A Video Tour of Zero Motorcycles HQ With Neal Saiki

*faircompanies recently visited Zero Motorcycles HQ and founder Neal Saiki gave them a tour of the facility. In the video we get a first look at a Zero DS with hard bags mounted and see the compact assembly line first hand. Neal also gives his thoughts on how the electric motorcycle industry will progress as overwhelming demand ramps up beyond it’s current backlog.

The specs on the yet to be shipped Zero S and DS have been changing over the course of this year. Now it seems we may see another change for the good. While talking about the Zero DS he mentions it’s battery pack has a 2 hour charge time from completely drained. The electric dualsports spec page says “less than 4 hours”.

As I was writing this post information surfaced about Zero’s plans to provide motorcycles to fleets and police (thanks for the tip Jensen!) This appears to be the reason for mounting the hard bags. No word on if they will be an option on the bike to regular consumers.

Neal also mentions Silicon Valley is the only place you will see quality electric motorcycles being built because of the complexity of making them run correctly and the talent required. I am pretty sure Oregon is not part of Silicon Valley but there are a few notable manufacturers are building electric bikes there.

As the camera panned across the compact assembly line Neal explained how it makes sense for start-up expertise of electric motorcycle manufacturers to work with big companies, conventional motorcycle manufacturers or Detroit big auto to mass produce the bikes. This does not necessarily mean Neal is looking to sell the company. He recently explained to Asphalt And Rubber that he wants to complete with the Big 4 Japanese motorcycle companies. The collaboration could well be as non-conventional as Zero’s distribution model and ground up design process.

Some Zero reps are taking delivery of their Zero S bikes now so we should see these on the road soon. The Zero DS can’t be far behind. Have a look at the informative video below and let me know if I missed anything.