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[blake]

hi everyone,

I notice from your online "signatures" that quite a few of you have several bikes (i.e. some kind of ICE alternative for longer trips?). I'm considering the Zero S (ZF9) as my only bike. I've had 20+ ICE bikes over 25 years of riding, with quite a bit of touring. I had the option to purchase what had been my dream bike (2005 BMW R1200RT) for less than the Zero S(9) is going to cost me, but something about the Zero keeps pulling me back. It's the only bike that feels like it would fit seamlessly alongside my environmental activism and my passion for riding. Yes I know it's 'greener' to not buy anything, but I'm in a mood to treat myself for my 50th birthday and there's a lot to like about the Zero, which also seems more green than even a small ICE alternative like the CBR250R (my other possible choice) or the Aprilia Mana 850 GT (#3 on the list). But I digress...

My question to this forum is how many of you have the Zero as your ONLY bike, and how is that working for you?
And for those of you who have another (ICE) bike, how is your riding divided between the Zero and the other bike(s)?

I'm all ears...

blake

[Richard230]

I obviously have several motorcycles to chose from when riding.  I figure that I would need at least two. My Zero handles all of the shorter rides within a 40-mile radius and gets a lot of use when commuting, going shopping, visiting relatives, going out to eat and doing other short trips that are done every day.  Since I have bought the bike in February, I have put 700 miles on the Zero, and about the same number of miles on my IC bikes going on longer trips.  I use my IC motorcycles for going on camping trips, riding to hiking areas in the local mountains, going to motorcycle rallies during the summer, etc.  So in my opinion, you need at least two motorcycles. One electric and one gas-powered for longer trips - unless you don't take long motorcycle trips.

But your IC motorcycle doesn't have to be expensive. Anything over 250ccs will work just fine and there are tons of larger good used motorcycles on the market at reasonable prices, especially if you are not looking for a used sport bike (which tend to be poorly treated by many of their owners).

[rotoiti]

I don't have any bikes at this moment. When I get one it will be a Zero DS and it will be my only bike.

[protomech]

The Zero works out very well for me. I ride less than 70 miles per day unless I'm travelling or going on a fun run.

A friend is buying my GS500 shortly. I'll probably replace it eventually with another bike for touring / fun runs with friends .. but I'm in no hurry.

I'm riding waaaay more on the Zero (800 miles last 3 weeks) than my gas bike (800 miles last 3 months prior to Zero, 200 miles/month average over lifetime).

Some of the reasons:
1. Have to put on the miles to financially justify it, I plan 100k over 10 years
2. Gas bikes are reaaaaally dirty, emissions-wise. Not talking CO2 here. It's hard to justify riding gas when I have a 70 mpg gas car with real catalytic converters sitting by it.
3. There's basically zero maintenance. It's enabling in a way.. gas bike has developed an oil leak or is burning oil or something. Riding it feels a bit like sitting on a time bomb.
4. It's just plain fun. Gas bike feels very serious, involved, lots of drama and noise and smoke. Electric bike feels like a super pedal bike.. it's light weight, nimble, near-silent, and you twist your wrist and you're suddenly going waaay over the speed limit.. and not announcing everyone within a mile. I've been very very tempted to hop it up on an empty sidewalk and ride for a bit..

It's hard to justify not having a gas vehicle at all - bad weather, multi-passenger trips, long trips, need to haul cargo generally point towards needing to have (or access to) a car for at very least occasional use. Adding a gas bike on top of that can be a little harder to justify, especially if it depreciates with age.

[trikester]

I have 17 motorcycles, a majority of them are antiques but six are modern bikes including two ZERO's (2010 DS & 2012DS). I would ride nothing else but the ZERO if it would go 250 miles on a charge, I love riding it more than anything else I have. Even though I have several dual sport bikes the 2012 DS is the only bike I dirt ride now (I put better dual sport tires on it). The reason for getting the 2012DS instead of continuing to ride the 2010DS was the extra distance gave me the ability to do all of the dirt riding that I normally do.

In my mind, if I could only own one bike it would be a ZERO, but only if the available distance satisfied my needs. For me, that is the bottom line; can it go far enough on a charge to do the riding I will be doing? I'm retired now, but if I was still working I would be commuting on my ZERO every day it wasn't raining (SoCal fair weather rider). Of course, I would be plugging it in at work while I was there.

Trikester

[flar]

I'm in a fairly similar situation - I'd been looking at R bikes for a while, but then electric vehicles caught my eye.  One of the other factors for consideration in my case was that I hadn't been riding my ICE bike much over the past few years because it wasn't exactly the perfect bike for me and I was having back problems.  Now that my back is on the mend, the R might be a better choice (smoother and lower maintenance than my single cylinder chain-driven DS bike), but I would have to be sure I would start riding more regularly to justify it.

In my case one of the trigger points, other than being more physically able to ride again, was that I started getting interested in Tesla, but it would stretch my budget a lot until they get to their 3rd generation Bluestar platform (though I did splurge on a reservation payment on one of their current models if only because I had the money sitting around and wanted to support the company - but when my reservation comes due in 2 years I hope to have won the lottery or done a serious bit of money saving).  Soon after I rediscovered the latest generation of electric bikes that are getting just almost to the point that they could serve my needs (a near 40 mile mostly highway commute strains their current range budget, but I can work with that).  Other than raw performance, I can preview my Tesla dream for a lot less money - though an R bike could still go on nice weekend getaway rides that the current crop of electric bikes is not yet capable of, I'd be reinvesting in petroleum.

So, R bike, used R bike, Zero, or wait for Empulse, or save my money for the Tesla dream - are all on my list to some small extent.  My current best guess is that when the Empulse is announced in final form soon (or so they say), I'll be in a good position to decide between it and a Zero ZF9 and then I'll simply keep my old F650 for longer rides, though I'll have to remember to keep riding it so the engine doesn't gunk up from disuse like it did over the past 3 years of non-riding. Realistically, I'd probably have to force myself to use the F650 and I wouldn't buy it if I had the electric bike, but I'm also probably not going to sell it either.

My need for the ICE bike falls in between "spend money for one" and "bother with the pains of selling it for much less than it is worth to me and giving up that extra bit of utility"...

[blake]

thanks for your replies - a very interesting read.

I'm thinking that the 2012 S (ZF9) will do 80+ percent of my riding (short trips, commute to work and back, etc), and I'll just have to live with not being able to ride to and use the bike at the cottage (unless I trailer it there - but that's another hassle for an urban resident to buy and store a trailer I'd only use occasionally). I've inquired at my workplace (a large university that prides itself on being "green") and they've made it clear they will not only do nothing to help me plug in but will also give me a parking ticket if I park my bike in an out-of-the-way corner where there's a plug in our underground parking garage (where I would be taking no-one else's spot). Sigh...  So I have to be able to make the 80km (60mile?) round trip on a single charge (either all highway or mix of city streets, depending if I want to get there in 35 or 60min).

blake

[protomech]

I feel your pain; at my previous job site I could have pretty easily plugged into an exterior outlet, at my current one (campus with thousands of parking spots) there are strict rules on where people can park and zero lot-accessible outlets that I've found.

Not the best solution, but if you can park near the plug then you could carry a 25-50' extension cable with you. The Zero charger draws about 8 amps on 110v and has a voltage range of 85-265 VAC .. a little bit of voltage sag shouldn't bother it.

80 km is 50 miles. If you can safely travel at < 90 km/h then you should be fine .. higher speeds would be more of a problem. You could always go the highway in the morning and the surface street route in the evening, or mix and match.

[dkw12002]

I have a  2011 Zero S, a Ninja 250, a Vespa 300 GTS, 3 e-bikes and a  Prius, and I usually ride everything each day...retired don't you know.   Except for the car, everything is toys.

A Zero for commuting with a car as backup makes sense to me when you consider the per mile cost over time. If you can put a lot of miles on the Zero in a short time, it could be a cheap way to commute. Nothing I ride is an investment though cause it's all just for pleasure and I don't commute. 

[blake]

I usually commute by train, so the Zero would be a fair-weather alternative. The traffic is so bad around here though (the worst in North America, I'm told) that it would only be for those days that I can stagger my hours to be off-peak commuting. I'm guessing that might only be a handful of times a month, in the summer months. Hardly a quick way to recoup the extra cost of a Zero, but the train does cost $13 a day and driving would be $7 gas + $5(Smart car)-$25/day, so the relative savings each time is considerable.  By that calculus I'd be better to get up early in the summer and head into the city before the rush hour (it gets light here before 5am in the summer). Food for thought...

[CliC]

The Zero is my only bike at the moment, and probably will be for awhile. I'm an apartment dweller, and I can park it in my living room, which already facilitates more frequent riding than I did on my last IC bike.

Even if I had a garage, I'd probably have time for only one other bike. But for now I can certainly live with my truck for longer trips and the Zero for around town. The dirt possibilities it affords are interesting, but I have almost zero (no pun intended) experience on dirt, so I'd have to get some practice and/or instruction before I took on anything too technical.

If they ever get that new Empulse out the door, though, I may be needing a sportbike, too

[craigq]

If I ever get my XU it will be my only bike, I can't really justify having two at this point in life.

[manlytom]

if the range is no issue then the Zero X or XU seem good options. In fact it seems these 2012 models have just about the range as the 2010 or 2011 S/DS models !
For the lesser cost a valid option.

T

[blake]

yeah I wondered about the XU also. Much cheaper and with the 2012 range I could get to work and back if I recharged at work. That would in my case mean removing the battery and carrying into the building and up to my office, and I've been told "that would get old in a  hurry". Mind you that was from the dealer who had an interest in up selling me to the to S-ZF9!

Apparently Zero is bringing a truck-full of test rides to my local dealer this Friday, so I'll have a chance to ask Zero staff myself and perhaps have them show me what's involved in taking the batter in and out. I'll let you all know...

[craigq]

The weight of the XU battery pack would make carrying it 'get old real quick' (the 2012 Owner's Manual states the pack weighs 24 kg or 53 lbs), but pulling it along behind you with a $20 collapsable/portable hand cart would be easy.