A Good-Looking Electric Sportbike
I reported not long ago about the leak of the Zero SR/S sportbike. That leak proved to be accurate. Zero just officially revealed the motorcycle and ahead of schedule. The bike is a sport-touring machine with a more relaxed riding position than the SR/F that came out last year.
The motorcycle features a 31-inch seat height and weighs about 505 pounds for the standard model and 516 for the Premium version. Zero claims the large fairing on the bike increases highway range by 13 percent. The passenger seat is also large, meaning you can comfortably ride two-up on this bike.
In terms of performance components, the motorcycle features the same kit as the SR/F. The bike gets the SF75-10 electric motor and a ZF14.4 kWh lithium-ion battery. Both versions of the bike (Standard and Premium) will get 161 miles of city range, 82 miles or so on the highway, and 109 miles combined. Add a Power Tank to that and you can do 201 miles in the city, 103 miles on the highway, and 136 miles combined.
In terms of power, the SR/S puts out 110 hp and 140 lb-ft of torque. It has a top speed of 124 mph. Charging time to 95 percent is one hour on a 6 kWh fast charger and four hours with the basic 3 kWh charger. Those charge times are actually better than the SR/F, which is interesting.
The motorcycle also gets Bosch stability control, cornering ABS, and 14 ride modes. I’m not sure who the heck needs 14 ride modes, but there are Street, Sport, Eco, Rain, and 10 programmable modes. The price for this motorcycle is $19,995 for the Standard and $21,995 for the Premium.
What am I missing? There’s not one way in which this range and the then needed charge time fits into any sport touring I’ve ever done. As a daily bike, yes and I love the looks.
I was thinking of similar things, David. The range needs to increase considerably before it can be called a true sport touring machine.
I realize that the only way to get to a place where we have a replacement for gas-powered motorcycles will be years of development and of course the necessary revenue in the meantime to help pay for the R&D costs. But we’re still so far from me getting rid of my pristine, beautiful, and powerful (way beyond stock at over 160 plus at the wheel) 2000 ZX-9R (or my VFR1200 or Blackbird). It’s both an aggressive looking sport bike, crazy fast, gets great gas mileage (compared to a car) and is more than comfy enough to do 500 mile days. These guys are on the right track but it seems like decades away from me buying one.
Said another way, I have no interest until gas prices are likely well over… maybe 3 or 4 times what they are now at $3.20 a gallon for premium. Remember, to replace what we have with bikes like these will cost many thousands of dollars (over $20K?) and it will require gasoline to cost way more than it does now get that money back with the savings over buying gasoline. In the meantime, I’m happy buying 10 year old or older motorcycles at way less than the cost of new and am not missing out on any fun running older bikes.
I think the days of touring on an electric are still far off. The infrastructure, charging speed, and range just aren’t there yet… and I own an SR/F. I also own a sport touring bike.
However, as I look and read about the SR/S, what I’m seeing is a great commuting bike. More comfortable riding position than the SR/F, plus wind protection.
If Zero offers up some decent luggage for this, this could be a great choice for two wheel commuters.