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0 - 1000 miles

4 (25%)

1000 - 2000 miles

4 (25%)

2000 - 4000 miles

6 (37.5%)

4000 - 6000 miles

0 (0%)

6000 - 10000 miles

1 (6.3%)

10000 - 20000 miles

1 (6.3%)

> 20000 miles

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 16

[oobflyer]

I don't want to give a negative impression of Zero, as I would love to see them succeed, but I've had a few issues with the new bike (2012 ZF9):


1) Apparently my ZF9 shipped with a "main bike board" intended for a ZF6, so my range appeared to be much lower than advertised (now much better after repair).

2) I also experienced the throttle "glitch" described by others, i.e., no response after stopping (now fine after repair).

3) My kick-stand fell off - apparently the bolt had vibrated loose, luckily I had a replacement bolt (Zero sent a new kick-stand overnight as the old one was bent).

Overall I'm happy with the bike and Zero's service.

[manlytom]

yeah, I guess to get quality up in line with higher production numbers is now the challenge. I believe a lot of us will be happy along the lines of the 2012 models and Zero could focus primarily on quality topics and shift into an incremental, well controlled mode of improvements.

[CliC]

Lipo423, CliC and sgmdudley have now all reported premature front fork seal issues.  Hmmm.

And perhaps this is not Zero's fault (other than perhaps in choice of components in the first place , as I presume forks come to Zero's final assembly location as a pre-assembled unit. Interesting that the new high-tech, unique drivetrain is working fine, while a common-tech, "tried-and-true" standard motorcycle part fails. All I know is the weather is pretty mild for May in southeast Texas, and I really miss riding

AF1 Racing in Austin did call today, the seals are in. Now have to wait until this weekend to get it up there so they can do the work.

[Brammofan]

Lipo423, CliC and sgmdudley have now all reported premature front fork seal issues.  Hmmm.

And perhaps this is not Zero's fault (other than perhaps in choice of components in the first place ,

But no one would say, "Dang, my Marzocchi forks on my brand new Brammo Enertia have a seal leak... better contact Marzocchi to see if they'll fix it."  They would contact Brammo and, assuming it's still under warranty, Brammo would fix it.  If a significant number of the forks had seal failures, Brammo would have to issue a recall and would replace the defective fork seals or the defective forks and would remain your point of contact. 

The manufacturer makes choices about which company will supply various components of the finished product.  As buyers, we assume that the choices they make are informed ones.  If a manufacturer decides to cut corners (and I'm NOT saying that Zero did that), then they will suffer the consequences that may arise. In the case of the manufacture of a vehicle that will be propelling us down the road at highway speeds, we put great trust in the manufacturer that it made wise choices when it chose which components to build its bike from. 

[protomech]

But no one would say, "Dang, my Marzocchi forks on my brand new Brammo Enertia have a seal leak... better contact Marzocchi to see if they'll fix it."  They would contact Brammo and, assuming it's still under warranty, Brammo would fix it.

Yes. That's what actual owners and actual motorcycle companies that support those owners are doing. And we should expect no less.

If a significant number of the forks had seal failures, Brammo would have to issue a recall and would replace the defective fork seals or the defective forks and would remain your point of contact.

Zero has issued recalls in the past.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/24/zero-recalls-some-2009-2010-s-ds-electric-motorcycles/

I don't know what the threshold for intervention is, but I would assume they would respond as they have in the past when that threshold is reached.

[Lipo423]

I would agree with all your statements (not an easy deal to keep up high quality standards when you cannot cope with demand...) - I know what it is like...but, I expect them to do so, as we are not talking about $500 bikes.

This is the way I see this business, although, I acknowledge it is a difficult statement:

Zero: Simple, reliable drive system, medium-level bike components
Bammo: Very sofisticated and complex drive system, premium-level bike components

Would you agree with that?

And yes, I would love to see Zero succeed...no question.

[CliC]

Brammofan, I don't disagree. Zero and their dealer are in fact taking care of it at no charge to me (except for the transportation costs to and from the dealer, but this is going to be a problem with all e-bike makers for me until the dealer networks get better established).

Whether there should be a recall yet I don't know, but that probably makes no difference to me as the results will be the same. Might help someone else, though. And if the problem is due to bad design as opposed to a defective manufacturing lot, then this should influence Zero's future sourcing decisions.

[RickSteeb]

I have some 2200 miles on '12 DS ZF6 #00017, and aside from the occasional unexpected shutdown "glitch" [which has occurred several times, always after a period of sustained full-speed operation; makes me think something gets hot and trips a "shutdown flag"] and one tire puncture, no problems.  Keeping it at 75MPH or under seems to work without any issues!

[oobflyer]

Rick - are you still having this "glitch"? It hasn't happened to me since the software update - I had hoped that it was fixed for good.

[Daveruns]

I have 3,800 on my 2011 Zero S. The brushes on the motor gave out at 3,500 and Zero sent me a warranty replacement. I understand that this is a problem with all the bikes that have the AGNI motors (the 2012s all have a new brush-less motor) and I am pretty concerned about what happens the next time. Has anyone else had this problem?

[CliC]

Brushes are inherently a wear item, but I wouldn't expect them to go out that soon. I have lots of old, well-used power tools that I've never put brushes into (apples and oranges, perhaps, but still...)

[protomech]

I recall seeing somewhere a mileage claim of 70k miles for the brushes. Ah, here. 3500 miles seems very short, and they're pretty expensive. Zero doesn't list the brushes and carrier on their site anymore, but they used to be listed for about $250.

Here's a good walkthrough for how to replace the brushes:
http://experimentalev.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/motor-brush-replacment-how-to/

Lots of good information in this thread.

Just hit 2000 miles on the Zero, updating my "vote". Woot! BMS board has arrived, haven't had time to mess with it yet. No more problems to report.

Edit: Hm, maybe I can't update my vote after this long. C'est la vie.

[Lipo423]

I agree with Protomech...it looks strange that they wore out that fast...either they were faulty/weak/soft, or too tight (the springs) to the commutator.
Brushless motors are better than the brushed ones (for some applications), but there are a lot of brushed motors out there working for many years with no problems. Just keep the motor as clean as possible and you should not be changing brushes than frequently.

[manlytom]

I have 3,800 on my 2011 Zero S. The brushes on the motor gave out at 3,500 and Zero sent me a warranty replacement. I understand that this is a problem with all the bikes that have the AGNI motors (the 2012s all have a new brush-less motor) and I am pretty concerned about what happens the next time. Has anyone else had this problem?

would love to know for certain if I had issues with the brushes or so. after two replacement Agni motors on my 2010S we concluded a faulty BMS might be the root cause. This is down under, far away and hence not easy for Zero to assess....
on my 2011S -- 2300km now and some indications of --- dont know yet. will keep it updated once more known. Despite the distance and time difference - 16 hours or so, working with Zero on the problems has been great.

[Lipo423]

Hope they will find out what the problem is...My knowledge on electric motors tells me that this looks like more a design problem than a control one (but I might be wrong). Zero/Agni designed/married the system and they have to figure this out for you.
It is great they are supporting you properly. Good luck!