Zero SR/F Premium
Martin finds out what it’s really like to live with an electric bike...
ELECTRIC BIKES ARE easily the most controversial topic in motorcycling today. Overpriced, overhyped and overweight, reckon the critics. Biking’s clean, green future, promise the believers. RIDE just wants to do what we have for the past 25 years: tell it like it is. So I’m going to spend a few months living with one of the most promising electric motorcycles, the Zero SR/F. All-new last year, I’ve finally got the chance to get under its skin for more than a few days.
Rest assured there’s no agenda. All I’ve got is an open mind, a long list of questions and the key to a bike. Here’s how my first month has gone.
1 It’s no slouch
Multiply its ludicrous-sounding 140lb·ft peak torque with the one ‘fact’ every pub expert knows about electric motors (“full torque from zero rpm”) and you’d imagine the SR/F dislocates shoulders as soon as traffic lights go green. But it doesn’t. In full-power Sport mode, it’ll do 0 to 60mph in roughly 3.5 seconds — fast by normal traffic standards but nowhere near as savage off the line as a superbike. Surprisingly, the SR/F’S single gear and flat torque curve mean it feels faster once you’re actually rolling. Crack the throttle at 60mph and you’re pushed forwards with the same rate of acceleration as you get when you’re at 20mph. A 40-80mph overtake feels ridiculously quick.
2 It might make me fat
Venturing beyond one charge of the 12.6kwh battery — just 50 miles if I’m brutal; over 100 at steadier speed — means tackling public charging. At first it’s baffling. Type 1 this, Level 3 the other, tethered or untethered, three-phase, AC/ DC, CCS, CHADEMO, a dozen different firms, apps, keyfobs, contactless cards… If only I could just reach for a green nozzle and pay for what I use.
Find the correct charger (>22kw AC) and this SR/F Premium recharges in two hours. Stopping for an hour adds about 40 miles of range. But it also means finding something to do while waiting — so far, I’m favouring fast food. Lots of it.
3 It’s good for the garden
I love riding it round my back yard without upsetting anyone. The garden’s about 20ft (6m) wide, enough for full-lock U-turns and feet-up figure-of-eights (at least when the grass is dry). Imagine battery bulk, digital delivery or lack of a clutch makes it a handful at low speed? The SR/F weighs 228kg, which is lighter than a Kawasaki Z800. In Eco mode, the throttle is about as gentle as a Samaritan.
Alright, garden gymkhana is a niche interest. But it does highlight the potential for electric powertrains to thrive in places where noisy exhausts aren’t welcome.
4 Your world gets smaller
Clearly the SR/F isn’t cut out for big-mile days — not without considerable planning and patience. I’ve learned to budget 60 to 80 miles of legal speeds between charges, and pick back-roads over motorways given the way speed demolishes range. My longest day so far has been 156 miles but I reckon I could push that to 200, perhaps 250. We’ll see.
The SR/F is really for exploring the world within a 40-mile radius of your house (that’s still 5000 square miles), with occasional trips further afield. For loads of riders, that’ll sound like prison. For others, it’s not too far off how their bike gets used a fair chunk of the time.
5 It fits my life right now
Between Covid restrictions and spending spare time with my young son, right now touring trips and all-day excursions aren’t really on my radar whatever’s in the garage. No doubt that’ll change in time but the SR/F is dovetailing surprisingly easily with my life as thing stand. I don’t have a long commute. Leisure rides are short, impromptu blasts in the evening or at weekends. An hour or two on a bike feels like a luxury, not a limitation. Plus I’m an incurable nerd, eager to explore new-fangled gadgety stuff like this. I’ve no doubt those with more riding time, fewer ties and less curiosity would find it all enormously frustrating.
‘The SR/F is dovetailing surprisingly well with my life’