The Customized Zero DS That's Perfectly At Home In The Ocean
This is what happens when an eclectic deep-sea diver has a lot of time on his hands
A self-described underwater photographer, technology entrepreneur, helicopter pilot, and Pacific Cup sailing veteran, Kerry Brown is a man of many interests. When it comes to his transportation on dry land, Brown is the owner of a 2014 Zero DS. Considering his many interests, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Brown customized it. For this he took inspiration from his love of underwater photography and went nuts making his DS look like something at home in the ocean.
He says he designed the bike and his matching riding suit during an extensive patent IP portfolio negotiation that took several months. According to Brown, the theme for the design depicts the DS as a deep-sea Snaggletooth Viper/Angler Fish, while he rides around wearing a deep sea hardhat diver leather riding suit. The date on the helmet is that of the first electric motorcycle patent issuance date, a year before actual production in 1896.
There is an electroluminescent gas plasma “lure” on the tank, in addition to the LED glow strip, similar to the bioluminescent lures found on deep-sea angler fish. Brown has also found a way to take advantage of an electric’s relative lack of noise by fitting a Finnish SoundRacer 40-watt sound system to provide Shelby Cobra engine sounds(!), and Brown says he designed the leather saddlebag, complete with engraved octopi and Chinese fish-style lock. It was made by a student in Israel. The seat is made of ostrich skin and is very similar in color and texture to the actual angler fish skin depicted on the frame. The tank has a whirlpool to represent power production, and the tail piece has ocean wake vortices. Most frame parts were anodized black.
The Angler fish painting is by Daneen Bronson of Custom Air Brush by Daneen and has a rubber “tongue” with papillae. The bash-plate has another luminescent lure. Brown provided the basic fish examples, colors, and general outlines for the fish, tank, and helmet, while Daneen worked the airbrush to bring Sparky, the Snaggletooth Viper/Angler fish, alive.
To see the lighting and sound system in action, check out the video below.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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Love the big, sloppy ICE noises coming from that thing! lol!