Something New This Way Comes: Zero Teases Brand-New Model

Zero Motorcycles has been having a good time lately and with its main competitor Alta Motors seemingly out of the way, the brand gets to shine brighter than ever. For 2019, it brought a flight of updates to its lineup ranging from new standard accessories to power and range increase. It looks like the company isn’t going to stop at a few minor updates for the new year: it’s also going to bring a brand-new bike to the market: the SR/F.

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Without any bells and whistles, the teaser showed up on the manufacturer’s Website and social media, showing a headlight, the contour of a darkened silhouette, and a date: February 25, 2019. The promising description talks of a “first of its kind” with “effortless power” and “precise instinct”. Of course, we won’t get to know much more until what we guess will be the launch on February 25, but this doesn’t mean we won’t try to take a guess as to what recipe Zero is cooking. Let’s try to work with what we have and see what we come up with.

First off, the use of the “SR” appellation (or just the S, really) refers to Zero’s street-oriented models. There already is an SR offered in the lineup, which is the higher-performing version of the S. In this case, the addition of the F could have meant a fully-faired version of the SR, but that would have been too easy. Zero teases a naked street bike with an all-new platform on its Facebook—so definitely not the SR we already know. Plus, while the bike is blacked out, we can also easily guess that we’re not looking at a fully-faired bike—only four LED clusters topped with a cowl and framed by air curtains.

Maybe then, the F could stand for something as simple as “Fast”—new bike, new electric powertrain focused on high performance, sort of a hypermotard. Or “Free”, with swappable battery technology? Or “Far” with an extended range? Or why not all of the above? After all, the swappable battery technology is gaining momentum and helps reduce range anxiety, which is a must in electric motorcycles nowadays. Plus, considering the massive air curtains on each side of the bike, which we can assume are functional and provide a higher air intake, an increase in performance and range is a plausible theory—batteries and electric motors do need cooling as well. Plus, the brand hasn’t dabbled in high-performance yet, so this would be a logical addition to its lineup.

We’ll know for sure what Zero is working on at the end of February, but until then, your guesses are as good as ours.