Electric street motorcycle ships - article

[Jerry]

CNet ran this article today about Zero Motorcycle's new electric street bike, shipping now: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10...g=2547-1_3-0-5

[DiverRay]

Jerry,
The company is Actually in Scotts Valley, CA, just up the hill from Santa Cruz. Their dirt bike has been doing VERY well in competition against the gas bikes. I have NOT looked at the street bike yet, but the dirt bike is pretty cool! They pull the battery pack out and put in a fresh one for each race. It takes about 30 seconds to do it!

[mstic2000]

That's kind of impressive......for electric.

Zero-S

2009 Zero S Electric Motorcycle on a Track

[DGXSER]

I saw these on a TV news show lately. As stated in the article, they only go 60 miles on a charge. So, I am not looking to replace my XS with it ny time soon. Also interested in the longevity of it.

[Jerry]

Yes, range is an issue. Still, interesting to see how the electric vehicle technology is developing.

What got me was the 60+ pound-feet of torque in a 225 pound bike. That thing must accelerate like a dragster in comparison to most other bikes. After all, the XS 11 is rated around 66 - 67 pound-feet of torque, but pushes 560+ pounds, and the torque comes on only in the middle-upper RPM range. I am guessing the electric torque is greatest from a standing stop.

Although I don't think I would buy one, I would like to give one a test drive.

[egleaves]

I saw these on a TV news show lately. As stated in the article, they only go 60 miles on a charge. So, I am not looking to replace my XS with it ny time soon. Also interested in the longevity of it.

And the Special model has a smaller battery that only gets you 45 miles.