Buyer Beware

BrianConte

New member
Short Intro: I've been a Zero owner/rider for 6 years, and until recently generally happy with the bike.

But imagine: You are riding your Zero home after a dinner with friends. It's dark and you are in the middle lane of a busy freeway. Suddenly your motor just ... stops. Your bike slows down rapidly as cars and trucks whiz past you. The bike stops, dead, in the middle of the freeway. An 18-wheeler narrowly misses you and honks his horn. The only thing you can do is run the bike off to the side of the road on foot, dodging traffic in the dark.

This was my experience the other night. And it's not the first time. I have been experiencing these random cutouts now for two years. I've had the bike in service twice to fix it, at a cost of $2000, and they have not been able to fix it. They say the best they can do is try again for another $2000. I contacted the manufacturer and they won't even return my emails (I've tried 4 times in the past 4 months and only got one reply asking me to verify my serial number). I even contacted their Director of Customer Experience directly and he didn't care.

The bike is great - quiet, efficient, easy to drive. But ultimately you have to also consider the company you are buying from. Do they stand by their products? Will they be there to support you when you need them?
 

ticobrahe

New member
yeah, that’s not good.

curious: why ride in middle lanes of a highway? don’t see any advantage with that, nor do I ever see riders in the middle lanes, except when transitioning onto highway to get to the left (hov or 1 lane) for commute. if not comfortable traveling at 1 lane speeds, stay to right on hw (not middle). agreed, you should not have to alter your riding preferences because a motorcycle is not reliable, but, it’s a sound riding safety practice to avoid the worst case scenarios when able. especially on a bike where one has experienced catastrophic power failure in the past.

i once filed a civil cause of action against a major vehicle manufacturer when my product and safety issues were ignored (in what sounds like a similar situation) and got a remedy i was happy with.

hope it works out for you; safe riding-


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Justbert

New member
I’ll second that. The unrepairable ”kill switch” issue I had almost got me killed. Emailing logs, contacting customer service, writing the President of Zero, 4 different authorized dealers and filing a complaint with the BBB got me nowhere.
The bike was a great riding experience, but this company is a customer service nightmare. Buyer beware, Zero does not have your back.
 

dtoorchen

New member
Short Intro: I've been a Zero owner/rider for 6 years, and until recently generally happy with the bike.

But imagine: You are riding your Zero home after a dinner with friends. It's dark and you are in the middle lane of a busy freeway. Suddenly your motor just ... stops. Your bike slows down rapidly as cars and trucks whiz past you. The bike stops, dead, in the middle of the freeway. An 18-wheeler narrowly misses you and honks his horn. The only thing you can do is run the bike off to the side of the road on foot, dodging traffic in the dark.

This was my experience the other night. And it's not the first time. I have been experiencing these random cutouts now for two years. I've had the bike in service twice to fix it, at a cost of $2000, and they have not been able to fix it. They say the best they can do is try again for another $2000. I contacted the manufacturer and they won't even return my emails (I've tried 4 times in the past 4 months and only got one reply asking me to verify my serial number). I even contacted their Director of Customer Experience directly and he didn't care.

The bike is great - quiet, efficient, easy to drive. But ultimately you have to also consider the company you are buying from. Do they stand by their products? Will they be there to support you when you need them?
Hard to believe. I have a 2017 Model S that is utterly reliable (like my other 2 EVs). I can imagine the ICE people trying to hold back progress with EVs. Hell the Ohio legislature put into force a $200 surcharge to register an EV! I have interacted with Zero and I can't imagine them responding as you have described. Your description of the bike is dishonest as well, it's FAST!
 

Justbert

New member
My experience with Zero Service at HQ in California still stings. Thank goodness more electric options are coming our way. Buyer beware, Zero didn't give a hoot about me.
 
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