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[There707]

Who do you use when you have a service issue; Dealer or Zero directly?

I the reason I ask is I've noticed a number of posts indicating dealer challenges and just today I brought my DS back because the front fork seal is leaking. The mechanic told me he figured it would be warranty but one of the managers said that Zero will most likely not cover it because it is a dual sport and most people abuse them. I have a hard time believing that this comment came from Zero so I am going to just assume it is the one person at my dealer. If you have personal experience dealing with Zero directly, I would be curious on your thoughts. Would they not cover a fork seal after only 2600km? Oh and I have no where near abused this bike. I don't abuse any of my bikes!

[KrazyEd]

   I have read horror stories about all kinds of problems people have had with the Zero in general, and, with dealer support.
My 2012 XU was purchased from Carter Powersports here in Vegas. It was a close out, since they no longer going to be
carrying the Zero brand. Even though they are no longer going to be a dealer, I have had excellent work done by their
service department. The only problems I have had were the front forks which have been replaced several times. Finally
got a good set, no more leaks ( keeping fingers crossed ) A turn signal relay, and, presently waiting on a rear fender.
All under warranty. I bring the bike in, they verify the issue, call me when parts are in, and, I bring my XU back. It has
never been in more than a few hours.
   I see others having problems with overheating after a few minutes of high speed. This was a concern I had prior to
purchase. Since the XU is the "runt", and, it gets VERY hot here in Vegas, I was worried about overheating on such
a small bike. I am 200 lbs, so, at the upper end of acceptable range. I have never had any issues, in fact, the other
day, it was 110 degrees F., and, on the way to work, I hit the highest speed yet at 77 mph indicated. To be fair, this
was on a slight down grade. I am able to get it to 75 mph anytime I wish. I have verified speed with GPS up to around
40 mph, but, not at the higher speeds. As long as Carter continues to support the bike, I will have them do the service.

[benswing]

A fork leaking oil is covered under warranty. 

I happen to have a really good dealer who knows how to handle the bikes and how to communicate with Zero.  Not all dealers have either or both skills. 

[Richard230]

I don't think Zero wants to handle warranty claims directly any more.  They now want their dealer's to take care of any problems, as is done by all other established motorcycle and auto manufacturers.  I might add that BMW considers fork seals to be a "wear item" and it would take a lot of effort by one of their dealers to convince them to fix a leaking seal on any bike.  They also consider clutches, wheel bearings, steering head bearings, chains, brake pads and a lot of other chassis stuff to be "wear items" and not covered by their warranty.  But sometimes a good dealer can convince them to cover the problem.  I once had the steering bearings replaced under warranty on my F650GS after only 10K miles when the dealer discovered that they were not greased properly at the factory.  (The same thing happened on my 1997 F650 Funduro, I might add.)

[KrazyEd]

I am glad that I wasn't considering a BMW.
Doesn't sound like they are very proud of
their quality

[Richard230]

I am glad that I wasn't considering a BMW.
Doesn't sound like they are very proud of
their quality

Consumer Reports did a survey of some 4500 motorcycle owners last year and both BMW and Harley had the most complaints (76% of the owners had problems) about reliability, warranty claims and dealer service.  Yamaha had the fewest complaints (something like 17%) about mechanical problems.  Oddly, both BMW and Harley owners said that they were the most likely to buy the same brand the next time they purchased a motorcycle, while Yamaha owners were the least likely to want to buy another one.  So go figure.   

[dkw12002]

Maybe with Yamaha the problems are so numerous nobody complains cause they don't know where to begin. Ha. I bought an FZ-07 a couple of weeks ago, my first Yamaha, in part based on the glowing CR article about so few complaints, and it is a very nice bike with no issues so far with 600 miles now. 

If I didn't have a dealer, I wouldn't own a Zero since they are hi-tech machines. The dealer should have found out if Zero would cover the fork leak and then got back to you with the information and how much it would cost to fix the problem if it wasn't covered by warranty. That's the way it's always worked for me.

[peter]

BMW is also prepared to step up when something goes wrong, too - R1200RT issues at present for example:
http://bmwmcmag.com/2014/06/bmw-motorrad-usa-provides-options-to-owners-after-2014-r1200rt-stop-ride-notice/

Rear shock's defective so owners shouldn't ride it.

Options BM USA is offering -
Wait for a repair, get compensated $2,500 once the repair is complete.
Want a loaner? Get a loaner +$1K towards gear or off the payments on the bike; or
Don't want it? BM USA will buy it back and give $1K off another BM.

Doesn't sound like they (BMW) are very proud of their quality? I'd be delighted for Zero to show a similar lack of pride.
Peter

[Richard230]

BMW is also prepared to step up when something goes wrong, too - R1200RT issues at present for example:
http://bmwmcmag.com/2014/06/bmw-motorrad-usa-provides-options-to-owners-after-2014-r1200rt-stop-ride-notice/

Rear shock's defective so owners shouldn't ride it.

Options BM USA is offering -
Wait for a repair, get compensated $2,500 once the repair is complete.
Want a loaner? Get a loaner +$1K towards gear or off the payments on the bike; or
Don't want it? BM USA will buy it back and give $1K off another BM.

Doesn't sound like they (BMW) are very proud of their quality? I'd be delighted for Zero to show a similar lack of pride.
Peter

I can't recall ever seeing an offer like that due to a BMW recall.  My guess is that they have a whole lot of interest in making their customers that just purchased the new R1200RT water-cooled bike happy as it is a new model and their customers spent a lot of money buying it only to be told a few weeks later that they can not ride the the RT and may have to wait months for the new shocks to arrive and be installed on their bike.  Also, since the shock was made by Sachs, they can probably send the bill for the recall and customer refunds or loaners and cash rebates to Sachs.  If BMW had to eat the cost of a recall like this, they might not be so generous.   

[pdm]

Why bring up BMW (Or any other brand) when talking about the dealership and service of Zero (Or other brands). It always puzzles me when people try to compare something bad to something terrible, to try and make the bad sound good, because something worse exists in the universe.

I really wanted to buy a Zero, the test ride on the FX was awesome, one of the best motorcycle experience I've had. But given the problems with dealerships, and the amount of problems compared to the amount produced, I'm waiting a bit on this.

If I had a dealer I could trust, and that knew the bikes inside/out, I would be buying one. So my advice to the OP, make sure the dealer sells more than one bike, and that they invest the time and money in getting to know the bikes.



PS The only bike I have had that's been more reliable than BMW has been Honda, but their lineup is pretty boring these days.

[Bakersbread]

 Want to chime in here just because I know a lot of this has to do with the dealer. I have a 2013 ds my dealer has done a motor swap, kickstand switch, and a few other things and from what it seems like is Zero is willing to do pretty much anything to make you happy. The dealer had to buy a new motor send the old one back and then get reimbursed so I'm sure for some things some dealers don't want to shell out $ to just have to wait to get payed back. My dealer here in Utah has done everything they could to make me as happy as possible and zero has taken very good care of me directly. Went 3 weeks without a bike and zero was very willing to do what they could to make it up to me. Think you just have to get a hold of the right people. There still aren't a lot of people working there as they are still such a young company (to mass sales since 2013 model came out) they try pretty hard to keep up with the work load.

[Richard230]

Why bring up BMW (Or any other brand) when talking about the dealership and service of Zero (Or other brands). It always puzzles me when people try to compare something bad to something terrible, to try and make the bad sound good, because something worse exists in the universe.

I really wanted to buy a Zero, the test ride on the FX was awesome, one of the best motorcycle experience I've had. But given the problems with dealerships, and the amount of problems compared to the amount produced, I'm waiting a bit on this.

If I had a dealer I could trust, and that knew the bikes inside/out, I would be buying one. So my advice to the OP, make sure the dealer sells more than one bike, and that they invest the time and money in getting to know the bikes.



PS The only bike I have had that's been more reliable than BMW has been Honda, but their lineup is pretty boring these days.

The reason that I tend to compare Zero with BMW is because their motorcycle prices are similar (although BMW seems to be pulling ahead of Zero lately) and BMW is the only major manufacturer to offer an electric vehicle, the C Evolution scooter.

[CliC]

I had the fork seal leak on my 2012 DS, and it was covered under warranty. However, it took 4 trips to 2 different dealers to get it finally fixed. The problem wasn't the seals, but rather the fork internals disintegrating causing metal shavings to get into the fork seals. One of the replacement forks was also defective. But it works now.

[There707]

The mechanic figured the fork was overfilled and with that lack of air space, the oil pressure under compression pushed past the seal somehow damaging it. I have no idea on that theory, just that I hope Zero and my dealer cover it under warranty.

[There707]

Well my dealer said they would cover the leaking seals under warranty  ... thought that would be the end of the story. Two plus weeks later I just found out that they only ordered one seal and the other one would take at least another week to get them from Zero  . I sure hope I do not have bigger issues like CliC because four trips to my dealer may mean I am done riding my DS for the season.
I can't believe it will take 1 week to get a seal from Zero!

I have read so many good things about Harlan at Hollywood Electrics; Can we clone him?

.