FEATURE - Deus Zero SR/S custom

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Deus ex Machina

What did you achieve during coronavirus lockdowns? Most of us who kept our jobs would consider that an achievement. And given the circumstances, that’s fair enough.

Those fortunate enough to be able to travel beyond their immediate surrounds no doubt took their bike out for a long ride, enjoying the reduced traffic and perhaps finally appreciating the "freedom" that so much of motorcycling is about.

There are some who used the downtime to finish off those “one of these days” projects, while the more adventurous took on entirely new projects. You can count Michael Woolaway, former US Motorcycle Director at Deus ex Machina, in the latter category, as he took a stock bike and gave it an all-new look.

‘Nothing special about that,’ you might say. ‘Deus have produced hundreds of custom bikes.’ And yes, that’s true, but this build was something special.

First and Last

What you’re looking at is the first Zero SR/S electric motorcycle to get the custom treatment – not just by Deus, but by ANY custom builder.

This is also the first electric motorcycle of any type to be customised by ‘Woolie’ Woolaway, as well as being the last one he’d build under Deus colours. Shortly after completing this project in the middle of 2020, Woolie left Deus to take on a new position as Head of Industrial Design at motorcycle seat specialists, Saddlemen.

Being the last product from “Woolie’s Workshop,” this build was always going to be noteworthy, with the Zero base unit adding to the interest. Woolaway deliberately took a low tech approach to this high-tech bike, too, which upped the interest level even further.

From the Highs. . .

The roots of this collaboration go back to 2019, when Woolaway met engineers from the Zero Motorcycles Race Team at that year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.

Given they don’t suffer the atmospheric strangulation that internal combustion engines do at high altitudes, electric vehicles have become the go-to for drivers and riders looking to set new records at the famous US hill climb event. And while Woolaway’s been a handy runner in hill climbs, he looked at Zero’s Pikes Peak contenders and saw something more than just a competition machine.

“When I met the guys out at Pike’s Peak and really got a good look at the bike, I thought, ‘That bike is the perfect platform to build something with because there’s no gas tank and there’s this trellis frame that’s beautiful. Everything else comes off and there’s nothing there’,” Woolaway recalled. “So, in my mind, I was thinking, ‘I’d love to do something with that bike because it’s a blank sheet of paper’.”

Zero must have been thinking along similar lines, because it didn’t take long for talk of a collaboration to become a reality. So, this past February, just before the official public unveiling of the SR/S, Zero sent one to Deus’s Venice Beach HQ for Woolie to work his magic.

Given Zero hasn’t had a presence here in Australia since 2017, the SR/S probably needs some explanation.

A “sports touring” version of Zero’s SR/F naked streetfighter that was launched in 2019, the SR/S runs the same air-cooled permanent-magnet 82kW/190Nm ‘Z-Force’ electric motor and 14.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack, but adds a full fairing, adjustable Showa suspension, J.Juan brakes (with ABS) and touring-friendly touches like higher handlebars and lower footpegs for a more upright riding position.

The simple addition of the fairing (a Zero first) makes the bike more aerodynamically efficient, improving range by a claimed 13 per cent. For the record, the SR/S’s maximum range is 320km with the optional ‘Power Tank’ that increases battery capacity, although without this, "City" range is 259km/h and “Highway” range as low as 132km/h. Top speed is just shy of 200km/h and, of course, being electric, acceleration with the SR/S is instant.

There’s no clutch or transmission, but four different riding modes alter the bike’s power output, as well as the regenerative braking and traction control intervention, to suit different riding conditions. These can also be set remotely via a smartphone app.

While all those specs are well and good for the eco-conscious motorcyclist, Woolaway wasn’t looking at the SR/S that way. He saw it as a canvas – a new, fresh, blank canvas.

. . . to the Lows

Zero had given Woolaway free rein to create whatever he wanted, and after some time spent riding and appreciating the bike in its stock form, the ideas began to flow.

“I wanted to do something kind of old and new - old shapes that I grew up with and new technology,” Woolaway said

That ‘old meets new’ ethos would manifest itself in the former by abandoning the computer and forming the template for the bodywork by hand, using foam, plastic and traditional shaping, measuring and transfer tools, what Woolaway referred to as the old school way.

The design of the replacement bodywork definitely had an old school racebike vibe, too, with a boxy, Manx-style tank, rounded upper fairing and slim tail unit.

For the new part of the equation, replacement bodywork in carbon fibre was formed over the foam and plastic bucks, with Woolaway calling on aerospace engineers from Lockheed Martin to assist with elements of the monocoque assembly, even though Taylor Made Racing in the US produced the bodywork that comprises three separate pieces. The tank, tail and upper fairing is all one unit and weighs just over 3kg.

To this, Saddlemen added the custom seat and Zero Gravity supplied a hand-formed windscreen.

Under normal conditions, the build would have gone smoothly, but due to COVID, it became complex as access to materials and specialty services became difficult, even in the US. That forced Woolaway to get even more creative than usual and call on all the industry contacts he’s built up over the years to keep the project moving.

At times, the build progressed at a snail’s pace, at least compared to Woolaway’s usual schedule, but being able to focus on the project was no doubt a welcome distraction from COVID.

A True Transformation

Woolaway’s retro-style, high-tech bodywork did a remarkable job in masking the SR/S’s origins. At first glance, you’d think this creation was a petrol-powered machine, but under the skin, the electric drivetrain is completely untouched.

Same goes for the chassis, with the new bodywork designed specifically to attach to the existing mount points on the Zero’s trellis frame. The swingarm is the stock unit, too, but the footpegs and bracket for the pillion pegs were ditched. Replacement units were much more subtle and came with a slight rearset.

Continuing the lightweight approach set with the bodywork, the wheels are carbon fibre, supplied by Dymag. The top fork yoke is also a custom-made carbon fibre unit, produced by Attack Racing.

Enhancing the racebike look are clip-ons from Graves Motorsports and Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa semi-slick tyres, while the Showa suspension that’s standard on the SR/S was upgraded to the same type of fully-adjustable Showa BFF units used in World Superbike competition.

Another race-inspired touch that escapes attention at first glance is the thumb-operated rear brake, which any fan of grand prix racing knows is what helped Mick Doohan to his five consecutive 500cc World Championships.

If you don’t know the story, the short version is that Doohan was looking like a runaway winner in the 1992 500cc season when a crash at Assen left him with a badly fractured lower right leg. Complications from this, which almost led to the leg being amputated, resulted in Doohan lacking the strength needed to operate the rear brake by foot, so he called on Brembo to come up with a solution and they developed a lever for the left-hand handlebar which was thumb operated.

Doohan pioneered the thumb brake, but many other GP racers have since used it while recovering from similar injuries. Some fit riders employ it, too, finding it’s more effective and allows more sensitive rear braking control than the traditional foot pedal at certain circuits.

In the Deus application, it was more about cleaning up the foot controls, but it’s nice to know there’s a touch of Australia in this build, albeit indirectly!

Final Flourish

Finishing touches on the build included a pair of fairing winglets made from a genuine Formula 1 car winglet: “I decided it’d be neat to put some wings on it – because wings are cool,” Woolaway laughed.

A custom bracket was fabricated for that thumb-operated rear brake caliper, but the rest of the braking package is stock Zero SR/S.

Cosmetic touches started with subtle indications of the bike's electric power on the “fuel tank” and seat, while blacking out the fork legs, with the compression sections anodised in blue, was done to accentuate the paintwork. Combining a rich deep blue with clearcoat sections exposing the carbon fibre, that paint was applied by Anaheim Rod & Custom.

The full-colour TFT dash panel is the stock Zero unit, while the factory switchgear, including the SR/S’s mode selector and cruise control switches, were incorporated onto the Graves clip-ons.

Finally, the bike’s quad headlamp set-up was replaced with a single light unit in the carbon fibre fairing, and, reflecting this custom’s competition inspiration, there is no tail light and no indicators.

“This is not a normal motorcycle,” Woolaway said after completing the project. “It’s something different and special.”

It’s also set the bar for builders creating custom electric bikes in the future.

Granted, things may be grim worldwide at the moment, but with guys like Woolie showing us what can be achieved under trying conditions, we’ve got something positive and inspiring to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.