There’s an unavoidable disconnect between a concept motorcycle, and the final production version of it. By the time you’ve added all the stuff you need to make a bike street legal and sufficiently practical, your original design is likely to get watered down. Unless you’re Zero Motorcycles, of course.
A couple of years ago, the Californian electric motorcycle manufacturer commissioned San Fransisco-based Huge Design to create a supermoto concept for them. It was a hit, and the design made it into production as the Zero FXE. And while some changes were made, the FXE is about as close to Huge’s original design as a production motorcycle can get.
Now the two companies are at it again. This time, Zero handed their fully-faired electric sportbike, the Zero SR/S, over to Huge Design, and told them to go wild. The results are astounding.
Dubbed the ‘Zero SR-X,’ this concept has Huge Design’s signature splashed all over it. It follows the same design language as the firm’s ‘MONO RACR‘—a futuristic concept originally created for the Honda CBR1000RR, and the design that first landed Huge on Zero’s radar. And despite being executed on a completely different platform here, it works remarkably well.
“The SR-X concept bike strives to hit a design sweet spot for the near future of electric motorcycles, by combining clean lines and disciplined design-detailing with the aggressive stance and raw performance found in modern liter bikes,” says Huge Design’s founder, Bill Webb.
“This bike is an attempt to define a new sub-category for high-performance electric, something between a streetfighter and a track bike. We wanted true sport riders to appreciate the subtle and balanced design approach—modern, futuristic and clean, without sacrificing the raw performance look and overtly mechanical appeal of high-performance motorcycles.”
In stock form, the Zero SR/S offers 110 hp, and 190 Nm of peak torque, from the company’s proprietary ZF750-10 electric motor. It also comes with fully-adjustable Showa suspension and J.Juan brakes out the box.
With that in mind, Bill and co. opted to leave most of the base bike alone. They did swap out the foot pegs and lower the clip-ons. But for the rest, the SR-X should ‘feel’ a lot like the SR/S—even if it looks a lot wilder.
The stock SR/S bodywork is standard sportbike fare—but Huge’s design sacrifices convention in favor of a front-heavy silhouette with a radical sci-fi vibe. Equal parts organic and mechanical, the modular bodywork starts with a muscular front fairing, before flowing over the bike’s ‘tank’ cover and tapering off towards its waspish tail section.
This forward-leaning style has become common in the custom scene. But if you’ve been reading Bike EXIF for a while, you’d know that it’s a style that Bill pioneered. On this particular build though, this approach serves more than one purpose.
Bill’s been quoted before as saying that “the biggest challenge with electric drivetrains is the lack of visual interest.” He’s not wrong—we can wax lyrical about what petrol-powered bike has the prettiest engine, but most electric motors are slabby by nature.
The way Huge has executed the bodywork here, it hides most of the drivetrain, while emphasizing the more aesthetically-pleasing mechanical elements towards the back of the bike.
Despite the progressive design, the SR-X’s surface finishes are remarkably minimalistic. Here, it’s all about the details; the tasteful red outline that frames the front of the bike, the LED head- and taillights that are perfectly blended into the design, and even the small bump fore of the bars that accommodates the dashboard. A handful of aluminum details help to visually connect the new parts to the donor chassis.
We shudder to think how many hours were spent on CAD software and 3D prototyping to get this right. But one thing’s for sure: Huge Design did indeed get it right. The Zero SR-X looks spectacular, and once again proves the versatility of the electric motorcycle as a vehicle for customization.
Does Zero intend to put the SR-X into production? We don’t know. But we do know that the company isn’t afraid to take risks—and we know that where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.
We’ll leave you with this suitably cryptic quote from Brian Wismann, Zero’s VP of Product Development; “The result exceeds expectations and points the way forward for our internal design teams.”
Huge Design | Zero Motorcycles
