First Zero Type 9 lands in UK

The first production Zero Type 9 from Japan has just arrived at the company’s UK distributor Krazy Horse Custom Cycles in Bury St Edmunds.

The £30,566, 1450cc fuel-injected Harley-Davidson Twin Cam-powered lowrider is a street-legal, production custom bike that meets all European safety standards including the stringent German TUV type approval.

The prototype Type 9 was first shown at the London Custom Bikes Show back in January and what makes this bike technically different is the trick ‘four-link’ suspension system that retains the appearance of a hardtail.

The system is much more minimalist than Harley’s cumbersome ‘Softail’ that aftermarket frame companies have mimicked for years. Rather than employ two laid-down shocks like the ‘Softail’, Zero use a link arm to an upright monoshock that nestles behind the gearbox and in front of the rear tyre.

With the demise of the Cross Bones from Harley’s catalogue, the Zeros are now the only production V-twin custom bikes with springer-style forks, the Japanese company having taken the original Harley design and improved it with modern materials and design.

Read more about the Zero Type 9, Type 8 and new Storz Streetracker available at Krazy Horse in this week’s issue of MCN (5 October), on sale now.

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