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Regarding land splitting...three weeks after selling my Zero, I was rear-ended on I-5 while on my Suzuki Cavalcade in Orange County, CA. (Thrown to the ground, bike totaled, but I walked away once I came to...thank you).  As I sat in the CHP car to enjoy his Air Conditioning while waiting for a tow, the officer stated “the vast majority of our daily freeway bike accidents are due to lane splitting.”  Perhaps a topic for another thread, but “just saying.”  The Cade was too big and rubbery handling for splitting but I did go between cars on the SR sometimes. 

I haven’t been without at least one motorcycle in the garage from 1969 until now.  The accident woke me up to what can happen “even to me” in an instant!  Several old friends have not been as lucky as I was.

I still have some limitations seven months later, and I miss riding.  I am not saying never again, but I’m still not ready.

If you ride a motorcycle only to get to work a few minutes faster by zipping between cars, well...please do it in moderation and keep your eyes open!  -Uncle George


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I had a 52 mile round trip commute on mostly freeway. Zero SR 12.5.  When it worked right, I averaged 0.7 miles per 1% which would be 70 miles if consistent.  If I got off the highway and rode the boulevards, including stop and go, I could get it up to 1.2 fairly easily.

One popular EV Vlogger says “put your money into the biggest battery you can afford before anything else.”  He speaks of Tesla but it’s good advice especially for a Zero.

Too many variables in driving conditions and indeed, unpredictability of what the system might do after an update or two, future degradation etc, all add up to less range, not more.  I would not recommend the smallest model for a 50 mile commute based on my experience.


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Keep us posted. Best Wishes!


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Well yes I’ve seen this or something like it before. In fact when it happened the second time this was the last straw and I sold my 15 SR.

Troubles started after the first Firmware update. For a year it was as if it had morphed into an S  for performance and 7.2 for range. Several updates later it was the same. Then came the final update. It seemed to have finally been restored and all was normal until the first time “it” happened. At 25% It acted like it was in safe mode and proceeded just like you described. I crawled at 3-5mph for the last mile but didn’t make it. Called for a $106 tow to get home. 

Unlike your case it charged normally and was at 100% by morning.  I had no reason to go lower than 50% for a couple of weeks and then on the last ride once it got to 30%, suddenly dropped 1% every second or so.  It even kept going down at the stoplight. It was at 0 battery and 1.5 miles about 1.2 from home.  I live on a very steep hill. When I got there it would not pull up the hill. No way I could push it, in fact I probably could not walk myself up that far but I got the quick idea to get off and hope it could pull itself up unladen.  By golly it made it, sort of tugging me along in the process.  It nearly killed me walking that slope and I’m sure would have gone dark by the next house.

Oh and then there were those three onboard charger replacements.

As for being an early adapter, supporter of a CA company and other wrong reasons to spend a lot of money, well...Been there, Done THAT.[emoji6] once was enough.
When it worked it was great but
no way I’d consider another one, especially a brand new unproven model after this experience. -George in San Diego


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I will tell you one thing.  At least in the US, they will lose sales if they are telling people after a test ride that the bike will not be delivered for 3 months.  People will walk out and walk into another dealer to buy an ICE bike off the floor.  Hopefully they invest the new insurance of capital they just got into building their manufacturing capability.  You can have the best product.  If you can't produce they to meet demand, you will lose money.
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Too bad Zero doesn’t have an Elon Musk equivalent who can take $1,000 deposit for a car that doesn’t exist and make you happy to wait 3 years for it. Then when it arrives, you are even happier to pay double for a sportier version since they still don’t make the base model you ordered.    Imagine waiting years for your SR/F and then paying $30,000+.  It’s all fascinating stuff.



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No, I actually didn't have to adjust it much at all.  What I was trying to imply is that the belt was always maintained according to specs and best practices.  Belt kept about 1mm from outside edge/lip of rear sprocket (so not quite centered) and tensioned using the Gates tension gauge per unofficial manual.  I always kept the belt at the lower end of the tension spec.

No reason that I can think of why the belt should have failed this soon.  I'm thinking that either the belt was defective or it was mishandled prior to being installed at the factory.  I've read that these carbon reinforced belts need to be handled with care.

Geez, tough crowd.

Oh, not a tough crowd at all. (Well, except for one guy who knows who he is...and whose advice I took...I got out).

These belts should be the least of your potential worries considering all the issues some of us have had with the electronics.  I agree about lubrication. Dry lube or not, one doesn’t lube a belt. 

Everyone here usually wants to help if they bother to post at all.

I sold my ‘15 SR due to ongoing electronics issues unresolved after the first “firmware” update over a year prior.   I never even looked at the belt in 12,000 miles.

Remember “Elegant Simplicity” is the baseline notion with these things. For the most part that means, ride it and don’t worry about it until it quits.[emoji846]

Edited: just occurred to me...when did the wider belt come out?  These failures seem to be 2016+.   My 2015 was the narrow one.  Are the bigger belts proving to be failure prone? Certainly was not the intent.

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As I was riding home from work yesterday as part of my daily commute, I gave my DSR a little burst of throttle and heard the telltale snap and immediate rev of the motor.  I knew right away that I had broken the drive belt.  Luckily, it was a nice day in Cincinnati and it was on a side street near where I work.  I had my daughter pick me up and then came back with my pickup truck to fetch it.  I was only about 6 miles from home.  It could have been a lot worse.

I bought my DSR new and only have around 3,900 miles on it.  I take really good care of the belt.  I keep it adjusted properly, keep it centered on the rear sprocket, and spray the belt and sprockets every couple of weeks with dry silicone.  My riding is 100% asphalt so this sure seems like a premature failure to me.

I have a call into my Zero dealer and they are checking to see if Zero will cover it under warranty.  I’m only looking for Zero to provide a new belt.  I will take care of installing it.

If I’m only going to get around 4K miles out of the drive belt then I can see a chain conversion in the future.  I don't have a lot of confidence in the belt right now.  The small sprocket in the front can't be that good for it.  Design issue?

I'll follow up with what Zero says when I hear back from them.

I wonder if you are maintaining it “too good.”  I rode my ‘15 SR 12,000 miles over three years and never touched the belt myself. Changed the tires at the Zero dealer at just under 10,000.  That was the only time the rear axle was moved. If you’re riding on the street, why all the work? The whole point of a belt is to be mostly free of maintenance. “If it ain’t broke...” maybe you had a defective belt .


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