top speed in sports mode. What firmware do you use? And what is your top speed in sports mode?

Steve thank you for going hard on these electric vehicle reviews. I was born and raised with ICEs and will always love the sounds but these electric vehicles, esp as battery technology advances, are so exciting to see coming out and what IS to come. What I will miss in sounds from an engine I will make up with the absolutely monster of torque picked up by these electric motors. You had me laughing with the "how I typically ride". DO tell, you treat this bike gingerly right? Kid gloves... no judicious use of acceleration eh?

I did the same in my FX - I have 0% torque and 100% regen.

Hello, May i ask you something based on your experience with an electric motorcycle ? Are they better suited for riding in winter then a fuell motorcycle ? And then i mean against the salt on the road in winter. Or would it be easy to create an extra shield around the motor ? With f.e. some plastic that you could heat up and then putting that around your bike ? So now and then the thought comes up to get rid of my car and go elecric motorcycle. I would like to commute with it. For decades i did not have a car and also in winter went to my job on the bike. This was not always fun. One time it was minus 27 degrees celsius. And needed to buy newspapers at a gasstation for insulation. It was sometimes even dangerous. But so much fun. When riding home you can really clear your mind riding on a bike. And the last 15 years i went for heated gloves, socks and a jacket. I even remember this the first time using those. I almost got emotional.😇 How were the batteries of the Zero after a few years use ? Greetings from the Netherlands,👍

Nice

At $.15 a KWH how many miles on average does it get? Obviously solar is how I'd like to charge with enough storage for overcast days but I'd like the KWH to miles info as everything else can be figured from there. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, experiences and collection. -- Dave --

I was on Zero's site today and saw that you can upgrade from a 14.4 battery to 15.6 for FREE. Did you do the upgrade and if so, how did it affect you range? Also, since you really have a 17.3. battery that is just software limited, you should be able to charge to 100% every time with no stress on the battery. Thanks. Rick

Are there any big differences between this model and the 2022 SR/F Premium?

If your battery is up-gradable you can charge to 100% right now as its not really 100% there is a 10% buffer so right now your at 90% when the bike says 100. Put plastic cover screen protector on the screen at new and / or polish out scratches with scratch remover. Turn all power and re gen and torque 100%, use the throttle less use less energy and regen hard, its just physics no fancy modes needed. Want power......... open throttle. You can up cruise speed when already in cruise by opening throttle to required speed and double press set button.

I'm curious what other bikes you've ridden in your past and how this compares with those? Apple to Oranges I get it, but the comparing notes is still of interest to me. Safety Fast!

Is this going to be a electric vehicle channel?

❤

I wonder if prices for these things will ever come down to more affordable levels? Electric motorcycle manufacturers seem to be stuck in a 'catch 22' situation - to reduce prices they need economy of scale in production. To get economy of scale they need to sell lots of units. To sell lots of units they need to be affordable...

My next bike (fingers crossed) would be electric and it's your EV videos - including the Ford truck - that are finally convincing me. Steve, a question though; are you happy with this bike purchase or do you wish you'd have spent the money on an I.C.E. bike and waited another couple years before going electric?

I wonder how well the bluetti would charge the bike in a pinch.

Lots of torque will be ....😳😜

I wish he would explain the “charge to 70% to save the battery “ that ha said .

Yeah, the screen is made out of cheese.. mine will scratch just rubbing my clean finger across it. I use my old bottle of Kit Scratch Out to keep it shiny.

If not for the "in app purchases" to unlock hardware **already on the bike**, their extremely anti-right to repair and anti-consumer ideologies, I would consider a Zero since they seem to offer a compelling package. But until they change the way they interact with their customers and the motorcycling community in general, they are a hard no-go.

It comes down to what you use it for if you have a short commute like Steve here must have, or never taking more than 100 mi trips. its would be fine. Now if you have a longer commute like I used to have (now retired) or want to take it on a multi state journey not so much. You can but you have to plan on 100 or so mile stops for what like a hour to recharge. Your whole way of thinking about the pleasure of motoring would have to change.

just change ur tires bro for those roads

The idea that I have to pay extra to use the battery capacity and power of the motor to get full speed and range THAT I ALREADY HAVE bought for in the hardware on the bike makes me NOT want to buy a zero. Sure I can see real.upgrades being wirth paying for and is fair enough.

Electric vehicles and loose gravel roads. Get used to that. The tar that binds gravel together is a petrochemical byproduct. No oil, tarmac roads.

In traffic does the lack of engine noise reduce others ability to notice you.

Give me ICE anyday over these EV that are not as eco friendly as they make out

Electric cars yes, absolutely? Electric motorcycles absolutely useless. 100 miles is nothing when you want to go for a ride with your buddies on the weekend. They're only good for commuting that's it. Until they can get 3 to 400 miles range. In these bikes. I'm gonna continue to pass on them.

You seem to be really impressed by electric vehicles Steve. I wonder, is the old Electra at least 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒚 responsible for this. From what we've seen in your videos, it was just after you started using the Electra that your "conversion" really started. I'm still not convinced by electric vehicles, mainly because of the lack of range, but it's interesting to see someone enjoying them so much.👍👍😁😁