A Must Have

Very cool.

“Need” would be a good word here.

At 140 pounds, the American-made, $7450 Zero X weighs in about 100 pounds lighter than a typical 250 cc dirt bike. The weight savings come from the green wheelie machine’s diminutive size and 6061-T6 aluminum frame, which tips the scales at a feathery 18 pounds.

Between those rails sits the easily removable, 40-pound, lithium-manganese spinal battery pack. “That’s our secret sauce,” Zero’s Saiki says of the power source, which he says can recharge in 2 hours for 2 hours of driving or a 40-mile range, depending on conditions. The unit is fully recyclable and can be swapped for another one in a mere 30 seconds. The 58-volt, 2.2 kwh pack is a proprietary design with 168 cylindrical cells, each with its own heat sync for cooling. The pack itself costs around $3000 and is built to last about six years, or 600 full-depth charging cycles.

The battery supplies power to a 17,400 watt, 23-hp electric motor, which is actually very similar to the units in many neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) like the GEM. The motor spins a fine-pitch, lightweight chain hooked to a big, 72-tooth sprocket at the rear wheel. The larger the sprocket, the quicker the acceleration—but more on that later. Speaking of wheels, the rims have a special 20-in. hollow design to save weight, wrapped with 75/90-20 tires. Size-wise, the wheel and tire combination is essentially halfway between a mountain bike and a motocross bike. And Saiki says just about any bicycle shop can service the wheels, tires and brakes.

“Ultimate Scout Bike” would be a good set of words to follow the one mentioned above.

Why?

But the speed of the Zero X may not be as important to some as its silence. We can imagine a casual trail ride on a pair of these bikes where both riders can not only hear the sounds of the wilderness around them, but also carry on a conversation as they ride. Try that on a two-stroke.

Mmm, yes. Permalinking this for future reference.