Zero will pay new riders to get on electric motorcycles… just not in the US
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- Zero Motorcycles launched a 'New Rider Bonus' offering €500 cash back on larger models (DSR/X, SR/F, S, DS) and €250 on the LS1 scooter and XE lightweight models for buyers who purchase within three months of earning their motorcycle license
- The promotion covers riders holding A1, A2, or full A licenses plus UK CBT and Irish IBT certificates, and applies to 2025 or 2026 model year bikes bought from authorized dealers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, and Luxembourg
- American riders are excluded entirely from the program, continuing a pattern in which the California-born company has relocated its headquarters to Europe and launched Europe-only products like an electric scooter and homologated Sur Ron-style dirt bikes
- The incentive targets newly trained riders before they develop brand loyalty to gasoline-powered motorcycles, capitalizing on the narrow window when first-time buyers are actively shopping for their first bike
- Stronger European policy support and consumer adoption for electric two-wheelers make the transatlantic split a deliberate market-following decision rather than an oversight
Why it matters: Zero is spending real money to hook first-time European riders before they ever touch a gas bike, while American enthusiasts — the audience that watched the brand pioneer modern electric motorcycles in California — get nothing. The omission is a concrete signal that the company's commercial future is now in Europe, and US dealer networks lose a tool to convert curious new riders into electric adopters at the earliest possible point.
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