ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: kashography on March 21, 2017, 05:34:20 PM
-
Hi there
First: im Swiss, so in the middle of Europe, but not in the EU.
Last October the BMS broke of my SR2016. My dealer got the bike und hooked up with Zero. They ordered the new part, what as they said was not stock in europe. So they had to deliver it from the USA. That took about 5 weeks.
Over winter i ordered a charge-tank, which was installted by my dealer in mid february, right before the good weather startet to pull up. Then, after that, while hooking the bike up with zero, they again gave out a service-bulletin. The battery management had to be replaced. I dont know if this is the same part as last year, all i know is, that the bike was not driven after the replacement. If this is because the chargetank was installed (new BMS?) they should send it together with the charge tank, not when its alredy installed. So i think it's something different..
This things can happen, no problem. The bad part is though, that i'm again waiting 4 weeks now for this part, and i'm getting angry. I alredy wrote zero a mail with this feedback, heard nothing back.
The 12V-Accessory Socket took about 2 Months too, lucky i did not need this to drive arround..
Maybe its because i'm in europe, and they dont have all the pars stock here (what's a bad idea if you ask me). And maybe its even because i'm in Switzerland, what may be even worse for the shipping times.
So im interested what your experiences are.
-
The European HQ is about 35km's from the dealer I bought my Zero from, but I also had to wait 4 weeks for delivery of my charge tank... Seems they have little to no warehousing for parts. Shipping takes about 5 days so that couldn't be the problem...
-
You mean, there is no warehousing of (some) parts even at the California HQ? Possible, indeed...
-
You mean, there is no warehousing of (some) parts even at the California HQ? Possible, indeed...
I think (hope) they have in California. They have to, right? But not in Europe, at least not a lot
-
The thing is, that if you ship stuff with FedEx, it takes 5 days to get from Texas to the NL for example. So from ZeroHQ the time would be the same-ish. Handling an order? 2 days at most. So sending stuff shouldn't take more then 2 weeks at most. If it's longer it either means they have no stock, they have not enough people to fulfill all the orders, or they are just lazy bastards ;)
-
They told my dealer that they've shipped it with FedEx. But are you sure that takes only 5 days?! I Would imagine its much more..
I have some new information from my dealer. Apparently, the europe-headquarter has moved into another building, so that has slowed down things definitely too. But it took as long before they moved, so i think that they just dont have things stock and/or are not enough people..
What also concernes me a lot is this. My dealer told me that the bms died in winter while the bike stood at the dealer doing nothing. The same as in october, as i went to start the bike in the morning but the bms was broken. They dont know why, so that's scary. If this keeps happening, im srewed.. :-[
-
Having the very same promblem atm.
Been giving a replacement of the belt and rear sprocket + ordered a top case rack. Dealer said it should take about a week or two. Now I'm in week four since none of the ordered parts has arrived at the dealer yet. Been planing top ride the motorcycle for months as my french dealer messed up the same order for more than 6 weeks in november/december last year. Yet the situation isn't too Bad because the motorcycle season im Germany usually hasn't really started this time of the year.
-
By the way, I got my bike back since yesterday. Its go good feeling to ride again, makes me almost forget the long time without it. But only almost :-P
First public charge for me with the new chargetank :D
By the way. I knot that there are faster alternatives. But after the problems with the bms, i don't want to get accused to voiding the warranty if something dies again.. I imagin this was a 1000$ repair at least
-
Good that it got repaired, at last...
The type1-type2 cable seems slightly short, hmm?
Funny, the little bicycle bell on the handlebar!
-
The cable supplied with the charge tank is kina short indeed, I made another that's about 1,5m longer.
-
Good that it got repaired, at last...
The type1-type2 cable seems slightly short, hmm?
Funny, the little bicycle bell on the handlebar!
Yes the cable is not very long, but it looks smaller than it is on this angle. When they would remove this dumb pillers on the ground, i would have had more space :)
And yeah, I'm really enjoying that bicycle bell ;D You see a lot of funny faces :o
-
Loving that green! Wrapped or painted?
-
Regarding the parts wait: I keep thinking that Zero likely initially only orders enough parts from their overseas suppliers to build the number of bikes that they have planned for the year and no more. Then when a problem arises and they need some extra loose spare parts, they don't have any on hand that are not already reserved for the factory's motorcycle production. Ordering new parts from their suppliers is likely a real hassle as they probably moved on to other customers and want a large order from Zero before starting up another production line again. So I can see why Zero has trouble shipping out replacement parts and why they don't have any good excuses (that would satisfy their customers or their retail dealers) when these parts are needed to keep their customers on the road. :( I also have a feeling that the "bean counters" at Zero have a lot of influence on their day-to-day operations. ;)
-
FWIW, it took nearly three weeks to get a replacement seat bolt for my 2016 Zero S. I tried just matching the threads at the local Ace Hardware, but couldn't find a bolt of the proper length with the correct threading.
-
Loving that green! Wrapped or painted?
painted. i have posted an will post some more pictures http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6783.0 (http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6783.0)
Regarding the parts wait: I keep thinking that Zero likely initially only orders enough parts from their overseas suppliers to build the number of bikes that they have planned for the year and no more. Then when a problem arises and they need some extra loose spare parts, they don't have any on hand that are not already reserved for the factory's motorcycle production. Ordering new parts from their suppliers is likely a real hassle as they probably moved on to other customers and want a large order from Zero before starting up another production line again. So I can see why Zero has trouble shipping out replacement parts and why they don't have any good excuses (that would satisfy their customers or their retail dealers) when these parts are needed to keep their customers on the road. :( I also have a feeling that the "bean counters" at Zero have a lot of influence on their day-to-day operations. ;)
But how can they sustain spare parts 10 years from now when they alredy strugle? This could be a mess, but they surely thought of this too. I would love to hear about their stragedy for the processes now and for the future
-
Loving that green! Wrapped or painted?
painted. i have posted an will post some more pictures http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6783.0 (http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6783.0)
Regarding the parts wait: I keep thinking that Zero likely initially only orders enough parts from their overseas suppliers to build the number of bikes that they have planned for the year and no more. Then when a problem arises and they need some extra loose spare parts, they don't have any on hand that are not already reserved for the factory's motorcycle production. Ordering new parts from their suppliers is likely a real hassle as they probably moved on to other customers and want a large order from Zero before starting up another production line again. So I can see why Zero has trouble shipping out replacement parts and why they don't have any good excuses (that would satisfy their customers or their retail dealers) when these parts are needed to keep their customers on the road. :( I also have a feeling that the "bean counters" at Zero have a lot of influence on their day-to-day operations. ;)
But how can they sustain spare parts 10 years from now when they alredy strugle? This could be a mess, but they surely thought of this too. I would love to hear about their stragedy for the processes now and for the future
You expect Zero spare parts to be around for the next 10 years after a model is sold? ??? Like Zero has done for my 2012 model? ::)
The same is true for Brammo and Victory regarding the Empulse/TT. No matter what Polaris said about supporting their Victory models for the next 10 years, I don't believe they were thinking about their electric motorcycle line. My guess is that Empulse parts will be come collector's items within three years as I doubt Polaris ever set up much of a supply system for their electric motorcycle design that they purchased from Brammo.
If those government regulations regarding keeping spare parts around for 10 years after a vehicle model has been discontinued has ever been enforced, I have never heard about it. In fact, I am not even sure if that regulation even applies to motorcycles. ???
-
You expect Zero spare parts to be around for the next 10 years after a model is sold? ??? Like Zero has done for my 2012 model? ::) (http://You expect Zero spare parts to be around for the next 10 years after a model is sold? ??? Like Zero has done for my 2012 model? ::))
Yeah, I expect that, but I dont believe in it very much. For every other brand 10 Years of parts is not a Problem, even when its discontinued (buell maybe?).. Are they to small and to quick with new parts so that they cant do that?
I find it absurd that they advertise for a maintenence cheap and long living bike, when they can't even provide Parts for a 4 to 5 year old bike. I hope the story looks better for the 2013-2017 bikes, because they are so similar over the years and sold much more of them what would justify a bigger expense in future spare parts
-
Perfectly normal, East Coast of the US the wait time for common parts like chargers has been weeks for me.
-
You expect Zero spare parts to be around for the next 10 years after a model is sold? ??? Like Zero has done for my 2012 model? ::) (http://You expect Zero spare parts to be around for the next 10 years after a model is sold? ??? Like Zero has done for my 2012 model? ::))
Yeah, I expect that, but I dont believe in it very much. For every other brand 10 Years of parts is not a Problem, even when its discontinued (buell maybe?).. Are they to small and to quick with new parts so that they cant do that?
I find it absurd that they advertise for a maintenence cheap and long living bike, when they can't even provide Parts for a 4 to 5 year old bike. I hope the story looks better for the 2013-2017 bikes, because they are so similar over the years and sold much more of them what would justify a bigger expense in future spare parts
I have a friend who owns a Buell CityX and a Blast. He has had no problems getting parts for those bikes from his H-D dealer. He recently completely rebuilt the Blast's engine and received every part he needed within only one week.
-
Funny, the little bicycle bell on the handlebar!
Ha! I never would have spotted that. Love it!
-
I started this topic because I'm also suffering at the hands of Zero's terrible customer service:
Zero Customer Service
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=32392&share_tid=6757&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eelectricmotorcycleforum%2Ecom%2Fboards%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D6757&share_type=t
I'm now just about five weeks into my wait for a new rear wheel. It's crazy and totally unacceptable.
-
Regarding the parts wait: I keep thinking that Zero likely initially only orders enough parts from their overseas suppliers to build the number of bikes that they have planned for the year and no more. Then when a problem arises and they need some extra loose spare parts, they don't have any on hand that are not already reserved for the factory's motorcycle production. Ordering new parts from their suppliers is likely a real hassle as they probably moved on to other customers and want a large order from Zero before starting up another production line again. So I can see why Zero has trouble shipping out replacement parts and why they don't have any good excuses (that would satisfy their customers or their retail dealers) when these parts are needed to keep their customers on the road. :( I also have a feeling that the "bean counters" at Zero have a lot of influence on their day-to-day operations. ;)
Now you've got me worried Richard! Whilst I have no doubt that the bean counters will be doing what they can to minimise production costs etc, they must be totally corrupt to think that they can get away with not keeping an adequate spare parts inventory. That is short term thinking in the extreme. I would say that it is nigh on impossible to manufacture parts after the initial production run is complete.
I'm no expert, but I would imagine that doing additional production runs would only be economic if sales are much higher than anticipated during a current model year. Suppliers will likely keep the necessary equipment for that year, but then it must surely be game over?
I'm sure some parts are less of a problem, but things like electronics that change all the time must only get one chance to be produced?
-
Regarding the parts wait: I keep thinking that Zero likely initially only orders enough parts from their overseas suppliers to build the number of bikes that they have planned for the year and no more. Then when a problem arises and they need some extra loose spare parts, they don't have any on hand that are not already reserved for the factory's motorcycle production. Ordering new parts from their suppliers is likely a real hassle as they probably moved on to other customers and want a large order from Zero before starting up another production line again. So I can see why Zero has trouble shipping out replacement parts and why they don't have any good excuses (that would satisfy their customers or their retail dealers) when these parts are needed to keep their customers on the road. :( I also have a feeling that the "bean counters" at Zero have a lot of influence on their day-to-day operations. ;)
Now you've got me worried Richard! Whilst I have no doubt that the bean counters will be doing what they can to minimise production costs etc, they must be totally corrupt to think that they can get away with not keeping an adequate spare parts inventory. That is short term thinking in the extreme. I would say that it is nigh on impossible to manufacture parts after the initial production run is complete.
I'm no expert, but I would imagine that doing additional production runs would only be economic if sales are much higher than anticipated during a current model year. Suppliers will likely keep the necessary equipment for that year, but then it must surely be game over?
I'm sure some parts are less of a problem, but things like electronics that change all the time must only get one chance to be produced?
My big concern would be parts that are unique to Zero motorcycles, such as perhaps wheels, frames, fairing parts, batteries, motors and any electronic parts that can not be bought off-the-shelf. However, I would imagine that this would be the case for any new low-volume electric vehicle.
The solution would be for Zero to purchase perhaps 10% more parts than they actually needed to build new vehicles and keep them around for spars, but I doubt that they would do that just to potentially keep customers happy. I imagine that their thought is that none of the parts will fail and spending money on spares just doesn't make any economic sense - once the customer has purchased the vehicle. :( Their goal would seem to be to sell new motorcycles, not necessarily to keep old ones running. ??? ) And also perhaps the further you are away from the factory, the harder it is to get their attention.
I really want to buy a 2018 Zero to replace my 2014S, but it is a hard decision, what with the Federal tax credit gone, the state tax rebate being reduced dependent upon the applicant's income, the new increase of CA EV licensing fees, and the concern about the reliability of Zeros and their replacement parts system - all make a new purchase worrying.
-
I suspect wheels are off-the-shelf parts. Does anyone know who manufactures the wheels? I know I've seen the footpegs, light fixtures and handlebar controls on other bikes.
Back in the heydays of Buell, someone on the BadWeather Bikers BBS forum had posted a list of "Alternative sources" for things like turn signal lenses, foot pegs, etc. I remember the turn signals for the XB bikes were the same ones used by BMW for their "F" series bikes. Probably not a bad idea to create the same sort of list for Zero?
-
In the Unofficial Manual, of course. 😉
Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
-
Update: It's the end of week 6 that my Zero is in the repair awaiting parts. A FedEx shipment takes about 4-5 days for delivery to Germany. Add a few unexpected delays and it shouldn't be more than 10 days. I don't understand how you can't get the two required parts in 6 (!) weeks from California to Germany. If it was a "normal" manufacturer it would even be absurd that they don't have a stock of spare parts in Europe (the world's largest single market). Remember that I had the exact same problem with a dealer in France who seemingly messed it up himself.
Yesterday I called the dealer again and asked them if they have any updates or an estimated date of arrival for the parts. Zero apparently didn't respond to their question although they say they constantly stay in touch. He wasn't even able to give me a reference number for the repair process or their order. I wonder how they keep track of all the parts and repairs?
Since I won't be able to pick up the Zero the next weekend due to holidays, it'll be at least 8 weeks that I didn't have my bike for a minor repair under warranty.
Last week I would have normally started to commute to work (roughly 120 miles) and do all my private short trips by motorcycle. The delay causes me to organise lifts from coworkers and buy a lot of public transport tickets (which in addition is extremely slow compared to individual transport).
That's why I am now legally engaging the issue by setting a deadline to Zero or rather the dealer with whom I have the repair contract. If the bike isn't repaired in two weeks the dealer (who will pass the claim on to Zero) is obligated by German law to compensate for the down time of my bike. I am even considering to rent an equivalent bike but this needs to be discussed with a lawyer first (cost = roughly 330€ per week).
I am still awaiting a direct response from Zero. This is basically how you ruin an extremely awesome product with your aftersale service.
-
Problem has been resolved and Zero excused for the delay: http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6757.msg55108#msg55108 (http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6757.msg55108#msg55108)
I'm very happy :)
-
Sorry to hear it took legal threats for anything to happen, though.
-
I ordered a replacement right lower plastic cover (scrapped up in a get off), and new Touring windscreen from them yesterday. We'll see how long it takes to deliver to my dealer on the East Coast.