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S LineDS LineX LineLS Line
Compare ModelsBryan Campbell
PR & Communications Manager
April 22, 2025
Our results from both the 2023 and 2024 Biltwell 100 proved the DSR/X can take on the harsh Mojave Desert at race pace, go toe-to-toe with petrol-powered competition, and come home with the gold. A hat-trick of DSR/X class wins was in the cards for the 2025 Biltwell 100, but this year’s main objective? A trial-by-fire for the all-new Zero XB and XE.
The Biltwell 100 is certainly unique in its quest to provide a competitive environment for a wide range of riders with varying skill levels, riding equally diverse machinery across multiple classes. Considering event registration each year reaches capacity within a few hours of opening, the success is obvious.
This year, for the first time, the Biltwell 100 organisers introduced dedicated electric-only classes, while still allowing electric bikes to compete alongside petrol-powered machines in other categories. That kind of openness is great to see—and it gives us the perfect chance to test and develop our motorcycles in the kind of terrain Zero Motorcycles riders might want to explore themselves.
A 25-mile lap doesn’t seem like much on paper, but not every bike makes it home in one piece. Each year, the Biltwell 100 course changes, but the intensity of the terrain is perennial. Full-throttle stretches littered with hidden washouts, deep sand, rock gardens, clouds of dust – it’s all standard fare.
Did we mention mini bikes in the list of obstacles to look out for?
“Good times, not lap times”—that’s the Biltwell 100’s slogan, and it truly sets the tone for the event. Still, once you’re lined up bar-to-bar with other racers, resisting the urge to chase the clock is almost as tough as the course itself.
For us, racing the Biltwell 100 serves two purposes: having a blast and collecting valuable development data. Who better to put our pre-production bikes to the test than the very engineers responsible for fine-tuning their performance, along with industry friends who eat, sleep, and breathe lightweight e-motos?
The XB and XE are the first production models from Zero Motorcycles built specifically for off-road riding, and anyone who’s spent time in the dirt knows the demands are on another level. Getting a dirt bike to feel planted, responsive, and fast requires real experience.
Alongside our race team of engineers and technicians, we invited our friend Tucker Neary from Electric Cycle Rider to come out and race with us on one condition—give us your honest, filter-free feedback after pushing these bikes at race pace.
A weekend riding and racing in the desert was the perfect proving ground, giving us plenty of time to sit down and gather unfiltered feedback from Tucker and the other racers on throttle response, suspension, top speed, controls, battery swaps, weight, and range.
You can find Tucker's feedback after his first time pre-running the Zero XE here, or catch the full race recap on YouTube here.
Looks fast. Is fast.
For 2025, we ran a DSR/X in the ADV Heavy class, pitting it against ICE competitors. One DSR/X, one FX, and two XEs would run in the Electric Endurance Class which only needed to complete two laps of the 25-mile course with battery swaps allowed. Two XEs and one XB ran in Electric Open, an all-out 1-lap sprint with no battery swaps.
As absolute featherweights compared to the DSR/X, the XB and XE tip the scales at just 135 lbs. and 223 lbs., respectively. Both X Line bikes ran in electric-exclusive classes, yet their times and speeds matched those of modern petrol-powered dirt bikes. With 465 lb-ft of torque on the XE and 275 lb-ft on the XB, it’s easy to see why.
Going toe-to-toe with a sea of all-electric competition.
So how did the XB and XE do? In Electric Open, on XEs, our Senior Motor Systems Technician Dylan Andrako and R&D Technician Mike Mattoch took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively with Dealer Marketing Specialist Jackie Rose bringing home a hard-fought 5th place on the XB.
In the Electric Endurance class, Chief Test Rider Trevor Doniak earned the final podium spot on an XE while Tucker Neary from Electric Cycle Rider crossed the line in 4th on an XE as well.
And up against the petrol bikes in the ADV Heavy class? Our man Patrick Flynn earned that top-step hat-trick for the DSR/X and brought home the gold.
Big thanks to the Biltwell crew for throwing the best desert race in the West, and to DP4 Racing for making it all run smoothly. Huge shoutout to our HQ pit crew and every electric rider who lined up—especially the three additional Zero Motorcycles riders who joined in to heat up the competition. Eleven Zero motorcycles battling it out in a single weekend? Not a bad day at the office. When your mission is building the best electric motorcycles around, it’s hard not to have a little fun along the way.
