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[Vanessa]

I think my 2012 Zero S ZF9 has the motor problem described by others in recent posts.

Late last fall (soon after I had the firmware updated to fix the original "glitch") and again this spring (I didn't ride over the winter), I often had brief incidents (always on the highway, and usually at the same speed) when the motor would stutter, grind, and slow the bike a few mph. It was always brief, and I could usually get out of it by rolling off the throttle or accelerating. Then it was fine the rest of the ride. It always seemed to hit at around the same speed (around 60 mph at first), so I figured I just had to avoid going that speed. But then it started happening at other speeds (such as 65 mph), still at highway speeds. But nothing I couldn't handle.

Last Thursday, though, things got worse. It happened an extra time in the morning when I was accelerating while passing a car. On my evening ride home from work, it started happening at slower speeds than ever before, around 45-55 mph, and it didn't go away when I changed speed. And it wasn't brief. It lasted at least a minute or two. I was worried I'd have to pull off to the side of the road and wouldn't make it home. It was OK for most of the rest of the ride, but came back again near the end of the ride (again, on the highway).

These recent rides were all in Sport mode, so on Friday, I decided to go for a test ride in Eco mode, and it was even worse. It started much sooner into the ride, and at much lower speeds (around 25-30 mph). And this was much more of a stutter, and it really felt like I had no power. I stopped, turned the bike off and on again, but the reboot didn't help. I had the greatest trouble when I tried to go up a hill (again at 25 mph). I had a car behind me at that point, and I had to pull over because I was worried the car was going to run into me, because the bike felt like it was stalling.

I emailed Zero about it Thursday evening, and someone responded Friday evening saying that I need to take it to a dealer to get it diagnosed. The nearest dealer willing to service it is over an hour's drive away, and I don't feel comfortable riding the bike down there with it behaving this way, so I'm probably going to have to have it picked up and delivered.

Summer is just beginning, and now I'm worried (from past experiences I've been reading on this board) that I'm going to be without a bike until the fall, and I'm going to be out a big chunk of change to have the motor replaced. (My warranty is expired.) What's worse is that I still owe a few thousand dollars on the bike and am still paying it off.

For the past two and a half years I have been a huge advocate for Zero, singing the bike's praises to everyone who'd listen. (I even had a coworker buy one recently.) But this has me quite disappointed, and really bummed out.

[centra12]

Congratulation

What says Zero to
These are isolated cases and the Machine has no guarantee ? !!!

No one tip
Let the battery also equal with seal !!!

[vchampain]

Good luck. Keep us informed - it looks like Zero's service improved during past quarters...

[benswing]

Where are you located?  A lot of the customer service satisfaction also seems to ride on the dealer you go to.  I have been fortunate to have had very good dealers and they took care of my issues effectively. Good luck!. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[firepower]

I have started a poll thread about this please vote if you had issues with your 2012 motor.

[Vanessa]

Benswing, I live near Baltimore. The closest dealer to me is in Annapolis, but they refuse to work on my Zero, because I didn't buy it from them. (They weren't yet a Zero dealer when I bought the bike. At the time, the closest dealer was Eckenhoff Motors in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, more than 2 hours away, which is where I bought it.) The next-closest dealer to me is Coleman Powersports in Virginia. I had it there last fall for some body work after a minor accident, and they were decent. The work took way longer than it should have, but I think that was mainly because it took a really long time to get the parts from Zero. Anyway, that's where I'll have to take it to get this issue diagnosed.

[mikeisted]

Just to say good luck, Vanessa.  My 2012 S has not had the motor glitch, but I am beginning to consider myself fortunate.

[Erasmo]

Benswing, I live near Baltimore. The closest dealer to me is in Annapolis, but they refuse to work on my Zero, because I didn't buy it from them. (They weren't yet a Zero dealer when I bought the bike. At the time, the closest dealer was Eckenhoff Motors in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, more than 2 hours away, which is where I bought it.) The next-closest dealer to me is Coleman Powersports in Virginia. I had it there last fall for some body work after a minor accident, and they were decent. The work took way longer than it should have, but I think that was mainly because it took a really long time to get the parts from Zero. Anyway, that's where I'll have to take it to get this issue diagnosed.

You might want to inform corporate of that attitude.

[Vanessa]

It took almost a month to get a diagnosis, but I finally got the word today. It's what I expected. Zero says I need a new motor. And because I'm out of warranty, they are not offering to help at all.

The estimate I got is that the motor will cost $1,000 and the labor will cost a little over $600, with a little more for taxes and parts. So the estimate to get this fixed is just over $1700 total.

I am not happy.

[KrazyEd]

   I have a 2012 XU with a little under 5K miles on it. Early on had fork seal problems which were all handled under warranty.
The bike was the last one sold by dealer here in Vegas before they stopped being a Zero dealer. No other problems until
recently, I started getting a few errors. Hollywood Electrics now has the bike, was told that it would need a new motor.
I was hoping that because there was so little interest in the XU, and, so few sold that they might lemon the bike and
credit me towards a new one. No such luck. New motor has been installed, and, ready to go. All under warranty
with a fairly short turn around time.
   I know that any forum is going to show more complaints or praise than general public sees, but, I figure that good
service should be noted as well as bad.

[zap mc]

I was reading the NHTSA web site this morning and under their requirements for motorcycle manufacturers is an obligation for them to fix safety related defects for free. A lone female stranded on a freeway would maybe fall into that category.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/maninfo/mcpkg002.pdf

[firepower]

Anyone stranded alone should be a saftey concern. A motor bike should be usable for at least a decade.ICE can achieve this if maintained, zero is pushing low maintance as a selling point, but having to replace motors and battery packs on older models proves they are not low maintance or reliable. The glitch was a major problem and resulted in major recal for fixing. Very bad of zero to make customers pay for a bad motor and battery design.

[Cortezdtv]

That's a bold statement



Yes a battery or motor is expensive but last time I check a gas motor and tranny cost as much as a motor and a battery on some bikes equivalent in cost to the sr

And in other cases the fx


Motor for motor they are cheaper, if you go buy a new motor from zero 1500 ish lets just say for a 15 mx
Then take a Honda 230 or 250 4 stroke rebuild or even better replace the motor and tranny unit,  even a good rebuild heads adjusted etc....good luck getting all that BRAND NEW for less than the zero motor


O and wait you HAVENT done any regular  maintenance besides change your brake pads tires no oil changes none of that crap



 I like playing devils advocate no one ever says these things on this forum and in real-life


yes if you go buy a beater bike a cheap motor is, cheap, you can find junkyard motors for dirt all day but you can't compare somebody who's buying a beater bike and putting beater reliability miles on it, to somebody who's buying a brand-new bike. Completely different demographics of the market one is a grown person typically in one's a kid or somebody who doesn't have the money,  just getting into motorcycling ,  maybe just wants a bike that they can beat the hell out of and let's face it you're not going to go buy a brand-new CR 250 or any other brand new shiny bike equipment cost to an electric zero ....   


 The only people who buy brand-new bikes in using beat the shit out of them for motorcross racer's and let's face it zero used to give motorcross racer's bikes for some reason they lamed out I hope they read this shit to

There are lots of videos of zeros early zeros on top of that 2012's smoking open classes on Monday to rain this and that lots of trials riding even some modern people who modified them a little bit in racing them for instance Preston petty. If they supported the racing part of the sport like they used to my get them somewhere because let's face it almost everybody who rides is into racing or into watching the races. Plain and simple most motorcyclists are gearheads or some type of it they like going fast they want the adrenaline rush of two wheels and typically speed has a lot to do with that when you make a product it's fast you should use it is such; or support people who do to further the market like they say is their goal. We'll show me..... Name a motorcycle that isn't modified and raced



 Well unless you're me and I don't fit into any of those demographics above

[zap mc]

Anyone stranded alone should be a saftey concern. A motor bike should be usable for at least a decade.ICE can achieve this if maintained, zero is pushing low maintance as a selling point, but having to replace motors and battery packs on older models proves they are not low maintance or reliable. The glitch was a major problem and resulted in major recal for fixing. Very bad of zero to make customers pay for a bad motor and battery design.

I am sure there are many on the forum that may have sympathy with that statement but I am surprised that no one has tested this idea in Court especially in the Land of Litigation. I am surprised that there havent been a lawyers firm trawling this very forum for participants in a joint action.
For Cortez's comparison between ICE motors price and electric motors being cheaper, I am not sure the comparison is equal in that for a gasoline bike you would probably replace the bores and pistons and valves and to a greater extent the ICE engine is replaceable in its parts. Our electric bikes with the glitch are so finely tuned that just a fraction of deviation on the timing or a bit of condensation on the potting will cause them to fail. To have designed a bike to shut down when the timing goes out of parameters is a DESIGN PROBLEM. If this were the timing on a ICE bike it would just run below par or at worst detonate and hole a piston, but you would get a warning first not just be stranded in the fast lane as you tried to overtake a truck. If it were a car it would simply show the orange triangle and go into limp home mode so we can see that there are other more sensible ways of dealing with a machine that is seen to be operating outside its given parameters than just cutting out or running backwards.

[peter]

C'mon Cortez - how many modern ICE bikes that cost what Zeros do blow a motor in just over 2 years? What other company making motorcycles today have a record of 2 in 3 bikes having a problem - remember the "demographics" survey?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11R6MQTB4p8s7xGEKrwTEsIigJCayqZ9zUuuwA5X95FE/viewanalytics

Your comparison is ludicrous.

I realise that there's a general view here that - what was the saying - early adoption isn't for sissies? - but how many years have to go by for the "early adoption" argument to wear thin? And shouldn't Zero just admit that they're expecting customers to be beta-testers, if that's the case? And if it's not, maybe Aaron (or someone) from Zero can enlighten us?

One of the lessons of the 2012 motor issues is that you'd be a mug to take out a loan to buy a Zero, unless the loan is for no longer than the warranty. Otherwise there's every chance that you'll end up paying for something long after it's broken.

As Zero's website says, " Zero Motorcycles creates a superior riding experience with its transformational line of electric powered motorcycles. Our people are driven by innovation, charged by passion, guided by integrity, and measured by results.
With an unwavering focus on quality, we are committed to delivering exceptional value, performance, and fun for our customers and partners worldwide."
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/company/

yeah right
Peter