I recently started riding a motorcycle in the last 2 years. One of my favorite aspects of motorcycles are how easy it is to find a solid 30-year-old bike that still runs well and costs less than $5k. You can still buy parts for it… 30 _years_ later. Nothing else in my life shares that quality. I can continue repairing them and keep them running, which is a fun little hobby.

I really want to like the idea of electric motorcycles, but I have very low confidence that they would be built for the long term. Having to worry about software and security makes me even less excited.

A direct email from Zero Motorcycles to owners probably as a result of this blog post:

SUBJECT: Firmware Release & Ongoing Security Measures

Dear Zero Owners,

March 25th Firmware Update (BMU V20)

On the morning of March 25th, as part of our ongoing improvements, we released a firmware update for select 2022+ Zero models that improves the accuracy of the battery state-of-charge and range display. This update addresses a condition where, over time, the system could overestimate available charge, which in rare cases could lead to the motorcycle shutting down before the display reaches 0%. Following installation, some riders may notice a lower battery percentage or reduced range estimate. This is expected and reflects corrected, more accurate readings — actual riding range is not affected.

See details at zeromotorcycles.com/firmware.

Ongoing Security Enhancements

Separately, we recently became aware of potential issues in our motorcycles’ firmware and are taking steps to address them with your safety and security in mind. This work is ongoing, and we remain committed to strengthening system protections across our platform.

We understand how important trust and dependability are when you ride. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Zero Motorcycles Team

I guess you can build electric motorcycles as a security nightmare, though my ebike which is basically a less powerful too wheels and electric motor can't be hacked online as it has no app, internet connection or anything like that. Also my old petrol motorcycles. I don't know if people really want the internet connected bit?

Somehow I'm not surprised that Zero's software is terrible. I don't think being new has anything to do with it, they are just that type of company.

That's a really nice article. I don't typically read security exploit posts but it was pretty interesting.

In the section about possible attacks, it wasn't clear if those three options represented the worst things you could do or just possible ideas. It seemed to me that locking the throttle to maximum would be worse.

The article adds risks about some of the chemicals used.

The first chemical though, Dichloromethane, found in some paint strippers is a highly restricted chemical in the UK.

It can be a silent killer in confined spaces.

It doesnt mention this though, I wonder if they knew.

Firmware not being signed by certificates in 2026 is wild.

Cool article. Take out the dumb proselytizing about AI use, it’s totally out of place.

Seems like the Zero in Zero Motorcycles stands for the security

Fair to say that motorcyclists are risk-on people.