ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: GreenHell on January 01, 2019, 10:27:32 AM
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I have a Zero DSR2017. New and have had it since about June. I’ve had it in the shop about a half dozen times to have “the dealership diagnose the problem†because they won’t allow you the tools to do that on your own. They can find nothing wrong on the bike. Yet the clock zeros out every time I shut it down and there is no low power change to the dash light. The bike has blown fusss, bulbs, and the thing that got me the most was the recent breakdown. It would not start, gave no red triangle ! indication pattern other than the kickstand was down, and it took towo weeks for them to tow and two weeks to get around to looking at it. Gets worse. The kill switch died for no reason. What if I was doing 70 in the middle lane on the highway in heavy traffic when that happened? What’s my life expectancy at that moment? Zero refuses to stand behind their product, can you blame them? Who wants to stand behind a poorly made product when you don’t care about the purchaser? I like to gamble, I ride and know the risks but this is just callous negligence. I’ll add more later. Just an initial response to their “caveat emptor.â€
~have an insane ride; daffy is knowing that the 4+ wheelers are out to kill you
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Sorry tho read this.
But don't generelize please.
Your specific Zero has a problem.
Your specific dealer is (maybe) not so good?
Your Zero support was not as you would have liked.
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Happy new year!
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Go on... what dealership? Was it a new purchase or a demo/used?
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I contacted Zero direct since I bought the bike. They stated they will not give any schismatics nor will they offer or help direct me to ANY diagnostic tools. I am working out the later on my own. So yes the dealership sucks as far as the time it takes to get us serviced but they ordered the part early morning 21DEC18. Still not here. I ordered my daughter a set of earrings from the Ukraine a day or two after. Showed up the end of Dec.
The onboard computer hasn’t diagnosed half the problem with the bike, including a blown fuse. I’ve been lucky to have found the problems looking on line with other people who have similar issues. Thus I would hardly call this a generalization. Zero refusing to address the problem on a NEW bike that I started having in July following a June purchase is the issue. I have solar panels on my house, hybrid cars, green water based nontoxic insulation so on so forth. Wish I had gone with a Harley. There are two things you need; trust and know your skill and trust and know your ride, everyone and everything else is out to kill you. I don’t trust this ride.
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Where are you located?
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this is the unofficial zero manual it may be of help
https://zeromanual.com/wiki/Main_Page
it has some wiring diagrams
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Which part did the dealer order? Was it just the kill switch?
Which fuses and lights have blown?
Could you catch the dashboard problems on video and post them? Otherwise, it is hard to know what is meant by "clock zeroes out" and "no low power change to the dash light".
I wonder if the DC-DC converter might be intermittent and/or passing high voltage spikes to the 12V side. (Although I have put a good deal of stress on mine with accessories and it has been rock solid.)
Hope you can get this resolved soon.
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Any update?
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Response to recent posts:
In Philly.
The daytime running light and the fuse have blown, both of which cause the dash light and the night running tail light to quit functioning. Little dangerous. Also kick stand sensor has clicked on while driving. I don’t know what has caused that but when it does I have pulled over and after a couple times kicking the stand down and back up it knocks it off.
The dealer ordered a kill switch, I had expected it to be the kickstand sensor so that was a surprise. Still not there. The dealer said maybe next Wednesday 09JAN. Zero didn’t have any help to offer when I called them today. Also they still weren’t interested in replacing the computer.
The clock in the upper left corner goes to 0000 when I turn the bike on after shutdown after setting it. The Bike is supposed to go from blue to yellow back light when you’re low on juice. My does not. Also has inconsistent % on the battery for the same drive in the same conditions by about 20%. (Side note: when you hit 0% the bike slowly loses max speed and doesn’t just crap out if you haven’t gone that low and wondered what happens).
Haven’t come accoss an actual diagram in the unofficial but it is broad and I will rat through it and see what I can find. Thanks for the tip.
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I have a Zero DSR2017. New and have had it since about June. I’ve had it in the shop about a half dozen times to have “the dealership diagnose the problem†because they won’t allow you the tools to do that on your own. They can find nothing wrong on the bike. Yet the clock zeros out every time I shut it down and there is no low power change to the dash light. The bike has blown fusss, bulbs, and the thing that got me the most was the recent breakdown. It would not start, gave no red triangle ! indication pattern other than the kickstand was down, and it took towo weeks for them to tow and two weeks to get around to looking at it. Gets worse. The kill switch died for no reason. What if I was doing 70 in the middle lane on the highway in heavy traffic when that happened? What’s my life expectancy at that moment? Zero refuses to stand behind their product, can you blame them? Who wants to stand behind a poorly made product when you don’t care about the purchaser? I like to gamble, I ride and know the risks but this is just callous negligence. I’ll add more later. Just an initial response to their “caveat emptor.â€
~have an insane ride; daffy is knowing that the 4+ wheelers are out to kill you
unfortunately typical.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
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GreenHell, a few quick things. Zero starts your 2 years warranty from the date they shipped the bike to your dealer not the day you bought it. You can give them your VIN and find out when yours runs out, pretty soon most likely. The clock has a battery that can't be replaced. If it's going out the whole dash has to be replaced, yes that's a bad design. Easier to have a watch.
I have never heard of the dash changing color. Where was this in the manual? I have the same bike but I admit I've never gone below about 40% for the short time I've had it (bought used).
The items you said went out because of (1) fuse going out doesn't make sense since they have 3 different fuses for those functions.
All of your lights and dash go off your DC-DC converter so if everything went at the same time that is the likely problem.
It could be loose or, like my older bike a 13 DS, it would go on and off for periods of time (went on for a couple of days) before it died and I got it replaced. It's been fine since.
If your bike was a demo (likely) it was rode hard and put up wet as they say and depending on your miles (you didn't say) the dealer may have seen issues with the bike and passed it on any way. If you have another Zero dealer in your state you'll want to take it to them as some of the guys don't know what the hell they are doing with these bikes and resent the technology.
Drop it off and say what's wrong and to fix it under warranty.
Good luck.
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You have some good points there, but to start, 8 mikes on the odometer at purchase, the next service dealership is 120 miles and I don’t have a power pack, and I paid $18,000 for the bike. This isn’t some low end bike, not demo, nor used. Do you know what kind of bike and service and respect from the manufacturer I could have gotten if I had gone combustion?
My guess is that now the big companies are moving green, they will be out of business in a couple years and really don’t care about customer service and loyalty because they know that. If you bought a car and you had to take it to the dealership and ONLY the dealership 6 times in 6 months from purchase, what would be your assessment of the quality the vehicle?
I don’t care about rain or temperature. Unless there is ice or snow, I ride. You’ll never see me under a bridge. Not a fair weather....
I expect a high cost ride to perform in a like manner. Look at how it’s designed! Does it look like a scooter let alone cruiser? I could have gone high end Euro if I wanted some where to waste money. Alas, I’m military and working for peanuts when I get paid. I can’t afford the time and dealership expense for a half-assed jawn.
I posted my problems to let people know before they buy. I did see any solid negative feedback before I purchased. I would like to save someone the problems I have had.
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Check out the 2016_FX schematic by Keith. It's amazing, especially if you open it in Inkscape and zoom around. He notes that it should be nearly identical for S models. He also notes that there's 100V live unswitched going to the MBB and various places, and it's extremely easy to blow entire boards trying to get multimeter readings. This is likely why Zero definitely doesn't want people poking around in there and it's hard to blame them. ICE expertise is somewhat useless here. The servicing is best left to the trained dealer, especially if you're fully covered under warranty and don't want to start a finger-pointing war.
The schematic shows that the running light fuse is only 5A and indeed powers the dash light. Strangely, it also appears to go through the flash-to-pass button to the high beam. But the tail light is powered by the headlight supply and should not go out the same way. All of this is out of the DC-DC converter and it goes to the MBB as well for unknown reasons. Anyway, it does sound like most or all of your issues may end up attributed to a single component failure.
Your dealer must be Crossroad Powersports and the next nearest Mt. Molly Motorsports. Zero is rapidly adding dealers. Hopefully they'll add one in Allentown or Reading before too long. It's unrealistic to expect that a small and growing company should be able to provide the same level of support as large, established companies. That said, there is NO excuse that Zero can't rapidly ship a small part like a switch or stock them at dealers. I mean, jeez, all of the models have so many parts in common.
Does anyone know if the kill switch activity appears in the logs? And kickstand switch? One thing we users can do is extract the logs and look at them using the log parser, thanks to Kim and Brian and Keith.
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Ok well your first post said your "dealer" (go on and name them) took two weeks to tow your bike and two weeks to work on it.
That's a bad dealer!
You said you paid $18000 in June of 2018 for a 2017 DSR without the power tank. Did it have the charge tank? Either way you can look on Cycle Trader and find them for $14k back in June.
Evil salesman at said dealer!
You should be able to drop it off and get a loaner and if Zero is the problem let them deal with it.
They should have rolled any bike in that shop out in the street to make room for yours, you paid top dollar and should be first in line every time!
I'll take your word it was not a demo.
So what do you want? Do you want your bike to get fixed? If one doctor couldn't heal you when your sick wouldn't you go to a new doctor? You can rent a truck or a trailer from Uhaul and take it to the other dealer and see what they can do.
Your under warranty. You don't need to fix anything yourself and like I said you need to find out when it runs out so your not left out to dry.
You could have a lemon, EVERY company has them but you need to get a second opinion to see if it's the dealer or the parent company.
We like to help people on this forum to get their bikes working right. There have been some bad issues that didn't go the way the owner thought they should in the past and they sold their bikes and moved on. That is also the case for every maker of bikes cars and trucks.
Most people have had their issues fixed and have gone on to a long enjoyable riding life with these bikes myself included.
I feel this can be fixed by a good dealer.
Good luck and thanks for your service!
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First off, my appreciation for the truly respectful comments and advice. My main problem is the manufacturer, second is the dealership. Good point above about renting a uhaul, blind spot on my side. Zero dealerships are far and wide between, I think the next closest are Gettysburg and Baltimore, one full charge.
As far as riding a bike hard, that’s what they are designed for, I don’t agree that 8 miles of nuts is the problem. If it is, that’s a crap design. I ride in the rain, I ride in the cold. The bike should at least handle what I can. Besides, what’s up with the tires if this is a sensitive moped?
I only found one fuse box; under the seat. I’m not seeing any inline. I’m also old, like late gen X old, I have enough trouble figuring out this forum. I can handle combustion engines like a boss, I sucked at the electronics portion of physics in college. Not my bag, I need a map.
I need a map and a bike that won’t get me killed.
I was told by the dealership that the das light should change, I took them at their word. Insofar as the clock, if you bought something new, shouldn’t they shit work? Just saying.
You are all a greater help than I get commercially. Ride fast and die hard.
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Are there other dealers close to you ? What I would suggest if this joke lasts too long is to take a lawyer and consider obtaining a reimbursement. Buying a Zero is sometime some sort of Russian roulette - good if you get the right number, but awfully bad if you have the wrong combination of bike problems / dealer attitude.
You should not fight to have you bike fixed - you dealer should fight to ensure what he sold you meets minimal expectations.