Zero Test Ride Day 1: Introductory Ride in the Thüringer Wald

Day 1 of the Zero reader test ride: meeting in Masserberg, a 100-kilometre introductory ride through the Thüringer Wald — and six surprising insights into the electric motorcycle. Part 2 of the series.

“A tour with friends” — that is how the first day of the Zero reader test ride can be described. Around midday, the winners arrived in Masserberg in Thuringia. After a brief introduction to the Zero team and an explanation of the bikes’ special features, we headed straight out on the introductory ride.

The introductory ride

Led by an experienced tour guide, we travelled around 100 kilometres through the Thüringer Wald on winding country roads. In total, the route took us around three hours. We had a surprise in store during the ride: a film crew from MDR Thüringen filmed us while riding — the report later appeared in the local news.

Six first impressions

• You still get greeted when riding electric. Other bikers greet you on an electric machine just as they do on any other.
• Petrol bikes lose in the bends. On winding mountain roads, a classic motorcycle stands no chance against the Zeros. Torque and acceleration are unbeatable.
• The noise is not missed. Surprisingly, I miss the exhaust sound very little. Speed can still be judged well without engine noise — riding electric is very relaxing.
• Ralph’s cordless screwdriver analogy. Ralph from Zero put it like this: “Zeros are like a switched-on cordless screwdriver on the table.” Quiet and inconspicuous, but ready for use immediately — and woe betide you if you twist the throttle too much.
• No first gear. Attention: Zeros do not have a first gear. Parked on a downhill slope, the bike can roll away and fall over. A parking brake would be helpful.
• Regeneration recharges. When riding downhill, the battery is recharged via the “engine brake” — the range increases with every metre of descent.

GPS data for download

The exact route of the introductory ride is available as a ZIP download (KML + GPX).

What happens next?

The opening instalment with expectations, questions and model introduction is available in Part 1: Anticipation and 10 Questions. The actual test day with rain, all riding modes and the 190-kilometre tour to the Hohenwarte reservoir follows in Part 3.

Conclusion

My impression after Day 1: the cliché of the “electric motorcycle as a fun killer” is not true. On winding routes, the Zeros are even superior — the acceleration without gear changes is addictive. Whether multi-day tours work and what consumption looks like in the different riding modes will be clarified on Day 2.