Comments on: Zero Motorcycles Takes Off

By: benorthup

benorthup — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:48:30 +0000

These bikes are going to represent a whole new direction in the sport, indoor tracks, stealthy access to secret spots , simple maintenance, I can hardly wait to get one..or two…or three

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:11:43 +0000

To be honest I’m getting one while I can. Things like this tend to be flash in the pan, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we had to wait another 10 years before a better design/model comes about.

Some neat information. Prior to 2008, zeromotorcycles (formerly electricross), had the whole bike you could buy in pieces from the web site. I hope they bring that back because it was darned cool. For example, you could buy the frame+swingarm+shock for $1,800.

The cost is reasonable until you get to the $3,000 battery pack. You can literally cut $3k off the price if you go with the lead acid pack, but then it weighs a bit more and the range is more limited. Some day the li-po batteries will be cheaper.

As others have mentioned, the power to weight ratio is important. I don’t think 20HP would be very fun on a 200+ lb bike. I would like to see a CVT designed into it though.

By: JC

JC — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:40:45 +0000

I don’t see any way a Chinese made motorcycle will compete with this.

The motor controller alone costs more than $500, same for the motor alone, and same for the batteries by themselves.

Cheap lead acid batteries and a cheap motor and cheap motor controller will make for a bloated underpowered but cheap electric bike, not an electric motorcycle.

FWIW, the MTB parts are a big factor in getting the weight down, personally a bit more weight would be tolerable, especially if the price and durability are improved.

By: todd

todd — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:44:18 +0000

The thought is more to have it take off with much higher volume than a custom MB. Think of a NEXT bike from the local Walmart or Toys’R'Us. If China was pumping these things out for Zero (they might be already) the price would be somewhere closer to the $500 mark; definitely less than $1000 and closer to all the other electric scooters available. So, this one has knobby tires.
Complain all you want about China quality; it’s only as high as the customer is willing to pay for. People buy $100 mountian bikes because they don’t want to buy the $200 “higher quality” bike sitting right next to it. I’m not saying the Zero bike is assembled in China but it probably should be if they want to see a decent profit and increase production. They only need to sell enough to fit in a container to make outsourcing a viable, realistic alternative.

-todd

By: jeremy

jeremy — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:46:34 +0000

This idea is pretty good, except for the MTB parts. The good thing about sticking with MX parts is that the economy of scale makes the MX parts WAY cheaper.
The $7500 pricetag won’t have much room to move, even after the development costs are covered – just ’cause high end MTB parts are THAT expensive.

A mid-range freeride bike will cost between $3500 and $5500 anyway – and that’s with a mass-manufactured frame. Custom bikes get WAY more expensive.