RideApart - the "shocking" truth

[EmpulseRider]

Being able to tell OPEC to stick it up there ass.... Priceless!  

+1 One of the major reasons im into EVs... I dont like dealing with cartels...
I feel dirty when I fill up at the gas station, like I need to take a cold shower afterwards.

[Brammofan]

Thanks for joining the fray, Wes.  
I guess the combination of using the truck to get the bike to the video location, but letting it run down to empty on the highway home seemed wrong and kind of 'fishy' to me.  Kind of like if you wrote for an aviation magazine and were reviewing an ultra-light kit plane that came with a warning: "Do not fly in severe weather. You will crash." On the day of the review, you check the weather map and see a high probability of thunderstorms just west of you.  You drive the ultra-light over to that area a couple hours before the storm front blows through.  You shoot some admittedly decent video of the fun times that can be had.  Then, as the storm hits, you continue filming...and crash.  "If you're a serious pilot, don't bother buying this ultralight - can't even fly in a spirited breeze.  Not at all like my Beechcraft Bonanza, which would have shaken off this kind of wind without a problem."

Our electrics don't have the range, and can't refuel in minutes.  We know that. Going into the buying process, we are aware of this limitation.  About the only comparison with an ICE bike that we care about is the handling - tell us what kind of ICE bike it compares with in that respect.  (And that's only relevant to us former or current owners of ICE bikes).

[EmpulseRider]

Comparing it to also scooter seems strange to me too... a similar ICE dual sport, like the Yamaha 250WR would have been much more relevant comparison.

Brammofan, I dont believe he ran the battery out, he stopped because he didnt want to risk it dying on him on that busy highway... in which case I would ride the shoulder or a back road. Just as 1416 stated, he would have gotten very close to Zero's stated highway range (62 miles) if he had wrung the battery out completely.

Seemed like a biased review with an inappropriate comparison to me.

[protomech]

He did nearly deplete the battery pack, the bike reduces power when the battery is nearly dead and he pulled off the side of the road. He noted the bike had 58.8 miles on it when it stopped.

[EmpulseRider]

Oh, ok... so much safer than the bike just cutting power all together. Makes sense. Still 58.8 is just shy 3.2 miles of Zero's stated highway range.

[860]

...
Inappropriate roads: Sure looks pretty up there though, right? I thought that tight little mountain road (note the lack of lane dividers) would be an absolutely perfect place for the Zero. Tight enough for handling to not be overwhelmed by the lack of speed. Since the range wouldn't allow it, I wasn't able to make an informed decision, that was the first time we'd tried it on actual corners.
...

Welcome to the board, Wes.

There was nothing wrong with the tight little mountain road segment.  It was a great place to load up a Zero and take it to test on.  Then load it back up again after the test and take it home.  Then charge it up, load it up, and take it on some dirt roads the next day, load it up, and take it home.  Then you could have actually spent time reviewing how it worked where it was designed to work, instead of taking up half the video intentionally running it out of power in the worst place possible that you intentionally chose to run it out of power.


I hear you are testing a Tuono V4 today.  Are you going to test and see if it has the same range and comfort on a long highway road trip as a Honda Goldwing?  When you don't get as far as a Honda Goldwing you have going along with it, are you going to run the Tuono V4 out of gas intentionally, and pee on your leg on the side of the road again, complaining about how dangerous it is to run out of fuel?  After you intentionally watch it run out of fuel on the side of the road, are you going to dedicate half your video to how crappy it is compared to a Goldwing for long highway road trips?  Then say that it obviously is overpriced junk that only some smug young kids would like, who can only afford this bike because they live at home with their parents?  (But don't worry, it will help them get laid by underage jr. high school girls.)  Poke fun at them like you poked fun at dot com nerds?

Oh, and are you going to quote just the Tuono V4's highway or city MPG, and then claim it doesn't live up to that rating when you test it under the opposite conditions?

Probably not.  You will likely take the Tuono v4 on some twisties.  You might even load it up in a truck and take it to a track for a run, load it back up and bring it home and only review it on how well it does when ridden for the purpose it was intended.  Because that is the professional way to test it.


I just don't think you will ever get it.  Sure it is appropriate to point out a vehicle's limitations, if you do it honestly.  Real world limitations are great stuff that should be included in any review.  But to talk about city range, and then complain it doesn't meet that range on a highway test is nothing less than flat out lying to your audience.  And people don't like being lied to.  The funny thing is, I don't even really like the Zero DS, and this is the response your piece inspired....

[Wes_Siler]

Remember that you guys represent approximately .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the population if you currently own an electric motorcycle. If you can make it fit into your life, that's awesome. We're making a motorcycle lifestyle show for a mainstream audience and your average rider, much less driver, would struggle to find a practical, cost-effective position for an electric motorcycle in their lives.

Dirt? On the stock mapping, there's no way that DS is going off-road. Zero throttle response below 25mph is not what you need when things get slippery or steep. It's a commuter dressed up as a dual sport, that's all. The scooter was there intentionally to highlight the limited performance and practicality. Most people understand what a scooter does. Most people don't care what a 250cc single-cylinder engine is. We're making a show for most people.

Right, off to see the Empulse, maybe I'll see one or two of you there.

[860]

Remember that you guys represent approximately .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the population if you currently own an electric motorcycle. If you can make it fit into your life, that's awesome. We're making a motorcycle lifestyle show for a mainstream audience and your average rider, much less driver, would struggle to find a practical, cost-effective position for an electric motorcycle in their lives.

Dirt? On the stock mapping, there's no way that DS is going off-road. Zero throttle response below 25mph is not what you need when things get slippery or steep. It's a commuter dressed up as a dual sport, that's all. The scooter was there intentionally to highlight the limited performance and practicality. Most people understand what a scooter does. Most people don't care what a 250cc single-cylinder engine is. We're making a show for most people.

Right, off to see the Empulse, maybe I'll see one or two of you there.

Hey Wesley, that's some great information about taking the DS off-road.  That would be VERY important information that would be perfect for a video review of the zero DS.  You could have spent some time talking about that very important information, instead of your silly intentional stall-it-on-the-interstate stunt.  Why didn't you talk about it's off-road faults?  Or the tires?  Or any of the other multiple excuses you've come up with since the actual video?  Including all these things in a review would have actually made your review successful an informative, instead of a childish skit.

But I'm confused about who you think your audience is for your reviews.  For example, your next report is going to be on an Aprilia Tuono, which is probably one of the smallest market share holders in the United States market.  Brammo has more reservations for the Empulse and Plus than the number of Tuono's that Aprilia will probably sell all year.  Are you reviewing it for potential Tuono buyers would like to know what they would be buying?  Or will your review be tailored so that Harley riders (a huge market gorilla in the US) will feel 100% justified that the Aprilia Tuono would be a crappy choice for them?  Your excuses for doing a lousy job just point more and more to poor thinking than poorly executed schtick.

How about just admitting that you story-boarded a silly Top-Gear style setup long before taping began, and it turned out making YOU look bad instead of making the Zero look bad as you intended.  You and your producer made an editorial decision to copy Clarkson's Tesla review of years ago, and you failed.  There is no harm in admitting that the storyboards you and your producer came up with before filming turned out to be a complete flop, and no amount of editing could fix it.  (10 hours of taping, and you peeing on your leg and flipping off the camera still made it into the decision of what to keep for the final edit?  Really?)  Admitting failure would make you look bigger than your current behavior of coming up with more and more outlandish excuses for your failure.