Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Curt]

Hi all,

I got a new 2016 FX one week ago and am thrilled with it. It's my new commuter toy, and I can't stop going for rides! The technology is incredible.

There are a couple issues I'll need to fix, both having to do with the front wheel.

The main one is that the spokes break ridiculously easily. One broke while I was riding a demo. On mine, two spokes have broken in a week. I've never had a spoke break on any bike, not even during a decade of hard dirt biking in places like Moab. This bike breaks spokes easily during moderate braking on the street, always at the nipple threads. One broke coming up to a stop light, and another at the bottom of a parking garage ramp. I have a dealer appointment Tuesday and will see what they can do apart from point fixes. It's pretty clearly a major manufacturing defect at Zero or their supplier.

The other is the front brake that sounds like a train horn and terrifies women and small children. I have been working around this (and the spoke problem) by rear-braking as much as possible, but that's obviously unacceptable. I see posts here with some suggestions, including getting new pads, or trying to true up the calipers or float the rotor.

A possible third issue is the whine of the motor. It seems much louder than the demo bike, as if the bearings might be out of tolerance. That's disappointing because it makes people turn around when they hear me coming. But if it's normal I'm prepared to live with it. Maybe it'll be fixed by the time I upgrade to a 2018!

Cheers.

[DPsSRnSD]

The motor squeal might be because the rear wheel isn't positioned properly. Maybe it's also realated to the spokes breaking.

[rayivers]

Before you ride the bike again, I'd lift the front wheel and roughly check spoke tension with the 'tap test' on each spoke.  When I'm finished adjusting my spokes they all make a 'ting' sound in roughly the same pitch range, while a loose one makes a 'tak' noise that's hard to miss.  My guess is your wheel will be all over the place.  I would then adjust them all to roughly the same pitch if possible, but make sure the spoke you're adjusting is actually tightening and not just twisting in place, which will happen if the nipple bottoms on the spoke threads before full tension is achieved.  Obviously replace the broken ones ASAP, if you can.

Re the brakes - it appears others have had some success with simple solutions, but I did not.  I'm still trying new pads for more braking power (OEM Kawasaki's are on there now), but no squealing remains at all.

I've broken three spokes so far.  I'll be having my '14 wheel set relaced w/stainless spokes when the new rims go on, now I'm thinking about doing the same with my '16 wheels too.

Ray

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

Sounds like your belt is too tight.

[Shadow]

Sounds like your belt is too tight.

@Curt belt or chain drive?

[Curt]

Thanks guys.

Ray, I did strum the spokes and found they were not uniform like my other bikes. But I didn't dare adjust them and assume the risk of being faulted for it.

For the bearing noise I'll check the wheel location and belt tension. A Gates 91107 tool is on its way from Amazon. But I have to wait for the bike to come back from the shop.

I dropped it off today. They now have thee bikes in the queue for broken spokes. It turns out the entire wheel must be returned because spokes aren't sold individually. I don't have much confidence that a replacement wheel would be any better, but this will get sorted out one way or another. As I see it, there are five possibilities--

• The new wheel is fine
• The -- ummm -- new new wheel is fine
• The new new new wheel is fine
• I find an expert who can re-lace with stainless steel
• I find a KTM or other replacement wheel (but I really like these flat black wheels)

For now I'm back to commuting on the 500 EXC... not the end of the world.

Cheers,
Curt

[MrDude_1]

Thanks guys.

Ray, I did strum the spokes and found they were not uniform like my other bikes. But I didn't dare adjust them and assume the risk of being faulted for it.

For the bearing noise I'll check the wheel location and belt tension. A Gates 91107 tool is on its way from Amazon. But I have to wait for the bike to come back from the shop.

I dropped it off today. They now have thee bikes in the queue for broken spokes. It turns out the entire wheel must be returned because spokes aren't sold individually. I don't have much confidence that a replacement wheel would be any better, but this will get sorted out one way or another. As I see it, there are five possibilities--

• The new wheel is fine
• The -- ummm -- new new wheel is fine
• The new new new wheel is fine
• I find an expert who can re-lace with stainless steel
• I find a KTM or other replacement wheel (but I really like these flat black wheels)

For now I'm back to commuting on the 500 EXC... not the end of the world.

Cheers,
Curt

uh oh. I hope they didnt have a batch run out the door with the spokes not set.
As far as I have read (I dont have an FX) I have not heard of anyone having spoke issues.

[Keith]

I've had two broken spokes on my 2016 FX. They gave me a new wheel under warranty. The spoke heads were badly stripped on the original wheel, probably way over torqued and then adjusted. No problem with the new wheel. Looks like a supplier issue but I'd like heavier spokes for my off road use.

[clay.leihy]

When I picked mine out at the dealer (one-year used 2015) it had a broken spoke. They already had a new wheel for it and mounted before delivery. Spokes on the new wheel look like stainless, shinier than the other one.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

[winfried]

Had a broken spoke on the rear wheel on my 2013 XU and my Zero Dealer had to order one, so I ordered two since sometimes other spokes break on centering the wheel. After a week I got two 8mm to short, then I rode for 2 month with a broken spoke and my dealer said, there are no new spokes for the 2013 available anymore, so he managed to get some used ones.

Replacing the spoke  my mechanician said  all spokes where mounted with a too high tension. So my question is,

 How to adjust the right tension of spokes and how to control/measure this to prevent a further spoke broke ?

Getting a "ting" sound is not sufficient information, so maybe it can be estimated by a rough pitch could help.

[rayivers]

How to adjust the right tension of spokes

Just one example of an MC spoke torque wrench.  Obviously this won't help much if the wheel is made wrong.

Getting a "ting" sound is not sufficient information, so maybe it can be estimated by a rough pitch could help.

My replacement '16 FX F/R wheels - which are both true and assembled correctly - have spoke pitches in the E4 to C5 range as delivered.

Ray

[Kocho]

My '15 SR also makes what I think is more wine at between 15-20mph than it should. The dealer acknowledged that, but said the bikes all make different sounds and mine did not sound worrisome to him. But it does turn heads, and not in a good way at those low speeds due to the whine. It is almost as loud as my Vectrix was. At least it is quiet at lower and higher speeds...

I'll get it checked next year before the warranty expires in case the noise will have increased.

I have no easy way to check alignment of the belt, wheel, front sprocket. The belt in the rear is in the middle of the teeth, a half mm away from the edge and not all the way touching it as it was initially. I can't see the front, but that whining noise is not from the belt, it is clearly from the motor. The belt makes different noises that vary depending on how hard I accelerate, while this whine is constant and only depends on the speed.

A possible third issue is the whine of the motor. It seems much louder than the demo bike, as if the bearings might be out of tolerance. That's disappointing because it makes people turn around when they hear me coming. But if it's normal I'm prepared to live with it. Maybe it'll be fixed by the time I upgrade to a 2018!

Cheers.

[Curt]

I got my FX back with a new front wheel. I'm crossing my fingers -- so far, so good.

As to the motor whine, I measured my belt tension to be so high as to be out of range of the measurement tool (>150KG). After lowering it, the motor is far quieter. The belt adjusters are extremely sensitive; I don't know if it took even a single turn to bring it in range.

[Say10 15FX 16FXS]

I got my FX back with a new front wheel. I'm crossing my fingers -- so far, so good.

As to the motor whine, I measured my belt tension to be so high as to be out of range of the measurement tool (>150KG). After lowering it, the motor is far quieter. The belt adjusters are extremely sensitive; I don't know if it took even a single turn to bring it in range.

Glad you sorted it. When the motor sounds like a "Wookiee", the belt is too tight. Check out my thread on making the Krikit easier to use.

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6180.msg47269#msg47269

[Kocho]

My  belt is currently a little on the loose side, closer to 20. The motor whine is still there and is not related to the belt tension. Changing the belt tension does change the sounds that come from the belt, but not the motor whine in my case. The belt noises do vary with the amount of acceleration (and speed), while the motor noise is there even if I'm just coasting and only depends on speed.

I got my FX back with a new front wheel. I'm crossing my fingers -- so far, so good.

As to the motor whine, I measured my belt tension to be so high as to be out of range of the measurement tool (>150KG). After lowering it, the motor is far quieter. The belt adjusters are extremely sensitive; I don't know if it took even a single turn to bring it in range.

Glad you sorted it. When the motor sounds like a "Wookiee", the belt is too tight. Check out my thread on making the Krikit easier to use.

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6180.msg47269#msg47269