Zero announces a Police DS model

[Richard230]

Zero has decided to get into the police and security EV business (what BMW calls "authority" motorcycles) with their 2012 DS model. That is a smart move. There is lots of money to be made selling electric motorcycles to big city police departments and I think they will be very useful. Not only are they quiet, but they can be ridden indoors and they now have enough range and performance to be able to handle a day of patrolling at slow speeds. Plus, no doubt the local donut shop would be happy to let them plug in the bikes while they are pigging out.   

Read the report here:  http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2012/zero-launches-2012-ds-police-motorcycle

[Shinysideup]

Interesting. One of the barriers to my being interested in the Zero for my purposes is the lack of hard bags. These look like they have 21L side cases and now all I need is a top case.

Rode the 2012 this week and it's very much improved over 2011. Better acceleration, better brakes. When I went back to my TMax after the ride, it struck me the same way that dot matrix printers struck me after experiencing my first Laserjet: primitive! As in "What's all this darned commotion about down there anyway?"

[Richard230]

Motorcycle.com has performed a balanced review of the 2012 ZF9 Zero DS. Here is the link:

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/2012-zero-ds-review-91239.html

Regarding the police model, I keep thinking that Zero will have to install stronger springs in the suspension to haul around cops.  Most cops that I have seen weigh a lot more than I do and the suspension on my Zero S is just about right for my 150-pound weight.