Can A Zero Motorcycle Improve With Age? Yes.
I bought my 2020 Zero Motorcycles SR/F in December 2019. As I approach the 5-year mark and pass 22,000 miles, it’s gotten better with age thanks to the magic of firmware updates and a company that cares about its customers.
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In terms of wear items, I’ve replaced the tires at 10,000 and 20,000 miles. In both cases I likely could have gotten an additional thousand miles or more out of the tread before reaching the tire cord.
Tires have been lasting on my SR/F significantly longer than on my old Kawaski Vulcans, which usually chewed through rear tires by about 8,500 miles.
I replaced the Zero’s belt at 20,0000 miles out of an abundance of caution, although it wasn’t showing any abnormal signs of wear. Outside of that I’ve had the dealer change the brake fluid once since I’ve owned it.
I also took it in for two minor recall notices that didn’t affect the operation of the bike. Once was for a cruise control improvement and the other was for a rear rotor bolts torque check.
That’s it for maintenance since there’s no oil to change, chain to lube or coolant to replace.
In terms of range and fun: it’s actually gotten better. A big reason for that is Zero’s over the air firmware updates.
Since I first bought the bike Zero has overhauled its LED gauge cluster via firmware updates, which in my opinion was a nice improvement over the original design. The cluster is broken into information sectors, which can be easily swapped depending on what information is most important to the rider.
For example, I personally like to have both trip mileage odometers showing along with the time and temperature. But some riders prefer seeing watts per mile, or maybe motor temperature and battery temperature.
Those functions are easily swappable thanks to Zero’s upgraded app.
Zero also boosted my SR/F’s charging speed from 5.8 kW to 6.6 kW with a firmware upgrade performed by the dealer. Zero charges for the update but at the time my dealer had a “firmware updates for life” promotion that allowed me to claim the unexpected upgrade for free.
Zero also made a new reverse gear feature available to 2020 model year owners.
Here’s what really has me sold on the Zero brand. About four years into owning the bike I started noticing a slight drop in range. The bike would only charge to 98%.
It also developed what some in the Zero community have referred to as “magic charging,” where the indicated charge increases by a few percent during a ride or after the bike has been turned off a while, even though the reality was the battery was of course continuing to discharge.
I reported the issue to Zero, which had me download and email-in my bike’s log files. Zero then reached out and said I needed to take the bike into my dealer to have its battery checked more extensively.
After more log files were exchanged, Zero decided my battery should be replaced. It shipped out a brand-new free warranty-replacement pack. Better yet, the new pack has a 15.6 kWh rated capacity, compared to my bike’s original 14.4 kWh pack.
My SR/F now has more range than the day it came off the showroom floor back in 2019.
The new battery should also hold up well over the long haul since it has the latest cell chemestry and has a real capacity of 17.3 kWh, although Zero capped it at 15.6. But that’s okay. With that much buffer I’m guessing the battery will likely last a decade or more without any noticeable range loss.
What this tells me as an owner is that Zero cares about its customers. Zero warrants its battery for five years with unlimited mileage.
My 2020 SR/F still brings a smile to my face every time I ride it. It still feels great. The Showa suspension is holding up well although the front disc rotors have developed a slight pulsing under braking, likely meaning either the rotors or pads are starting to warp.
It’s not enough for me to bother messing with yet, but still, that is a weak spot given I rarely encounter heavy braking situations thanks to the bike’s excellent regen, which quickly slows me down when I leave off the throttle.
Although I also own a Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+, the SR/F gets the most saddle time because it’s so much fun. That’s especially true during our hot Florida summers since my Zero doesn’t put out any noticeable motor or battery heat, whereas with the Yamaha I can quickly lose my cool while sitting at traffic lights.
My SR/F has also been very economical, although that’s somewhat offset by the high upfront cost. Here in Florida a good number of Level 2 charging stations are still free and my local utility gives me a $7 per month credit for charging off peak.
That means many months I’m able to basically ride for free in terms of fuel costs. And of course I don’t have mess with oil changes or chain maintenance.
The rest of what I said in my 10,000-mile review of my SR/F still holds true. I’m looking forward to the next 20,0000 miles of adventures on my SR/F and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.