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After slightly greater than an hour within the saddle of Zero’s new $24,495 DSR/X, slicing by way of the epic roads outdoors Park Metropolis, Utah then making my means silently up some rutted, rocky trails, I ended for lunch at a stunning trailside pull-off. The mountain views had been gorgeous. A couple of minutes later, a few dudes on four-stroke dirtbikes went tearing by, braaaping exhausts echoing off the birch bushes and completely shattering the calm. Moments like that may make even probably the most ardent inner combustion followers understand that possibly it’s time for a change.
Full Disclosure: Zero Bikes wished me to experience the DSR/X so badly they flew me to Park Metropolis, Utah, put me up in a perplexing resort, and gave me a fully-charged bike for a day in and round one of many world’s biggest locations for journey.
However extra on that later. Please let me belatedly introduce the bike. The 2023 Zero DSR/X is the all-electric motorbike firm’s newest mannequin, certainly one of its largest launches but — and never simply because that is Zero’s largest bike ever. Whereas it could sound like a particular, extra excessive model of the venerable DSR, the DSR/X really shares extra with the corporate’s newest sportbike, the SR/S.
It’s very positively a brand new bike, although, and designed for journey. A brand new body cradles a closely revised motor that delivers 100 horsepower and, extra impressively, a whopping 166 lb-ft of torque. That’s about 50 p.c greater than the previous DSR. Serving to you management that energy is a vastly improved stability management and ABS system from Bosch with 5 modes for pavement using, 5 extra for off-road, and but 5 extra customized modes you can also make into regardless of the heck you need them to be.
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Magnetically Docking
Mode Electric Toothbrush
Luxury brushing
Mode is the first magnetically charging toothbrush, and rotates to dock in any outlet. The brushing experience is as luxurious as it looks—with soft, tapered bristles and a two-minute timer to be confident you reached all the crevices of your molars.
That’s all controlled via a single rocker switch on the left grip, which also controls the bike’s heated grips. Information is displayed on a new, five-inch, optically bonded TFT LCD that’s easy to read even in Utah’s harsh sunlight. Range comes from Zero’s 17.3-kWh battery pack. The bike is officially rated at 180 miles in the city and 115 in combined riding, but that number climbs up to a whopping 200 miles when you leave the asphalt behind.
More range when off-roading? It’s true. You might think that scrabbling your way up a rutted trail and spinning the rear tire out of every hairpin would eat up range, but it’s actually the contrary. When it comes to EVs, acceleration and wind resistance are what kills the battery quickest. Most adventure-style riding is done at a relatively slow and steady speeds. Zero says its bikes are good for upwards of 13 hours on the trail between charges — much longer than I’d want to spend standing on the pegs, generous though they are.
Mind you, the DSR/X seems awfully road-biased to me, but to prove its chops on the rough stuff Zero took me and a gaggle of other lucky motojournos up into the Uinta National Forest and set us loose. Despite the street-oriented Pirelli Scorpion 2 tires, the bike was great. Not having to worry about slipping a clutch or downshifting made me, a rookie off-roader, more comfortable than I maybe should have been on a powerful, 544-pound bike. Likewise, that Bosch traction control gave me plenty of wheelspin for grins while still preventing me from swapping ends when I got a little too eager with the throttle.
You can spec more aggressive off-road wheels and tires if you like — Pirelli Scorpion Rally STRs on wire-spoked rims — but other than aesthetics I’m not sure why you would. As good as it is in the dirt, the DSR/X is better on the asphalt. Comfortable and smooth at speed, the bike was an eager companion slicing through Utah’s stellar scenery. The soft suspension does mean a fair bit of dive under braking, but it leans and corners so confidently that within a few miles I had to shift my boots back on those oversized pegs because I was dragging my toes through the corners. Usually it takes me a good bit longer before I’m comfortable enough on a bike to lean it over that far.
Even the DSR/X’s windscreen is stellar, easily one-hand adjustable at speed and producing zero buffeting whether high or low. Option-hungry owners can spec the bike up with an even taller windscreen if they want, along with dozens of other add-ons ranging from frame protection to fog lights.
Having done a fair bit of off-roading with both two- and four-wheeled EVs, I am convinced that the experience is infinitely more engaging without a droning internal combustion exhaust. And, as someone who tends to worry about what others think, I personally enjoy the trails better when I know I’m not annoying every peace-loving adventure hound within a country mile. Again, I doubt many DSR/X owners will actually get that far off the asphalt, but regardless of conditions, Zero’s latest machine excels. With a healthy amount of range and more than enough power, the 2023 Zero DSR/X is a winner.
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