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[JaimeC]

Well, it took me a little longer than a year to rack up 10K miles but it rolled over that milestone last night on my way home from a club meeting.  Since I took delivery of the bike on April 23rd of last year, it has become my "daily driver" for commuting back and forth to work, lunch time rides, errand-running and short weekend rides "just for fun."

In this time, the only issue I had with it was the non-working turn signals that occurred the day after I took it home.  It took the dealer longer than I would've expected to diagnose and correct the issue (over a month) but ever since, the bike has been pretty much problem free.

I've seen posts regarding a surprisingly short tire life, but my tires still look like they might have another 5K miles left (both front and rear).  Surprisingly, the rear doesn't even look "squared off" which is what I'd expect from all of the highway riding I've done with it (my daily commute is 34 miles round trip, will all but three miles of that on the freeway at speeds of up to 70 mph).

My accessories/modifications have been minimal.  I have the Givi-made Zero top box and the commuter wind shield, a RAM mount to hold my smart phone and some stickers on the sides.  I also have the Hollywood Electric's carbon fiber "tank" cover to replace the bag in the faux tank.

I read with trepidation some of the horror stories other users are having and I'm not sure WHY I'm not having them but so far I've been pretty lucky.  My only real outstanding issue is the flaky smart phone app that seems to have forgotten how to calculate "remaining charge time."  It USED to, but the past several updates first broke that capability and have subsequently failed to correct it.

Safe riding, all!

[Blotman]

That's awesome! Yeah, when everything is working as intended, we rarely hear about it except for that one thread asking who had a problem-free Zero. How are your brake pads holding up?

I'm almost 30,000 miles into my 2013 S, and still have plenty left on the original pads. This was on the Nissin calipers that came stock before Zero switched over to J-Juan though. My front tire also held up for almost 20,000 miles before I finally decided to replace it. On the other hand I have gone through a few rear tires since they have been bearing most of the work between accelerating and regen braking.

My S only ever had one minor issue, and that's with a rattling at the motor. The service guy explained that one of the parts wasn't machined to the right size and they took care of it under warranty.

Other than that, no problems at all!

[Shadow]

Congrats on the 1-year and 10k miles!  My 2016 DSR purchased in May of 2016 rolled past 10k miles recently as well, although I've had a digiNow SCv2 one-module since 7k miles and recently upgraded to the three-module SCv2 configuration.   Regarding tire life I just bought some cheap Shinko tires at the local dealership, my tread is getting a bit thin in the front and rear. I already replaced the rear at 6k miles but the replacement didn't last long. The stock tires (Pirelli) seem to be hard-wearing.

[JaimeC]

I did have the brake pads replaced at 8,000 miles which surprised me because I'm not that hard on the brakes.  Not sure if the dealer was cheating me, or thought they were thin enough to pass muster this time, but might not in the next 8,000 miles so he thought he'd save me a trip.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt this time since he's done right by me (so far) with my two BMWs.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Congrats!

I'm at 21k miles on my DSR now (at 16 months in) and my rear tire lasted 13k and front lasted 19k (probably due to excessive use of regen at the expense of braking), so long-lasting brakes and tires seem to be achievable. I switched to Metzler Tourance front and rear, but didn't change the pad compound. I'm still on the same belt with very little adjustment needed.

[JaimeC]

Congrats!

I'm at 21k miles on my DSR now (at 16 months in) and my rear tire lasted 13k and front lasted 19k (probably due to excessive use of regen at the expense of braking), so long-lasting brakes and tires seem to be achievable. I switched to Metzler Tourance front and rear, but didn't change the pad compound. I'm still on the same belt with very little adjustment needed.

I prefer Metzeler tires myself but although I could find a matching size for the front, I could not find a matching size for the rear. 

[MostlyBonkers]

That's great news Jaime, thanks for starting this topic. I remember reading your posts last year when you bought your bike.

It's so important that we hear some good stories to balance all the negativity. I hope anyone else reading this will either start their own topic or post on this one.  I have a feeling that apart from long term enthusiasts, people don't frequent the forum unless they start having problems.

I've been moaning a lot lately, unfortunately. I hope  to balance that by writing a review of my 2014DS, which will be mostly positive.

Coincidentally, I have the same tyres as Brian now and they have transformed my bike's grip, which makes it handle with confidence. It is like having a new bike!

[hubert]

good news all that! I'm now a 3-month owner of the 2014 S and no problem after adding 3kkm to the original (only) 5.5kkm. Hope the issues will not start when I will be testing the supercharger "remmie style" with the elteks, within 1 or 2 weeks...

[tamjam]

2800 trouble-free miles in 7 months of owning my '16 DSR. I use it mostly for commuting (30 miles round-trip) during the week and occasional quick jaunts though the hills on the weekends. No long trips yet as I have not sorted out a quick charging system yet. It wouldn't "start" once but I think that was user error not the bike itself.

I can't wait for my tires to wear out since I'd like more of a road-worthy 80/20 tread pattern. Speaking of tires, I'm thinking of trying a 110/80 front and 150/70 rear (vs 100/90 and 130/80 stock) to get a wider contact patch. Has anyone played around with either of these sizes? I don't think the front will have any issues fitting but I am not sure about the rear...the 150 is about .80 inches wider. This change would lower my front and raise my rear ever so fractionally, which I am ok with.

[Richard230]

I have gone over 11K miles on my 2014S without any drama or problems.  I replaced my original Road Whiner rear tire at 10,500 miles with a Michelin Pilot Street Radial.  The original front Road Whiner is still hanging in there.  It is hard to tell when it will wear out. Otherwise nothing else to report. 

[gyrocyclist]

A bit over 4K miles on 2016 SR in just over a year. I have a short commute (~ 4miles),
and sometimes do weekend jaunts.  I enjoy hard acceleration away from stop lights.
(Also lane splitting -- when I feel there's plenty of room! Glad it's finally legal (as opposed
to: not illegal) in California.)

Zero's specs for mileage seem pretty spot-on (assumes you don't accelerate hard

No serious complaints about the bike (but wish I had a 2017

Minor issues with dealers.

[Ireek]

Thanks for this thread, I'm still on the outside looking in and contemplating on taking the electric plunge, I have ridden the DS and FXS (both 2016's) and fell in love with them and was determined to buy one, til I got on this forum and reading all the horror stories put the brakes on that idea real quick, way more bad experiences written than positive.  I've ridden for almost 40 years and spent about 10 years working in the powersports industry so I have been around.  Stories like this might be more effective than you think at getting folks to take the plunge, keep the good stories up guys, I was leaning back now I'm leaning forward again.

[JaimeC]

Common to nearly every forum I've ever been on:  More people are willing to bitch about problems than explain how they are NOT having problems.  People come to forums like this normally to seek solutions to their issues, I guess.  I come for the "community." 

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Congrats!

I'm at 21k miles on my DSR now (at 16 months in) and my rear tire lasted 13k and front lasted 19k (probably due to excessive use of regen at the expense of braking), so long-lasting brakes and tires seem to be achievable. I switched to Metzler Tourance front and rear, but didn't change the pad compound. I'm still on the same belt with very little adjustment needed.

I prefer Metzeler tires myself but although I could find a matching size for the front, I could not find a matching size for the rear. 

Metzler Tourance Next has a DS/R fit. But not for the sport model, presumably, which makes sense as they are 90/10 dual sport tires.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Thanks for this thread, I'm still on the outside looking in and contemplating on taking the electric plunge, I have ridden the DS and FXS (both 2016's) and fell in love with them and was determined to buy one, til I got on this forum and reading all the horror stories put the brakes on that idea real quick, way more bad experiences written than positive.  I've ridden for almost 40 years and spent about 10 years working in the powersports industry so I have been around.  Stories like this might be more effective than you think at getting folks to take the plunge, keep the good stories up guys, I was leaning back now I'm leaning forward again.

The bad experiences are real, but it's hard to know over the internet why they happen. We're doing our best to share the stories so that hopefully they can be fixed, avoided, or worked around.

One reason I maintain http://zeromanual.com/ is hopefully to assemble guidance to keep the bikes running reliably for anyone paying attention. Although we're not quite there yet.