My newest toy is a . . . .

[DonTom]

Zero DS ZF 6.5.

Now I own a bike for every day of the week. And one more. We now need an 8 day week!

I am the original owner of:

1971 Black BMW R75/5
1984 Red (fastest color)Yamaha Venture
2002 Yellow Suzuki DR200SE
2013 Blue Triumph Trophy SE
2016 Orange/Black Kawasaki Versys 650 LT
2016 Orange Moto Guzzi Stelvio
2017 Orange/Black Zero DS ZF 6.5
2017 Red Zero SR 13.0 with Pwr Tank.

What a fun bike it is. So different. No noise, no clutch, no gears and tons of hill climbing power. Up hill or level ground, cannot even tell any difference. The most fun bike I have ever ridden by far, but I consider it a toy, not for anything real serious. But it charges with a 120 VAC AC cord so it can be charged just about anywhere, but takes time.

The phony gas tank is mostly usable storage space under a key lock. Also, there is some storage space on the right side of the bike.

The out the door price on this bike was $13,041.24 (in Reno) for lic, sales tax and all those countless fees.

Here are the specs on the bike. Notice opposite of gas vehicles, best range in the stop and go city traffic. 81 in the city, only 41 miles on the freeway at 70 MPH. Bike will go 90 MPH and I think it can even climb a hill at that speed. Sure feels like it can. More than enough to go between my two Reno houses and back (16 miles each way).

It has three power modes: Economy, Custom and Sport. I find the economy mode is more than fast and powerful enough.

Here is a photo of my newest new toy:



-Don- Auburn, CA

[Dave Brand]

Looks good!

[grouch]

I bought a new toy myself. The girlfriend wants to ride or I'd probably be done with it due to health. we looked around for something I can handle with reduced upper body strength and found this.

[Ken]

That is a very, very nice looking machine, Grouch. But if, as you say, you
have reduced upper body strength - something I can empathise with - are
you sure a nice little 200 cc off roader would not have been easier to
handle? In fact, if you had one each then you would not have to control
the GF's weight as well.

Hope you have thousands of happy miles with smiles!

Ken.

[Ken]

Sweet looking little bike, Don. Perfect commuter and, I guess, you can also
put it on the back of the camper for a little off-road fun when you park up out
in the wilderness somewhere.

Enjoy!

Ken.

[DonTom]

Grouch, ever try out a trike? What year Wing is that?

-Don- Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

Sweet looking little bike, Don. Perfect commuter and, I guess, you can also
put it on the back of the camper for a little off-road fun when you park up out
in the wilderness somewhere.

Enjoy!

Ken.

It's just right for getting between my two houses in Reno. I can either take the freeway and charge again at the other house or do a round trip if I stay off the freeway. Between the houses I have a choice of freeway or city roads, which includes an unpaved road for about a half mile.

BTW, it's record breaking temps here in Auburn, well above 40C/105F with the real feel temp at 110F/ 43C.

-Don- Auburn, CA

[grouch]

Grouch, ever try out a trike? What year Wing is that?

-Don- Auburn, CA

I looked at two trikes before I bought the yellow bike. I didn't care for the handling and one had a failed air suspension that rattled my teeth. I was getting the hang of riding the trikes but prefer the two wheel handling. The one I got is an '02. What I thought were factory details is really heavy customizing by the first owner. The second owner traded it in at a Harley dealership. I looked at another yellow bike that was a year older, had 20K more miles, was running a car tire in back and had been down HARD early in its life. Most of the controls were rather iffy. This one is in excellent condition, I got complete a maintenance history and most critical around here, a previous owner replaced the squeaky little bike horn with air horns. the first time I hit them I nearly jumped off the bike. The GF loves the bike and it handles both of us (neither is petite) just fine. I also paid about 1/2 of what the cheaper trike was priced at.

[DonTom]

This one is in excellent condition, I got complete a maintenance history and most critical around here, a previous owner replaced the squeaky little bike horn with air horns. the first time I hit them I nearly jumped off the bike. The GF loves the bike and it handles both of us (neither is petite) just fine. I also paid about 1/2 of what the cheaper trike was priced at.

The first thing I modify on any bike is the horn. I always put in a relay and run much better horns. I also make sure that I can sound the horn with the ignition key out.

However, I have not yet even honked the horn on my new electric bike. But it looks very mickey mouse and I doubt if it makes much noise.

I remember many years ago some cycle magazine asking us all to go into a shop to pretend we want to buy a bike, but then not buy it with the excuse the horn is not loud enough. All the bikes sold today still have cheap horns. Most of us can probably yell louder.

-Don- Auburn, CA

[Ken]

Agreed, Don. A good air horn and an after market exhaust are both
good safety investments.

The last exhaust can I fitted was a MIVVI GP on my Fazer 8 ABS.
It changed the original wooley, wuffly exhaust note into a very
pleasant rasp that was loud, but not offensive. It also gave a
few extra BHP which was a nice bonus. My CBR 6RR had a
good sounding exhaust can from the get go so I didn't change
it.

Ken.

[DonTom]

Agreed, Don. A good air horn and an after market exhaust are both
good safety investments.

The last exhaust can I fitted was a MIVVI GP on my Fazer 8 ABS.
It changed the original wooley, wuffly exhaust note into a very
pleasant rasp that was loud, but not offensive. It also gave a
few extra BHP which was a nice bonus. My CBR 6RR had a
good sounding exhaust can from the get go so I didn't change
it.

Ken.

No exhaust on my electric bike! I now have a louder horn on it. I had to find the floating ground wire as the 12 volts don't use the frame for ground on this bike.

-Don- Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

I enjoyed my electric bike so much in Reno, that I just purchased the top of the line electric bike for this house in Auburn. A new 2017 Zero SR ZF13.0 with power tank. 202 mile range in city:




-Don- Auburn, CA

[Ken]

I like the look of the Zero, Don. It looks clean and uncluttered and, by the sound of it, has a very
useful range around town. I'd be interested to know what sort of real life range you get cruising
at around the 60 mph mark. Oh, yes, and where you feel the weight - is the C of G high or low.

Enjoy.

Ken.

[DonTom]

I like the look of the Zero, Don. It looks clean and uncluttered and, by the sound of it, has a very
useful range around town. I'd be interested to know what sort of real life range you get cruising
at around the 60 mph mark. Oh, yes, and where you feel the weight - is the C of G high or low.

Enjoy.Ken.

The bike I have in Reno (Zero DS ZF 6.5) feels extremely light with a very low C of G. It only weights 317 lbs (and none of that "wet" and "dry" weight stuff, 317 lbs., period).

The bike I have here in Auburn (Zero SR ZF13 with power tank) feels only a little heavier and a little more top heavy, because it is, with the "tank" being a 44 lb battery up high. Total bike weight is 458 lbs or 141 lbs heavier than my Reno Zero bike. The difference in weight is all battery.

At 60 mph, I can expect about one mile per one percent of discharge on the SR ZF13. 100 miles total, which means you do not want to go more than 50 miles from home on the freeway if you plan on getting back on the same charge. To be safe, make it 45 miles from home max. If the freeway is clogged up with stop and go traffic, you will get a much better range. About twice the range as that is how you get the regenerative deceleration and regenerative breaking as well as a slower speed (less battery drain when moving too). Not much of any of that on the clear freeway or even on an open highway at 60 MPH.

On curvy mountain roads, I can expect about 140 mile range. The more curvy, the better range. That's a long ride in the mountains. I have ridden mine for hours in the mountains around here.

These E-bikes are quite the opposite of gas vehicles in many other ways too. No clutch, no tranny, no oil to check, no air filter, etc. Almost completely maintenance free. Check the drive belt and the tires once in a while and that is about it.

My Reno bike will go one third the range of my bike here in Auburn which has three times the battery, and takes three times as long to charge. Using the built in charger, this bike takes 11 hours to recharge from zero to 100%. However we should never get it down to zero.

Right at Zero percent, the bike will shut off and leave you stuck where you are. And you should plug in that battery to recharge ASAP. They don't like to be 100% discharged for very long.

These bikes are great for short trips which are at least 95% of most people's gas vehicle use.

But it's a big mistake to compare an e-bike to a gas motorcycle. E-bikes do not compare well. They are not for serious trips or for somebody's only bike. They are great for being quiet, no maintenance and no gas, but really only good for the shorter trips where you know exactly where you're going.

BTW, I was told my new E-bike in the Sport mode will do 0 to 60 MPH in 2.9 seconds. And it certainly feels true. I tried it. I had to hold on! The bike felt like it wanted to leave me behind. But the Sport mode is only for very sort distances as it will drain the battery down very fast if that power is really used. But it felt like the fastest accelerating of all my 8 bikes.

There are three modes. The ecomemy mode (used mostly), Sport Mode and Custom. You can set the Custom the way you want from a SmartPhone or whatever, and you can chose stuff such as how fast you want the acceleration and your top speed.

In the various modes, top speed is like a cruise control. It will be what it is set at and it will not go any faster downhill than up hill. With the bike here, my top speed is 70 MPH in the economy mode (and that really means 70 MPH no matter what). And it's 102 mph in the Sport Mode. Again, that's either uphill or downhill. And very accurate.

-Don- Auburn, CA

[Ken]

I like the overall picture of the ZF13 best - although the lighter weight of the ZF 6.5 is enticing.

Thanks for the info, Don.


Ken.

[DonTom]

I like the overall picture of the ZF13 best - although the lighter weight of the ZF 6.5 is enticing.
Thanks for the info, Don.Ken.

Yes, my ZF6.5 is a light dual sport bike for the Reno area, espcally for getting between my two houses here in the Reno area that are around 20 miles apart. And around two miles of it is unpaved. But this bike never leaves Reno. I have also taken this bike up to Pevine Peak, up an unpaved road to 8,245' elevation. In fact, I did that yesterday on the way between my two Reno homes.

The heavier bike at my Auburn, CA house is NOT a dual sport. It's made for the paved roads and longer distances. And there are countless paved mountain roads in that area. Even a lake I can stop at for a swim, which I have done. This bike is often around fifty miles away from Auburn. So I have two very different E-bikes for two very different areas.

BTW, my Auburn house is exactly 99 miles west of here, door to door. Auburn is at 1,600' feet elevation. Here in Reno, I am at 5,000'.

Have you ever ridden an E-Bike? Do they sell Zero in England? They are made in California.

If you ever do get you chance to ride an E-Bike, be sure to try it out in the Sport mode.

-Don- Reno, NV

[Ken]

Hi, Don.

I've never ridden an eBike. Maybe I will get the chance one of these days.

Yes the Zero is on sale here in the UK. We have three versions, the SR ZF13.0,
the DS ZF 13.0 and the Supermoto style FSX ZF 6.5.

UK prices are around £14245/$18260 for a low mileage SR whilst the other
two retail (new) at around £12245/$15700. As far as I can see at the
moment there are no dealers in my local area. I'll have a look around and
see if there is one not too far away.

Ken.

[Ken]

Update - my nearest dealer is 125 miles away in a village called Halesowen,
the other side of Birmingham.

Ken.

[DonTom]

I went over to the dark side!

I just added a 2017 Harley Road Glide Ultra to my collection. I now own NINE motorcycles, as I decided eight is not enough when it comes to motorcycles.

The new large frame 930 lb Harley (redesigned in 2017) is the most comfy bike I have ever been on. No vibrations to speak off. Has the new HD 8 valve engine (as if that's a big deal since Yamaha has been doing that at least since the early 1980's).

Here I am with it. The bike looks almost as good as I do! Photo taken at Pyramid Lake (NE of Reno):



1971 Black BMW R75/5
1984 Red Yamaha Venture
2002 Yellow Suzuki DR200SE
2013 Blue Triumph Trophy SE
2016 Orange/Black Kawasaki Versys 650 LT
2016 Orange Moto Guzzi Stelvio
2017 Orange/Black Zero DS ZF 6.5(electric battery-only bike for around town in Reno).
2017 Red Zero SR ZF13.0 with Power Tank (for use around Auburn).
2017 Gold/Black Harley FLTRU-Road Glide Ultra

-Don- Auburn, CA

[Ken]

Now that looks like one real comfy beast, Don. Nine 'bikes, as my old
granddad would have said 'One for each day of the week and two for Sunday
- plus a spare. Guess you have enough now to open your own 'bike shop.

Enjoy your new steed.

Ken.