When two’s a crowd
ZERO DSR X 3707 MILES Ali spends the day as a pillion on her own bike. ‘Chauffeur!’
ALI SILCOX
I’ve covered more than 3000 solo miles on the Zero DSR X, so thought it was time to take a back seat, literally, and spent the day at the mercy of Chief Road Tester, Michael Neeves, with him at the helm and me perched on the pillion.
I was curious to find out how comfortable the Zero is two-up and if the extra load would make the battery run down faster.
With that in mind I devised a 30-mile loop which mixed motorway, A-roads and country lanes. The idea was for us to do a two-up lap first, then for Neevesy to ride the same route solo. The bike was in Eco mode at all times and we stuck to speed limits. And the first finding? The bike only used five percent more charge two-up than it did on the solo lap.
But what about comfort? My impressions of the rear seat weren’t overly favourable as with the full luggage system fitted I was wedged between Michael and the topbox. The panniers meant I couldn’t get my feet properly on the pegs, and it’s not as if I’m Sideshow Bob, I’ve only got size seven boots!
Michael wasn’t that keen, either. “The motor is extremely smooth and there are no vibrations through the bike. It handles pretty well and has neutral steering, plus the brakes are good – but that’s where the positives stop,” he said.
“It’s not a great two-up choice because I’m hemmed in by the pillion. The riding position is such that I’m sat low down, with the tank high in front and the bars really high. After a short time my hands began to hurt and I needed the cruise control on the motorway.
“This led to another problem – the only way to turn cruise control off is to flick the cruise control switch, which, if like us you are in Eco mode, causes the regen to kick in. Or touch the brakes, which again doesn’t make for a smooth ride.
“The worst thing about the bike is the wind noise; the buffeting is offensive. This was even an issue at relatively low speeds and started at about 45-50mph; I’d expect a bike to be at 70mph before it gets noisy. With a pillion on board, I couldn’t move around to avoid it, so I was stuck getting bashed on the head.
“I don’t think the ride quality is very sophisticated or plush either.
“I rode the same loop solo and found the bike a little better. The suspension is quite soft, so it doesn’t handle as well two-up, but riding solo it was an improvement. I found the bike to be more agile but the riding position still wasn’t great. I also think the info on the dash is small, I might not have thought that 20 years ago but I found the finer details to be illegible.”
So all in all, not a great experience for either of us, other than the cake at our pit stop in Corby Glen.
LIKES
Tea and cake
DISLIKES
Feeling hemmed in