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[Richard230]

Thanks Protomech.  Interesting reading.  It appears that Zero has very much been keeping up with owners problems and have been performing detailed analyses of the issues.  I can understand why it has taken so long to develop a resolution when dealing with electronic glitches.  It is not like resolving more obvious mechanical, design, or structural defects, which are the type of things that IC manufacturers have to deal with.

[kcoplan]

So  . . .  is another recall coming to update the firmware?  I havent received anything, even though mine was one of the bikes sent back to the factory last summer because of cutouts  . . .  they replaced the motor and the encoder (with better potting)  . . .  but any Fall '13 firmware updates have not been loaded onto my bike.  Anyone get a recall notice yet?

--Karl

[zap mc]

Thanks Again Protomech for exposing Zerogate!

The time it took them to get a handle on this problem is far too long.
They knew about this issue in August 2012!!!
BY the end of 2013 they knew that their "fix" was not working but here we are in 2014 and they just announce another recall
And from the looks of their log they didn't have a clue what to do about it to properly resolve the issue for far too long.
They had to fly to England to try and sort it out with Sevcon!!

Quote from NHTSA:
The information in your report suggests that Zero Motorcycles may have been aware of this issue more than five business days before
filing a report with NHTSA. Please be reminded that under Federal law, this agency is to be notified of all safety defect and/or
noncompliance decisions within five business days. 49 CFR 573.6 Significant civil penalties can be assessed for this violation.

"more than 5 days?! more like 2 years!
NTHSA should have prosecuted, as Zero were fortunate that no one was injured as a result of this fault.
I am so glad I didn't buy that ZF9 !!
How can anyone that knows this buy a Zero bike now in the knowledge that Zero act in this manner when something is wrong with their product?

[Justin Andrews]

Thanks Again Protomech for exposing Zerogate!

Hyperbole, much?

August 2012!!!
...
"more than 5 days?! more like 2 years!

Also the quote you cited from the NHTSA was dated Sep 20th 2012, so its not 2 years like you claim, and more like 2 months.

[zap mc]

They knew about the problem in August 2012 and it still isn't fixed now.
Do you think that is acceptable, particularly bearing in mind the safety implications?
Its approximately 1 1/2 YEARS! and the problem is still not fixed!
Certainly when reported it was over the 5 days allowed in any case

[Justin Andrews]

Safety implications are not that severe. I had the glitch, it glitched out on a busy roundabout and during sharp cornering, and it was safe enough.
Then they fixed it about 2-3 months ago, and its been fine since.

So yeah, given Suzuki took far longer to fix a worse cut out at speed problem on the Bandits, its not that unusual either (I was told thats what they do, live with it, so I did, and carried a can of WD40 around to fix it)

Bikes cut out at speed, been riding for over 20 years and half my bikes could lose power at some point in their life. Zero is the first company I've encountered thats ever bothered to even fix it.

So I'm pretty stoked at how good Zero are. :p

[rotoiti]

Update on my cut-out problem. I dropped my 2012 DS ZF9 at the dealer just before Thanksgiving. They apparently shipped the bike to Zero and it came back yesterday. I also got a recall notice via certified mail (recall number: 13V-635, dated 1/15/14) for the cutout problem. Going to pick up my bike tomorrow and see how it performs.

Edited to add: it performed ok, no cutouts, but I decided to trade it in for a 2014 SR. OUCH, my wallet.