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[LiveandLetDrive]

My '13 FX had a bad endo in the dirt two weeks ago which banged it up a bit and my friend broke her collar bone.  First ride since then it limited to around 45 and when I held it against that limit for a few seconds it had a loss of power until I turned the key off and back on to reboot.  Speed continued to limit on the ride home.  It had sat for two weeks since the wreck, mostly not plugged in with ~1/2 charge remaining when I did the test ride.  Plugged it in overnight and no problems the next day, nor riding 80mph on the highway to work today.  It WAS in Eco mode when it happened but the speed limit was set as low as it could be at 60mph and it definitely limited around 40-45.  Cold running issue?  Pinched wire in the wreck?  Or does this sound like the issue the recall is meant to fix to anyone?  I'll be taking it to HQ tomorrow anyway but wanted to see if this sounded familiar to anyone.

[protomech]

Sorry to hear about your friend's injury : /

If it sat for two weeks starting at 50% SOC, the bike was probably at 10-20% SOC when you took it out for the first post-wreck ride. Between low SOC, the cold temperature, and relatively high current demand .. the pack voltage probably sagged far enough that the BMS cut power.

Full charge should hopefully restore it to full.

[LiveandLetDrive]

"with ~1/2 charge remaining when I did the test ride"

It was near 1/2 when the issue occurred, not sure what it was at when I stored it, perhaps 70%+.  I was told at the factory that from the logs they think my issue was indeed related to the recall.  If it reoccurs now that I've had the recall flash update I'll make it known.

Also, Zero parts are fantastically inexpensive.  $25 for the upper tail plastic has got to be near cost.  Granted it's not painted or anything.  Only $210 per wheel when I got Harlan's supermoto kit was a pleasant surprise too.  (Rotors, alas, are still big money.)  Use your bikes with confidence, just don't damage your powertrain!

[trikester]

Harlan has done the recall update software on my 2012 DS, 2013 FX, and 2013 Powertrain e-trike. I had not experienced the glitch, or cut-out, or whatever, but it's good to know now that I'm not likely to in the future.

Ironically, when I went to ride home on the FX I had to re-boot once to get started. However, I had sat and messed around with the kill switch and kickstand trying to get the Zero iPod app working before moving, so I might have caused this myself. No repeat of that re-boot since then.

Trikester

BTW - If anyone (like me) wants to reprogram the regen levels on their 2012 it can be done after this recall upgrade. Before, the levels would automatically return to the factory default levels the next time the bike was turned on. Now the new programmed levels will stay, just as they always have on the 2013's. The automatic return to default only applied to 2012.

[Le Z Turbo]

You are lucky to have Halan not far away. My french dealer don't have the computer to make the firmware update, even no brake pads in stock !!! I'm buying my own adaptable !!!
Laurent

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I had the firmware update performed this morning, along with a checkup maintenance since the bike hit 6000 miles on the odometer. I haven't experience any stuttering with regen today, after deliberately trying to trigger it, but that was my only experience comparable to the "glitch" reported by others.

[dkw12002]

"Stuttering on regen"...first I heard that description. Richard, a while back talked about how when he goes down a hill on a full charge, he gets the regen cutting in and out which may be the same thing. I get that too, even more with the update on my '13 S. It isn't a problem cause you just apply brakes and after a short time the regen works fine. You do have to be a little careful though if you rely on engine braking, which I do. I have all settings on 100% in ECO, so when I head down the steep hill by my house which has a stop sign at the bottom, I get strong regen for a second, then none and the bike speeds up. Never has been a problem since the brakes work fine even with no regen. It would not do if this on and off regen was always present, but it only occurs for the half mile or so, and only on a hill.   I rely on regen to do my engine braking. In sport mode, I find myself coming up too fast behind stopped cars, red lights, etc. cause the Zero rolls so easy and has no regen off-throttle in sport mode. I rely on eco which makes the bike perform similar to ICE bikes how mine is programmed. It's possible that some people who keep the bike in sport mode may have the same situation with the regen cutting out and not even notice it if they don't encounter a steep down slope on a full charge.

[benswing]

A lot of people have experienced reduced or intermittent regen when the battery is full and I believe it is to protect the battery from becoming overcharged or imbalanced. 

My regen is intermittent until I have gone about 1-2 miles at least, then it works perfectly.

[Richard230]

What I have been doing lately is to put my bike in Sport mode when leaving my home and riding downhill with the battery topped off, which prevents the on-off feeling of the regen.  I find it easier to use the brakes when rolling downhill under Sport mode and coming to a stop than trying to use them as the regen goes on and off in Eco mode as this makes braking somewhat unpredictable. After a couple of miles of riding I can then switch to Eco mode and the regen works normally after that.

[protomech]

Yes. The bike will prevent overcharging the battery by disabling regen if the battery is very near 100% SOC.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Oh, yes, that does match my experience now that I think on it - regen would usually only stutter after leaving my house where it gets a full charge. Thanks for a good explanation!

[DesignerDan]

I don't expect that Zero will allow owners to update Firmware.

When my 2012 was updated I watched the mechanic do some of it and it involved some special tooling, a lot of plastic coming off, and plugging special connectors into special places. 

In the current form, there is likely too much risk for Zero to turn that over to owners.   

With some engineering for future models it might be possible but I just hope that they get it to a stable working state and updates are not required.

I just talked to Ryan T at Zero and he said they are working on a remote fix for owners who live far away from dealers. They will ship out a cable set with a USB connection, and with a Remote 1-2-3 software download will be able to update the software after "mapping" the control board with the owner going through a series of steps with the throttle while the bike is on a jack. He said they plan to do get more cable sets and start working with those owners in a few weeks.

He also said that the quits-while-running problem seems to be occur repeatedly on some bikes and not at all on most, so if it hasn't happened yet, and chances are pretty good it won't.

Cheers, EastSider

Will you let us know how this turns out? I would like to opt for this method to update the software because my dealer is incompetent.

[Le Z Turbo]

Like mine !!!

[EastSider]

I don't expect that Zero will allow owners to update Firmware.

When my 2012 was updated I watched the mechanic do some of it and it involved some special tooling, a lot of plastic coming off, and plugging special connectors into special places. 

In the current form, there is likely too much risk for Zero to turn that over to owners.   

With some engineering for future models it might be possible but I just hope that they get it to a stable working state and updates are not required.

I just talked to Ryan T at Zero and he said they are working on a remote fix for owners who live far away from dealers. They will ship out a cable set with a USB connection, and with a Remote 1-2-3 software download will be able to update the software after "mapping" the control board with the owner going through a series of steps with the throttle while the bike is on a jack. He said they plan to do get more cable sets and start working with those owners in a few weeks.

He also said that the quits-while-running problem seems to be occur repeatedly on some bikes and not at all on most, so if it hasn't happened yet, and chances are pretty good it won't.

Cheers, EastSider

Will you let us know how this turns out? I would like to opt for this method to update the software because my dealer is incompetent.

Yes I will! It may be a month or two.

[kensiko]

Upgrade completed at dealer in one hour, went smoothly.