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[dahlheim]

i must imagine Zero lurks these forums now and again.  i'd just like to register my ongoing excitement and interest in purchasing a new zero ds, assuming evidence of continued and effective attention towards correcting problems which might result in failure to apply power to the drive wheel when needed.  i have a solar system and six other motorcycles and adding an e-bike commuter to the stable seems like an obvious next step for me, but any potential for unpredictable complete power failure seems particularly dangerous for my riding style/environment.

nice to hear some people getting real and effective customer service.

[Lipo423]

3.500 Km on mine, and no glitch on sight so far...ECO/SPORT switching? I always change -carefully- between modes on the fly (which means that this should not be the issue for it)
I have been told that my BMS (coating issue) + new software, and the breaking switch will be changed in a week or so.

[ColoPaul]

900 miles now without a glitch, since a sincos cal.

[Electric Terry]

Similar here, almost 1,000 miles now since my successful calsincos.  Took about 20 of those functions over a week of trying to get it right but finally got some sin_min values above 2 volts and eventually did one that has held.

[Richard230]

This morning Zero delivered my bike repaired with the latest firmware and well tested.  The trip meter showed 250 miles, so I guess the staff really wanted to make sure that there were no more glitches.  I was told that the previous firmware was unable to change the encoder calibration and when things drifted a little, it couldn't make corrections.  However, the new firmware is designed to adjust the encoder parameters to compensate for any drift and that should permanently solve the "glitch".  But I was asked to immediately call Zero should anything else strange happen as they want to jump on any future problems ASAP.  (The delivery fellow said that tomorrow he will be delivering a repaired Zero to its Oakland owner.)  Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the glitch is behind us and no future glitches will occur on the 2012 models.   

Changing the subject somewhat (because I didn't want to start a separate thread for this comment), this weekend I attended a BMW rally at Quincy, CA.  At the rally, the editor of City Bike gave a seminar on electric motorcycles.  Prior to that, there was a seminar by a retired CHP officer who gave his talk about how to avoid speeding tickets.  That seminar was attended by about 60 people.  Here is a photo of the electric motorcycle talk.  Apparently the subject isn't all that interesting to most BMW riders (many of whom have the cash to buy one).   

[Richard230]

I forgot to mention that as soon as my bike was delivered I jumped on it to go ride to the grocery store and buy a week's worth of groceries.  The switch was on "sport" and before starting, so I moved it to "eco", let it boot up and then turned the throttle - and nothing happened!  That was a shock.  I then switched back to "sport" mode, after turning off the ignition and letting it boot up again, and was able to immediately take off.  After riding a mile, I shut off the bike, switched to "eco" and tried it again.  It didn't move until I waited about 5 seconds and then it finally took off and operated normally.  Upon starting up after buying groceries, I noticed again that there was a delay when in "eco" mode when first starting off after a boot up that wasn't there before.  However, this delay does not occur when you are at a stop, only when the ignition is first turned on.  It doesn't seem to do that in "sport" mode.  Something is going on between the initial computer checks and the start of "eco" mode movement, but I can't imagine what. Kind of scary at first, but I can live with it as long as it only happens when first starting off. 

[ZeroSinMA]

I forgot to mention that as soon as my bike was delivered I jumped on it to go ride to the grocery store and buy a week's worth of groceries.  The switch was on "sport" and before starting, so I moved it to "eco", let it boot up and then turned the throttle - and nothing happened!  That was a shock.  I then switched back to "sport" mode, after turning off the ignition and letting it boot up again, and was able to immediately take off.  After riding a mile, I shut off the bike, switched to "eco" and tried it again.  It didn't move until I waited about 5 seconds and then it finally took off and operated normally.  Upon starting up after buying groceries, I noticed again that there was a delay when in "eco" mode when first starting off after a boot up that wasn't there before.  However, this delay does not occur when you are at a stop, only when the ignition is first turned on.  It doesn't seem to do that in "sport" mode.  Something is going on between the initial computer checks and the start of "eco" mode movement, but I can't imagine what. Kind of scary at first, but I can live with it as long as it only happens when first starting off. 

Mine has always done that. Boot it up, hop on, kick up the stand, wait 5 secs for the throttle to come alive. I figure it's a safety feature.

[Richard230]

Today it took its own sweet time before moving in "sport" mode when I first started up in the morning.  Later, after turning the ignition on after performing some chores, there was no hesitation before the throttle worked.  I think it is a contactor thing.  Sometimes I get a click from the contactor quickly and other times it takes a while before the click and movement.  I wonder if it needs to be hit with a hammer a few times.   

[ColoPaul]

Today it took its own sweet time before moving in "sport" mode when I first started up in the morning.  Later, after turning the ignition on after performing some chores, there was no hesitation before the throttle worked.  I think it is a contactor thing.  Sometimes I get a click from the contactor quickly and other times it takes a while before the click and movement.  I wonder if it needs to be hit with a hammer a few times.   

A couple of thoughts -
  One, I didn't think the 2012's had contactors?
  Two - here's a theory.  With the bike off, open the throttle just a tidge (like 10%).   Kickstand up, turn the bike on, let it boot up, while holding the throttle open.  The bike won't move, and won't respond to the throttle - until the throttle is rolled to 0%.  Safety feature; makes sense to me.  But what may be happening to you is your throttle isn't closing all the way all the time, so when you turn on, this feature is preventing forward motion.

[trikester]

ColoPaul's guess sounds like a good one. Do you have some rotational space when the throttle is off, before it starts to take effect when the bike is operating normally? If not, then it might be more critical as to the throttle physically being in off position. My throttle has to rotate a little before it comes off of "off" in normal operation, so when closed, the off position is fairly solid.

Trikester

[Richard230]

I am not sure what is going on.  It just feels different since my bike was returned by the factory.  I suspect that their test riders really hammered it in their effort to be sure that the glitch was gone.  I'll need to ride it more and be sure that I am keeping the throttle completely closed before opening it and taking off.

Speaking of feeling different, the bike seems to have more punch off the line in "sport" mode than it did before and also seems to have slightly more regen drag in both modes.  I know that it has received all of the latest programming updates so maybe performance has been tweaked somewhat since my early bike was manufactured.  Yesterday I took the bike out for a ride and ran my usual route to visit my mother, which includes going up an down two small hills and one 800' high one.  I was able to travel 9 miles in sport mode before the first bar disappeared.  So I am not getting real excited about random slow throttle activation in the morning as long as it doesn't happen while I am riding.  But if it gets any worse, I'll mention it.

[flexydude]

So it's been 2 weeks since my 2012 ds zf9 died, and over a week since they supposedly sent a crate here to tucson to pick it up and bring it back to the factory to fix it and now they can't seem able to arrange a smaller truck to get out to my remote place to pick it up and i'm tempted just to push it 17 miles to the bank that financed it and let them have it back. Think zero will make a loan payment for me, since at this rate it will be over a month i'll be without my 14,000$ bike? I wonder why they wouldn't send Brock out, would have been cheaper for them and faster for me.

[protomech]

Just got a message today that my bike was dispatched for pickup. Probably it will be picked up tomorrow (9/20) and delivered 5 business days later (9/27) is scheduled for delivery on 9/26. Since the bikes have to be delivered via ground freight, it's a good thing the BMS was redesigned to use less power.. I think the 2011 bikes would experience significant discharge over 7 days unplugged.

Disappointed that I won't have it for National Plugin Day this sunday. Definitely looking forward to have it back. It shipped out 8/10, and the weather is much nicer now. Good riding time.

[jpaulus]

Got my bike back from the factory yesterday and I rode it then and this morning and it's doing great.  They said they just did a firmware update (my bike had started 'stalling' at intersections) and tested it out extensively.  And like Richard said the bike feels punchier coming off the line.  A Zero person tells me this is quite possible with the timing fixes in the new firmware.  Progress.

(And again Zero customer service has been great in my experience.)

[flexydude]

Well it's been 2 weeks since my 2012 died and i found out the local shipper , Estes has had the crate for a week, but they just can't seem to be able to get it to my place 15 miles outside of town until monday and i'll have to take time off work to wait for them. It's more a local problem, zero is trying but i am disappointed i am going to miss the tucson electric vehicle show this weekend. they promised me they would install the crappy saddlebags and windscreen and put on a new tire for free which will take a little of the sting away.