Had a quick squirt on the new
Zero X dirt bike yesterday and what a little ripper it turned out to be.
Forget its green credentials, which may be considerable. What really got my attention were three things:
- Its size and weight (or lack of it). At 68 kilos dripping wet, it felt like an over-sized and remarkably rapid BMX bike;
- The lack of noise means you won’t have neighbours/campers/whoever shaking their fists at you for that damn racket you’re making;
- The fact that’s it’s almost maintenance-free – just pump up the tyres, check the chain lube and remember to plug in the charger the night before you want to use it.
Now I’ve no idea what the long-term upkeep will be like, but the whole idea is very, very, attractive, particularly for someone who only uses a dirt bike rarely and then just for a bit of a squirt up a bush track.
You could also easily imagine these things being a big hit for indoor or inner city sports of some kind.
They’re not cheap, with a starting price of $10k, and it’s going to take a while for people to really work out what they’re good at.
All I can do is wish the makers well. And, the further along we get with this electric motorcycle/scooter thing, the more convinced I am that they’re here to stay.
See our video on the Zero X
***
A reader, Jeff from Port Kembla, dropped us a line with a pic of the yellow three-wheeler you see here, adding the comment: “Why not make the (Can-Am) Spyder into a sit down machine like the T-Rex?”
Yep, fair question. One of the terms for this kind of vehicle is forecar and they’ve been around a hell of a long time. Look up Morgan some time and you’ll see what I mean.
This yellow gadget is a T-Rex, powered by a 1200 Kawasaki engine. According to anyone who’s driven it, it’s fast and an absolute hoot. You’d have to be on your toes when sitting so low in traffic, but I daresay it would be a real joy on a winding road -- though you might need lightning reflexes to recover from a slide.
Autoexpress in the UK drove one some time ago and you can read about it at this link.
One of the challenges for things like the T-Rex is getting the price down to a reasonable level. Then again, Lotus somehow manages to charge a small fortune for its tiny and basic Elise…
There are some astounding choices out there for would-be three wheeler owners, from sidecars to trikes to the Can-Ams of this world. It’s the latter which has really raised the bar when it comes to engineering and quality.
Of course many riders swear they'd rather walk than ride any of them, but my advice is don’t knock it until you’ve tried it…
Guido