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[rgutt]

I'll start by saying I do generally like the bikes. They are fun to ride; batteries are good; reasonably comfortable -- though they could have taken some cues from any of the plethora of pre-existing platforms out there.

My issue is with their customer support, or rather complete lack thereof. I've found old posts I guess dating back to when the company was smaller when they actually helped their customers address problems. Now, I feel like they are practically useless. Nine months ago (6 months after I bought the bike), my BMS decided not to wake up for lack of a better description. My nearest dealer at the time was over 200 miles away, which would mean hauling a trailer over 400 miles round trip to drop it off, waiting an unknown length of time for the repair, following by another 400-mile round trip with trailer to pick it up. Knowing that, Zero's only response was that they could only help me if I brought the bike to an authorized dealer. They even tried to feed me a line of crap about "current regulations" requiring it. They may write that into the fine print of their warranty agreement, but that is certainly not part of any regulation.

By luck, after about 3 days, the BMS came back to life on its own. It wasn't for anything I did. I just kept turning the key every once in a while, and it happened to come back to life. Exporting the MBB logs confirmed the BMS was basically completely offline the whole time. And for the record, those "reset" buttons behind the rubber plug on the front of the monolith are useless.

Skip ahead to this morning, and I key the bike on to see the dash displaying the dreaded 0% charge followed by main contactor's not latching, and in a few seconds after that, the check engine light. In case anyone was wondering, my bike rarely strays beyond about 35% to 70% charge, ever. Anyway, I got to work by other means and started poking around the bike when I got home in the afternoon. As before, the BMS is simply just off. The MBB console reports "No BMS connected," the same as last time.

The good news this time, or so I though, there is a local dealership now, so I gave them a call. They are booked solid at least 4 weeks out, but I couldn't even get on the schedule yet because the only person they have who deals with the Zeros is out until next Tuesday. And that would just be to get the appointment. There's no telling how long before they would put any work into the bike. Best case, they are able to execute a fix through software, but more likely, they'll be waiting on a replacement BMS based on the posts from literally everyone else I've found on the web who had the same problem. And even if a BMS does come in a timely fashion of which I have practically no confidence, how long do you think it would be for the dealership to disassemble the battery to replace it? I communicate this to Zero, and their response, "We will need your motorcycle brought to your preferred Zero Motorcycles dealer for us to further support them with addressing your concerns."

Anyway, I'll be damned if I ever do business with this company again. Their service model is deplorable. I'm typing this on a Dell laptop I bought somewhere around 3-4 years ago. In that time, I've called in a claims warranty items, nothing major but the component replacements did require disassembly of the laptop. In each case, Dell simply mailed me the replacement parts after some very simple diagnostics over the phone. I don't mean to suggest that every problem can be solved so simply, but not to make any attempt at all is really pathetic.

[ELEC_CRAZY]

Hi, you are totally right, that one of the reasons I sold my FX2014, took me ages to get the USB and software for maintenance (motor calibration),
and then the low option for any repair of some hard to find parts or replace,
I love the product but Zero needs to be more helpful, its not easy to calculate every km we do so the charge will last
and its not cheap buy, look at Zeroland at youtube, the same with him, the service is very important for vehicle.

[TheRan]

I feel like dealer locations is something that should be considered with any modern bike, and a scarcity of them could affect many brands other than Zero. I'm in the lucky position that I have 4 dealers within like 50 miles of me being close to London, however if I lived right up North in Scotland it could be closer to 200 miles and I perhaps would have been more hesitant.

For those that do live far away and have no better option, is getting a courier to transport the bike not an option? I don't know if a dealer would be okay with that or if they'd want you to hand the bike over in person. When I bought my first bike (not the Zero) it was through Ebay from a dealer over 100 miles away, they used a courier service to get it to me and it was something like £1 per mile. Not an insignificant amount of money but it saves a lot of time and hassle of transporting the bike yourself.

[sharagan]

I had one dealer 10 miles away from me and a 2nd one 70 miles away from me....still I have to confirm the apparent room for improvement in regards to the customer service.

[mdjak1]

The comparison between a Dell computer and a Zero motorcycle isn't very realistic.  Dell makes 100,000 or more per year and the parts are interchangeable, generally cheap and easily replaced.   You don't mention what model you have but Zero probably makes a few thousand bikes of various models per year and the electronic parts aren't likely easily replaced. 

I've been in a similar situation with a local Zero dealer.   They say bring it in and if we get some time we will squeeze it in and look at it, otherwise 3-4 weeks.   Of course, that never happens.   

I recall when my local dealer replaced the BMS on one of my batteries on my FXS modular, I believe they had to connect the bike through their computer to talk to a computer back at Zero to initiate it.  I just don't think these bikes are easily repaired by the owner like an old school carbureted ICE bike is. 

As for repair times, this is an issue.   I imagine that mechanics need training on the electronics of these bikes.   I assume that Zero does some kind of training classes for dealer mechanics.  This is an investment that a dealer has to make as well as Zero.   But how many mechanics does a small dealer get trained if they only sell a handful of Zeros per year?   What happens when a Zero trained mechanic jumps ship to another non-Zero dealer for more money or some other reason?   

From the sound of your issue, it seems like you may have a short somewhere.  Could be in the wiring or the BMS itself.   Even if Zero were to get you a replacement BMS (which has to be programmed to your bike per the parts lists), it might not solve your problem.   

If you are in a hurry go to the further dealer that will work on your bike soonest.   Otherwise, try to support the nearby dealer.   With any luck, they will improve as they see there are customers for Zeros.
 

[Mooseman]

I'm with OP on the issue that Zero customer service is exactly that (read it again if you don't get the pun).

My bike has been sitting at Motoplex St. Eustache, QC for more than three weeks now and they are unable to fix the problem. When I contacted Zero, they pretty much told me to leave them alone and ask the shop for help.

I have no idea whether or not they can fix the bike. I don't even know if the problem is the CCM itself or the software or whatever else. All I know for sure is that the bike will be up for sale the moment I get it back. I will no longer support a company that cares so little about their customers. It's too bad that Canada doesn't have a lemon law.

[TheRan]

I haven't had to take my bike to a dealer yet but as my sole means of transport I certainly wouldn't stand for it just sitting around without being worked on. If it's still rideable but needs a component replaced then I'm taking it back and continuing to ride it until that part comes in. If it's not then I'm expecting an estimated time for the part to come in, if it's still not done like a week after that then I'm taking the bike back and going elsewhere. And if they can't even figure out what the problem is within say a week or two I'm also going elsewhere, and if I exhaust all the dealers within a reasonable range the bike is being sold and replaced unless there is legal action I can take to force Zero themselves to look at it (if they have a place of business here in the UK, I'm guessing not).

[JaimeC]

When I bought my first Zero it was from a conveniently close dealership.  That one has closed but the next closest isn't that much farther away.  The reason I never considered Energica was because (at the time) the closest Energica dealership was two toll bridges and a couple of hours away.  Now the Zero dealership I use is ALSO an Energica dealer so I have options.

I can't understand those people who love a motorcycle so much they're willing to buy it from a dealership HOURS away from home.  I have several friends like that and it just boggles my mind.  There are lots of motorcycles I like, but if the closest dealership is too far away I don't care HOW nice the bike may be, I'm NOT getting one.

There are now no BMW Motorcycle dealerships anywhere convenient in my area but fortunately there is a dealer in nearby Connecticut that offers pick up and delivery for service appointments here on Long Island.  BMW leaving us Long Islanders stranded has been a BOON to their business (MAX BMW, by the way).

A business model MORE dealerships should consider, by the way...

[DonTom]

I can't understand those people who love a motorcycle so much they're willing to buy it from a dealership HOURS away from home.  I have several friends like that and it just boggles my mind.  There are lots of motorcycles I like, but if the closest dealership is too far away I don't care HOW nice the bike may be, I'm NOT getting one.

The lack of dealerships is usually because the company cannot make enough bikes to supply them all. With Energica the last two years, I don't think they could supply any dealers in CA. Not sure about elsewhere. Had to order and wait.


I am one of those people who would "boggle your mind".  I purchased my Energica in Mountain View, CA and the bikes lives mostly here in Reno, NV.


The distance is 255 miles/410 km.


I normally (when possible) do my own repairs and maintenance. If I have to get the bike back to the dealer, I will worry about that then and I would have a lot of time to figure it out as I will ride my other bikes.


But this keeps on getting better. The Mountain View shop closed down and they moved the bikes to Livermore, CA. Not only closer, but less traffic. But still 230 miles/370 km.


And more recently A&S Powersports in Roseville, CA became an Energica dealer. 117 miles/188 km from Reno.


And if the bike is at my Auburn house at the time, it is less than 20 miles /32 km.


I have my Energica Experia on order there.


As far as Zero service is concerned, I have no big complains in Reno at Eurocycles or at Elk Grove Powersports in Elk Grove CA.


The Reno shop changed my battery in my DS when it crapped out during warranty. Took a few weeks, not a big deal. And they replaced my 6.5KWH battery with a 7.2 KWH battery at no cost to me. In Elk Grove, I only had them do my first software update, which didn't take long. First update must be done in the shop, cannot be done OTA. The rest after that can be.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[JaimeC]

Don, I see both of your Zeroes are 2017.  Maybe something changed in 2018 because I was able to do the first software update myself.  For some reason I could NOT do the first software update on the 2021 SR I bought second hand... the dealer did have to do that for me.  Hoping subsequent updates can be done at home.

[DonTom]

Don, I see both of your Zeroes are 2017.  Maybe something changed in 2018 because I was able to do the first software update myself.  For some reason I could NOT do the first software update on the 2021 SR I bought second hand... the dealer did have to do that for me.  Hoping subsequent updates can be done at home.

I had no idea it was so inconsistent between model years.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[Richard230]

I had the 600-mile servicing performed at my retail dealer. I have no idea if they installed a firmware update at that time. All they told me was that they performed the "commissioning" of the motor/controller. My guess is that they did not install any updates as the entire process only took one hour, which included a lot of visual inspection and checking. Ever since then I have been updating my 2018 Zero S in my garage via my Comcast internet home WiFi. Initially the downloads were a little slow and glitchy. But since about two years ago they became quick and easy with no issues. However, it has been a while since any new updates have come out for my bike. it appears that Zero is concentrating on the new 2020-on models and perhaps they have done all of the updates for the legacy models that were needed.

[DonTom]

I had the 600-mile servicing performed at my retail dealer. I have no idea if they installed a firmware update at that time. All they told me was that they performed the "commissioning" of the motor/controller. My guess is that they did not install any updates as the entire process only took one hour, which included a lot of visual inspection and checking. Ever since then I have been updating my 2018 Zero S in my garage via my Comcast internet home WiFi. Initially the downloads were a little slow and glitchy. But since about two years ago they became quick and easy with no issues. However, it has been a while since any new updates have come out for my bike. it appears that Zero is concentrating on the new 2020-on models and perhaps they have done all of the updates for the legacy models that were needed.

I think I have mentioned here the one problem I had at both Eurocycles and at Elk Grove PowerSports. I asked for them to do the motor commissioning and FW update at each place. DS here in Reno (Eurocycles) and my SR at Elk Grove PowerSports.


I had way more than 600 miles on each. Commissioning was never done. I never had either serviced at 600 miles.


By the time I brought the bikes in, they each had many thousands of miles.



I got the FW update at each place. No motor Commissioning was done on either bike.


I think in both cases, the Service Manger didn't even know what it meant so it never got passed on to the workers.


But I have more than 10K miles on each bike and they both have been running fine, so I decided to forget about it. They both still run like they did when new.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[2020_SRS_Commuter]

The outsourcing of end user support to local dealers is one of Zero's biggest problems.  ( The second is the goofy malfunctioning firmware updates. )

The sale and service of motorcycles at local dealers... I don't see a way around that without huge expense. They probably cant make their own motorcycle stores and still keep the price of the bikes where people find it attractive.

But what I would suggest is that "support" would be better kept in-house. Instead of contacting your dealer with a problem, contact Zero. That way qualified people can give you advice. Then if the bike needs repair, it goes into the shop and the local wrench turners also correspond with Zero, who provides tech support. I say this because my dealer seems to know very little about supporting Zeros. They did not even understand the warranty in one instance. I'll give you another, different perfect example:

A couple months ago before I gave up on them and accepted the Update Available banner as a normal screen on start up, I tried a firmware update. It failed, the bike would no longer key on, and the display would not turn off. I called the dealer, explained the problem, they said bring it in. While there, they broke tabs on the fairings and lied about it, and that's still not fixed, but they did update the firmware and reset it. It was there for about two weeks.

Later I read here in another post that a fellow had the same issue. He called someone, IDK who, and they told him to try the firmware update again, which restored functionality to his bike and finished the update. No one at my dealership knew to tell me that. If there was a Zero tech support you could call first for informed advice, that would go a long way. It would have saved me broken plastic and being without the bike two weeks.

[DonTom]

Instead of contacting your dealer with a problem, contact Zero.

The dealers contact Zero as needed. I hear for them to even do the motor commissioning; the first step is to contact Zero. But I think it's done online with Zero.


I don't think there is enough qualified people to work on electric motorcycles. The demand is way too high for such people in the other related fields, which can afford to pay a lot more than a motorcycle shop can afford.


-Don-  Reno, NV