First ride: Zero DSR Black Forest
Zero says this is a longdistance, battery adventure bike. Does it work?
THE BLACK FOREST is the flagship of established Californian electric bike firm Zero. In a sentence, it’s their DSR dual-purpose machine decked out with a load of bolt-ons. These include a big screen, handguards, headlight grille, huge crash bars, spotlights and a trio of Givi aluminium cases (two 36-litre panniers and a 46-litre top box). And camouflage stickers. In case a silent, matt-black bike isn’t stealthy enough…
All this is £17,340 — and that’s after a £1500 grant. But if you’re in for a penny, you might as well be in for a further £2300 and get the Charge Tank. This lets you plug into some (but not all) public charging stations. While the regular three-pin plug needs 10 hours to charge from flat to full, the Charge Tank can cut that to 2.5 hours.
How often will you need to plug in? Dawdle politely and you’ll get 100 miles to a charge; ridden normally that drops to 80. At a steady 70mph it lasts 70 miles. But it’s just so tempting to yank the twistgrip and revel in the Zero’s addictive acceleration.
The headline figures — an average 69bhp and an outrageous 108lb·ft — are both misleading, given its fixed-gear, clutchless, twist-and-go direct drive. In broad terms, it pulls way harder than you’d expect an electric bike to, but still not quickly enough to outrun a middleweight petrol bike.
The speed is pegged back as the battery drains, too. With a full charge it’ll whizz up to an indicated 106mph; by 50% it labours above 70mph. But whatever the charge, the Black Forest’s weight doesn’t help: on our scales it’s 236kg. It carries this well on its adjustable Showa suspension but that’s a big lump for some lithium-ion cells to push around. And it’s even more when the Gross Vehicle Weight rating is just 352kg. That leaves a payload of 116kg — me and 25kg of luggage. A pillion is out of the question.
There are other issues: the headlight is dreadful; the low bars force you to stoop when standing up; and there’s no traction control, which it really needs with so much thrust, a skinny rear tyre and no clutch.
There’s no doubt the Zero’s running costs are appealing. There’s no oil, filters, coolant or plugs to change, no valves to check, a belt drive and a ‘fuel’ cost equivalent to 300mpg. But all those benefits make sense in a light, affordable commuter and not in a £20k adventure-tourer that, irrespective of its power source, isn’t much cop at either adventuring or touring.