it seems all the local ICE dealers are also going out of business...
Good point. I forgot to mention 4 of the local dealers have gone out of business in the past 3 years.
I've personally noticed 2 classes of dealers:
1. The run of the mill dealer. They sell bikes and parts. Here's the clutch, front brake, rear brake, 1downsixup, have fun!
"Yeah, we gotta couple of those Zero electric bikes! People luv 'em! Want one?"
The bikes aren't expensive, but the parts & service sure are.
If your bike breaks, and it's out of warranty, well "sucks to be you, mate!"
The service techs are held to the book time, and if your problem runs over, they'll bodge it to get it back out the door. It's a stretch to expect your tire to be mounted right-way-round or actually balanced.
If your e-bike breaks, they can't do anything except shrug their shoulders and call Brammo or Zero. If the manufacturer can't help, you're probably stuck.
These are probably the guys that we normally think of.
Most of these guys that went out of business simply got a bad reputation as being a crap dealer.
2. Snobbish "Bikes are expensive toys and we're here to hold your hand so you can play"
These are the guys that sell Ducatis, BMW, MV Agustas, and maybe Brammo. Probably not Zero, and DEFINITELY not the common peon brands of Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki.
"Oh look, Lucy, some poor guy rode in on a Honda!"
Everything is expensive, but they'll beat up the manufacturer on your behalf if something breaks, because that's life with a BMW or a Ducati. If your e-bike breaks, they're probably clueless but they'll spend a lot of time on getting it fixed.
Free coffee and doughnuts, and some of the staff's leathers hanging on the wall. They'll have monthly get-togethers and arranged track days.
Every logoed & branded accessory under the sun.
One type 2 tried to become a type 1. The formerly coddled & hand-held customers got pissed off and left. Everyone else remembered their reputation as "EXPENSIVE" and wouldn't give them another chance.
Or do you think a dealership needs an electrical engineer on staff to appropriately respond to service calls?
They don't need a full EE, but I don't think 90% of the ICE techs have the slightest clue how to debug/troubleshoot/support an e-bike. They barely have the electrical knowledge to fix charging/ignition problems on an ICE, and usually it's "Harry knows electric stuff, give it to him"
None of them know computers, not even the parts-ordering system, and if you ask them to "put the BMS logs on a USB stick" it'll be like speaking Martian to a cocker spaniel.
Most techs just go through a tech-mill like MMI (Motorcycle Mechanics Institute) or whatever, and that's it. If Zero/Brammo doesn't train them, they won't bother to find out on their own.
So this illustrates the great problem of this thread: the big tech-mills like MMI need to add an ebike specialty, and Zero/Brammo need to step up like Honda & Harley-Davidson did, to donate bikes and instructors.
I know for certain the techs at my local dealer didn't get training from Zero. If they need to install a Power Tank, they follow the enclosed instructions. If I ask anyone about level 1/2 charging, or CHAdeMO, it's a blank deer-in-the-headlights stare.