Yanking the Fun Cord

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.com

As cars go hybrid and fully electric ones loom on the horizon, motorcycles lead the way. Manufacturers such as Zero and Brammo are already selling electric bikes and customers are laying down the cash.

But what is it like to ride one? A Zero crew was in Denver over the weekend offering interested riders a chance to answer that question.

You swing a leg over the DS and one of the crew runs through the drill with you. Turn the ignition key to “On” and the speedometer needle sweeps around the dial, while the CPU runs a quick diagnostic. There’s no sound, and nothing to tell you anything has happened, but the bike is running. As long as the kickstand is down the bike is going nowhere, but raise the stand and it’s a totally different matter.

“We tell people to always use the kill switch (really an On/Off switch) when they’re stopped because someone might walk up to you and just casually lay their hand on the throttle and launch you forward unexpectedly,” explains Chuck Pratt, Zero’s sales representative in Colorado.

When you do start moving, the only sound is the tires on the ground and the drive chain making a faint whir. And unlike a gasoline-powered bike, there is no torque curve, where power builds and then starts to fall, necessitating an upshift. On an electric motorcycle the torque curve is completely flat. You twist the throttle and full power is there instantly, pulling you steadily faster and faster until it reaches top speed or you back off the throttle. Top speed is set by a delimiter at 67 miles per hour.

In operation, the Zero is just like any other motorcycle except that there is no clutch and there are no gears. The throttle and brakes work just as you would expect, and in every other way it’s a standard motorcycle, although on this motorcycle you’ll never burn your leg touching a hot exhaust pipe.

The seat is made by Corbin, a long-time custom manufacturer of motorcycle seats, and fairly stiff, as most Corbin seats are known to be.

All four Zeros (DS, S for street, MX for motocross, X for trails) are light and agile, more along the dirt bike line than that of a cruiser. At this point there is no Zero equivalent to a big touring rig such as the Harley-Davidson Road King or the Honda Gold Wing. Depending on how you ride, the bikes will get 30 to 60 miles on a full charge. The dirt bikes are designed so you can quickly and easily swap out a spent battery for a fully charged spare and keep riding. The DS and the S have cubbyholes in the frame where you stash your charging cord so as to keep the lithium-ion batteries topped off.

Running them around the parking lot with cones set up marking courses, they’re quick, easy to maneuver, and, one more thing: fun.  A lot of fun. And while some test riders demonstrated significant riding skills, while others showed that they could benefit from a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Beginning Rider Course, at least one managed to wipe out on a tight turn.

“Dude, you yanked the fun cord too hard,” laughed one of the very casual Zero crew, as the rider got up, neither he nor the bike worse for the wear.

If the loud rumble of a V-twin engine is what turns your crank, the Zero may not figure in your future. But if you need a good commuting machine, or you want to ride forest trails without igniting the hatred of hikers and backpackers, Zero motorcycles are one piece of the future that is here today.