ElectricMotorcycleForum.com

Hi folks

So, we've given up on the pile of garbage that Zero sold us. If anyone needs the details (and if you're thinking of taking up this offer, make sure you read the details)  - our story is covered in these posts:

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3504.30

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=4876.msg33145

As you'll see from the second of these, the last problem was the throttle acting as though it was sticking on. It seems to be intermittent. I've canceled the bike's plates and it's no longer road registered.

That being so, I don't rate this bike as safe to ride. And it's clear that Zero has no interest in supporting pre-2013 bikes. So if anyone else who owns a 2012 XU and would like this bike as a source of spares to cannibalize, you're welcome to it. I live in the northeast USA, about 1.5 hours from Boston (on Cape Cod). You'll have to come & get it, or organize for it to be picked up. Bike's got clear title.

I realize that getting rid of it means I can't ensure that it's not used on the road, but I would strongly discourage its use on the road. It's been extremely unreliable, and the last problem - the engine not slowing when you shut the throttle off - is potentially very dangerous. But it's got a good battery bank, DC-DC converter, BMS (because all of them have been replaced) and motor. Not sure if the latest problem is the MBB or just the throttle control, but I'm past caring. The forks don't leak and iirc the bike has <1500 miles on it so the tires & brakes are fine.

I tried to offer it to the dealership from where I bought it. They never got back (2 phone calls and an email). I tried Hollywood Electrics and they weren't interested, but offered me a deal on a 2014FX. We're not interested and never want to deal with the Zero motorcycles company ever again. I find Zero exceedingly unimpressive (I'm trying to be polite).

A friend gave me an early-80s Suzuki 250 to fix up for my wife to ride & to replace the Zero, so I'm passing on the goodwill and offering the Zero on to someone who can use it for parts, for free. We want it gone and no longer wasting space in our garage.

Anyone interested can send me a private message.
Peter

I've posted a couple of times stating that Zeros can be unreliable. By way of explanation, here's my Zero story. The first three paragraphs of this are excerpted from a post I made previously. Rest is self-explanatory. Our household's experience with an XU.

I've got a 2012 XU that my wife commutes back roads to work on (well, my wife owns & rides it, but I keep the household's motorcycles going, so I'm responsible for the Zero). I'm coming to this from a history of Eurobikes. My current commuter bike is a 1981 Morini 500. Picked up the 2012 XU during the "cash for carbon" deal in late March 2013. We live in the Northeast USA.

Had the bike 4 days and the horn stopped working. I traced the problem to the horn itself, took Zero 2 weeks to send out a new one. Late June the bike stopped dead a couple of miles from home, I managed to get it working long enough to get home. Then it stopped completely. My wife, who'd been riding it when it first stopped, said it sounded like something in the throttle assembly went click - so I emailed the dealer we got it from to send me out another throttle assembly. The dealer, btw, is 120 miles away, and our nearest dealer. (I pointed out that as I'd just fitted a completely new ignition system to the Morini, I was probably up to fitting a new throttle assembly). This coincided with us heading overseas for a while, so the bike sat for a couple of months.

It took me a while to get back to it, and when I did, folks at the dealer said as a warranty job, they'd have to do it and couldn't send me the part. I tried to get the head of their service dept for a chat, we did the phone tag thing a few times, and never caught up. In the end I gave up and - we don't have a truck (carbon accounting?), and hiring a truck wasn't cheaper enough, by the time I included the 240 mile round trip - so the dealer came & picked up the bike. They've got it fixed pretty quickly - just under 2 weeks from it being picked up early November 2013. Transport cost for the warranty work was $450.

We got the XU back late November. The dealer changed over the throttle assembly and “recalibrated the system” to quote their email. They had it working. Between weather, work and kids, I didn't get to ride it in to work until a bit before Christmas. So I get on the bike, turn the key and – nothing. No response. Hmm - thinks I – not so good. I turn the key a few more times, and it turns on. So – maybe a glitchy connection in the key switch.

It seemed silly to ring the dealer without trying to ride the bike, so I rode it to work (15 minutes on backroads, just what an XU is made for). Got off, turned it off, took the key out – and the lights stayed on. Oh dear, thinks I. Re-insert the key, turn it off, and it goes off. Scratch my head - bad key switch? Leave the bike in the car park, wander in to work.

Come out that evening – it's cold, raining and dark. Of course. As I walk towards the bike, I see a light shining on. Again, I say to myself - oh dear (well, not really oh dear this time). So the lights and instruments are lit up, and have been on for about an hour and a half. By magic, with the key in my pocket and me in my office the whole time. So I try turning the bike off with the key. No joy. So I turn the bike “on” with the key, roll the throttle on to see what happens. No forward motion. Seems like there's no power to the motor, or the battery's too flat. I find somewhere to leave the bike under cover, and locked, overnight. Get a lift home.

As it's after 5pm on the east coast, the local dealer's shut, so I ring Zero direct. They tell me it's likely to be a short in the MBB (main bike board) & they'll send one out to me to fit myself. I get the bike home in the back of a friend's Honda Odyssey next day. Board arrived just after New Year, I got around to fitting it Jan 19 or so. Went in just fine.

But – the battery wouldn't charge. It turns out that as MBB fault left the battery completely discharged, and as Zero can't guarantee that a fully discharged battery will operate properly again, it's set up not to charge. So – the bike needs a new battery. But, it's a 2012 XU, and this is January 2014. Zero need to make a new battery for it, they didn't have any in inventory.

I was told I'd have new battery by the first or second week in March. I pinged Zero last Wednesday, got a phone call saying the battery was ready to go. Another phone call Thursday to let me know that someone would need to sign for the battery on arrival, so I'd get a tracking number by email.

I'm waiting on the tracking number.

Peter