Zero DRS/X review and road trip: Australia’s only dual sport all electric motorcycle

I am clearly a lucky human. Being offered a brand new Zero DRS/X electric motorcycle for a week or so is a generous opportunity that I jumped at, of course.

The DSR/X is the latest generation in a long line of dual sport bikes from Californian electric motorcycle stalwart Zero Motorcycles who have a growing presence in Australia. I’ve owned two previous models, a 2010 DS and a 2014 DS, so it was a great chance to see how they’ve evolved over a decade.

I’ll say from the outset that there are plenty of reviews of Zero’s latest range of bikes targeted at ICE bike owners, so my review has a slightly different focus. Primarily, I’m going to focus on what it’s like as an EV, but let’s get a few things out of the way first.

Australian motorcyclists love dual sport bikes because we have lots of crappy roads, plenty of dirt and a sense of adventure.

Although long distance and round the world trips been proven to be possible on an electric motorcycle, if you want to regularly tour remote backroads or do huge rides of 500-1000km it remains a big challenge for most people.

However, if you are like the majority of dual sport owners and mostly do commuting with the occasional adventury weekend ride or, you live in a regional area the DSR/X is definitely worth a serious look and has a big bunch of ownership benefits.

You will pay a premium for being an early electric motorcycle adopter and the DSR/X will set you back $47k plus.

However, you’ll save thousands each year in maintenance and fuel costs (I save around $3k per year). In any case, motorcycles are rarely purchased on economic, or any other type of rationale logic, so stop thinking so hard and just test ride one if you think making the switch is on your radar.

A bit about Zero Motorcycles

It’s worth talking briefly about Zero Motorcycles and the market given the challenges that premium electric motorcycle manufacturers have faced recently. 

Livewire are struggling to sell bikes, and Energica are in liquidation ,despite both being fantastic machines. In short, it’s a very tough market because the premium segment is very low volume and that has implications if you are considering purchasing a bike like the DSR/X because it’s clearly in this segment.

Zero were founded in 2006, making them one of the oldest and most successful electric motorcycle companies. Their investors continue to show huge enthusiasm, injecting more capital on a regular basis and they are without question selling more electric motorcycles in this premium segment than pretty much anyone else. 

They’ve had some ups and downs but recently announced a new foray into the much smaller and lower power segment with their new XB & XE models (think Surron and Talaria).

For premium electric purists, this might seem disappointing but from a business longevity perspective I think it’s smart – because around 10 million light weight two wheelers are sold each year (and almost 2 million outside China). 

If Zero can grab just 1% of that market it would roughly quadruple their sales based on publicly available numbers. So, I think it helps position them well for survival.

What’s the DSR/X like

Like most dual sport bikes, the DSR/X is tall, plump (248kg) and has high, wide bars and a large fairing/tank area. It has 17inch rear and 19inch front tubeless spoked wheels and long travel, plush suspension. My bike was fitted with the well-respected road biased Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tires.

It has a relaxed comfortable feel and it’s bulk and height quickly give way to a sense of purpose. Like all electric bikes, once you’re rolling it feels lighter and nimbler than most because if it’s lack of spinning inertia, so it feels lighter and smaller than it is.

Predictably, the long travel and 19-inch front wheel give it a slightly slower feel on the front end, but it provides great feedback on the road and proved itself as a super fun bike on my favourite twisty test roads. Zero moved to Showa suspension a few years ago which is a big improvement from the earlier bikes and provides great adjustability. 

Truth be told, compared to my own electric sports tourer it soaked up the bumps and undulations in a confidence inspiring way and arguably made for a more relaxed fast ride. 

It took a bit more effort to turn and reached the limits of grip more quickly but was really good. I did a short pillion ride test with my oversized 6ft2 son, who declared it a “sick whip”. He loved the big comfortable seat and being perched up high so he could see. The well positioned grab handles and plush ride were better than my bike and his view was that it’s a much better passenger bike.

The keep-it-simple-stupid, air-cooled powertrain has been incredibly refined by ZERO over almost a decade and delivers predictably great power and torque. To me, it felt slightly softer on take-off but rapidly delivers a luscious, fat and absolutely linear torque curve once you’re moving – which is actually spot on for the bikes purpose.

It has multiple programmable maps of course and I dialled in my personal settings in a flash with their new app (look up “sick whip” in the menu if you’re the next test rider).

In terms of “smart” features, Zero have included bunch of nice inclusions that premium motorcycle buyers expect including cruise control, a parking brake, heated grips, bark busters, an adjustable screen and a decent app. It includes schedules and delays for charging, charger maps and ride recording options.

I thoroughly enjoyed several hours of mountain roads and commuting on the DSR/X -in fact the more I rode it the more I liked it.

Electric stuff

In stock form, the DSR/X has a 17.3kWh (15.1kW usable) battery with a claimed 288km of city range and 172km of highway range. I think these are plausible claims given my own experience, but are probably best case – gradient, temperature, load, wind and age will reduce them as is always the case.

Being a tall and wide bike, it will use a bit more energy than sportier variants, but its relaxed feel and lower speed trail riding purpose will deliver plenty of fun hours in the saddle I’m sure.

The ZForce motor delivers a highly respectable peak torque of 169 ft-lb (229 Nm) and 100 hp (75 kW) of power.  On paper this is double the torque of my own Livewire and only 5% less power.

It’s not a fair comparison because they are such different bikes, but being brutally honest it doesn’t feel like it punches as hard as mine off the line, despite the specs. For its intended purpose the power and torque of the DSR/X is actually spot on, a very fast bike and I loved it.

Charging

The DSR/X comes with a very beefy 6.6kW AC charger (27A single phase) as standard and mine was fitted with the optional 6kW charger expansion.  Charging is via a standard Menekkes/J series/Type2 port.

Like 70% of EV owners in Australia, for the last decade 95% of my electric motorcycle charging has been at home via a standard 10A power point.

The Zero is really well equipped for that or, upgrading to a ubiquitous 7kW EVSE which are now affordable and readily available so if you are normal, the standard charger is fantastic and will meet your needs 99% of the time. 

Increasing the charger power to 12kW with the optional charger expansion theoretically allows a full charge in 1-1.5 hours if you can find a suitable rated AC charger. This opens the opportunity for longer range rides with reasonable charging times but, I’m not convinced this is well suited to Australia’s infrastructure. 

AC charging also mandated the need to carry 5kg of bulky cables and adaptors because most AC chargers don’t have cables (just sockets). This is a genuine issue for motorcyclists because luggage capacity is so limited. 

Australia has a rapidly growing number of charging stations which is awesome. However, compared to other countries, we only have around 2000 AC charging stations and the majority are not capable of delivering 12kW. We have more than 500 chargers that are capable, but they are DC, not AC, and that’s also where the big growth is happening.

Zero’s choice to not offer a CCS2 charge port or DC fast charging is understandable given its electrical architecture, the charging infrastructure in its primary markets and how most people will use the bike.  So, for Australian buyers it’s not a showstopper but is psychologically off-putting and a limitation you need to consider if you are planning to do long trips.

Charge test

I took the opportunity to visit several local chargers to test the charging claims and was delighted to see the full 12kW charging capability. Despite my protestations about the lack of AC chargers, I found a 22kW AC public street charger a kilometre from my house and was impressed to see the full 12kW being delivered. 

I also visited a 7kW station although it refused to deliver more than 3.3kW, which I suspect was probably a limit setting in the EVSE because the on-board charger certainly worked fine on other tests.

To fully demonstrate my charge nerdiness, I also tested using my Wallbox home charger and the supplied EVSE charger cable, successfully slow charging the bike from a 10A outlet. 

Now to be transparent, three of the four charging sessions had some issues – the 22kW one took multiple connections attempts (typical) before it worked, the 7kW one seemed to be power limited at 3.5kW and my Wallbox charger kept dropping out inexplicably. The supplied charger, set to 8A worked great. 

Not one of these issues are a reflection on Zero and I successfully charged in all cases, but it highlights the potential challenges.

It also prompted me to read the Zero manual which explained that you can’t limit the charge current via the bike or app, so if you are in limited power/charging situations you’ll need an EVSE to achieve that and avoid popping circuit breakers.

What I didn’t like

There are a few small things that I didn’t like or seemed odd, but honestly that’s all bikes and barely worth mentioning because they are all small things and in many cases a few tweaks will see them improved. 

The lack of DC charging is arguably the only feature that would make me pause and only if I was into long trips. The overall quality of fit, finish and riding equipment is on par with most bikes today, but I do suspect riders paying the premium to go electric for the first time may compare it to bikes in the same price class and be a bit finicky. 

What I liked

If you are looking for a dual sport all electric motorcycle in Australia, nothing beats the DSR/X because it’s the only one! But honestly, it’s fast, capable, has good range and perhaps most importantly is a well refined evolution of the Zero drive train and platform. 

I did a back-to-back comparison with the (now in liquidation) Energica Experia which was targeted at the same segment, and they were very close in many ways. My buddy Ed owns one, so we took the chance for a ride together and they are comparable – the Energica being slightly more sport biased and the DSR/X being more off road focused.

The deliciously plush ride, fully adjustable Showa suspension and light weight, tubeless spoked rims are awesome. While I admit to not being a fan of the J Juan brakes that Zero have stuck with for years, my bike braked powerfully and predictably and are now traction and ABS enabled.

I also read that they have a proportional linked brake system (operating some front and some rear brakes) which is really nice feature available on Off Road modes. It has a reversing mode, and I really liked the parking brake feature (no gears on an electric remember!)

I really like how quiet Zeros are (undoubtedly the quietest of all in their class) and that ZForce motor is lusciously powerful and simple.  It has excellent ground clearance, rides beautifully and felt planted and secure in my tests.

If a dual sport premium all electric bike is on your radar, ride one.

Thanks to Zero Motorcycles who generously provided this bike for an awesome week of electric motorcycling.