Light speed

The Back to the Future saga promised us jetpacks and self-driving flying cars, yet we have TikTok, killer hornets, and N95 face mask eruption. Life is unfair. But if you know where to look, there are sneaky bits of the future creeping up on us - rare glimpses of surreal futurism that play out at the heart of our lives.  

In that sense, we actually do have jetpacks, or rather something similar that brings us closer to the promises of the movie. This is the Zero SR / S electric motorcycle - an incredibly fast and well-balanced electronic missile wrapped in stylish fairings. A totem of earthly lust.  

The Santa Cruz, California-based visionaries have worked for nearly 15 years and released their first street legal, zero-emission motorcycle in 2010. However, a lot has changed since that Zero S prototype, as their two-wheelers Wheels have evolved from cool but clunky electric scooters to what is now undoubtedly a superbly designed and executed machine loaded with fully adjustable Showa suspension, Bosch ABS and stability control.

By now, we all know that electric motors stand out for their torque. Not only do they provide excess spin, they do it instantly - a heady feeling on two wheels. The SR / S's 14.4kWh lithium-ion battery and ZF 75-10 engine have 140 ft-lbs of torque and 110 horsepower, enough to fire the SR / S from standstill to 100 km / h in the blink of an eye (or 1.6 seconds to be exact). And since there's only one gear, the power is vented evenly and generously until it hits triple digits.  

And now famous item customizer Deus Ex Machina has released its own custom version of the SR / S. With its latticed frame and lack of a gas tank, Deus lead designer Michael "Woolie" Woolaway saw the latest version of Zero as the perfect platform on which to base his first fully electric custom build. Teaming up with Lockheed Martin aerospace engineers, Woolie built a new single-mold carbon fiber composite fairing, adding a hand-blown windshield, World Superbike Showa shocks and fork, carbon fiber Dynamag wheels, and F1 spoilers. In its entirety, the makeover gives this futuristic motorcycle a classic and timeless silhouette.