UK Monster Owners Club Forum » .: General :. » Random Chat » Grab some biscuits and brew, this is a long read.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-07-2020, 11:00 PM   #1
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
Grab some biscuits and brew, this is a long read.



I don’t blame you! That was my first reaction too. Then I heard someone say, “It’s electric.” And I got up and had a closer look.
We recently had a clandestine UKMOC meet in deepest Norfolk. After some Monsters and other tasteful Italians arrived, I was startled to see my friend and stalwart club member Kingfisher88 arrive on what my kneejerk reaction told me was an abomination! As the milliseconds ebbed, so did my prejudices. So this is not the latest tasteless Japanese interpretation of a naked superbike, but rather an unfortunately styled offering from the US powered by electricity.

Peeling back the layers, the quite horrid graphics are merely vinyl appliqué designed to attract attention. Underneath is a reasonably conservative metallic maroon paint job, but on some bizarrely shaped bodywork, probably not to all tastes? The massive brick where the engine should be is another visual note that jars the conventionally trained eye, and the pillion footrest hangers are just silly, unless your name is Hermes.
It had better be good to get over those first impressions....Read on if you’re not already feeling too poorly.
__________________

Last edited by Mr Gazza; 02-07-2020 at 09:32 AM.. Reason: Getting rid of too may "so's"
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2020, 11:02 PM   #2
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766


This is a Zero SR/F which is of course a naked electric bike. It falls roughly into comparison with a medium Monster. (M900- M1000) The brushless ZF75-10 motor produces 110hp (Getting better?) and 190nm of torque (Oh! Sounds quite handy.) Power comes from inside that big brick which contains many little lithium-Ion cells. And under the “tank” is a charger array. Range at the current state of the art is 80 to 100 miles depending on how hard you spank it and charging takes between 1 and 4 hours depending on the charger array that is specified. Blah blah blah this is not what it’s really about. You can read all the figures here; https://www.zeromotorcycles.com/en-gb/ While I get down to it on a more emotional level.



Looking at it with more intelligent eyes there are some familiar references. The front end is recognisable and conventional for today. There is a trellis frame and a two sided swinging arm with a single shock. Behind Hermes’ winged heels is a cunning feature that is rarely, if ever, achieved with an IC power plant and gearbox. The motor and swinging arm are on concentric bearings, so share their axis. This means that the drive, in this case a belt of barely bigger section than a Ducati cambelt, is in constant tension. Nice design, but I’m thinking it might be a bit snatchy?



The sting in the tail as it were, is the tail light/numberplate arrangement that seems to be thought of as fashionable these days. Not my thing, but not Zero alone is guilty and its not really a biggy with all the other strange looks.
__________________

Last edited by Mr Gazza; 02-07-2020 at 09:33 AM..
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2020, 11:03 PM   #3
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
Initially shocked and then interest very much piqued, at the end of our meeting, Nathan rode with me and Grumpy back to my place. It was a lovely warm dry day with very little traffic, I didn’t spare the horses on my M900Sie. I noticed that Nathan was keeping up very well on the Volt-cycle and it wasn’t long before he just whistled past on a fast burst of dual carriageway at a heady speed. I laughed inside my helmet! I’m well impressed.

Chatting at home while the bike gently charged. It turns out that Nathan works for the UK main importer of the Californian Zero, at The Electric Motor Company or Old Empire Motorcycles in Redgrave Suffolk. http://www.englishelectricmotorco.com/ This was a company demonstrator and I wanted to ride it.

Fast forward, as the advertising says, to the day of my test ride.
__________________

Last edited by Mr Gazza; 02-07-2020 at 09:34 AM..
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2020, 11:05 PM   #4
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
I spent just over a week wondering what it would be like to ride a silent, one speed direct drive bike, with no gearbox or clutch. As I went up and down the gearbox on the Monster on the way to the test, I pondered how I would judge the speed into a corner without the ritual down changes and blips. Would I be tempted to blip the throttle at a standstill and wheely off into a wall or on coming traffic? Would there be an engine brake? Or would I just roll merrily on after shutting the throttle?

Nathan talked me through the controls and the different modes that could be selected, either with a button on the handlebars of via a smartphone, there’s a huge menu with various degrees of traction control, power delivery and engine braking. Nathan selected “Beast mode” for me with everything turned up to eleven.. All the power and torque available un-metered.. We grinned at each other..

__________________
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2020, 11:07 PM   #5
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
The moment comes when I throw my leg over and the first thing I do is reach to finger the clutch. “You said I would” I shouted to Nathan and we chuckled.
Get the mindset Gazza! No gear lever, no clutch just the throttle and brakes... Here we go. I nervously twisted the throttle and it moved forward very smoothly and in silence. Wow! This is something new.
The first two or three hundred yards is on farm track with Nathan leading on a similar Zero. It’s comfortable and the best thing is that I can’t see the bike from here.
It had felt heavy to upright from the sidestand, but now the weight counts for nothing on the roll. By the time we reach the lane to enter public road, I’ve got the measure of the clutch-less twist and go idea. I pulled out after Nathan with confidence and it once again answered smoothly and silently. I’m liking it already.

The riding position and feel is very similar to my Monster and all I really have to do is shuffle a little in the unfamiliar saddle to get the buttocks sufficiently gathered for comfort and we’re there. The lane turned into a b-road and as it widened Nathan upped the pace and I was having to twist a bit more to keep up, a little bit more concerned about the slowing down bit at this stage, but I needn’t have worried. Backing off the throttle produces a nice engine braking feel and slamming the throttle shut is enough to produce a small reaction in the forks as the weight transfers. This is very reassuring. Nathan had told me that just touching the front brake lever will enhance the engine braking before the pads touch. This turned out to be extremely easy and satisfying to control.

It also turned out that I didn’t need all that noise, gear changing and blipping to gauge my cornering speed, just roll off enough and it’s all intuitive. Rolling the power back on is so satisfying I think I can say I have never really felt so in control of a motorcycle ever before. There is absolutely no snatch as the power comes back in. Just a seamless transition from engine brake to neutral power to power ON. Boy does it come in nicely! All those horses and that torque, forget the Monster grin, this IS something new.
This is guilt free hooliganism. Just pure motorcycling with none of that baggage of gears, jangling and blaring exhausts.

We’ve done a few miles together in the past and Nathan is a good rider, not slow either. I know he won’t lead me into trouble (especially on the company’s bikes).
We find ourselves waiting for a safe over take on a nice sweeping A-road and I glimpse the clear straight down the nearside of the truck. I recognise Nathans positioning and ready myself for the move. Nathan pulls the trigger and I go too. Past the truck on a gale of force, once clear I glance down at the speedo “HOW FAST?” I laugh in my helmet for the second time. (I couldn’t possibly divulge the velocity; suffice to say another column is needed!) Nathan glances behind and we grin again and nail it down the straight.

The only noise is just a muted whine of varying pitch which is drowned by the wind noise at above 55ish mph. I must say I find this very refreshing, even if I have to confess to an open dry clutch and cored cans. I think it’s a rather selfish notion that it sounds good. I certainly don’t think it’s big and clever when Jack the kipper goes wailing down the main road with the crescendo piercing my own garden over a mile away. The mirror is not always kind!
__________________

Last edited by Mr Gazza; 02-07-2020 at 09:36 AM..
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-07-2020, 11:10 PM   #6
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
Peeling off the A-road, Nathan has selected a lovely bendy road for the ride back to base and I’m enjoying the new Rosso 111’s ( The bosses words when we got back “ I see you’ve got rid of the chicken strips then”) This is less than 20 miles in and I’m throwing this baby around like an old friend.. It’s really extremely good!



All too soon we’re heading back up the farm track, this time behind the inevitable tractor and trailer. I glance once again at the speedo and it’s down to single figures with ease and comfort. I’m almost exhausted pretending that this is easy on a Monster!

Back at rest and the kill switch is rocked for safety , the stand also cuts drive as it doesn’t tick over to let you know it’s live and ready to go.
Stepping back it doesn’t look quite such a munter after the experience, but there really is no excuse, it could look like anything a designer desired. Its form isn’t really dictated by function to the same degree as an IC bike, and maybe this is why a lot of the electric bikes end up looking so weird.
I love that it’s the newest thing I’ve experienced in a very long while, but I’d like it to look more conventional. I can’t help thinking that that battery pack/motor/swinging arm assy is not so different to a Monster engine/ swingarm unit in principle and dimension. My grinder twitches as I type..!



Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I can almost predict the responses but I’m looking forward to them any way.
__________________
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 12:53 AM   #7
utopia
No turn left unstoned
 
utopia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: leicester
Bike: M750
Posts: 4,543
An excellent write up, Gary.
If only I could get my head round the implied need for the expansion of nuclear power generation when we finally realise that renewables wont have a chance of keeping up with demand if/when we all go electric.
Not to mention the piles of rotting battery packs that have exceeded their useful life.
But on a purely machine enjoying level, I can fully understand the joy of all that instantaneous torque.
And yes, the silence too.
And the locally clean air, which the covid lockdown has proven to be rather wonderful.
But "guilt free" ?
Well, maybe I just worry too much.

Oh, and I'm with you on the styling.
utopia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 07:55 AM   #8
Lizzyfan
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Interesting read. I believe electric is the future for at least car & bike transport but I can't see myself owning one. RichyVida on You-Tube has one on loan and has produced a few video's about it and seems to like it as you have. I can't let go (just yet) of the IC with all it's noise, smell, vibration, gear changes etc,etc.
  Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 08:15 AM   #9
Saint aka ML
Junior ah to be young
 
Saint aka ML's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
Bike: Multiple Monsters
Posts: 2,058
Nice Post Gazza.

I am pro electric bikes and cars in principle performance is great. I like the looks of Zeros especially their supermoto but I tired it with big battery pack that was to give me easy 50-60 miles.. More like 30 it is what you said depends how you spank it i rode it like i ride monster on/off.

I hope in next 2-3 y they improve charging to a point that bike you had will charge in 20-30 min to full and those chargers are all over (that is another problem to many oem chargers makes not enough for specific manufacturer) as for next commuter I want zero.
__________________

"I am Lucazade"
Saint aka ML is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 08:20 AM   #10
Nasher
Registered User
 
Nasher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Portsmouth
Bike: M900
Posts: 1,510
Well done Gazza, good read.

I don't think the styling is offensive, except the graphics of course, it looks like they want it to blend in with current 'normal' bikes, which I can understand.

I'd like one, but of course like everyone else worry about where all the electricity is going to come from to charge all the new electric vehicles up.
Also the cost of a new battery pack after a few years and how the old one will be disposed of.

Nasher.
__________________
Heaven doesn't want me, and Hell is afraid I'll take over.
Nasher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 10:19 AM   #11
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
I am surprised by the positive reception. I thought I was writing for dyed in the wool petrol heads. You give me hope.

Thanks for the kind words Jeff. I should explain that by guilt free hooliganism, I was alluding more to the moment than the infrastructure overview. I doubt anyone nearby even knew we were having a jolly scratch past their rural gardens or their bicycles and foot paths. Probably the only emission we left was the smell of hot rubber and whiff of brake dust. I think there would be about ten bearings in the whole bike and the Petro-chemicals would account for the fork oil and bearing grease, although I daresay that most of the plastic and more is derived from those? Except that we don't usually throw those away every year or burn them!

As for the generation of the electricity in the first place, well I think we are getting there. I believe the UK uses a higher percentage of renewable energy than most Counties. I'm not saying the issue is solved or guilt free in that sense, but the trend is going in the right direction at a promising pace. I'm not sure about Atom power at all, probably not for me, or less so for my children!

The battery packs are said to be good for so many cycles of charge/discharge. Nathan and Co have calculated this to equate to about 200,000 miles of use. I think that is a nice big number, especially if you compare it to what is expected of conventional propulsion components? Time will come when the metals can be recovered from the cells, we're only at the beginning of this technology.

The range will improve with better cells and even better motors. The infrastructure does not yet exist for prolific charging points, so the current crop of bikes carry their own chargers to make use of ordinary mains supply, as Nathan did when he called round.

The infra structure will grow and so the charger packs on the bikes will become redundant, the space will be filled with more cells which will eventually facilitate faster charging (The C rating) The range will improve and the charging times will decrease.

My test ride was merely to find out for myself if an electric experience could be as good as a conventional or traditional one and the answer is a resounding YES!
It is a far superior method of propulsion and a wonderful experience. I could surrender my L twin tomorrow and be better for it. (Obviously that is not going to happen tomorrow...Maybe the day after?) As it stands the electric bike would suit my current usage of shortish local hops. Nipping over to Wales for a Weekender might be a different matter? Or going Coast to Coast in a day?

This is definitely a road that we should be going down, and yes these are still such very early days for the technology and infra-structure, perhaps not so for the demise of the atmosphere?
__________________

Last edited by Mr Gazza; 02-07-2020 at 10:23 AM..
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 10:29 AM   #12
mickj
Registered User
 
mickj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Clevedon
Bike: M1200s
Posts: 550
Interesting review Gazza, I quite like the styling although not the colour. I would be very interested in an electric bike but for the range, I very rarely do less than 130 -150 miles on a run out so I would be pushing more than riding. Once they have solved the range and charging I can see myself buying one.
I have read on the news that the government are going to make it (more) expensive to own and run a IC car as they want more people to invest in electric but again the range is the problem (I cant justify the cost of a tesla) so I am waiting for science and technology to catch up.
__________________
Keep the rubber side down. Mick
mickj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 10:31 AM   #13
Dukedesmo
Registered User
 
Dukedesmo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Leics
Bike: M900
Posts: 2,828
Nice write-up!

Styling reminds me of a Diavel and (graphics and no. plate aside) not at all bad. As for electric, the power side of things is great but range and, particularly charge time are the ultimate killers for me.

I've got a e-bike (bicycle) and it's great, allows me to cycle much bigger distances, especially that I can now get up the many local hills without having a cardiac incident (not as young as I was) but even on that both range and charge time are quite limiting - I just can't see an electric vehicle (car or bike) being suitable for my needs until something revolutionary happens battery technology wise?

Plus, as mentioned above by Utopia, where is all this extra electrickery going to come from?

But keep up the bike testing.
__________________
M900, 916, LeMans II.


Last edited by Dukedesmo; 02-07-2020 at 10:33 AM..
Dukedesmo is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 10:38 AM   #14
Darkness
.
 
Darkness's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Stockbridge
Bike: M900
Posts: 1,984
You would expect something rather special for £17,490 on the road!
__________________
Original and Best since 1993
Darkness is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2020, 11:04 AM   #15
Mr Gazza
Lord of the Rings
 
Mr Gazza's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Norwich
Bike: M900sie
Posts: 5,766
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkness View Post
You would expect something rather special for £17,490 on the road!
I think I got much more than I expected, but then it was a free test ride.

Can someone please put my name down for a ride on Ducati's first electric bike?
__________________
Mr Gazza is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:40 PM.

vBulletin Skins by vBmode.com. Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.