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[PhreaK]

This is starting to get a little ridiculous. I'm now into the 4th week straight that the dealer (Mototecnic, Melbourne) has had the bike and they're still saying they haven't been able to get in touch with Zero.

When I last spoke with Zero hadn't heard anything and we're they're going to try and have their Australian rep get in touch with the dealer. When I spoke to the dealer today they were going to reach out to the Australian rep to get some assistance in getting a response from the US. There's something seriously screwy here. As the bike can't be charged and there was still power (at least to the aux circuitry) this is starting to get to the point where the batteries are going to be impacted.

Anyone else had any drama's with servicing? It's getting to the point where it may be easier to look at shipping fees to get this thing in a container and over to Hollywood Electrics...

[nigezero]

You'll find more experienced people here than at most dealers; they just haven't had enough time. Don't understand the communications issues - pretty straight forward I would have thought? Tried Gas Gas? They are importer now

[hippiesparx]

Sheesh. Early adopting is hard sometimes. BTW, I highly recommend having a spare charger or two on hand. Great for long trips or fast charging at home. I share a pair with another owner.

I've got my own pair firmly mounted between my legs. I'm not disconnecting them to share with anyone.
@Phreak, the dealer network in Oz is pure shite. I don't know how many times I tried to get chargers, windscreen, Givis through the dealers.
I've since done much better by sourcing QuiQ chargers from Enerdrive, a Puig windscreen, panniers and top box from ebay and replacement mirrors and handlebar from some parts shop.  Saved hundreds and better solutions than stock gear.
Now all I need is a hack into the firmware to check settings and I won't need to talk to the numpties pretending to be Zero agents in this country.

[Justin Andrews]

Now all I need is a hack into the firmware to check settings

Get a Reaper dongle from Hollywood Electrics.

[Doug S]

I keep hearing that dealers say they can't get any support from Zero when they need it. I wonder why that is...when my bike has been in the shop, they don't seem to have any difficulty getting the support they need.

For instance, most recently, the bike failed to charge, which I thought might just be a blown fuse. I couldn't find any such fuse (turns out there isn't one), so I took the bike to the shop and they worked with the factory to diagnose it as a failed charger. The dealer called me to inform me of that, and also told me that the factory was waiting for a new shipment of chargers, at which point one would be shipped to the dealer and my bike could be repaired. It was, and my bike was returned to me less than a week from when it went in. That's a fair amount of activity to go on within a week's time, and it was all coordinated with the factory.

When I had the rear tire replaced, I asked them to crank up the damping on the rear end as it was getting pretty bouncy. They told me that the shock had failed, let me have the bike back, ordered the part from the factory, it arrived in a couple of days, and a single-day return to the dealer had the new shock installed. Again, even including shipping, it took less than a week to resolve, and didn't cost me anything other than not being able to ride the bike for one day.

Even when the bike was recalled for the motor, they had the bike tested, it failed, Zero shipped a new motor down, it was installed, and the bike was back in my hands in (IIRC) eight calendar days. That seems fairly responsive to me.

It seems to me the problem generally isn't with the factory, it's with the dealer. I wonder if a fair number of shop mechanics are intimidated by them, or just don't want to work on these "two-wheeled golf carts". It's a difficult situation for both Zero and us customers.

[PhreaK]

It seems to me the problem generally isn't with the factory, it's with the dealer. I wonder if a fair number of shop mechanics are intimidated by them, or just don't want to work on these "two-wheeled golf carts". It's a difficult situation for both Zero and us customers.

Definitely agree with you there. When the issue first popped up I called Zero and was able to speak to someone straight away, after explaining the bike was a non-mover they sent through a process to help diagnose the issue. Any time I've sent them an email they've been super responsive and nice to boot.

The bike shop / dealer is not one I've dealt with before (aside from dropping in to take a Zero out for a test ride a year or so ago) but it's the only one within 1000km so don't have to much in the way of options. I don't want to put full blame on them as there could be legitimate reasons for the delay, but starting to think they may not overly capable when it comes to anything non ICE.

[firepower]

This does not inspire any confidence in the new importer and dealer network. You think Zero would be keeping a close eye on new markets, especially after the exit of last years importer.

[BenS]

All of the poor dealer experiences reported on this forum have got me worried. I really hope I don't have any problems when I get my FX. The closest shop to me is Mototecnic; it's about 800kms away. They've told me that there is s'posed to be a service centre being set up in Adelaide soon. It does make you wonder why some shops are much quicker with repairs than others. Surely it can't be too hard to diagnose and change a bad charger or battery!

[firepower]

With so few dealers and such large distances, and that most cutomers have spent years on forum before buying they probably have better understanding of the bikes than the dealers. Zero would be better just dealing direct with customers.

I really dont see what value the extra $4000 to $5000 we are spending at the dealer is getting us?
no spares stock or accessories.
I just hoping 2016 Zero will make a better effort to reduce costs and market Zero properly.
Seems gizmag and this forum is only positive marketing.

[PhreaK]

With so few dealers and such large distances, and that most cutomers have spent years on forum before buying they probably have better understanding of the bikes than the dealers.

Yep, it's a tricky one as the majority of components require a completely different skill set to work with / diagnose faults on than what a traditional motorcycle mechanic has. As there's already the bluetooth connectivity on the bikes I'm actually a little surprised that Zero haven't built in some further remote diagnostics than the rudimentary log file extraction. Seems to be a big opportunity there to enable more factory based support as well as MBB firmware updates without the bikes needing to make it to a 'sanctioned' location.

[Erasmo]

Yeah a bit more Model S lkke would help a lot.

[peter]

firepower and PhreaK - way back in Zero's history (i.e. 2013) they did deal with owners, then changed company policy to doing all repairs through dealers. At the time there was quite a bit of support offered for this decision by folks on this forum, so maybe someone from then will chime in with their thinking for why it's better to go through dealers.

hth
Peter

[peter]

PS - I dealt directly with the Zero to replace the MBB and the DC-DC converter because the power stayed on after the key was removed. That was the fix I did myself.....
 
Peter

[firepower]

If you look at map of zero dealers for Australia, our states are bigger than most counties, unlike Europe and USA where there are many dealers.
Even dealing with our dealer they may be 100 or 1000 of km /miles away, So really no difference to dealing online to Zero, just another step in the chain thats not needed.
Dealers don't carry stock or parts, they order from USA as need so why not go direct when clearly dealer and zero have trouble and long delays in communication.
Japanese and European bike brands have multiple dealers and in capital cities, Zero has neither. I know there a start up , but i also know many people have tried to become dealers and have been refuse, for example many solar businesses that understand the electrical side of the bike better than most mechanical bike dealers.

Most faults and issues with the bike are not mechanical but electrical.

 

[peter]

firepower, I'm not disagreeing with you, just trying to explain how things have worked over the last couple of years. I'm originally form Oz and understand all about distances.

Zero doesn't even carry some things as stock so it's no surprise that dealers don't.

As yes, most faults are electrical and have a lot to do with crap QA/QC.
Peter