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[Tater McTatums]

Update: I am in possession of my 2014 Zero SR. I took delivery on 9/29/14 at 5:30 PM EDT. I have decided to leave this thread up so others could see what happened and how Zero went out of their way to resolve it. I am still waiting on the riding jacket but I will post an update with pictures once I receive it. Thank you all for the support and for following me through this emotional rollercoaster.

Final update: I have received the riding jacket as well as a pair of riding gloves that match. Pictures are in a post at the end of the thread.


Hello all! I joined the forum about a month ago but this is my first post and I wish it was for better reasons. If you have a few minutes allow me to fill you in on the ride I've been through trying to get an SR. I apologize in advance for the length but I like to be thorough and detailed.

Short Version: Ordered an SR on 9/03/14, still haven't been able to take delivery due to multiple issues.

Full version:
For a little bit of background on me I live in Upstate NY. During Labor Day Weekend, specifically on 8/30/14, I decided to ride my current ICE bike, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R Monster Edition, down to Long Island. My reason for going was to go on a decent length ride with a couple friends and to see Nikola Tesla's old laboratory, Wardenclyffe Tower. But it seemed silly to drive about 500 miles round trip just to see an abandoned building. So I decided to schedule a couple test drives while I was down there, specifically a Tesla Model S and a 2014 Zero SR. I hadn't test driven a Zero before because the 2 closest dealers to me are in Brooklyn and Albany, both about 150 miles from my house. Around 4:30 I pull up in front of Carbon Negative and see the SR sitting inside. We meet with Zach and sign the waivers. Just before we head out for the test drive Zach informs me that the SR I'll be driving is in fact a press bike and he doesn't actually have one in inventory. Well I instantly fell in love with the smoothness, silence, and instant torque of the SR. So much so that once I got home I applied for financing through my local credit union. They approved and I was ecstatic. I called Zach on Tuesday (first day any place was open because of the long weekend) to have him get me a VIN so I could have a check made out for the bike. I ordered the SR 11.4 no power tank, no quick charger, no Chademo. Wednesday afternoon (9/3/14) I had the check in hand for the full $16,995.00 and Thursday (9/4/14) morning Zach placed the order.

This is when the problems began.

When I spoke to Zach he told me it would be about 8-10 days to have the SR shipped to Brooklyn from the factory, which seems reasonable. Zach placed the order through Zero's Sales Operation Manager who claimed the bike would ship out Friday 9/5/14 and should be at Carbon Negative by Friday 9/12/14. Zach promised to send me the tracking number once he received one so I could follow its progress. On Wednesday 9/10/14 I still hadn't gotten a tracking number so I had Zach contact Zero to get an update. At this point the Sales Operation Manager informed Zach that the warehouse had been closed for inventory and it had actually shipped out that day. Zach forwarded me the emails including the tacking number he had finally received. Personally I think the Sales Operation Manager should be aware whether or not the warehouse is closed but that's another gripe entirely. New ETA was Wednesday 9/17/14. I was disappointed that I would have to wait another week to pick up the bike but I understood that it was something out of Zach's control.
I started making plans to drive down on Saturday 9/20/14 to pick up the bike figuring that a 3 day buffer window would leave time in case of delays. I have to borrow a pickup to get the bike since I don't own one and the SR won't make the 250 mile drive home on a single charge. Friday morning 9/19/14 the bike has finally arrived at the truck depot 12 miles away from Carbon Negative, already two days behind schedule. I decide to call the depot in the early afternoon when it seems like no progress has been made. They inform me that they aren't able to deliver it until Monday 9/22/14 because "they don't have any drivers available". I ended up calling the Sales Operation Manager personally to see if he could pull any strings with the shipping company since the bike had already been delayed once. Apparently he could not and suggested that I was "putting the cart before the horse" for making preparations for pickup before the bike was actually delivered. Now I'm much less pleased and less understanding of the delays but there's nothing I can do about it. And it will actually be delayed until Tuesday because Carbon Negative isn't open on Mondays.
FINALLY on Tuesday 9/23/14 at 3:30 the bike arrives at Carbon Negative. I told Zach to call me once it arrived so I could start the 4 hour drive down while he prepped the SR while I was en route. He even agreed to stay late so I could pick up the bike while I still had access to the pickup. I received his call at a little after 4:00. I knew things were not good when he started out with "I have good news and bad news". The bike had finally arrived BUT it had been damaged in transit. Early estimates of the damage were as follows:

• One Grip damaged
• One handlebar bent
• One Wheel chipped
• One front fork leaked all of its fluid out (reasons unknown at the time)

Zach told me he had ordered all the replacement parts to fix the bike but the bike wouldn't be repaired until Thursday. He also said that he had informed Zero that the bike arrived damaged and that they should be in contact with me shortly to discuss options. As of writing this I still have not been contacted by Zero.
I am thoroughly displeased with the customer care from Zero and livid with the shipping company for the delays and the damage. Because of the delays from the damage the earliest I'd be able to pick up the bike is 10/4/14 because I won't have access to the pickup this weekend and I work Monday - Friday. And because of the way my financing works the timer started when they cut me the check. So my first payment is due Saturday 9/27/14 for a bike I have not even seen yet.
I'm not even certain I want to take delivery of this bike at this point. I feel like if I paid full MSRP for a bike and special ordered it from the factory that it should be brand new, not a refurbished unit like this one will end up being.
I mainly wrote this to vent and to share my experience with Zero thus far. I have no ill will towards Zach at Carbon Negative because none of the issues have been his fault. I still really want my own SR but my trust in Zero is quickly waning and I'm seriously rethinking my decision to buy one.
And if you made it all the way through this post I hope it was at least an interesting read.

[Burton]

Sounds like the issue is really with whatever company was responsible for transporting the bike :/

Hard to tell exactly how much fault is Zero's and I suspect they still will contact you given it has only been less than 1 day since you posted this and they have been told of the issue correct?

[Tater McTatums]

As of this moment it has been 20 hours since they have been informed of the issue. And while most of the problems are due to the shipping company (Estes), that is the company that Zero chose to get the bike to me.

[Richard230]

I am really sorry to hear about your problems trying to purchase a new Zero SR, Tater.  Unfortunately, shipping motorcycles across the country can be nothing but trouble.  A friend of mine did that to an H-D that he bought off of eBay and had it destroyed when it fell off the truck in transit.  Fortunately, he had shipping insurance and was able to recover his costs and find a new bike to buy.  Unfortunately, Zero doesn't seem to have a lot of parts sitting on their shelves ready to ship when things like this happen and you may suffer a further delay in delivery.  Plus, they are getting ready to introduce the new 2015 models at Intermot and that sort of activity is always a hectic time for the small company.

If it makes you feel any better (and it won't), I ordered a new 2009 BMW F650GS in March of 2008, which was to be manufactured in June and delivered to my dealer by the end of July.  However, BMW decided to embargo all of the F650GS models until they had enough product to deliver to all of their dealers at one time and I didn't receive my bike until mid-September of that year.  I was able to track the bike through my dealer and it got stuck in the BMW warehouse back east for two months.  That was really irritating, but eventually I received the bike and am still very happy with it - in spite of having numerous recalls and field updates.  Unfortunately, these type of shipping delays of special-ordered motorcycles are nothing new for motorcycle companies, even big ones.   

[benswing]

I live nearby in Northern NJ and bought my first Zero from Zach at Carbon Negative in Feb 2012.  He's one of the better dealers and knows how to get things taken care of as quickly as possible.  However, so far it sometimes takes time for parts to come in, etc. 

I also had issues with the shipping company when they sent my bike back to me from CA.  My bike wasn't damaged, but one of the handlebars was sticking through the box and it was leaning pretty far to the side.  I plan to contact Zero and let them know that their shipping company is messing up.  Although they probably already know that.  Unfortunately I haven't heard of many bikes that have made it to their destination fully intact.

[dkw12002]

My 2 electric Zeros have both been demos. That way you see what you are getting, test ride it so there are no surprises, and if there were any issues, they would have been fixed. You still get the 2-year warranty or almost 2 years. No reason for the dealer or anyone else to be hanging onto a 2014 SR at this point because very quickly they will stop making them and start making 2015s. Not sure what a press bike is, but whoever owns the demo should have made you a deal on it and sold it to you.

[Tater McTatums]

I suppose that most of my frustration is mainly from the waiting. This will be my third motorcycle and I've purchased all of them brand new. The difference this time being that this one had to be special ordered and the other two were in inventory at the dealer I bought them from. So I understood I'd have to wait for it. It's just that every time I get ready to go get it and I'm all excited over it something comes up and pushes it back farther. And here in NY we're basically at the end of the season so I was hoping to get a few weeks of riding in before I had to park it over the winter. This is also the second most expensive vehicle I've ever purchased and cost more than both my other bikes combined. Hell it's more than I paid for my current car, though I purchased that used. So to me it represents a huge investment which doesn't help with the stress of the whole situation.

[Tater McTatums]

My understanding of the press bike was that it was owned by Zero and he just borrowed it so there would be one there for me to test drive. I know that it had a California plate and over 3000 miles on it. It also had the power tank installed on it which I decided against because to me the slight increase in range isn't worth the cost. Plus the bike will weigh less without it present.

[dkw12002]

I see. The dealer still dropped the ball though I think. There is a good chance they will still have the bike unsold when the 2015s come out and have to discount it further. I think had the dealer contacted Zero, they would have sold you the bike with no additional charge for the power pack, or removed the power pack and given you a much better deal.

I bought a 2011 GSX-r 1000 brand new that had sat on the showroom floor for over a year, just as the 2013s were coming out, so it was now almost 2 years old. It had a sticker price of $13,600. I got the bike for $11,000 out the door...bike, tax, title, shipping, etc.

[Tater McTatums]

That's sort of what happened when I purchased my current bike. It was a 2009 model I purchased in 2010. Including trade in of my 2 year old Ninja 500R with 7500 miles I got the ZX-6R for $6,000 out the door.

[NanoMech]

I'm sorry to learn of your experience, Tater. I'm a bit surprised the dealer offered any potential shipping date, at all, since Zero is selling their bikes as fast as they can produce them, it appears.

Not to dilute your unfortunate situation, but I live 25 miles from the Zero factory and purchased 2 Zero DS bikes several months ago, and several months apart. I was anxious to receive the first one, but was never promised more than a "it typically takes a few weeks for the bike to arrive and we'll advise when it is in the shop". They were in the shop within 2-3 weeks, and another several days was required to install options that arrived (windscreen hadn't arrived and I picked it up and installed it myself several weeks later). The second bike had an immediate BMS contacter problem and required a few more weeks to correct (~5 weeks total time), both at the shop and then at the factory.

I've had similar experiences with anything shipped by an independent vendor and don't fault Zero for using various vendors. That doesn't help the frustration, though.

However, as you indicated, my wife and I love the torque, quietness, and presentation of the DS and both bikes have been operating well, with no additional problems, for 1300 miles and 300 miles. It'll be nice when Zero grows into a larger operation and can ship inventory for dealers so you can buy the bike off the floor.

[Tater McTatums]

Maybe because I ordered it towards the end of the season there was at least one in inventory at the factory. I needed the VIN in advance to secure financing and they were able to provide one on request.

[Richard230]

Regarding the leaking fork seal, that can happen if the shipper tied down the forks hard without opening up the air release valve at the top of the fork tube.  That could have pressurized the fork and pushed oil past the fork seal during transit.  It is possible that the fork might be OK, if not much oil leaked out and the fork is not leaking after you take delivery.  My understanding is that male-slider forks are prone to oil leaking past their seals more than traditional forks due to the static oil level being above the seal.

[Tater McTatums]

As it was described to me, the fork leaked out all of its oil. I was told that they are just replacing the entire fork.

[biolife]

Sorry to hear this. I put down a deposit of $1000 on a Zero SR on February 27th, and my bike didn't arrive until May 10th. This was after the bike had been "scheduled" to leave Zero's factory on April 16th. Fortunately I didn't actually have to hand over the cheque until I went in and picked up the bike, so I hadn't yet paid in full for it.

Anyway, with anything like this it's really hard to control your excitement when presented with what seems to be concrete dates on shipment, etc. And even worse that the bike actually did arrive, but the shipping company tossed it around so much.

Really hope things get sorted out soon so you can give your new bike a nice ride before it gets too cold. All I know is this - despite tons of delays and waiting 2 1/2 months for my bike to finally come, the first ride home on it was unforgettable and made it all worth it. And it's not like a roller coaster that ends after a few short minutes. It's all yours, there whenever you want to take it for a spin