Zero Motorcycles is running a program to get people onto its electric motorcycles so that they can experience the thrill. Even if they don’t have a motorcycle license.

Come on, admit it.

You know that you’ve been curious to see what it’s like to ride an electric motorcycle.

But that whole lack-of-a-motorcycle-license thing has been a bit of a hangup so far, hasn’t it?

If so, then you’re exactly the type of person that Zero’s Discover the Ride program was meant for.

The program will take place on indoor tracks (try riding a gas bike indoors… cough, cough!) that are designed to help novice riders get a feel for the electric motorcycles.

And to keep everyone safe, the bikes will be governed to lower speeds than the standard unrestricted Zero motorcycles.

There will also be a wheelie zone with unrestricted Zero motorcycles that are safely anchored to a support frame. That will allow riders to experience the full power of the bikes and perform a stationary wheelie without worrying about controlling or balancing the bike.

The wheelie machine sounds like a safer way to start than I did…

The California-based electric motorcycle manufacturer is running the program in eight cities across the US coinciding with the International Motorcycle Show (IMS) circuit, including:

Long Beach, CA: 11.22.19 – 11.24.19

11.22.19 – 11.24.19 New York: 12.6.19 – 12.8.19

12.6.19 – 12.8.19 Dallas: 1.3.20 – 1.5.20

1.3.20 – 1.5.20 Washington, D.C.: 1.10.20 – 1.12.20

1.10.20 – 1.12.20 Denver: 1.17.20 – 1.19.20

1.17.20 – 1.19.20 Cleveland: 1.24.20 – 1.26.20

1.24.20 – 1.26.20 Minneapolis: 1.31.20 – 2.2.20

1.31.20 – 2.2.20 Chicago: 2.7.20 – 2.9.20

If you want to experience a Zero electric motorcycle yourself, check out their site where you can also use the code Zero20 to save on one-day tickets.

Electrek’s Take

Cool!

I love riding a Zero electric motorcycle, and I think everyone should get the chance to experience an electric motorcycle, be it Zero or any other brand.

I’m not saying it’s going to immediately turn you into a biker, but I think it could really open a lot of eyes to the utility of these machines. I believe that many people have a misconception about motorcycles and riders in general as rebellious hooligans. When in reality, electric motorcycles make a great next step up from powerful electric bicycles, and riders are often quite conservative.

The problem with getting more people to experience electric motorcycles is that many people see the process of obtaining a motorcycle license as an obstacle — and it is. Especially if all you want to do is ride electric motorcycles. For example, to get my license I had to learn to ride a gas-powered Harley-Davidson Street 500cc bike and pass a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) test that included a ton of gas-specific motorcycle info. And yet I’ve been riding electric motorcycles ever since (OK fine, with the occasional hop on my sister’s fun little CSC San Gabriel 250 — but only because the same company sells an awesome little $2,195 urban electric motorcycle known as the CSC City Slicker)

But the point is, without programs like Zero’s Discover the Ride, many people won’t have the benefit of discovering what great commuter vehicles electric motorcycles can be and how much these e-motos can benefit our cities. I hope that we’ll be able to see an electric motorcycle license one day to help solve this problem. Until then, you should definitely try a Zero on a closed course indoors! And check out my Zero FXS review below to see why I think these are the perfect commuting machines for city dwellers.

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