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[Le Z Turbo]

Hi everyone,

something to think about when having an "exotic" bike is spare parts in case of accident.
I had an accident exactly one year ago. While overtaking a line of stopped car one of then suddenly turn left to enter her home, crossing a do not cross lane and without blinkers of course.... The driver simply said "I didn't hear you coming !" Grrrrrr.......
I had just a cut finger end due to the brake lever (I brake with only 2 fingers, the two other ones are below the brake lever and get crunched during the accident). My finger has been repaired long ago and is fully functional !

But my Zero..... It's a 2013 Zero DS and I'm living in France where Zero is distributed. But my shop (a scooter and motocycle shop which don't make Zero anymore due to t his kind of problem) has tremendous difficulty to get the parts. The insurance is paying, no problem with that. And getting a brand new Zero is easy here in France, but a fork, a frame,.....

So futur owner be aware if you live outside the US. Will you be able to get parts ? Not just the small ones but the also the big accident related ones !
It could be difficult to be already ridding the futur. I lost 1 year to sell my bike as second hand and had to buy another bike for my trip to work. I took something louder: a Ducati Hypermotard with full racing exhaust and no db killer.

Have a safe ride !
Laurent

[Pprior]

That is absurd. There's NO REASON they couldn't send those parts in a month or two at most


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[Le Z Turbo]

I know ! The first order for parts (4500€ or 4500$ it's the same) was via the main French shop in Paris. And parts never came and my dealer (500 kms from Paris) was refund. But you could imagine this first delay ! Now my dealer want to order directly from Zero and has to create a new dealer account and so one which take..... so much time ! And in the meantime the Zero commercial director for France changed so everything arrange with the first one vanished.....
Ordering a new frame is no piece of cake has there is a new frame number or you have to renumber the new frame with old number. It's on the official owner paper.
Hope something get the repair working soon !
Laurent
 

[Le Z Turbo]

And it's a pity cause I really LOVE this bike ! Would like so much to have a 2016 DSR but I'm a little cold now !!!

[MostlyBonkers]

I feel for you Laurent. There's also the sad tale of Peter who had a hard time with Zero. I think that's where dealers have such a vital part to play. They are the ones that will benefit from warranty work and accidents, so you should be able to rely on them to sort everything out for you.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but how fast were you going when the car pulled out on you? It's a difficult one to judge. Anything more than walking or jogging pace and you've got no chance, I reckon. The driver should have looked of course. They can't rely on sound, that's just rubbish - it could have been a cyclist.

[Le Z Turbo]

I was round about 40 km/h and then I applied full brake before contact. The front of the bike is crunched but the battery is intact. It has been recharged several time for the last year.....
I had the same sort of crash with the 3 wheeled scooter you see on my avatar. The front is so big that I had nothing physically. The opponent car was badly damaged ! My scooter was unrepairable this time
I always ride with helmet (mandatory here) and motorcycle gloves. On my different accidents I had leather jacket with elbow, shoulder and back protection (Dainese) and a Padded kevlar trousers (looking like a Jean, Dainese also). All of these realy helped. During summer I sometime go low on protection keeping helmet and gloves, which may not be "wise". I'm repairing an old BMW C1 200cc for summer time !!! And also rainy day
Laurent

[grmarks]

Perhaps you could convince the insurance company to write it off after one year.

[2014ZeroSR]

Zero Corporation, I'd love to hear what is being done to get Le Z Turbo's ride back on the road.

Le Z Turbo - What's your take on Zero (company). For the moment, it sounds as if your still hopeful.

I'm beginning to wonder about Zero. They seem to be losing one customer at a time. Can they afford that? Can we afford that?

I'm with you on this - "... but I'm a little cold now !!! “
Why? My 14 SR has been in repair now for 5 months at Contra Costa Powersports (San Francisco Bay Area). This dealership is an approved Zero dealership.
My crash was highlighted on this forum as "It's Dangerous out there" back in September 2015.
If my 14 SR ever gets completed, I'll post the repair process details on this forum. The details are fascinating.

It's a nice product  -but-  if repairs take forever  -or-  not-at-all  -or- ..... What good are they.  If the dealer is an issue, Zero needs to lean heavily on them.

I really like this forum. It's unfiltered, sometimes just plain raw.
Those that contribute, Their knowledge and ideas are exceptional.

Peter's experience - I found it on the 2012 and Older forum titled "Anyone want a free 2012XU? I've given up"

Le Z Turbo, please post when new details surface.

One last time - I'm beginning to wonder about Zero. They seem to be losing one customer at a time. Can they afford that? Can we afford that?

[Erasmo]

Perhaps you could convince the insurance company to write it off after one year.

Or to have a rental bike until it is over so you're still mobile on two wheels.

[Le Z Turbo]

5 months !!! And you are living near the FACTORY !!! That's so huge !!!
Before my accident I had troubles with leaking fork, leaking rear shock, untrue wheels, engine cutting..... Since my accident I have nothing to tell really (!) as my dealer simply has no part at all for replacement !!!

No rented bike for me in the meantime. I bought another "dream" one with good service this time !!!
Laurent

[Justin Andrews]

Its weird.
Last year the forks started leaking on my 2013 Zero-S, they were replaced by Zero in under a week.
Even the motor for my 2012 when that went funky only took a couple of weeks.

Given some dealers CAN get the parts in a timely manner from Zero, I'd suspect the problem may not be at Zeros end.

[MostlyBonkers]

When buying through a dealer, I think it's a good idea to check that they are willing to provide a courtesy bike whenever your bike needs servicing or fixing. Not only does it keep you on two wheels, but it gives the dealer some motivation to get your bike back on the road quickly.

From the dealer's point of view, they get happy customers and an opportunity to give them an extended test ride on a bike that they may well want to buy, if they like it.

Justin, myself and others here in the UK are blessed to have a dealership of such high calibre as Streetbike.  If a bunch of Brummies can do it from over 5,000 miles away, then others have no excuse! [emoji6]

[NEW2elec]

Your dealer should have factored in the cost of shipping your bike back to Zero and that should have totaled the bike.  They don't really know what kind of damage it did to the batteries or connections. I wouldn't ride it or sell it to someone else if the damage was anything more than cosmetic.  A good dealer should have your interests in mind and figure you'd buy a new bike with them with your insurance money but it sounds like they wanted the repair money instead.  Sue the dealer and driver since they are closest and go from there.  Zero covered a pretty major repair cost for me so my thoughts are it's the dealer.

[Ranga]

And getting a brand new Zero is easy here in France, but a fork, a frame,.....

Hold on, you're trying to replace the frame?  I'm very sorry for your accident, and I hope you've healed up well, but I strongly disagree with what you're doing. There are many riders on here with more experience than I, but the conventional wisdom is that if the frame is damaged, the bike is totaled.

I wouldn't ask that of a normal dealership, let alone one that is no longer associated with the brand.  You're asking people who might not be qualified anymore to completely disassemble what remains of your bike, rebuild the damaged fork assembly and reassemble everything on a new frame with no wires crossed whatsoever.  You should ask them how many times they've done this extensive a rebuild before, both gas and electric.

And that's assuming Zero takes stock in extra frames.  Zero doesn't sell that many bikes, a few thousand a year at most.  If most riders consider a damaged frame to be totaled, then I wouldn't expect Zero to carry that many extra frames in its inventory.

[MrDude_1]

And getting a brand new Zero is easy here in France, but a fork, a frame,.....

Hold on, you're trying to replace the frame?  I'm very sorry for your accident, and I hope you've healed up well, but I strongly disagree with what you're doing. There are many riders on here with more experience than I, but the conventional wisdom is that if the frame is damaged, the bike is totaled.

I wouldn't ask that of a normal dealership, let alone one that is no longer associated with the brand.  You're asking people who might not be qualified anymore to completely disassemble what remains of your bike, rebuild the damaged fork assembly and reassemble everything on a new frame with no wires crossed whatsoever.  You should ask them how many times they've done this extensive a rebuild before, both gas and electric.

And that's assuming Zero takes stock in extra frames.  Zero doesn't sell that many bikes, a few thousand a year at most.  If most riders consider a damaged frame to be totaled, then I wouldn't expect Zero to carry that many extra frames in its inventory.

While its true that in the USA the frame is considered to be the bike and a damaged frame means its totaled... The rest of the world doesnt have the same reliance on VIN numbers.
Even Honda will sell you a replacement frame, but there is a good bit of paperwork involved in order to stop theft.