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[Richard230]

Sorry to hear that you are still down walla2.

This seems really odd to me that it could possibly take that long to troubleshoot and solve a battery problem on an FX5.7.   The battery modules with embedded BMS can be removed from the bike in seconds.   There are 2 of them so it should be really easy to tell if the problem is from the battery module or the bike.   

If the problem is in the battery module Zero should have swapped out the whole module by now and just fixed it for the customer.

That is what Zero did for my 2014 S.  The "power tank" is an FX module and it had a bad bms.  They replaced it and fixed a bent pin in a connector, getting my bike working perfectly again.  It took less than a week to set up the service appointment and just two hours for the Zero technician to perform the work.  I saw him walk past me while I was waiting, carrying the bad module on his shoulder to be put into his car for the ride back to the factory.  I just don't understand why it is taking Zero so long to solve your problem.  They really need to step up their after-sales customer service before word of these sorts of problems start cutting into their sales and customers start drifting over to Brammo, who apparently has excellent after-sales service, according to owner reports.

[CliC]

It seems to be hit or miss, with maybe some correlation to where one lives (California owners seem to get pretty good service).

I had the Glitch 2.0 recall done at my local dealer (finally), after about 3 months of waiting. The dealer said at first they were waiting on the laptop and cable from Zero. Then several weeks later they said Zero was going to charge them $1200 for that equipment. They weren't big on continuing to be a Zero dealer anyway, having sold 1 bike and given away 1 in a promotion in over a year. But that still sounded odd to me, so I called Zero. They did some checking, told me the $1200 wasn't true, and said they had things resolved. A couple weeks later my bike was flashed (I never had the glitch though). The shop manager told me when I picked it up that  they were shipping the remaining inventory back to Zero and exiting the electric bike business (too bad, thought I might get a 2013 cheap ).

In the end I don't know whose fault it was, and while the dealer was good at fixing my bike's fork woes, they weren't comfortable with the electrics/electronics, and didn't seem to have much positive to say about Zero. (Some of their other comments about people in the area "wanting power" led me to believe they hadn't ridden an SR, but I digress.)

Bottom line, the country's 4th-largest city is without a Zero dealer. Even if this stuff is not Zero's fault, it will become their problem if they don't figure out where the communication gaps are.

[Richard230]

Just to provide a random comment:  A Zero marketing guy told me that they had 60 dealers world wide.  This compares relatively favorably with the 160 motorcycle dealers that well-established BMW has in the U.S.  So Zero has signed up a pretty decent number of dealers during their short corporate life. But can they properly manage and support that many dealers and at those distances from their HQ in Scotts Valley, CA?

[walla2]

Good news.  The dealer is telling me the bike is now fixed as of 7/3 pm.  96 days later.  Thanks for your suggestions to get things moving.  They really did help.  I will post a last update assuming the bike does really work and a list of what was done when I can travel 4 hours to my dealer and then 4 hours back. 

[kensiko]

Good news!

[Electric Terry]

Hollywood Electrics needs to expand to more locations so everyone can have a great experience like those of us who got ours there.  Although I was in Orlando FL, I had my Zero shipped 2600 miles from them vs drive 60 miles to the closest dealer in Florida at the time.  Glad I did.  Everyone out there who is still waiting to get one, remember that.

[rayivers]

I've been meaning to join this forum for some time now, finally managed it today.  What a breath of fresh air this place is after the endless "electric sucks!" noise at most of the ICE sites.

I got a 2014 FX in February from Eckenhoff in Cherry Hill NJ (runs great!) and another used one from them last week (220 mi., low on power, error codes, motor noise, etc.).  I'm just starting out on the repair journey, and would greatly appreciate any advice, suggestions, etc.  The Brooklyn, NY dealer (Carbon Negative) advised me to try using the Zero iPhone app to initiate the first stage of diagnostics with Zero in CA, it sounds like a good place to start.

Ray Ivers

[NanoMech]

Good news, Walla2!

I agree with some of the other comments regarding propagation challenges for complex new technology. I'm sure Zero is exploring solutions, from call centers and subcontract tech/support centers, and will address the issues presented here much better with time. I've been in the technology start-up field for many years and understand that plateaus are often reached in technology adoption.

I'm not an apologist for Zero technical support challenges, just stating I, personally, understand and am impressed enough with the state of their product development that we just purchased another 2014 DS. My first DS had no problems beyond initial display glitch, and the second DS is being repaired at the factory, assisting the local dealer, and will be delivered to my home on Monday. Frustration, yes, and understanding it's a leading edge product with normal growth challenges that will translate to a maturing company growth stage tempers it a bit.

I, personally,  feel ok with assisting and supporting a Federally supported California high-tech company start-up that is ushering more people, including me, into an alternative energies future.

[walla2]

My Zero FX is dead again.  Same exact problem.  Charging fine and riding fine.  Toast this morning.  No green light.  No screen.  Dead. 

Zero service is closed.  Left a message.  Will call again Monday morning. 

[walla2]

So as an update, my batteries again show no signs of life.  The reset button doesn't work and my BMS chips don't light up.  The bike screen won't turn on.  The charging light won't turn on.  It took new batteries to fix the bike last time and these are behaving the same leading me to believe something charge related is damaging the batteries or not charging them.

Service has recommended I take it to a dealer on my tI me and at my expense.  Last time they offered to make this up to me but I told them I just wanted a working bike, and I did not accept anything.  Looks like another several weeks to months without a working bike plus now I have to transport the dead bike 265 miles for drop off and later 265 miles for pickup.

MF jones!

[camosoul]

The root issue is that Zero does not want to keep throwing parts and money at an incompetent dealership. This is exactly why Tesla does their work direct; the old garde refuse to learnin new tricks, and simply turn derogatory when expected to think.

Don't get down on Zero over your dealership. Electrics are much simpler than ICEs, they're just different, and the people doing the work are memorizers, not understanders. They won't learn how. It's not inability. If you can rebuild an ICE, you're far more than capable of solving anything on an electric. It's just a matter of willingness to learn new things; which they are unwilling.

Zero's fault in this is not screening dealerships for competence.

Personally, I would never have taken it to a dealership for service. I learned that lesson a long time ago... They just plain can't be trusted. I'd keep the bike and deal direct with Zero, and do the repair work myself. If you're willing to learn the new tricks that your dealership is not, you'll find electrics are really not that hard.

I'm keeping my eyes open for any comparable electric bikes announced for 2015 who might sell direct. It's just stupid to deal with dealerships because they want to keep the old ways alive... You may as well be counting in the KKK to teach diversity tolerance by having conventional motorsports knuckle-draggers sell and work on an electric. They'll destroy your business and never take responsibility.

I don't blame Zero for not sending more parts and more parts and more parts... As with everything, I'd advise stepping up and being your own service department, no one will ever do a better job than you. I bet you get results fast once you cut the dealership out of it. Mark my words.

[peter]

Sorry camosoul but as someone with similar issues with a Zero (2012 XU) what you're saying is incorrect. Zero used to work with owners to fix their bikes while under warranty. I've been advised by Zero that I have to get my non-working bike to the dealer (120 miles away) for it to be fixed there.

My wife and I are finally at the point (work, kids, life etc) where one of us should be able to drop the bike off some time soonish, and hopefully after that it might get fixed.

Personally, I think you're being a little unfair on dealerships. What's in selling Zeros for a normal motorcycle dealership? Presumably not much money on the sale, and it's not like they have years of checking desmo valve clearances (or insert service cost of your choice here) to make  money off with Zeros is there? And then they can be stuck dealing with what appears to be a pretty bad run of unreliability issues under warranty. I've been much more impressed with the attitude shown by my dealer than Zero.

The root issue is, which I blame Zero for (to run with your expressions) is that they have produced a motorcycle with very serious build quality problems. And apparently changing their process for dealing with warranty issues after selling the bikes doesn't help.

And by the way, I do the servicing on my ICE bikes.
Peter

[trikester]

I agree, that QC at Zero needs more attention.

Trikester

[ctrlburn]

A service manual and a service process is lacking.
I've worked with Zero and I've guided a dealer in working with Zero.

I never got a genuine troubleshooting process... I got "try this" and report what happens. This "guess and go" process delayed resolution, frustrated user, distracted support and easily would lead to errant part shipping (once they ever shipped).

A mere bad thermistor - I provided the resistance and received the manufacturer technical sheet on the thermistor. I'd expected Zero provide what their QA range should be.
The dealer reported the same - no service guide, not getting what the readings should be, and the tolerances added time and frustration to troubleshooting efforts.

If they are going to leave us to "hunt and peck" I proposed a "bike in a box" with every readily shippable reasonably possible part (not frame, tires, seat, mirrors...) allowing the timely part swap and "see if that works" without the anguish of awaiting the next shipment or instruction.

Build quality? Check the welds, you know they build with quality... (but also with crappy plastics)  and we all know we are the shakedown process - I get that - but getting us back on the road quickly (even if not scaleably cost effective) will get feedback to manufacturing faster to improve the process so larger production volume does not overrun support.

Dealer competence was never a concern... Dealer persistence and Dealer willingness to jump through hoops was always a concern.

[Richard230]

What worries me is that many established IC dealers that are selling Zeros because they wanted to get on the "ground floor" with the technology might now be giving the whole idea of selling electric motorcycles second thoughts.  If EVs get a bad reputation in the retail industry because they are not thought to be reliable and nothing but trouble for the dealer and their service and parts departments, then dealers will drop the product, stranding their customers, and new EV retail outlets will be hard to find - stalling out any chance to establish electric motorcycles as a viable alternative to IC bikes.   

Zero really needs to get QC under control and be willing to fix after sales problems, even if it does cost money to do so and slows development of next year's models.  This goose might one day lay a golden egg, but not if you starve it first.