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[Crissa]

Also consider that the vast majority of people buy and ride motorcycles as a luxury item and put 3000 miles or fewer on them annually. Then yeah, by comparison, the SR/F is expensive.

For every 3000 miles the bike goes, in fuel cost alone, the gas bike will cost on average $200 more.  Not to mention annual oil changes and other major services an electric doesn't do.  The more miles you put on in a year, the better the electric looks.

So is it really that much more expensive?

-Crissa

[Hans2183]

Quick update: I was informed that they were able to locate the insulation fault and have to order a replacement battery cable ("accu kabelboom" in dutch, spiderbuss is also mentioned) from USA to get it fixed. So currently waiting on parts.

[Hans2183]

UPDATE BIKE IS BACK: Yes finally, after 1.5 month of waiting my srf is back in my garage. Tomorrow I'll take it out for a ride (commute). Really looking forward to that.

They explained a spider part of cables all joined together lives behind the battery and that got damaged by water infiltration. It's a sealed part so they had to order a new one from the US.

[SkyYeti]

Hi Hans,

Glad to hear your SRF is back with you once again.

I think I have just had a similar situation to what you've experienced.

My SRF is 4 weeks old and only on 560km (350 miles)
I riding to work last week and I got 'Code 43: Isolation Fault' pop up on my dashboard and then the CEL came on.
The 'Isolation Fault' message disappeared after about 30 seconds and then flashed up again a few km later - after that I never saw the message again but the CEL was permanently on - even after power off/on etc.
The roads were very wet at the time (but it wasn't raining).
Like you, I didn't notice any reduction in power even though in the manual it says that if the CEL is on then the motorcycle will 'enter into a state of permanent torque reduction'
It's possible that because I was in Rain Mode I didn't notice the reduction in power as in that mode the power delivery is pretty calm anyway.

I put the bike on charge overnight and it charged without any issues.
The following day I took it for a ride up the road, it felt fine but and the CEL stayed on, so I parked it back in my garage and called the dealer.

I suggested that because I was closing in on the 1000km (600 mile) service I could ride it until then and bring it in on schedule (my commute is 84km (53 mile) round trip so it would only have taken about 5 or 6 days before I hit 1000km)
But the mechanic was too nervous to agree to that - I think because the SRF is so new they are being very cautious. He told me to get it on a van and send it to them
So the bike went off to the dealer for a check-up.
It was ready to pick up in 2 days.
This is the report I got given when they delivered the bike back to me:

Technicians Report
Plugged bike in and it brought up faults to do with isolation and charging. These faults have been removed and the bike has been ridden and the faults have not come back on.
We advise the customer to not ride the electric bike in heavy rain conditions and then stick the bike straight on charge. The bike needs to dry out slightly first before it is then plugged into the electrics

So basically, I need to let the bike dry before charging..
In most cases this is fine but if I was on a long trip that required me to stop and charge at a service station, then does that mean I need to park it undercover, wait 30-60min for it to dry and then start charging it?! Seems a bit silly to me. I'll end up spending ages at the service station!
To be fair it won't be much of an issue for me as 99% of my SRF use is to work and back so it won't be difficult for me to wait a couple of hours to let it dry before I plug it in.

So overall it sounds like I was a bit luckier than you in that it didn't need a replacement part - however I do wonder if the water is getting in somewhere then it won't be long before a connection shorts-out properly and I end up sleeping at work

Hope your commute to work went smoothly today...

Oli

[Crissa]

That doesn't sound like Zero's advice.

-Crissa

[Hans2183]

Yes sounds like the issues I had. Also had the CEL stay on during rides without noticeable loss in power (also in a reduced power riding mode though).

However in my case I couldn't charge it or ride it after those wet rides when it comes on. That way I was stranded a few times. And before it never did that, not even in wet rides. So for sure something changed.

It is true that I could always let it dry over night and it would work again. But it just makes the bike unreliable.

I brought it to my dealer in my own van. He changed the 12V battery and the DC-DC converter since these also showed up in the errors from time to time. That didn't fix it. Zero themselves picked it up there and then they diagnosed the problem and based on that replaced the spider cable.

I'm at work now on the SRF, this morning it was dry. Now it is raining however. So very curious if it will keep working.

If it keeps failing in rain I'll just ask my money back. That makes the bike useless to me. They have this ad where they're talking about "less maintenance, more riding" but my 3 years old BMW R1200 GS has done 70.000 km and has been less time "in maintenance" than the 3 months old Zero SRF. 

[Richard230]

That doesn't sound like Zero's advice.

-Crissa

I agree. What motorcycle manufacturer would tell their customers not to ride in the rain because their electrics are not waterproof - other than Joe Lucas?   

[SkyYeti]

That doesn't sound like Zero's advice.

-Crissa

I agree. What motorcycle manufacturer would tell their customers not to ride in the rain because their electrics are not waterproof - other than Joe Lucas?   

Careful  The mechanic didn't say that.
He said, if I ride in heavy rain then I should let it dry off a bit before I plug it in to charge.
Not quite the same but still a bit silly.

Either way I agree with you guys that a non-waterproof bike is just stupid.
It needs to be able to handle the rain without breaking down. And I shouldn't have to dry the bike down before charging it (unless of course there's a bit of water around the actual charge socket)

Like Hans said, we're both using our bikes as daily commutes so they need to be reliable.
Hopefully, we've both just been unlucky and it won't happen again *fingers crossed*

Overall though, I really like this bike. I was so happy to get it back! My commute to work yesterday and today was so much more enjoyable because I was on the SRF   

[princec]

Slather the whole thing in ACF50/XCP/WD40 and hope that keeps the water out of the electronics?

Cas

[Crissa]

WD40 can break down the silicone grease so... Don't do that.

-Crissa

[princec]

Use WD40 Silicone 

Cas

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

The SRF should be better protected by design than the SDS models, from my observations.

I’d really like to understand where the ingress was if possible. I’ve taken extremely rainy cross country trips on my DSR and had issues that eventually broke my onboard charger and DC-DC converter, so I would really like to ensure that’s improved.

[Hans2183]

I think they said it is located behind the main battery, so underneath the charging port somewhere is my best bet. Haven't seen it without the tank though.

The rear wheel takes up a lot of dirt to the point I often have some stationary water where the 12V battery is.

This might reveal something (posted here earlier)



And remmie has a picture from his rapid charger installation

[remmie]

here some more pictures and some more comments in the "DEAD SR/F". thread


https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=9801.0

[Hans2183]

Thanks Remmie for sharing those images. The vertical one indeed clearly shows a spider like point where several cables join.

BAD NEWS - After 3 days of riding to work that CEL came back on during the ride yesterday. Each time it was a ride of around 55 km single (so 110km a day) and all of the rides were on wet roads with some rain but nothing heavy.

Different this time however is that the light came on and I did see the ??43 warning while riding. But once home I could switch the bike off and on and start riding or charging without issues. So I guess it was very briefly and the error was already gone by then.

This morning I had a longer (110 km single) ride again on wet roads. Even had some heavy rain halfway. The error was already gone on startup because I had toggled the ignition switch several times already testing it yesterday evening and this morning to check if it would work. And this time the CEL didn't light up. Despite that heavy rain!?

The only thing I can think of is that the shape of the plastic tray at the bottom of the seat works like a funnel. There is water coming in from beneath the seat for sure cause I've seen water collecting at the 12V battery. Also the point where the indicators attach has enough gaps to let water in.