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Zero Motorcycles Habla Español

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Your favorite electric motorcycle company from the sunny beach town of Santa Cruz is about to get some more international appeal, as Zero Motorcycles has announced today that it will expand its dealer network south of the border and into Mexico. Signing local distributor Dofesa Aventura (the Mexican distributor for Polaris and its Victory motorcycle brand), Zero’s S and DS models are immediately available for demo rides, and the rest of Zero’s line-up is expected to be available in the coming weeks.

This move continues Zero’s agressive international presence, as the brand already entered the European market back in 2008, and completes Zero’s presence in North America as Zero Motorcycles are already available in the United States and Canada as well.

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News

Video: Shinya Kimura – Motorcycle Artist

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Don’t call him a custom motorcycle builder, Shinya Kimura is really more of any artist whose medium is on two-wheels (among other formats). In an industry that centers around products that should resonate with their owners, Kimura finds a way to put more soul into metal than just about anyone else we know. Check out after the jump this unlisted YouTube video by Henrik Hanssen, which shows Kimura and his work from his shop Chabott Engineering.

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Racing

Zero/Agni Sits On TTXGP Pole – Lightning Close Behind as Both Teams Do Sub-Two Minute Laps

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Qualifying ended today at Infineon Raceway, with nearly all the riders improving on their times in the day’s later qualifying session. While all the entrants will get to compete in the race regardless of whether or not they qualify, the two outings for Saturday gave us a preview as to what we can expect on Sunday’s race. As we’ve mentioned before, the Zero/Agni motorcycle looked very strong with Shawn Higbee at the helm.

Also looking confident was the “flying banana” fielded by Lightning Motors. Piloted by Michael Barnes, Barney took the yellow lightning machine around the course at a pace that was just seconds off what Higbee & Co. were lapping. We know the yellow bike has a lot of power on-board, and could give Zero a run for their money if they’ve been sand-bagging it during the practice sessions. Finishing out the top three was Thad Wolff and his stunning Norton, which blended a little bit of old with new with his streamlined retro bike chassis. Click past the jump for photos from qualifying and a full list of results.

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Racing

Zero/Agni Dominates at TTXGP Practice

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TTXGP hit American soil here at Infineon Raceway today, with two zero-emission practice sessions under its belt for the day. Although dubbed an historic moment, today’s big winner probably wasn’t the sport of electric motorcycle racing, despite ZeroAgni put on a strong performance during the practice sessions. At the helm of the ZeroAgni bike was AMA privateer Shawn Higbee, who looked the part on the former Team Agni Isle of Man bike. Higbee was carrying tons of corner speed, and was the only electric sportbike rider to lap the course at near sportbike speed, and to really go the distance lap-wise.

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Racing

Zero/Agni Running Isle of Man Bike at Infineon

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As we get ready for TTXGP’s first race in the United States this weekend (and apparently the AMA is racing with them too, who knew?), more details are emerging about what we can expect from Sunday’s race. Our operatives caught Team ZeroAgni and K² out at Thunderhill last week, and saw a modified Zero S (K²’s entry), and a GSX-R piloted by Shawn Higbee taking laps around the track. With the GSX-R clearly not TTXGP legal, we were left to speculate what AMA privateer Higbee would be riding at Infineon, and now we know: it’s the inaugural TTXGP winning bike from Agni Motors (you can see the bike re-painted above, with it’s noticeable “tank-plank” protruding).

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Racing

Zero Not Racing A Mavizen at Infineon TTXGP

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After hearing that Werkstatt Racing and Repair would soon be taking delivery of the first Mavizen to hit US soil, our ears piqued because we were under the impression that Zero Motorcycles must surely have recieved their Mavizens already, after announcing that the team would field two Mavizen bikes in the TTXGP series a while back.

With that apparently not the case, rumors suggested that Zero would be using another non-proprietary chassis at the first round of the TTXGP series at Infineon Raceway. While Zero wasn’t able to comment on their racing plans to us before the weekend, we do have some clues on what the company has up its sleeve from what we know already. More after the jump.

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News

Zero Motorcycles Grabs Ex-Bueller Abe Askenazi

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Zero Motorcycles and other electric manufacturers are rising stars in the motorcycle industry where few American companies have seen large scale success. Late last year one of the most loved to hate American motorcycle companies in history closed it’s doors just as it was starting to win AMA races and claimed an AMA Daytona Superbike Championship.

Years of motorcycle experience hit the streets after Buell closed it’s doors and it appears Zero was able to grab 14 years of it by bringing on Abe Askenazi as Vice President of Engineering. With that much knowledge of motorcycles under his belt, it is a great sign companies like Zero are on the right track. Check out the press release after the break for more details.

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News

Zero Motorcycles Raises Additional $5.5M in Funding

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Zero Motorcycles has raised an additional $5.5 million in its Series A funding, bringing it’s total war chest to just over $10.5 million in funding to date. The Invus Groups seems to have lead, if not solely financed, the Series A round, and retains two seats on Zero’s Board of Directors. The funding is reported to “help grow the company”, which in these financial climates could mean anything from paying looming costs to amounting cash for harder days ahead. Whatever the reason, it’s a positive sign for Zero Motorcycles, and an early high-point to their 2010 accomplishments.

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Racing

Zero Enters TTXGP Racing Series [Updated]

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UPDATE: Neal Saiki comments about using the Mavizen chassis.

Zero Motorcycles has announced their entry into the 2010 TTXGP series, where they will race against Team Agni, and competitors using the CRP Racing and Mavizen platforms. Early reports peg Zero as also using a Mavizen TTX02 platform, essentially a KTM RC8 chassis gutted of its ICE components. Despite using the Mavizen/KTM chassis, the race bike will be powered by Zero’s Z-Force battery packs and motors.

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Opinion/Editorial

Tradition Is Not A Business Model: Zero Motorcycles

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Walking into the office of a company is always an interesting experience. For a company, the work place is the first expression of the company’s culture. Similarly, workspaces are often a reflection of the people that work inside them, an occupational rorschach test if you will. Yet, despite its importance and revealing nature, a company headquarters is rarely experienced by the end-consumer. It is an interesting disparity that occurs in every industry, and the electric motorcycle scene is no different.

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