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[teddillard]

I'm sorry if I appear harsh or dismissive, but this thread and the OP baffles me. 

First you talk about how some guy on the street doesn't appear to think your bike is worth what you paid for it, you seem to be in some sort of competition with your brother and a completely different type of machine, you've talked yourself into believing this was somehow a financially prudent decision, you claim you're an EE but seem to expect electronics are going to work perfectly for years, you seem to deny the possibility that your particular bike has some random fault, you're ignoring advice to make the problem go away or that it's a problem that doesn't really apply to every Zero ever made, and it appears for all get-out that you want to conclude that Zero (as a company) isn't everything you expected. 

I have a friend who's an old chain-smoking machinist bastard who rides a Harley and is an ex-Navy fighter pilot.  I ordered my first car - a Mustang 5.0, brandy new.  I was bitching and whining about the delivery being delayed a week and how much I paid and how everybody should be treating me like I was god's gift to Ford Motor Company, etc etc.  He blew smoke in my face and gave me some advice I remember to this day. 

"Just stop it." 

[Doug S]

I'm going to stop posting the same point just because one person can't seem to wrap his mind around it....but for that one person, just let me add that I can only post MY experiences here; I can't speak to everybody's experiences, or the total statistical norm for this bike or any other, because those are outside my experience. That's what forums are for, my friend, for people to post their experiences and their opinions on a subject. Believe me, I understand the difference between anecdote and statistical truth, and I understand logical fallacies pretty well, also. But several anecdotes add up to statistical truth; I posted my experience with water infiltration being a problem because it seems clear I'm not the only person who's had that problem. I don't think that's acceptable from a vehicle manufacturer that aspires to become larger and more mainstream, you think it's my fault because I didn't strip my bike down to the frame and redo everything the manufacturer should have done for me. What's "not to understand" about that?

As far as personal styles...well, no comment.

And that's all I have to say on either subject.

[teddillard]

You didn't start with anything suggesting "it seems clear I'm not the only person who's had that problem".  As far as "your fault", and "stripping it down to the frame", I didn't say that either.  I just told you (very clearly, I might add) how to fix it, and what in my opinion are reasonable expectations based on my considerable experience.

Your idea that a bunch of anecdotal bad experiences on a forum amounts to statistical truth is simply ridiculous.

Thanks for clearing up what forums are for.  I've been scratching my head about that all morning. (...guess I was operating under the delusion that people come here to get and give some help.   )

[Richard230]

I come here to be entertained.     And to learn something that I didn't know before about electric motorcycles in general and my Zero in particular. 

[dkw12002]

I know exactly what my maintenance costs will be on the Gixxer 600 I just bought over and above what maintaining a Zero would be...$1500 for 3 years with the Maintenance Contract  I bought which includes all the labor and parts specified at specific intervals in the owner's manual. The last two years I've owned my Zero S, I have had no maintenance costs. Fuel costs for the Gixxer are another thing. It gets about 40 mpg on premium gas, so the Zero has a huge advantage there...about 1/10 the cost to run. Of course they are different machines and riding experiences, but I think the advantage in maintenance goes to the Zero. What probably doesn't make up for any of this is the lower resale value of the Zero and initial cost. Oh, the 2-year warranty has probably been a huge factor in savings for Zero owners. Many bikes come with a 1 year warranty. That's advantage for the Zero, but then you have extended warranties on other motorcycles that aren't really very expensive. I think most of us would snatch up a reasonably priced additional 2-year warranty on Zero.  I think a few Zero riders had some significant warranty work done during that second year. Lot's to think about when you try to compare different bikes.

[Doug S]

Oh, the 2-year warranty has probably been a huge factor in savings for Zero owners....I think a few Zero riders had some significant warranty work done during that second year.

I've had my 2014 SR since end of January 2014, and other than the recall and expected maintenance items (tires, brake pads) I've had two failures, both of which were taken care of under warranty -- my rear shock failed and the charger failed. But now that you mention it, the charger failed after January of this year, so that was in the second year. But in reality, although it was my gripe that started this thread, I can't complain too much about reliability. Two failed items in 16,000 miles isn't that bad for a relatively new make, especially when they were both covered by the warranty....though I still really think they need to find a way to make their bikes much more resistant to water incursion problems!

[dmiles]

Doug S -

I'm curious...  How has your experience been since your posting on this?

I have a 2013 DS 11KW, and it has failed many times (3 or 4 BMS's, a welded contactor, failed current sensor, failed capacitor, intermittent startup failures, spurious shutdowns while at speed).  According to my dealer (Harlan), this bike has been a very abnormal case.  I also had to invest in AAA Plus RV, and have used it 3 or 4 times.  It has been in the shop for almost the last 5 months now...  In October 2015 it started failing while at highway speeds (which is a HUGE safety issue) and I almost got hit by an 18 wheeler.  So, I pretty much gave up riding it.

To Zero's credit, they ARE trying to resolve it...  Albeit, 5+ months is probably unreasonable even for a boutique motorcycle.

In general, I'm just asking for a status update I suppose.  Did they take care of you, and has your bike let you down since?

Thanks.

[Doug S]

The only other failure I've had is that the rear shock wore out prematurely again, replaced just before the end of the two-year warranty. It's clearly under-engineered for me; I'm a big guy, though I'm clearly within the weight capacity of the bike. I've begun searching for aftermarket solutions that may be more robust, but there pretty clearly aren't any. I've contacted Zero about the problem, and they've acknowledged that it is a problem, but they haven't proposed a solution to it yet. I'm at 23,000 miles now, and it seems to last just about 10,000 before losing all damping, so I've got time. It may very well just be a matter of rebuilding with higher-quality seals; since they were replaced under warranty both times I didn't even have a chance to investigate a simple rebuild.

They've also clearly upgraded the entire suspension with the Showa components, but they're not compatible -- much different shock mounts. Whether mine could be machined out to accommodate the Showa unit might be something I have to investigate.

Just to re-iterate, I don't feel like I've got any right to complain about reliability. The shock failures haven't stranded me anywhere; the only failure that did immobilize me was the charger failure. In 23,000 miles, I've paid more for new tires than for repairs or for fuel, so I think my bike's been living up to its promise very well. Considering how new and small of a manufacturer Zero is, I'm pretty impressed with the reliability I've experienced.

[Cortezdtv]

The only other failure I've had is that the rear shock wore out prematurely again, replaced just before the end of the two-year warranty. It's clearly under-engineered for me; I'm a big guy, though I'm clearly within the weight capacity of the bike. I've begun searching for aftermarket solutions that may be more robust, but there pretty clearly aren't any. I've contacted Zero about the problem, and they've acknowledged that it is a problem, but they haven't proposed a solution to it yet. I'm at 23,000 miles now, and it seems to last just about 10,000 before losing all damping, so I've got time. It may very well just be a matter of rebuilding with higher-quality seals; since they were replaced under warranty both times I didn't even have a chance to investigate a simple rebuild.

They've also clearly upgraded the entire suspension with the Showa components, but they're not compatible -- much different shock mounts. Whether mine could be machined out to accommodate the Showa unit might be something I have to investigate.

Just to re-iterate, I don't feel like I've got any right to complain about reliability. The shock failures haven't stranded me anywhere; the only failure that did immobilize me was the charger failure. In 23,000 miles, I've paid more for new tires than for repairs or for fuel, so I think my bike's been living up to its promise very well. Considering how new and small of a manufacturer Zero is, I'm pretty impressed with the reliability I've experienced.

To get a showa in the rear of your bike you need the 15/16 swingarm which has lightly wider holes (from the looms of my ds) the 14 police bikes gave the 15/16 swingarm
So then you would have to sit and file the frame to accept the bigger top of the shock or make a tiny adapter bracket that would hold the top bolt, both arnt too bad

Except for all that filing as its quite a few mm off



As far as the guys 13 failing so much; pretty rare! Especially for 13 and ups



Might be a bad harness wrecking your componentry

Least you have a very comprable dealer with harlen!