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[kcoplan]

Spoke to the east coast tech guy yesterday . . . He explained that the engineers were still puzzling over the logs, and that at the times my motor cut out, the logs showed a surprising line indicating "charging complete," which shouldn't happen while the bike is unplugged.  He said it could be some source of electrical noise randomly being interpreted as controller code lines- anything from a "salt bridge" between metal parts generating static to an external source.  One customer apparently had this problem whenever passing an airport on his commute; turns out the airport had an EMF suppression system of some sort that was being picked up by the bike.

So I got to thinking about electrical noise sources o the bike . . . Not much there . . But I do have the Oxford heated grips on the bike, which uses a push button digital controller.  Could the controller be making electrical noise?  When it is switched off? 

So I put an fm radio next to the heater controller and switched the bike and the heaters on . . . No noise when off, no noise when on full, but a regular switching, pulsing noise on the FM radio when the grip heaters were set to low, medium, or medium high.

Now, I can't swear whether I had the heater off, or on low, when my glitch arrived.  But I tended to run it full blast in the winter, then stated running it on medium in March and April when my glitch started.  I really don't remember if I had it on this Tuesday, when I had the rough running.

For now, I have taken out the fuse for the accessory circuit.  I call Chris the tech guy tomorrow and ask him to run this past the engineers.

The Oxford heated grips are the same ones that Zero sells - when my wife called Zero before Christmas to order the Zero brand grips, they told that they were out of stock, but that Zero just buys the Oxford grips and puts their decal on them.

Hmmmmm . . .   Guess I'll ride without the heaters for a while and see what happens. 

-Karl

[NoiseBoy]

So I put an fm radio next to the heater controller and switched the bike and the heaters on . . . No noise when off, no noise when on full, but a regular switching, pulsing noise on the FM radio when the grip heaters were set to low, medium, or medium high.

Alot of switching power supply circuits operate around 100khz which is why you hear it on a radio, but its very low level so I would be very very surprised if it was enough to trip the charging circuit, especially as there won't be much amplification on that line.

[kcoplan]

Alot of switching power supply circuits operate around 100mhz which is why you hear it on a radio, but its very low level so I would be very very surprised if it was enough to trip the charging circuit, especially as there won't be much amplification on that line.

As I think I understand it, it is not that the charging circuit actually trips, but that the controller board hears the static and thinks it is getting a message from the charging circuit.  I don't know whether the 12v dc auxiliary power line is enough of a coupling to carry the noise from the heater controller to the bike controller, but I suppose it is a possibility.

Karl

[ColoPaul]

3/2013 8000 miles Glitches return in earnest, every few days. Temps also start to pick back up.
9000+ miles now.

Hey protomech,  two questions:

Have you got anywhere with the glitch?  Been awhile since an update.  I seem to remember in the original glitch you boxed your bike up and sent it back.  Any thoughts of that again?

Also, how's your tires?  I'm guessing my rear will be close to end of life around 9000 (I'm at 6000 now). 

[protomech]

The East Coast tech told me that Zero was going to ship a replacement motor on May 2. I haven't received any update regarding the motor shipping. Once it arrives he's going to make a trip from Atlanta to Huntsville to replace the motor. I'm somewhat skeptical that the motor is the problem but I hope it does fix the issues .. will be very disappointed if the motor is a wear item.

Zero replaced my rear tire when they shipped the bike back. Part of a "mea culpa" for the 500 miles and six weeks spent debugging the glitch?

That was almost 5000 miles ago and the rear tire is getting rounded off again. I would guess I'll be replacing the rear at around 7000 miles.

As long as I can "push start" the bike when it acts up, then it's still workable as basic transport.

[BSDThw]

Zero replaced my rear tire when they shipped the bike back. Part of a "mea culpa" for the 500 miles and six weeks spent debugging the glitch?

If they tested your bike on the dyno it will be a matter of safety to change the tire, it is really a tire stress. + a happy customer  

[Richard230]

If Zero has access to a dyno, it must be at an off-site shop.  I sure didn't see a dyno during my tour of their factory last year.  The last time my bike was at the factory for the glitch No. 1 repair insertion it was ridden about 200 miles before being returned to me.  I think most of Zero's testing is done on an asphalt-covered road and not on a rolling-road.

[nicktulloh]

I've done probably 100 dyno runs on various bikes and have never seen any tire damage or unusual wear. If your dyno operator is messing up your tires, you need a new dyno operator as well as a new tire.

[BSDThw]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=365510253544785&set=a.165563456872800.36746.164748896954256&type=1&relevant_count=1

I am sure Zero has a Dyno

nicktulloh

Maybe you are right, but it is what professionals tell!

[skeezmour]

If Zero has access to a dyno, it must be at an off-site shop.  I sure didn't see a dyno during my tour of their factory last year.  The last time my bike was at the factory for the glitch No. 1 repair insertion it was ridden about 200 miles before being returned to me.  I think most of Zero's testing is done on an asphalt-covered road and not on a rolling-road.

They have an in house dyno. When I stopped by to check out the 2013 bikes and got a tour with Mike Corbin we saw a little red XU on the dyno.

[Doctorbass]

I confirm, Zero DOES have a dyno, it's a fact

each produced bike are tested on it

Doc

[Richard230]

Well, gee.  I missed that part of the tour and I thought I saw everything.   

[nicktulloh]

nicktulloh

Maybe you are right, but it is what professionals tell!
[/quote]

Well, there's professionals and there's "professionals". The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it is. Replace your tire after a dyno? There is absolutely NO safety or wear reason to do so. It's just seriously bad information.

Speak to any motorcycle shop with a dyno and they'll confirm this.

If you know of a motorcycle shop with a dyno that really is stating that the tire needs to be replaced after a series of runs, please post their name here so we can avoid them.

[BSDThw]

Maybe my technical know how is not up to date and I have things like this in mind

http://www.gaskrank.tv/tv/motorrad-fun/wir-bauen-uns-einen-motorrad-p-9186.htm

Or it is "German Angst" I do like this term so much, cause it has so much truth in it!

[BSDThw]

Hi NoiseBoy,

what came out with your problem?

It's always nice to get the real solution after a lot of speculation.