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[Bass Cadet]

I bought my '14 S used a few months ago and have put on about 500 miles. It has a little under 12k miles on it now.

Everything is running fine as far as I can tell, but I am thinking of taking it in to a dealer just to check. I am closer to Zero Motorcycles of Orange County so would take it there.

Do others take their Zeros in periodically or am I just wasting time and money?

Thanks,
BC

[Crissa]

Well, they can plug it in and check the logs.  A 2014 cannot update its own firmware.

They should also have the equipment to set bolts to proper loading.  An annual checkup should do it for most systems.  You should check lights, shocks, brakes, belt at the UI level each ride, of course.  There is a mileage point checkup on tires, brakes, and belt as well.  I am on a trip so I don't have my manual, but those are in it.

I don't have all the tools, so I took it to the dealer.  Make sure they have their software updated before they update your bike

-Crissa

[Richard230]

My daughter's 2014 S has never had a firmware update since it left the factory and it is running great.  That apparently has not always been the case after some 2014 models have received the a firmware update at a dealership.   

[Crissa]

I can't say I notice much difference between before the firmware update and after, but it exists.

-Crissa

[brose]

I take my 14 S in once a year and tell them to check it over and fix/replace whatever is needed. It has moving parts and the cost seems well worth it to me. It might be worth looking into getting the motor commissioned, if it has not been done. This shouldn't take long. I typically get billed for 1-3 hours of labor from the shop, depends on what needs done.

[Richard230]

I take my 14 S in once a year and tell them to check it over and fix/replace whatever is needed. It has moving parts and the cost seems well worth it to me. It might be worth looking into getting the motor commissioned, if it has not been done. This shouldn't take long. I typically get billed for 1-3 hours of labor from the shop, depends on what needs done.

I don't believe that the 2014 models need to have their motors "commissioned".  It is not mentioned in the owners manual for that model.  My daughter's bike has never had that done and still runs like new.   

[Richard230]

I take my 14 S in once a year and tell them to check it over and fix/replace whatever is needed. It has moving parts and the cost seems well worth it to me. It might be worth looking into getting the motor commissioned, if it has not been done. This shouldn't take long. I typically get billed for 1-3 hours of labor from the shop, depends on what needs done.

I don't believe that the 2014 models need to have their motors "commissioned".  It is not mentioned in the owners manual for that model.  My daughter's bike has never had that done and still runs like new.   

Her bike has not been serviced by a dealer since it was bought in January 2014.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

An annual checkup is a good idea. At least it's a good idea to have a professional check how it's operating and look for parts wear. Every two years, you should change the brake fluid, anyway, and fork oil should get changed.

For what it's worth, I've finally got a little collection of maintenance-related pages indexed here, and honestly this represents most of what you should check, ever:
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Category:Maintenance

[Crissa]

Is there even a teardown manual for Zero's motor to know if it is vibrating out of spec?  It would have to be way out of spec to notice, and it's basically a single unit.  This might be an issue in ten, thirty years, but today?

I'd be suspicious of anyone offering this service for a 2013+, today.

Also, thanks, Brian!

-Crissa

[DonTom]

If anybody goes for commissioning, be sure the service guy puts it in writing. I asked for a "firmware update and a motor commissioning" on each of my Zeros, one done at Elk Grove, CA and the other in Reno, NV.

I only got the FW updates at each place. Later I noticed the word "commissioning " was not in either paperwork and they only charged me for the FW updates.

The problem is that the guy who writes up the order  usually does not even know what motor commissioning is and ignores it, so it doesn't get written up.

Be sure you have the words "motor commissioning" on the paperwork!

Both my bikes run fine, so I am not too worried about it. But next time I have my bikes in the shop I will make sure it gets done on each.

-Don-  Bartow, CA (RV)

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Is there even a teardown manual for Zero's motor to know if it is vibrating out of spec?  It would have to be way out of spec to notice, and it's basically a single unit.  This might be an issue in ten, thirty years, but today?

I'd be suspicious of anyone offering this service for a 2013+.

There's nothing to teardown on the Zero motor. Just bearing removal, which is notably involved just to get the motor out and the right bearing pullers involved.

https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Gen2/Motor_Removal
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Gen2/Motor_Bearing_Replacement

All you really need to check is the sound. To tell a bit of a story, one job I held in the nuclear navy as an electrician was to perform 6-axis vibration analysis on every bearing and shaft in the plant. We'd then load the waveforms on a PC and look at FFT spectrum breakdown and compare it to previous readings and also compare it to other components to see when something was deteriorating and how, so we could perform predictive maintenance instead of corrective maintenance on unscheduled downtime.

That's an expensive test program for a military setting, but the low-cost analogue is listening to the drivetrain, motor commissioning, and finally bearing inspection, which all the dealers should be competent at performing.

[Crissa]

Pulling out the bearings would be tearing down an electrical motor, and bushings if it had bushings (tho the 2013+ doesn't) as well as checking the mountings and sometimes the shaft and sleeve come out.

The vibration sensor for a motor is very similar (if not exactly) to the one for the belt.  But aside from replacing bearings, I just wouldn't expect any shop to have the gear to detect or repair any wear to the guide sleeve or rotation shaft.

But is that in the standard procedure for a Zero service technician?

-Crissa

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Nope. Zero generally advises straight part swaps, not true motor servicing or overhaul. The motor is focused on being airtight and maintenance-free. The SRF is the first model where they've made the motor parts serviceable like the encoder.

I mean, it's not like a motorcycle shop will have the know-how to deal with laminations or windings, for the foreseeable future, anyway.

[Bass Cadet]

A lot of good information here! And thanks for indexing the maintenance pages, Brian. It's definitely handy to have.

I took the S to the dealer today and will have them check it out and change a few things. Those SRFs are tempting but the S is still running well.

BC