Commonplace electric motorcycles take a lot of heat for possessing toyish design features, often looking more like a wannabe urban motorcycle commuter than a serious contender on the racetrack. But slowly, electric bike technology is bleeding into the world of competition. And there’s some severe aesthetic ingenuity bleeding in with it. And the retooled, one-off electric SR/S by Deus ex Machina and Zero Motorcycles combines a most capable electric powertrain with exceptional architecture.
Taste-maker Deus ex Machina partnered with Zero, the leader in electric motorcycles, to completely re-imagine what an electric bike could look like sans conventional restraints. To complete this task, the companies turned to none other than renowned bike builder Michael “Woolie” Woolaway. The result was a swing for the fences.
Zero SR/S Bike Platform
To begin this project, Zero gave Woolaway its soon-to-be-released SR/S way back in February 2020. The SR/S model is one of Zero’s latest attempts to buck the perception that electric motorcycles are just appliances with wheels. The SR/S model is Zero’s first full-fairing motorcycle whose ergonomics are more akin to a touring machine’s than a race bike’s. However, the bike has all the right stuff for a remodel.
Motorcycle Playground
Looking at Woolie’s redesigned Zero, it is almost challenging to envision the original SR/S living beneath the new livery. Woolie claims he “shaped the bike by hand,” starting with the gas tank and working his way through the fairings and tail section. Electing to buck the trend of sketch-ups and computer renderings, the Venice-based builder instead implemented hand tools to shape everything out of foam plastic.
There’s much more to this re-imagined SR/S than just a new fairing. The windscreen from Zero Gravity is all-race, so don’t expect to get behind it unless you’re prepared to go full-on race mode. Saddlemen provided the low profile seat, and a custom thumb break came straight from Spain to add a little MotoGP-inspired technology.
Overall the design is a beautiful re-think of what an electric bike can look like. Let’s just hope that this kind of look carries over into the consumer world because this bespoke bike ain’t for sale.
