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[walla2]

I bought a new 2013 Zero FX 5.7 in December.   Rode on the street three times and once off road in January in 56 degree weather.  Then I left it plugged in in my garage.

In March,  I found the bike unchargeable.  The display was dead.  The bike would only make a clicking noise, and the battery indicators are not visible.

I worked with 1800 service until mid April and it was then determined it had to go to a dealer. 

Almost two months have passed and the bike still is dead.  Lots of work.  No solution.   What recourse or suggestions do any of you have.  Lemon laws don't protect small bikes in my state.  Two months or more seems unreasonable for a new bike to be in service with no end in sight. 

[kensiko]

Zero needs to help your dealer

[ultrarnr]

This is really a case where Zero needs to send someone to your dealer to work on it. I had the contactor error problem that was really tough to sort out and fix. My dealer reached a point where they were no longer willing to work on it and told Zero to send someone out to fix it. Zero did. While it is very frustrating  to have a problem like this with your bike it is also very frustrating for the dealer. And Zero almost lost a dealer over my contactor error problem. Zero needs to take a long hard look at how long a problem can go on with someone's bike before they send a rep to the dealer to fix it. I realize this is not cheap for Zero to do this but if you don't take care of your dealers you will never be able to reach customers.

[protomech]

: (

What work has been done on the bike already?

[walla2]

It's been very slow.  Not alot of work done but lots of diagnostics.  Fuses.  Nope.  Then wait for parts.  New motherboard.  Nope.  Wait.  New BMS chips.  Wait.  Nope.  Plugin a new battery.  Yep.  The bike works.  But that wasn't a new battery from zero.  It was one the dealer got from another bike in for non-dead service.  I do sense some dealer frustration.   I'm going to call today for an update from both.

I'm thinking the three months of troubleshooting have damaged my batteries.   That's three months without being charged.  I have 3 electric vehicles so they can't say I didn't plug it in.  I know that keeping a battery at zero isn't good for any of them. 

[Brammofan]

Try contacting Zero directly: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/contact.php

I'd give them 24 hours to get back to you and then begin a social media campaign, like tweeting @zeromc - but make sure you put a . before their name so that the tweet is seen by all your followers, not just zero. They also have facebook pages I'd suggest posting to. 

Note: this is the exact same method I'd suggest if it were a Brammo bike or a Honda or United Airlines (which I used when United stranded me and my family in Houston). It usually doesn't have to go too far before you get the service you should be entitled to.

[Richard230]

I had a couple of problems with my 2014 Zero that were solved by a Zero tech.  The easy one was a battery with a bad BMS, the hard issue that took the tech a couple of hours to diagnose (which he only discovered by accident) was an electrical connector that was damaged during assembly at the factory.  I can see how a damaged pin on a connector might cause all sorts of odd issues, including failure to charge properly.  You might ask your dealer to pull all of the electrical connectors apart and look for bent or missing pins.

[trikester]

It would be great if all Zero dealers were as knowledgeable as Harlan, at Hollywood Electrics. But unfortunately that is not the real world we live in. Zero definitely needs to help out these other dealers who are stumped at finding and fixing a problem.

The suggestion to check all connectors is a good one. I have a 2001 Royal Enfield that suddenly went dead after many years. I almost went nuts trying to find the problem. Eventually I found a connector behind the headlight that was not completely engaged and had moved enough to break contact. It was obvious that it had never been plugged in, at the factory, far enough for the plastic retainer to lock it in place. Over time it moved out until it disengaged some or all of the pins. Checking connectors - a good thing!

Trikester

[dkw12002]

I would probably try to trade the bike in for a new one a year newer for a few bucks.

[peter]

A fairly new, small company that hasn't sold that many vehicles to the public and already has owners investigating their lemon law options has a problem.

dkw12002, this owner (walla2) shouldn't be expected to pay yet more money for a Zero, given their experience. Assuming they even want another Zero.

Peter

[ctrlburn]

Slow is the word.  Keep in contact with whichever support tech is working with the dealer and advocate for the dealer whenever things go slowly. During my long repair I found Zero playing some brinkmanship games with the dealers - not shipping parts ahead (or offering multiple diagnostic steps in a row)  - and waiting for the requests from the dealer. Find out what hoops are being deployed and help the dealer work through them. Shipping one part, trying it, shipping another part, trying it is just trying.

Lemon?  It just appears to be an elusive problem rather than a slew of problems more indicative of a lemon.

Unfortunately dealer burnout could be a big problem, the dealers have other repairs in the queue for "standard" manufacturers and tying up a mechanic for hours on the phone is not good business sense. My selling dealer declined warranty work because of past Zero practices and I had to forge ahead with a different dealer.

What you do not ask for you will never get - ask for 2 months added to warranty for the delay, I asked for 12volt socket (i did not get).

Make phone calls - do not wait for phone calls. Emails seemed always to slide. Push for "past facts" - get tracking numbers on shipments rather than call back a few days later to learn "shipping" meant "shipping next week" .

[Marshm]

Those suggestions might work and be good steps to take but he really should not have to spend a bunch of time to do that.  I don't have that much time to constantly poke and follow every move in such a situation.  If it comes down to that, then that is super awful service.  He bought a product, and it should do what the manufacturer said it would do.  It's not like it is some 30 year old not made anymore product where they could have more problems to support.  Next thing the dealer will try is some terrible fix to make it look like it works and sent you away and hope you don't ride it.  Or try to blame you with some illogical reasoning.  I hope the dealer doesn't pull any of those stunts.  I think I am hearing too many stories of trouble with Zero, most unfortunate.  They have a good start, but at some point they are going to have to move beyond just that.

I certainly did not expect so many problems with e-bikes.  At first they were advertised as lower cost for maintenance, and more reliable.  Maybe that is why other manufacturers have not been able to deliver anything, they are having trouble too.  Anyway, I have been in his spot and no manufacturer should do that to customers. 

[ctrlburn]

I agree we should not have to be so pro-active for our support - and I'd don't mind the "bleeding edge" struggles with ramping up in any new technology, but this lethargic repair process has no place at this price-point.

It seems the QA process is left to the first owner.  I suspect the fault with my bike would have been evident in the first logs off the production line. That is fine if repairs can be timely.

I will say (and I presume others will too) that once repaired my bike is a delight to ride and to own.

[walla2]

So as an update.  My BMS boards actually never got sent by Zero.  That was THREE weeks ago when I was told they were sent one day air by John at Zero service.

I am not happy.  I've been very patient.  I will not be any longer.  I will try again to reach Zero service.  I am going to request the bike repaired in a week (7 days) or a new nonrefurbished replacement be provided.  Corporate Zero may say no to both, but I really feel like they have not made my bike repair a priority and warranty laws do offer some protection for this type of neglegence.

I would not buy this bike again had I known Zero service would be provided.

[peter]

Good luck walla2 - please keep us updated.

I realize this is just one anecdote, but when Zero forgot to send out one of the parts that they should have, and I rang and nagged about it, they shipped the parts straight to me overnight. I get the impression that the service guys at Zero are totally swamped (maybe Zero needs to employ a couple more of them?).

You're not alone having buyer's remorse with your Zero.
Peter