Zero DSR/X Long-Term Review

PROS:

  • Capable in all conditions
  • Comfortable and easy to ride
  • Practical layout

CONS:

  • Lacking range
  • Expensive
  • Confusing interface

EDITOR’S QUOTE:

“In my initial review I called this bike a masterpiece, and now, at the end of this extended loan, I feel much the same way — but with some important caveats.”

It’s been an up-and-down year for riding where I live on the East Coast of the United States. We’ve had good weather and bad, repeated wind storms and record-breaking amounts of rain. That’s the kind of unpredictability that keeps many motorcycles sitting inside the garage, sipping slowly from trickle chargers.

It’s also the kind of conditions that are absolutely perfect for the Zero DSR-X. I’ve now spent a full year living with this dual-sport electric motorcycle, covering miles through all seasons to find out just what this bike is all about. After the first few months, I called this bike a masterpiece, and now, at the end of this extended loan, I feel much the same way — but with some important caveats.

Design

It’s admittedly only been a year, but I find the look of the DSR-X just as appealing as I did 12 months ago. Maybe even more so. Its upright, organic shape is still a welcome sight to me as I approach it in a parking lot. Far from the razor-thin shapes most commonly seen on sportbikes, the somewhat bulbous fairing of the Zero gives it a more friendly appearance.

I still love the green, too, a somewhat muted hue that feels like a nod to the nature that this bike craves getting out and into.

Beyond the visual appeal, there’s a lot of practicality here, too. The generous front windscreen lacks power but is so easy to adjust with its pair of chunky knobs that you won’t mind the absence. At its maximum extent, the windscreen was a bit too short for me, causing buffetting on the top of my helmet, but I sit rather tall, so this won’t be an issue for most folks.

The saddle, at 32.6 inches in height, felt a bit tall at first, but I quickly got comfortable. It’s far wider and softer than most bikes with dual sport aspirations, making it a treat for longer days in the saddle. And, when you need to stretch those legs or get some extra airflow between them, wide and grippy pegs make it easy to stand up, even in the rain and the mud.

The high positioning of the grips, too, makes it easy to operate the bike while standing. It helps for keeping good posture while seated, too. My only complaint with the controls is the rocker switch on the left. It’s used for controlling so many functions — toggling drive modes, heated grips, resetting the trip meter, etc. — that it’s easy to forget what to tap or press and when. A four-way rocker would have been less confusing and more intuitive.

My favorite part of the design can’t even be seen. It’s the cavernous storage compartment built into the tank. Though sadly not quite big enough for a helmet (at least, not one my size), it easily swallows all sorts of things. In my time with it, I’ve used it to carry food and drinks for meals on the go, a gallon of almond milk home from the shops, even a flower bouquet.

It also makes for a great place to keep your rain gear when not needed or to toss your gloves when the bike is parked up waiting for you. I only wish the cubby featured the kind of central locking you find on the Honda Goldwing or other high-end touring bikes. It must be unlocked with the ignition key, which often left me shutting the bike down, using the key to open the storage compartment, and then powering the bike back up again.

On the road

While I only spent a little bit of time trail-hopping this Zero, it proved itself to be an compliant and capable ride on loose gravel and dirt. That’s despite a set of tires that offer little in the way of tread for that kind of terrain.

It’s also despite a prodigious weight but the refinement of the controls in the DSR-X are what make it so sweet to cruise up a trail. Without a clutch to slip or a gearbox to manage, you simply worry about throttle and brake. More importantly, you’re free to enjoy the ride a bit more.

I confess I’m not much of a trail rider, so I didn’t get into too much trouble on the Zero, but it always felt willing and able to go adventuring.

That continued as the temperatures dropped. The standard heated grips are a delight on chilly mornings, helped by the brush guards that keep most of the wind from your knuckles. Meanwhile, that windscreen and fairing do a great job of keeping the worst of the weather from the rest of you, such that riding through the rain isn’t as soaking an event as it might be on other bikes.

Even so, much of my riding was in the dry on asphalt in various states of disrepair, ideal conditions for this bike. I found the traction control system subtle enough not to be a restriction, yet it smoothly and reassuringly cut power when needed to mitigate unwanted wheelspin on the road.

Likewise, I only experienced the ABS a few times, but it too smoothly kept the wheels turning and kept me upright during a few panic stops over the year, avoiding wildlife and wild drivers.

Bumpy roads did little to unsettle the DSR-X. At least, they didn’t once I got the suspension dialed in properly. The bike came to me with too much compression damping at the rear, which left everything feeling a bit too nervous over every little bump. But, after a quick consultation with the online manual, I had the rear shock dialed in for my weight. Everything was smooth from there.

Smooth is when I had the most fun on the DSR-X. Yes, it’s excellent in rough conditions, but Zero’s biggest bike is still a great corner carver on a freshly paved, twisty piece of asphalt. In these conditions, the Canyon riding mode is easily my favorite. That mode not only gives you the maximum throttle response with your wrist, but the maximum regen too. This means that you rarely need to reach for the brake lever. You can just roll the throttle on and off and swing through the twists and turns.

There are five separate on-road modes and five more off-road modes, plus a custom mode, all editable through Zero’s app. There’s an absolute wealth of configurability here, plus data management, making this among the most intelligent, most connected bikes out there. Data fiends will love the ability to download details from every ride. Perfectionists, meanwhile, will love being able to create a custom layout on the five-inch LCD gauge cluster.

Range and charging

If there’s one fly in this ointment, it’s the range. Though the DSR-X is rated for a maximum of 180 miles in the city, you’d have to rely on the most economical riding modes and keep your speed very low to manage it. I tried and couldn’t quite get there myself, at least not without feeling like a rolling traffic obstruction. If you’re exclusively riding on low-speed urban streets or crawling over trails, you might be able to manage that.

Me? I more often saw range estimates around 140 miles, but when I was feeling sporty (which, let’s be honest, was most of the time), I struggled to manage 120 miles on a charge. That is not a lot. Even if you exclusively head out on sunny Sundays for an afternoon cruise to your favorite taco shop, you may find yourself sweating that remaining range indicator on the return trip.

I never had any particularly close calls, but neither did I feel like pushing things. While charging is reasonably quick, the bike usually takes fewer than two hours to top up, that’s still too long to reasonably ride somewhere, enjoy lunch near a charger, and head home. You’ll need to do some serious route planning and budget lots of time for activities near plugs if you want to road trip one of these.

Pricing and Options

The bike you see here was priced at $24,495, with no options, and seemingly none needed.

However, were I buying one now, knowing what I know, I’d be tempted by either the faster charger or the bigger battery pack. Being able to charge faster or go farther would open this bike up to be the truly comfortable touring bike it’s otherwise capable of being. The only problem is that selecting either of those options fills up that tank storage compartment that proved so useful, but with generous mounting points on the back of the saddle, fitting a set of boxes wouldn’t be much of a chore.

For the 2024 model, the DSR/X actually becomes more attainable, with a starting price of $22,995. But there’s an even more affordable version with a smaller, 15.6-kwh battery and a starting price of $19,995.

At the end of 12 months, I’m still left enamored of the DSR-X. Its range meant my adventures were limited to those close to home, but then I live where I live because it’s an area full of adventure, and this Zero was always ready.

2023 Zero DSR/X Review

PROS:

  • Engaging handling
  • Excellent off-road
  • Comfortable in any conditions

CONS:

  • Range can be a struggle
  • Expensive

EDITOR’S QUOTE:

A great all-rounder and an excellent entry into the world of electric motorcycles.

While the four-wheeled EV industry is robust at this point, nearly every major manufacturer offering a selection of great options with stellar performance and looks, the electric motorcycle market is lagging behind.

And that’s despite getting something of a head start. Zero Motorcycles launched its first bike back in 2009, three years before Tesla brought the Model S to bear and really split the automotive EV market wide open. Since then, things have been slow to develop on two wheels.

That’s finally changing. Zero’s total sales topped 20,000 last year, volume enough to enable launching more bikes for more types of riding. Their latest is the DSR/X, a dual-sport motorcycle meant for adventure, but can it deliver the kind of silent ease that we’ve come to expect from electric cars?

Design

The DS in DSR/X stands for Dual Sport, a category of bike meant to do anything and go anywhere. Think of this as the SUV of motorcycles, a tall profile meant to facilitate better off-road performance, but with a stance and ride characteristics perfectly suited for long stretches of asphalt, too.

Seen head-on, the DSR/X has an almost insectoid look for it, four rectangular headlights arranged such that the outer two are slightly higher than the inners. They’re like eyes on a spider, only squared.

Its face is certainly distinctive, far wider than your average motorcycle’s mug, but that’s due to aerodynamics as much as style.

When it comes to EVs, range is crucial, and the biggest enemy to range is aerodynamics. You might be surprised to learn that a motorcycle, tiny as it is, has significantly more drag than a car, even a big one like an SUV. Why? By and large it’s thanks to us. Human beings aren’t exactly aerodynamic when traveling face-first, and that’s exactly where a motorcycle puts us.

A wide fairing, like that on the DSR/X, helps to bend the wind around the rider rather than hanging them out in it. That means a wide nose with pronounced bulges, plus a tall, clear windscreen designed to duct air up and over.

The result is a clean, organic shape that’s a bit simple, maybe a little boring, but effective, especially in the DSR/X’s hero color of green, which Zero calls Sage.

Below the bike’s belt line, though, all thoughts of aerodynamics seem to have gone out the window. Here you get a clear look at the bike’s tubular frame construction, battery pack fully exposed for maximal cooling and slung down low for optimal handling. Behind it, the tiny electric motor is directly inline with the mounting point for the swingarm.

Positioning the motor and battery low has benefits from a handling standpoint, but it also has some benefits for convenience. What you’d normally think of as the tank of a motorcycle is actually a giant storage cubby here, not quite big enough for a helmet (not if your head is as big as mine, anyway), but offering plenty of volume for gloves, a rain suit, and even a nice picnic lunch.

That cubby locks with the ignition key. Just above that you’ll find the J1772 charge port, then the handlebars.

Those bars are perched up high on risers, giving you an upright posture when seated. Controls are traditional and good quality, with the only odd addition being a sort of horizontal jog dial next to your left thumb. It’s with this that you toggle through drive modes and settings on the bike’s bright, five-inch LCD that’s easily viewed even on sunny days. More on that in a moment.

Above the LCD is that windscreen, which can be raised a few inches thanks to a set of chunky twist knobs, one on either side. It lacks the power elevation of some luxury touring bikes, but it’s so easy to adjust with one hand that you’ll never miss it.

On the road

The DSR/X is a bit on the tall side, seat height at 32.6 inches, which is just ever so slightly higher than my inseam. That means a bit of a flex to swing my leg up and over the wide seat, but it’s not a strain like climbing on to some other dual sport bikes(An optional low saddle drops seat height by 0.9 inches, while a tall one brings it up 1.5.)

That wide saddle is just soft enough to be comfortable, still firm enough to satisfy your typical adventure rider. The pegs situated far enough below that my knees are at a comfortable extension. In keeping with this bike’s DS aspirations, those pegs are more aggressive than your average motorcycle, wide and open to allow for mud and muck to fall through but with sharp serrations to grab the soles of your boots through it all.

Those, plus the tall bars, make standing up on the DSR/X a breeze. Getting up and out of the saddle is a common thing for dual-sport riders. When you’re off-road, standing up further lowers the bike’s center of gravity, boosting stability on loose terrain. It also gives you a better look at the trail ahead and, if you’re getting a little warm, lets you air things out a bit, too.

Over that kind of rough terrain, scrabbling up over rocks and dirt, the DSR/X is a delight. It’s a heavy bike, 544 pounds, but it feels incredibly easy to manage. That low center of gravity imparts stability but, more so, the power delivery is perfectly tuned for loose conditions.

The DSR/X has 100 horsepower and 166 pound-feet of torque from its electric motor. That power figure isn’t world-conquering, but the torque number is impressive. Most impressive, though, is how smooth and easy it is to deploy that power. This is a bike just as stable when inching over gravel as it is flying down the interstate.

Helping that is a series of five on-road drive modes and five more for off-road, settings designed to ensure that the rear wheel keeps turning exactly as you want it to, regardless of conditions. Likewise, ABS is standard to ensure neither wheel locks under braking.

If that’s not enough, you can customize your own riding modes and, yes, you can turn off all the safety systems if you really want to let it rip.

My favorite ride mode by far is called Canyon. This gives the bike maximum power but also maximum regen, which more or less gives a motorcycle equivalent of one-pedal EV driving. Here, though, it just means I don’t need to reach for the brake, letting me carve through twisty roads at speed, adding throttle when I need more speed, releasing when I want to slow down.

The silence, the torque, and the surprisingly nimble character of this big bike make spirited riding like that a real joy.

The Showa suspension too has a good amount of compliance for off-road use without feeling too soft on the road, though it’s easy enough to dial in exactly how you want it, adjustable for preload, compression, and rebound front and rear.

If there’s a catch, though, it’s that riding in a spirited fashion will end the fun quickly. Officially, the DSR/X is rated for 180 miles in the city, but you’d have to use the bike in a very conservative way to get that far. Range drops to just 85 miles on the highway going 70 mph.

As I mentioned above, aerodynamics are not your friend. Likewise, you can’t tap into all that torque, meaning you’ll want to use the bike’s Eco mode.

Ridden in this way I still struggled to get close to the bike’s maximum rated range. In my average, more spirited riding, I’m seeing estimates closer to 120 miles.

That’s a bit of a shame as a bike this fun and this comfortable would be ideal for longer rides. Thankfully, charging is a possibility if you don’t mind some longer pit stops. It’ll take 2.7 hours to fill the 17.3 kWh battery pack from empty, but dropping down to two hours for a 95-percent charge. And that’s on a level two charger. Even on a typical wall outlet, the DSR/X charges overnight.

Pricing and Options

The base DSR/X starts at $24,495 and that’s really all you need. In fact, that’s exactly how the bike you see here is configured. But, if you want a little more range, you can drop an additional $3,200 for the Power Tank, which slots a few extra cells in that storage compartment in the tank. That should boost the bike’s longevity by about 30%.

Another option is the $3,000 6 kW Rapid Charger, which also slots into the tank — meaning you can’t have that and the bigger battery pack. Go for this and charge times drop by half, meaning just 60 minutes for a 95% charge on a level 2 charger.

Other accessories are more for style and, indeed, lifestyle, including things like storage bags and phone mounts.

We’ll actually be spending a full year with this DSR/X and I’ll report back with more detailed range testing as the weather improves and the riding season gets swinging in earnest. Regardless, Zero’s latest bike is a real joy, fun and nimble on the road, stable and easy to ride off.

If you’re looking for a place to dive into the wonderful, peaceful, maintenance-free world of electric motorcycles, this is it.