Zero DS R test ride - trying electric the second time

The dual sport space is relatively dead still and new stuff is few and far between. The 690 Enduro was introduced in 2008 and it still has very little competition. Huskys 701 is certainly one, but as we know it's basically a rebadged KTM (for now). Since the local dealer started selling Zeros I decided to give the Zero DS R a go. My previous experience with E-bikes is limited to the KTM Freeride. The following is purely my opinion based on a short test ride so adjust your attitude accordingly.

GENERAL

The looks of Zero DS is a bit on the dull side in my opinion. Modern in a way, but mostly black plastic and black aluminium. It sort of looks like a pre production bike missing paint and details. Fit and finish was certainly ok and nothing really jumped at me for being poorly made. The use of belt drive in a DS type of bike makes me wonder if it is a sensible solution. I've read many times over how rocks and such eat holes in the belts and the belts arent exactly cheap.

THE RIDE

The lack of a clutch and gear lever requires some getting used to, but the operation is otherwise very similar to any other bike. Throttle is smooth as butter you would expect. Everything is linear and there are no dips in the power delivery. From a stand still the DS feels very fast and even induced a spontanius wow cry from me. Once you get going, it sort of calms down and doesn't pull so strongly anymore. At highway speeds the DS certainly moves like a proper motorcycle, but is in no way spectacular. At "city commuting speeds" overtakes can be however done in a blink of an eye. Makes you smile. The overall feel is both nimble and heavy at the same time. The bike isn't that heavy by the numbers, but it has a slightly sluggish character when changing directions. (for a DS) Maybe the center of gravity is higher than "normal"? The brakes are very good. ABS would not allow me to lock up the rear and I didn't try to turn the ABS off. I'm not sure if it is possible? Suspension was ok, but to call it a proper DS suspension is a bit  much. I think the suspension is more supermoto than DS. The lack of engine sound and vibration makes the ride sort of a pure experience. I really liked that outside of the slight whining noise from the drive train there was nothing but the sound of the wind. I do see why people like these. More than anything I would like to take one of the Zero to a race track. It seems that the lack of distractions like changing gears would make things much more fun for.

THE WHY NOTS

A few things keep me from seriously considering buying one.

1. PRICE

The DS is outrageously expensive (at least in my country) 23 278 USD, Yes, really. You can get a brand new Africa Twin and have money left over or buy two DCT version Honda NC750Xs for the price of one Zero DS. I've heard claims that the cost will even out because these things need virtually no maintenance. I'm not so convinced about that. You still need to replace brake pads, change brake fluids, belts etc. etc. Sure, you don't need to pay for gas, but it still doen't add up. The other thing is resale value. What will be the resale value of a say 4 year old electric bike if and when the tech has progressed significantly?

As for insurance, the DS is categorized so that it is relatively cheap to insure.

2. RANGE/CHARGING TIMES

This one is a serious deal braker. If the charging time was drastically shorter or the range greatly longer I could live with it, but not as it is now. The bike has a max. real world range of 200 kms and depending on your power source the charging time from empty to full is over 8 hours.

If I had done my latest FOUR day ride (averaging 480 kms of riding each day) with the zero DS R in it's standard configuration I would have spent 64 hours (2,6 DAYS) waiting in gas stations and such for the thing to charge up. This is assuming that I would have been able to charge the bike fully every night and that the bike would do the full 200 kms regardless of the highway stretches. (which it doesn't do).

If I were to buy all the available accessory chargers, I could narrow the charging time down so it would sum up to 17 hrs during the four days. That's 4-5 hours of burning daylight daily. Just no.

For many the range/charging time combination will not be an issue but for me who has the financial ability to own only one bike that has to do everything from commuting to road trips, this combination is not acceptable.

CONCLUSION
The reality is though, that the bike is good enough for me to be somewhat convinced that the future will indeed be electric. The big OEMs will likely soon come out with their own offerings and both the pricing and range issues will likely fade away with time. The fact that big OEMs haven't yet come out with bikes that would directly compete with ICE bikes makes me think that the tech is not quite there yet partly for the reasons above.

Test riding the Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec test ride

The Bolt is a nice looking bike, there's no denying that. While the Bolt is not exactly my dream bike, I have been wanting to test ride one for a good while now. As a former Sportster owner I was dying to find out what Yamaha has come up with. I've read several test reports comparing the Sportster and the Bolt and apparently at least the suspension is better along with the brakes. Both of which are not hard to beat on a Harley Sportster.... All in all, most of the reviews seem to come to the conlcusion that technically the Bolt is the superior bike.

The Bolt has been around for a couple of summers now and while I don't know the sales figures, it is interesting that the recently announced 2016 Sportster models now have improved suspension on both ends...

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec factory cowl at the front (2014)

Ok, let's ride (This particular bike is a used one ridden only about 5000 kms.)

Sound
First thing I noticed was the sound. It has a nice deep thumping very Harley like sound without being too loud. This particular bike has an Acrapovic factory accessory exhaust and while I like all my bikes quiet, this wasn't too bad. I would not feel embarrassed to ride this around town. One thing I absolutely hated on my Sportster was the loud Vance & Hines pipes. TOO loud.

Comfort & ergos
The seat is shaped nicely, but much harder than I expected. Some of the video reviews claim that the seat is very plush, I don't think so and I ride an enduro for god sakes. The airbox cover on the right side is annoying as hell, I don't think I could live with that in the long run. It feels that even if the bike had highway pegs I could not get my legs comfortably extended because of the airbox. (may not be a problem in reality). I'm 5,8, but one would have to be very short legged not to have the right leg hit the airbox. On the other hand, it may be that if you have longer legs the airbox is actually less of a problem.

The left side is not nearly as bad even though the engine protrudes out a bit from that side. Whether I could extend my legs comfortably from this side either is a bit of a mystery. It may bee that the protruding engine would produce a problem.

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt leg ergos

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt airbox

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt engine heat guard 

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt engine & airbox

The bars feel a bit thick but otherwise very nice. The only problem is that they are a bit too far away resulting in too much forward lean for my taste. The BIG problem is that neither Star/Yamaha or anybody else for that seems to sell extended cables for the ABS models so changing bars will be problematic. While the ergos are quite ok for short rides, I was not 100% happy with them and especially the apparent limitations to getting them fit me is a bit of disappointment.

Engine
I've read that the engine is solidly mounted unlike the on the modern Sportster that have rubber mounted engines. One would expect a lot of vibrations, but there were absolutely none that I felt unpleasant. The V-twin is supposed to have some. The bike felt alive, but cruising speed at 100km/h was an absolute pleasure. The was enough power for everything one would ever like to do with a cruiser.

Star/Yamaha Bolt with Acrapovic exhaust

Suspension & handling
The Bolt has a good, slightly firm suspension for this type of bike. To me it was plenty comfortable and performed as expected. Handling is cruiserlike with good slow speed manners. At 100 km/h the bike feels planted and engine unstressed. Clutch, brakes and gears all work without drama. Predictable and a bit cruiserish as they should. Changing direction is very sluggish compared to the 690, but then again high speed stability is much much better in return. Scraping the pegs was not really an issue unlike on my old Low Sporty.

Overall
Overall the bike feels very solid and well made. Nothing feels cheap or "out of parts bin". I've read a lot about the speedo being hard to read in the sunlight, but I ques the day wasn't bright enough to highlight the problem. If the ergos were right for me, I would not hesitate to buy this bike as far as performance, handling and build quality.

Ergos part II 

The Bolt ergos bothered me so much that I made a stop to another bike shop that had a Sportster on the floor. I had a Sporty in 2009, but I didn't remember a having that much discomfort on it than I had on the Bolt. After sitting on the Sporty ( 2009 883 R) it was immediately clear that the leg ergos are much better (for ME) on the Sporty. The airbox is still on the way but much less so and the left side is clear of anything that might bother me.

Sportster airbox

Sportster leg / knee room

Sunday shakedown

Found some water and mud by accident. Wohoo!

Time for a shakedown run for the Trip up north. Packed in everything I'm planning to take with me and took a 100 mile test run. Nothing melted, got loose, got wet or fell off. Even my boots held water which I didn't really expect them to do anymore.
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Checking out the competition, part II - Ducati Scrambler Urban Enduro & Ducati Hyperstrada

Ducati test riding tour was in town and we decided to take the Scrambler Urban Enduro and Hyperstrada for a spin. The Ducati lineup doesn't really have anything that would be directly comparable to the 690 E, but the Urban Enduro is probably their most offroady model and the Hypermotard derived Hyperstrada could be a very enjoyable gravel road machine with the right tires. I was fully expecting to fall in love with the Scrambler and I was already fond of the looks before ever seeing the bike in the flesh. The Hyperstrada hasn't really popped up on my radar and I've always considered it as a ruined Hypermotard. There was also a Multistrada available, but I felt that the Hyper would be a closer rival (eventhough a bit far off) to the 690 E.

Engine

Scrambler
The engine is is surprisingly peppy and alive. Having previously owned a 696 Monster and a Triumph Scrambler I felt that the engine was far better than the one on the Triumph and somewhat nicer than on the 696. The genes are most likely very similar though. For this type of bike, I didn't feel any need for more power, but then again I rarely do.

Hyperstrada
There are three modes, Sport, Touring and Urban. I pretty much went straight for the sport mode and stayed there. There roads I rode didn't really give the Hyper a proper chance to show it's full potential, but the engine was rather brilliant. Just nothing bad to say about it.

Ergonomics

Scrambler
The ergos were both weird and wonderfull. The Urban Enduro has rather high bars which gave it a sort of ape hanger vibe. Then again riding standing up was an absolute joy and I could swear the ergos were better than on the 690 standing up!! That was very very surprising to me. After the ride we noticed that the bars were installed a bit off and were a  too far forward and up. The dealer fixed the angle and the bars felt immediately more natural, but since we didn't take another ride I don't know how much the standing up ergos were affected.

Hyperstrada
Like a glove! Everything felt just about perfect for me. Riding from the pegs didn't feel too good at all, but sitting down was sublime.

Highway speeds

Both
Nothing much to say. Pretty much as expected as far as wind protection and ride comfort. The Hyper is obviously the one to choose for longer highway stretches.

Comfort

Scrambler
Not in any way uncomfortable, but nothing special in any way. Can't say anything about the seat because of the relatively short ride, but I don't suspect that it would cause any issues.

Hyperstrada
Very comfy and supportive seat. The seat sort of cups your cheeks and keeps you nicely in place even at hard accelerations. Then again, if your but doesn't "fit", it could be an issue. Not a lot of room to move or change positions. The seat feels very different than it looks.

Handling

Scrambler
It is nimble, agile and feels light without truly being extremely light. Brakes are good. Suspension is a sensible compromise given what it's "tasked" to do. No negatives from me.

Hyperstrada
It has a supermoto feel to it (obviously) with a touch of refinement and travel worthiness. Everything works beautifully together. I would like to take it to the track to learn more about it's character. I feel that I didn't really get to know at all what it can REALLY do.

In general

Both good likeable bikes. I expected to fall for the Scrambler, but the Hyper made much more of an impression. The price difference between the two is such that I just could not justify the Scrambler over the Hyper. The basic Scrambler is cheaper, but for a 690 E replacement bike you would want the extras of the Urban Enduro model. The Scrambler would be the better replacement for the 690 E given it's nimble character and ergos, but it sort of doesn't make sense to me.

Would I trade the 690 to either one? No, still feeling it for the 690.

The electric KTM - test riding the KTM Freeride E

2014 KTM Freeride E

I had a chance to test ride the KTM Freeride E. I've been a sceptic about E-bikes and continue to be until someone comes up with a bike that is better in real life use than a traditional ICE bike. Meaning that it has at least comparable power, range, refill time and weight. That said, the Freeride E is a truly amazing machine.  

I test rode the 2014 KTM 250 EXC-F only few days earlier on an enduro track. The 250 was superbly nimble and agile compared to the 690, but the Freeride E was on class of it's own. The fact that you don't have to worry about the clutch, changing gears, accidentally killing the engine etc. gives you a whole new level of enjoyment when riding off road. I'm beginning to understand why a an e-bike is claimed to be so much fun on the track too. It leaves out all the unnecessary distractions and you are left with the essentials. The Freeride E had both the rear and front brakes mounted on the handle bars and while that was hard to get used to on a short test ride, but I have no doubt that this setup is far superior to traditional foot brakes.

The bike had no speedo, so it's hard to say what the max speed is. The dealer suspected it to be around 90 km/h, but it didn't feel like it got up to that speed. What ever the top speed is, it's not enough for street use. The other problem is that you currently can not plate the Freeride E, which is a limiting factor when contemplating the possible uses for the bike. The E would not be out of place for commuting short distances, in fact I bet it would be awesome. The sales rep did mention that a "plated" version will be released soon.

The price of the E is also staggeringly high if you consider the limitations. 11 400 € (in Finland) which is pretty much exactly what a new 690 Enduro R costs. The Freeride E is like many (or all?) the other e-bikes out there, very very nice machines, but currently ICE bikes are much cheaper and much more versatile.

All in all, mixed feelings. 

KEY SPECS (source KTM)

Max. power                         22 kW (30 hp)

Charging time                         1.5 h

Seat height (unloaded)         910 mm

Weight without fuel approx. 95 kg

running time                              30 min to 1 hour

Plenty of go

The bike looks really clean without all the usual ICE stuff like an exhaust 

All the info the bike gives you, no speedo or such.

Some old school tech still remains

The Freeride E handles like a dream