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Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: pyromancy5 on July 17, 2019, 06:15:07 AM
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This is my rebuild project. I picked this wrecked 2014 Zero Sr up from a local guy. 15k miles. He had purchased it at a Copart auction for a considerable amount more than I paid him for it. Was selling it because of a recent divorce, and he was a motorcycle technician, he didn’t get EVs.
Within a week I had it stripped down and had a parts order placed with the local dealer. Frame, tank, fender, plastics and some other bits and bob. I was told the frame was stamped with a matching VIN yesterday and shipped out today. With any luck, parts will be here in a week.
The bike was in a front end wreck and the frame bent at the shoulder. Best I can tell, the bike hit something dead on, and didn’t really fall over. Not even a scraped foot peg. The tire made contact with the stubby chin and broke the center and side plastics but the battery box is unmarred. The wheel is still true. The right fork is leaking, so an inspection and rebuild is in order. There’s no scoring on the tube, and all appears to be straight. Hopefully things stayed straight with the stout 43mm tube width and the fork doubled up under full compression (assuming heavy braking on impact).
Surprisingly easy to work on this bike. The wiring loom was well organized, labeled and has unique connectors for just about everything. The rear brake was the only pain to get apart. I drive an EV, but this is my first time wrenching on one beyond a tire rotation. I've rehabbed bikes before, and it's really nice to not have gas and oil to mess about with.
Does anyone on this forum recognize this bike from the forum? Anyone talk about getting in a wreck?
This is the auction w/ photos I found before going to look at it:
https://www.copart.com/lot/37359938 (https://www.copart.com/lot/37359938)
(https://i.imgur.com/O6tsFge.jpg)
Up on the lift before I strapped it
(https://i.imgur.com/BmKJ7zM.jpg)
Motor out then frame off. This order made it very easy to keep the battery stationary
(https://imgur.com/8p4hreU.jpg)
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Nice!
If I had to recover a wreck of unknown age-since-last-charge the first thing I'd do is grab a voltage reading off the battery and then close the battery contactor and start charging the battery before it goes bad.
The bike also has a serial terminal direct to the BMS, if that helps you diagnose things.
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Nice!
If I had to recover a wreck of unknown age-since-last-charge the first thing I'd do is grab a voltage reading off the battery and then close the battery contactor and start charging the battery before it goes bad.
The bike also has a serial terminal direct to the BMS, if that helps you diagnose things.
I was able to sync my phone to it when I picked it up (rode it for a few blocks, too) SoC was 90%. Unfortunately there was no SoH reading. I’m wondering if it went flat at the copart lot. Once it’s back together, I’ll do a full capacity check.
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So... I just watched Rich Rebuilds latest video and at the beginning it featured him working on a wrecked red S from a Copart auction that looks very similar to this one. Just curious if this is the same bike :)
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Definitely resembles the damage on mine. Definitely not the same one though. I’m curious what he does with it.
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Me too, he is close by so having someone who could potentially work on my bike is pretty cool.
Pyromancy5 good luck with your rebuild, I am excited to see the finished product.
-Carl
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Thanks Carl, I'll try to do a better job of documenting the rebuild process now that I will have plenty of time.
I was in a bit of a rush to get a parts list together in hopes I could ride the bike to marshal a 100 mile bicycle ride for cancer on 8/3. That's not going to happen because I need the fork seals before I can get the shocks rebuilt. The dealer was so unresponsive about this order. I had a written parts list to them and it took them almost 2 weeks to place the order. I sent them an email with a spreadsheet of part names and numbers on Sunday 6/30, and called to confirm on Monday, they say they will call me back. No call back. Tuesday I call, they're too busy to price all the parts (like 12 items) and no call back. By the time I spoke to someone on Wednesday, Zero was closed for the holiday weekend. They tell me they'll call me and place the order first thing on Monday. But no call back. I call Tuesday to ask whats up and they return me the quote, I amend a couple things and submit. But they had a question about a part from the diagram, so they won't place the order, but zero is closed. So they say the order will go in first thing Wednesday, the parts manager promises. But I call Wed. and they tell me the parts manager is off that day, and that is the only person who can do it. >:( I expect a call Thursday, but nope. so I call Thurs and get more "we're busy, call you back later". They do and they got their question answered (the part I listed was correct), but now Zero is closed again. The order is finally placed on Friday, twelve days after I sent the parts list. I feel like this whole thing should have taken about 20 minutes on the phone. I never thought it would be this hard to spend a couple thousand dollars. I was told the frame would be stamped on Monday and would take a week to 10 days to get here.
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So... I just watched Rich Rebuilds latest video and at the beginning it featured him working on a wrecked red S from a Copart auction that looks very similar to this one. Just curious if this is the same bike :)
I don’t usually watch him, but he teased the SR and he got me. I was wincing a lot during his tear down. Get a bike stand for fk sake. He paid $3,200 for a one year newer SR with equivalent miles, more damage and had already been torn into. If I was going to cannibalize my bike, I would make an old school three wheeler.
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Ha yea a lot of what he does is a hack but it's always entertaining. While it would be neat to see him retrofit a sport bike the work involved getting everything to fit would be tremendous. He should do exactly what you did and order a new frame and then see if he can find a salvage fork and front wheel. It was pretty crazy seeing everything apart and working on the floor thou.
-Carl
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Ha yea a lot of what he does is a hack but it's always entertaining. While it would be neat to see him retrofit a sport bike the work involved getting everything to fit would be tremendous. He should do exactly what you did and order a new frame and then see if he can find a salvage fork and front wheel. It was pretty crazy seeing everything apart and working on the floor thou.
-Carl
I like the direction he is headed in with the rat rod.
Not much update on this build. I called the dealer last week to see what's going on. They told me some parts had arrived, and they're just waiting on the tank plastics to come in.
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Parts are in!
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Picked up parts today and I learned a few things.
When ordering new tanks plastics, they sent me the newer keyed-cover type. I wish I had known this so I could have ordered it keyed to the originals.
The frame is also updated with the two vertical supports between the upper and lower parts of neck and shoulder. This was not present on the original frame, but it should add strength. Hoping everything else bolts up OK. It's sticker has all the same information on it, including the original date of manufacture.
It also came with the swing arm bearings already pressed in place. I had pulled these from the frame, but this makes it easier.
The races for the steering head bearings also were in place, which fine, I guess. I had planned to replace the stock bearing with the allballs. I already tried pulling these from the original frame, and it was a pain in the ass, so I'm going to re-install the stock ones. They seem fine.
Fork seal kit came with bushings and all, so those will be nice and fresh.
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A bit of a curve ball thrown my way. When Zero changed from the Fastace to Showa suspension, they changed the rear mounting bracket on the frame too. I should have taken pictures, but when I'm in the middle of something I forget to document the process. The new bracket is the same width and location, but has more material (larger radius from the mounting hole) which does not allow for clearance for the mounting of the Fastace. Some modification to the tab (removing about 2 mm of material) was necessary.
Steering head bearings cleaned and inspected. They looked good. Re-greased and steering head is assembled.
Rear swing arm is assembled and back on, but I removed the rear wheel for cleaning, and I'm contemplating wheel bearing replacement since it's already apart.
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Nice sounds like some good progress. Did Zero know you where ordering a frame for a 14 with the Fastace? Do they only make and stock newer year frames? Hopefully you don't run into any more surprises. Foe the wheel maybe just check to see if there is any play with the bearings. Not sure how often people are replacing them but with only 15K you'll probably be fine until the next belt change or set of tires is needed.
Good luck!
-Carl
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Nice sounds like some good progress. Did Zero know you where ordering a frame for a 14 with the Fastace? Do they only make and stock newer year frames? Hopefully you don't run into any more surprises. Foe the wheel maybe just check to see if there is any play with the bearings. Not sure how often people are replacing them but with only 15K you'll probably be fine until the next belt change or set of tires is needed.
Good luck!
-Carl
Thanks Carl! Yeah, I think Zero must only make the most current iteration of products. They etched my old VIN onto the new frame, and the info sticker has the same 2014 date of MFG as the original.
I'm itching to ride as much as I can... winter is coming. I checked the bearings and they're fine. Zero says replace at 20k, but new tires are needed very soon, so I'll do both this after the riding season comes to an end.
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I recently got a 14 SR swingarm from Harlan at Hollywood Electrics. I know the newer swingarms are different in:
(1) shocks, like you noticed
(2) 2016+ wheels have room for rotation sensor, for the ABS system I think, there's probably an attachment point for that.
As far as your question about 14 SR that have been wrecked, I do know there was an investigator looking for a 14 SR to run a test on, a few months back, relating to a fatality or an injury, in the Bay Area, maybe yours is that one.
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This bike is back together! No lower plastics on yet... The front chin was held on by screws to the last frame, but this one appears to use a plastic clip pushed into the hole.
But that didn't stop me from a test ride this morning. First just a quick trip around some 25 streets, then around the airport with one good pull in sport mode. :D puts a big smile on my face. This bike performs beyond my expectations, what a thrill.
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I really appreciate your sharing of the project and detailed descriptions. Sounds like great fun!
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So I have the title inspection scheduled for Monday afternoon. It's ~68 miles away, so I will need to charge for a couple hours and take it slow on the trip. I still don't have the right clip to hold the front chin on to the frame, and that will provide a *little* bit of help with aero and range. Means I need to swing by the dealer this weekend because they actually have this in stock.
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Hey Pyromancy, nice work! I had done this exact same thing in October 2017 but chickened out. I bought a wrecked 2016 SR with similar damage for a STEAL (with the intent on repairing) but ended up selling the battery for a considerable sum as I had also bought a truck at that auction and was a bit worried at all the money flying out the door on my trip across the country to get it. Even contacted the former owner afterwards to make sure he was okay (found a receipt in tankbag). Thanks to the unofficial manual and a ton of research I felt comfortable risking any of this in the first place.
Glad to see someone actually doing it and breathing new life into these parts.
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Hey Pyromancy, nice work! I had done this exact same thing in October 2017 but chickened out. I bought a wrecked 2016 SR with similar damage for a STEAL (with the intent on repairing) but ended up selling the battery for a considerable sum as I had also bought a truck at that auction and was a bit worried at all the money flying out the door on my trip across the country to get it. Even contacted the former owner afterwards to make sure he was okay (found a receipt in tankbag). Thanks to the unofficial manual and a ton of research I felt comfortable risking any of this in the first place.
Glad to see someone actually doing it and breathing new life into these parts.
Hey Talon, Well I hope your truck worked out OK. What did you get your wrecked SR for? I paid 2300 for this one. 2016 would have been nice, I do like the upgraded brakes and shocks. Do you still have parts?
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I do still have parts. I won the bid at $2900 or so back then, but auction fees and no dealer license to operate on ended up netting me almost $1000 in fees if I remember correctly. That came as a surprise as it was all in the fine print and not very clear up front. Part of what steered me towards selling (just the powertrain) for close to $7k (decent price) for an airplane conversion. Yes, I do have its entire rolling chassis in questionable condition. Need any specific parts? I'm also the first owner of a 2016 SR now so I have these parts for spares, though I don't know what I'd ever need to replace...
With the Rich Rebuilds video out and so many others doing this now, I feel salvage auction Zeros may be harder to come by, especially for these kind of steals.
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I think you're right that Rich is going to drive up the market for these drivetrains. The seller of this bike also purchased at auction. I think he had 3200 in it, plus he had to pay tax to transfer the title to me. He took a loss, but I had my price and he didn't have to take if if he didn't want to.
Today's trip was postponed due to heavy rain and storms... Hopefully will be rescheduled soon.
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> I think you're right that Rich is going to drive up the market for these drivetrains.
haha, yes.
but only temporarily maybe.
i bet people will follow along, have trouble, and then want to resell.
so many people starting projects, so few finishing.
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Rain check for the title inspection is on the 11th, but I've had it out for a few quick "test runs".
@talon what color is your bike? I might like a second tail section to play with modifying.
(https://i.imgur.com/jVvxQJE.jpg)
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I believe every 2016 SR is red. My wrecked and whole 16SR's have red plastics. The wrecked is ever so slightly sun bleached from CA, might have slight scratches (front end collision and tip over after all..)
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Nice job on the SR Pyromancy5.
Since I don't quite think it needs it's own thread, what do you guys think Rich's rat rod will do?
I've followed the project and even quoted some big Zero guys from FB talking about not laying the battery on it's side because it wasn't designed to be used that way. It could have some bad issues if the balance tabs contact the side wall.
I think the extra weight will put it into thermal cut back very quickly but we'll see soon enough I guess.
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I called Zero for the first time today with a couple of questions tying up my 2014 SR rebuild. I asked about adapting a charge tank for this year. It's not just a matter of mounting it in the frame, but they said the MBB, BMS, wiring harness and maybe even the battery itself would need replacement to handle that upgrade... So that's NOT happening. Slow charge for life. I'm curious if a diginow (assuming I could find one second hand) would be compatible.
The second question I asked was about Paint. When I replaced the front fender and the storage tank, they came in the current color of red. The tail is both sun faded, and a different color. I haven't made up my mind on repainting the tail piece, or if I will do a wrap. I asked for and they provided paint codes! I thought I'd share here I'll be getting estimates this winter when I won't be riding as much.
(https://i.imgur.com/FEjw6RJ.png)
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A diginow setup or equivalent is definitely compatible with the 2014 SR. I've had a Eltek Flatpack 8.5 kW setup (4*1.8 kW + 1.3 kW onboard) for years on my 2014 SR. All connected to the Aux charging port (Brown anderson). The Aux anderson is fused with a 100 Amp fuse but the 1C value for the 11.4 battery is around 90 amps.
Such a setup is even quicker than a factory charge tank which tops out at 6 (or is it 6.6) kW
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Remmie, Fascinating! I'm interested in learning more about your set-up. Do you have a write-up on the forum? What did you use for charge controller and how did you go about programming it to play nice with the Zero? I don't know much about these things, but am eager to learn more now that I have my platform to tinker with.