Ride/review of ZERO S electric motorcycle - anything you want to know?
 

I've got an opportunity to check out ZERO Motorcycles' ZERO S supermoto:

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/ar...bike500big.jpg

Details:
ZERO S Electric Motorcycle - Features || ZERO MOTORCYCLES

and

ZERO S Electric Motorcycle - Specs || ZERO MOTORCYCLES

Anything special you'd like me to find out?

YouTube - The 2009 Zero S Electric Motorcycle on a Track

Can it do a wheely?

Can I do a wheelie? Never tried... on a motorcycle.

(But then my motorcycle riding experience is limited to a couple of years on a Ninja 250. They're capable of wheelies, but only with some pretty aggressive body english to make it happen, from what I've seen. Not a simple matter of twisting the throttle.)

Can the ZERO do a wheelie? Apparently:

YouTube - Electric Motorcycle Wheelies and Jumps

Video embedding was broke so I fixed it, I hope

It wasn't borked for me when I viewed the thread? Now they're the skinny format again, like they used to be.

Borked for me! Oh well, Mehbe I can edit it up directly to get the wide format

Why they didn't go with a "Super Single" style body kit.
http://www.motorcycle.com/images/con.../monogp_07.jpg
Their dual sport style fairings look terrible.

They kind of do look terrible, don't they.

Unfortunately: plans have changed and I won't be able to go to Ottawa tomorrow.

You can make it

Hiya,

I'm jealous! What is the real range of this model? Could a larger battery be fit into it? (It only weighs 225 pounds fer cryin' out loud!) Is the suspension on the soft side, or can it be preloaded to be stiffer? (I weigh ~240 pounds.) How are the brakes? Does it have any regenerative braking?

I've heard they plan on a (semi) faired model with the same mechanicals, called the Zero SS.

That "S" model has apparently come to pass: Carbon Negative Web Store : Zero S ZF9 Electric Motorcycle Black MY2012 - 00-0378401 A friend back in NJ is considering buying one and test rode it the other day. He seemed to like it. Says it has a 70 mile range.

I got to test out the Street model last summer at the Green Drive Expo in Madison, Wisconsin.

Unfortunately, it was only out in a very large (expo center!) parking lot, which had some traffic and a little more gravel sprinkled about than I would have liked....

Overall, I rather liked it.
The belt drive is REALLY quiet. It's the only belt-drive electric motorcycle I've had a chance to try yet. (The original Brammo Enertia chain drive screams by comparason, yet is nothing compared to a gas bike.)

The Zero did have a bit of a feeling that it was a really high-end conversion. The built-in charger was a stock one that I recognized that folks can just mail-order. I swear that the "click" of the main contactor was IDENTICAL to the one on my homebuilt EV Kawasaki KZ440....

The frame was nice and light-weight. The seat felt just a tad stiff, and a little high. I'm sure that if I had bought the bike, I could have adjusted the suspension to compensate.

Overall, it was zippy and fun.

Of course, they now have a 2012 model, and they did change a few things on it, so I'll have to see about test-riding that version sometime!