Zero SR/F: The Electric Way of Drive

On the road with the all-electric Zero SR/F 14.4, the alternative Power Naked from the USA. Impressions of a first tour, lasting as long as the battery, in the South Tyrolean mountains.

1.7 Euro. This is the current price per liter for the high-octane gasoline, which my Road King deserves and – much more important – makes it run more smoother. So, I invest a lot of money to go to Bolzano with my ultraheavy cruiser where a fully electric Zero SR/F is waiting for me. And – THIS bike needs no high-octane gasoline at all.

1.7 liters – that’s also the displacement in the quivering Harley engine. It blurs the objects in the rear view mirror that are supposed to be closer than they appear, its cooling fins buzz and its hot exhaust gas roars into the open air. The gear lever works hard on the reinforcement of my boot – I’ll lose it later in the evening in the bends of the Mendel Pass.

In the fast curves the floor boards, made of good ol’american steel, touch the tarmac hard, and the King flies rather unsteady through the bends right before Meran – but that’s nothing I’m not familiar with.

Minutes later the 103 roars over the MeBo, enters its comfort zone where vibrations are lost in the fat seat and the thick handlebars. The sound of the huge engine pleases me – that’s the “American way of drive”: spectacular and loud, but not fast at all.

American Way of Drive

Then, in the Bolzano Harley-Davidson Store, the holy grail for sound seekers and fat-engine-lovers, where CVOs with unbelievable high price tags share the place with Sportsters whose accessory costs easily exceed the purchase price, it stands: the Zero SR/F, the most un-American motorcycle from the USA.

A motorcycle without a fuel tank from the country where the measure for one unit of gasoline is just under 4 liters. A motorcycle without an internal combustion engine from the country where engines with a displacement of 6 liters are still considered “small”. A 230 kg motorcycle from the country that lets its lightweight touring motorcycles weigh 380 kg. A motorcycle with an Italian-style trellis frame from the country where they usually hide steel tubes with chrome parts and indian fringes. An American motorcycle that shows chrome only on fork and shock absorber – and for which even the thickest accessories catalogue hasn’t anything like “Screaming Eagle” available.

A motorcycle that illuminates me with his high-resolution display, clear and sharp like an iPad – while the speedometer of my Road King only shows the remnants of the last rain, a cloudy steam that has found its way in but not out.

A roadster with wide handlebars and an upright seating position that reminds me of a vehicle from my own fleet: the stomping 1290 Beast from KTM. The Zero’s tank cover doesn’t rise as steeply as on the Superduke, but the distance to the handlebars is similar. The Zero’s footrests and seat are closer to the ground, the lonely brake pump on the handlebar is a perfect copy of the Brembo system on the 1290.

The technical data of the SR/F are impressive. Not so much the 110 HP, which can somehow be calculated by rocket mathematics from the flows between the battery pack and the copper-colored engine, which looks like a cooking pot, BUT the torque numbers: the Californians promise 190 Nm – that is not quite as much boom as the overpowering italian Energicas deliver, but still a value not from this motorcycle world! Looking at the narrow belt and the filigree wheel on the rear rim, I can’t get rid of the worry that it might crumble into rubber shreds and pieces of metal already at the first “Full load!” command. But the fat Pirelli tire already tells about shreddered curves, so I just like to trust the Zero designers.

Impressive technical data:
 the Zero SR/F

The SR/F has no starter motor that crashes into a gear. Instead, it starts up like a computer and is ready for operation after a few moments. It does not need a warm-up phase, it’s immediately ready for use – and drives away without noise or vibration.

So I disappear from the Harley area and no one takes notice. I still can hear the rumble of the open Kess Tech exhaust of my King in my head, and yes: I deliberately rode to Bolzano with the iron pig to experience the maximum contrast between gasoline and electricity. The day before I looked for photo spots on board of my Ducati 748s – because of these 350 kilometers ridden in the upper rpm range my hurting muscles won’t make it any easier for the SR/F today.

Only one kilometer lies behind me, but the Zero has already won: the road leading out of the city is fully jammed, but do I need to search for neutral, unsuccessful like on my Ducati? No, there is no transmission and no need for any clutch work. Trying to avoid falling over at walking speeds like on the Harley? No, everything is easy – both feet touch easyly the ground and the SR/F feels perfectly balanced, half as heavy as it looks. Again it reminds me of my Superduke – but unlike the Zero, the KTM can’t be circled through the traffic with only one hand on the handlebars.

Finally I’m out of the city, and although the display still shows “Eco”, the SR/F pulls with unexpected force and beems me towards the Sigmundskron tunnel. In this mountain tube the Ducati normally roars fearfully with its open intake funnels and the Harley blows the plaster off the walls with its open exhaust – the SR/F whirrs silently through the dark, its display changes to night mode and within splits of a second shows speed values far faster than allowed.

Eco performance
 in excess

So, already the Eco mode delivers power in abundance, and it’s the same with torque. I slow down to get a little more range and enjoy the sloping moments in the bends of the Mendel Pass. As on the Superduke, the asphalt gnaws at the tips of my boots before I can take them on the footrests and leave them there – we’ve already learned that there are no gears. I don’t need the rear brake either, because the throttle alone guarantees fun in the woods: when closed the recuperating Zero brakes hard. I suspect that electric motorcycles will cause a massive increase in sales of rear tires ..

It takes a few minutes to get used to it and to find the right point between acceleration and braking – but then the usually challenging ride up to the Mendel turns into a wonderful game without any noise, numb soft parts or thick forearms. No shifting gets me out of focus, no play in the drivetrain has to be compensated with clutchwork – I swing wide, slightly drifting into the curves because of the strongly braking rear wheel, then sending lots of energy to the rear wheel, much more earlier than I am used to with my other gasoline bikes.

When beeing fiercly pushed out of the corners, I realize: no combustion motorcycle climbs a hill that easy. My Superduke loves to slide when the throttle is twisted, right after that lifts the front and finally demands the next gear. During that show I have lots to do to keep the Beast on the desired line, due to the fierce power of the mighty 1290 V2 – but: as one of the strongest naked bikes on the market, the KTM sends “only” 140 Nm of torque to the wheel! The SR/F, on the other hand, surfs neutrally around the curves, its rubber stays well planted on the tarmac, its shock absorber is not affected by the tension on the belt thanks to the common swingarm and drive axle, there is no play in the drive, and the exuberant and never-ending torque does the rest ..

The Mendel Pass is quickly reached – stress-free, easy, and far beyond emotionless. The engine pushes like a fist in the neck, the powerful braking effect with closed throttle is magic. Both allows me to concentrate on the perfect line, and this works like a dream with the SR/F. Above all, THAT’s what I love about cornering. The only thing that bothers me is the low driving noise – cyclists, hikers and other road users are almost scared to death when the Zero beams past. Energica has solved this “problem” with a straight-toothed and therefore howling intermediate gear, which is, technically seen, not quite elegant, but at least you can hear their bikes from greater distances.

Anyway: I see a few “thumbs up” from the oncoming cyclists and drivers of convertible cars – thanks to street art without any noise.

Zero SR/F –
 Street art without noise

Down again through my favorite curves towards Fondo and after climbing the beautyful Gampen Pass back to Lana. Both tracks suffered in the winter – the necessary maintainance work left its remnants on the road. I never thought that on a motorcycle the sound of the rollsplit hitting the fenders could be the loudest thing to hear – but the Zero proves me wrong.

The SR/F behaves almost like my Ducati when rolling over bumps or along ruts – it stays on the desired line even when the brakes bite hard into the front wheel. Although, the suspension lacks a bit of smoothness – the Zero falls hard into the asphalt steps of the Gampen Pass. This is probably mainly due to the low mileage of the test bike or some creative adjustments of the fork and shock absorber.

I experience the ride down to the valley completely new: throwing myself weightless into the curves, thou enjoying stable riding in big inclinations, and all in stunning silence. Fascinating – no Harley indigestion or Italian diva rattle echoes from the boundary walls, and there are no chain rattles. And because I only rarely have to brake, buzzing of the brake disks is absent, too. The mechanical noise of a motorcycle never was that quiet – even with earplugs.

In addition, the SR/F is of captivating quality: even when driving too fast over bad asphalt, neither the mirror nor the display – which, by the way, remains perfectly legible at all times – wobble. Nowhere do parts rub against each other, nothing crackles or squeaks. On the other hand, I can hear the tires rolling over the asphalt and I can feel the tread blocks of the rubber in the footrests. This is completely unbelievable!

After 80 kilometers, mostly driven in Eco mode but far away from slowly, I still have 66% of battery capacity – this value didn’t change since I crossed the last pass. But the following stretch of the road is battery draining: I join the traffic on the MeBo and the battery melts away at about 130 km/h. Finally I reach my next destination – the entrance to the Schnals Valley – with only 50% State of Charge. But without a chip card to unlock it, I don’t even need to approach one of the many charging points in my home valley.

Nevertheless, I don’t want to miss the Vernagt reservoir – I want to show the Zero where the energy for the electric fun comes from. With activated cruise control, I creep up the gradients as evenly as possible and far below the permitted speed and, in view of the dwindling percentage, I see myself stranding on the banks of the lake. There the SR/F estimates a remaining range of only 20 km – so the return trip to Bolzano will be a spectacular self-experiment. Better look for the phone number of the dealer ..

Luckily, the steep descent makes 80 kilometers out of it again – and because I’m hanging in the slipstream of a truck on the MeBo for a few minutes, I can hit the SR/F again shortly before arriving at Bolzano. In the absolut crazy “Sport” mode.

The force that is pulling the Zero forward is simply outrageous – I had already a hard time to describe it when testing the Energica Ego. I think man has to learn that for poignant acceleration no archaic burning and yelling engines are necessary, but that it can also be done simply and quite differently.

The SR/F. Started fully charged, experienced good fun, returned after 170 kilometers with 5% energy left and without warning in the display. I am impressed by the performance, the vibration-free and silent gliding – and the first-class workmanship, which I have seen on only a few bikes so far.

I let myself fall into the soft saddle of my Harley, unlock the steering lock, turn the ignition bone on the tank, fold in the side stand, select “Run” at the right end of the handlebars, pull the clutch and press the start button – after the simple “Hit and Run” on the Zero, it feels like the life of an engineer on an ocean liner. The V2 turns up unhealthily after ignition, swallows several times before it calms down and then bolls me through the evening traffic. In idle speed it shakes me more than during physiotherapist massage, the mirrors vibrate in time with the 900 revolutions, and no one in sight can overhear me.

I choose the same way again back home: Mendel Pass, Gampen Pass, Vinschgau. Still in Bolzano a heat cloud rises from the engine, which probably weighs the same as the complete Zero SR/F, smelling of evaporating oil. The squeaking of the dry-running clutch lever is accompanied by gear shifts from the transmission which is handling large masses inside. After the King has swung back and forth into the hairpin bends of the Mendel, the running boards screech, all the cyclists fending in my direction hide from me, far to the right of the white borderline. And I work hard on the thick handlebars to keep the ride on course, get my adrenaline rush when braking through undulating curves where the completely under-damped fork outsmarts the ABS and opens the brake.

You will hardly be able
 to experience a greater contrast
  in the motorcycle world.

Arrived at home, the mega-engine of the Harley still crackles for minutes in the garage. The last gas push ends with a misfire worth hearing and seeing, I don’t have to announce my coming home. My photo backpack smells like gasoline, the exhaust tailpipes are shining greasy black – this engine is internally cooled, with a lot of fresh gasoline.

I imagine how the SR/F disappears silently and odourlessly into the darkness of the garage. Only the LEDs of the charger should illuminate the scene for the next hours.

The price tag of this Zero is approx. 20,000 Euro. With some options for faster charging or better range the price goes heavily upwards. When Harley-Davidson offers a lifestyle with a current Road King on top, Zero offers completely new, completely different emotions, that have nothing to do with stinking luggage, burn marks on the lower leg and ringing ears because of loudly roaring intake and exhaust pipes.

Electric motorcycles and this Zero in particular, flash with the incredible simplicity of riding. For me the artful and sloping surfing on the ideal line through curves is the most important thing – on the SR/F this succeeds almost to perfection. And in case that this is not so, I can safely train this line in my favorite curve dozens of times – nobody will be disturbed.

Compared to my Road King, the Zero SR/F is something like the iPod interface on a stereo next to an old tube radio. Two taps with your finger and the music plays – without manual station searches or waiting for the right temperature in the tubes.

But – and this is the essential:

The favorite song
 stays always the same,
  on both devices.

Perfectly matching