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[tico]

Hi all, unfortunately there's some new problem with my 2014 Zero model S, and it won't turn on at all. I parked it with ~90% charge, then came out and tried to turn it on, and saw nothing on the dash, no solenoid click, no LEDs light up on the BMS board, and trying to reset the BMS does nothing.

This is the third time this bike has died on me, and it's the first year it's been in operation. Now I'm waiting to pay to have it towed yet again to the dealer. To say this is infuriating is putting it lightly.

The good thing is that it looks like I have a pretty solid case under Texas' lemon laws based on how many days it's been broken in such a short period of time, but I hate that this bike situation will lead to me having an even greater hassle dealing with the court system.

For anyone that's interested, I wrote about the previous problems here:
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=5949.0
and here:
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=6456.0

[tico]

Well, Nicholas at Zero talked to the folks at the local dealership, and arranged for my bike to get picked up tomorrow, and a tech at the factory is supposed to contact the dealership to start troubleshooting as soon as they have it.

Getting the mechanics to start to look at the bike two days after the problem occurred is the fastest start time yet (compared to the previous problems) so hopefully my frustrated messages have resulted in this being taken seriously.

So basically no real updates yet regarding the cause (or the solution), but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I was hoping to make some quick cash driving food deliveries for all the insanity that is hitting Houston, what with the Super Bowl being in-town this weekend, but alas, it ain't gonna happen without a bike.

[NEW2elec]

First Tico what's hitting Houston is the greatest offense the NFL has ever seen in Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons.
I didn't know how to work that into the forum but you gave me an opening.

Now as far as your bike goes, does your BMS lights still blink if the are charging or off?  I hope it's something as simple as a bad key switch with a quick swap and never worry about it again.  But if not I think Zero will do their best to make it right.  Good luck.

Oh and Rise Up and beat the cheating Patriots, go Falcons!

[tico]

Howdy NEW2elec,

I don't tend to follow football, but everyone around here is going nuts-- we'll see how it all turns out. I just wanted to make some sweet tips delivering food over the weekend and let people party (or mourn).

Anyhow, I don't doubt that the guys at the Zero factory are going to do their best to make it right, but at this point, I don't know how many more breakdowns I should expect on a new bike before the warranty runs out. If they just swap out the BMS board again, how long until I'm stuck on the side of the road again?

I've had the bike since May 21, 2016 (new), and it was dead for 27 days in June/July, then 18 days in December, and now 3 days and counting (since January 31) -- so 48 out of 257 days is  a dead bike for 19% of the time that I've owned it.

As for the current symptoms, the BMS lights don't blink at all, with the key on or off, and the dash doesn't light up or indicate anything either. 100% dead.

I wish I had  had the money to follow Electric Terry's advice to get a 2015 (or later model) for better reliability, but that ain't happening, and I already paid a ton of money to exchange my piece of crap 2012 model for the 2014 model because it was supposed to be more reliable.

Honestly I'm hoping they just swap out the whole bike for almost any other bike at this point. I have zero confidence in it at this point. Pun intended.

[Richard230]

I wouldn't be too surprised to hear that there was an assembly error at the factory and that a multi-pin connector was mashed a bit when the two parts were attached.

[tico]

Well, I got some news -- it looks like there was a break in the ignition switch wiring for some reason (??) and that the  techs were able to communicate with the bike after bypassing that.

I still don't know why I wouldn't have seen the occasional blink LED indicating state of charge on the BMS window, much less why a wire would randomly break while the bike was *not* being driven (as opposed to a dirt bike being thrashed on the trails) ..

We'll see. I'm pleased that this hasn't dragged on as much as previous failures, and I've got to say I'm sure that contacting the factory and begging them to bug the dealership has a lot to do with that.

[NEW2elec]

Whoo Hooo I was right about a problem and fix.  I feel so BrianTRice, Electric Terry, DougS right now

I hope it is 100% now Tico I know when mine goes down it's super stressful but so nice when it's back.

Charge those New England fans double, they can afford it.
Go Falcons.
Good luck with your bike man.