ZEV Motorcycles & Scooters
My ZEV 5000LA finally came today. Unfortunately, the trucking company damaged the tail so badly that the luggage rack - which the dealer says they use to lift the bikes and is rated for 800lbs - snapped off, damaging both taillights, both rear cowls, and interfering with the seat closing. My best guess is that the crated bike was placed in the rear of the almost-empty semi-trailer, and at some point the inexperienced driver slammed on his brakes and the crate shot all the way to the front wall, hitting it so hard it snapped the rack. It then apparently rebounded enough to crack the windshield and gouge the left hand grip. The lights all still work, though, and while I haven't really ridden it, it does move under its own power. I think I can have it rideable, sans luggage rack and cargo trunk, in a couple of days, but damn, was I disappointed and PO'd. The dealer, Dave Dewbre of The Environment Store and Digital Web Group, has promised to send me all needed parts ASAP and has been very helpful. The name of the trucking company is Old Dominion Freight Line. They are sending a claims adjuster out later today, supposedly. The driver was nice enough, but very inexperienced with semis. Just my luck...
Bad luck! Sorry to hear that. We've had our fair share of shipping damage - but things are getting better as we improve the shipping crates *and* the shipping company gets used to handling them.
Best of luck - I'm really looking forward to reading your posts about riding the bike.
Wow that sucks. My ZEV 6100 was also shipped by Old Dominion Freight Line and arrived without a scratch. You seem to be handling it well though; I'd be very pissed off. Best of luck on the claim.
Once you get it replaced or repaired, let us know about the other throttle. What's different??
Does your 5100LA have a gear indicator? My 6100 didn't - which wasn't a big deal for me because you get used to shifting very quickly; but I added one to make it easier for people test riding my bike. One thing that isn't obvious about the shifter is even though it resets to first gear after stopping for a couple seconds, you can shift up and start off from the intersection in any gear you choose (handy for fast starts when you want to zip in front of the car in the next lane). If your bike is like mine, you'll always have more than enough acceleration off the line.
I highly recommend adding a large version Cycle Analyst computer. So many nice features on the CA and looks great on the handlebar. So nice to have exact speed/mileage and max/avg speed readings. You can reprogram it to take over the throttle and control it in a variety of ways. You can program it to limit how low the battery can discharge. That way, you can create a "reserve" battery out of a portion of the battery for emergency use should you accidentally go farther than expected and run out of juice. You simply enter a new lower voltage limit to access the "reserve" battery and ride off. The amp hour and voltage readings really help gauge the battery state. The CA also keeps track of #charge cycles, total AH and total miles for that battery pack. At first I thought the CA was overkill, but now I am so happy I installed it on my 6100.
Hope you get the bike fixed soon,
Check out this site for more info on the CA:
http://ebikes.ca/drainbrain.shtml
And then go to the link on how to purchase from their online store. I bought the CA-LDP, CACable, and SHUNT0.5 for about $150 + shipping. If interested PM for more details.
Here's how the CA looks mounted to the handlebar:
http://visforvoltage.org/sites/default/files/u2286/zev7100ca.jpg
Not everyone needs a CA. If you live in the "flat lands", you can probably get by with the existing instruments. But I live near the Rocky Mountains in Colorado where both required speeds and terrain vary greatly so there is no way I would travel without precise AH and voltage readings.
Speaking of Colorado, if there are any folks living in Colorado, I can show you how to get your new ZEV scooter super cheap. I paid less than $3000 for my ZEV 6100 delivered to my door. But you want to buy before mid Sept as current tax credits end this year.
The wobble on the front may be caused by the bent rear wheel. If the back of the bike is moving side to side, the front has to compensate, and it shows up in a steering column wobble. Of course, given the accident, it could be the front wheel as well.
If the wheels are only a little bit out of balance, there's some simple solutions. One is to use one of the liquid flat seals inside the tire. They will plug a flat, but the weight of the liquid also acts as a self-balancing mechanism. Don't use Slime, since it's not easily washed away with water, but Ride-On is a good choice.
Leftie,
Similar disc brakes? My ZEV 6100 brakes work great! I don't see that as an issue but instead as a positive feature on the bike and here is why:
That is exactly why I bought a ZEV scooter - economies of scale. ZEV was smart enough to purchase standard components and redesign those parts that needed to be improved such as the frame, controller, motor, etc. By using as many high volume components as prudent, they are able to provide a low cost, high value bike that has very low repair costs and a huge supply of used parts. You break a body panel / component on a Vectrix and you may have a very difficult time finding a replacement part; you might have to purchase a whole used bike. But ZEV could even go out of business and you could still find many sources for the likely to be damaged parts from the huge existing number of X-treme, R-Martin, E-Fun, Liberty, etc bikes out there and at very reasonable prices. A whole set of new body panels is only $500; now that is what I call value.
I started looking at the Brammo and Zero bikes, but felt uncertain what would happen if they went out of business and I needed new body panels; even if I could find the parts, they would be very pricey to obtain. The main problem with many e-scooters is low volume production compared with cars. So using economies of scale where prudent makes a lot of sense to me.
Maybe its just me, but I think you PAID for a new bike, not salvage. I'd lat the insurance company and truck lines work out all repairs to NEW condition, including replacing all damaged parts, up to the total value of the bike itself. After all, you paid shipping as well, not salvage tow. It was their job to deliver the bike in good condition.
Wow!! I don't know what to say except, "Get that thing back to the factory and get a new one sent out, asap!!"
What has to happen here is that you need to stand up for yourself and get the proper people involved to pack up the bike properly. Give a motorcycle dealer a call and get the quote. This is something that has to be paid for by the delivery company. Then, just have a new bike sent to you. Let ZEV, the dealer and the delivery company hash out the damaged bike. I would never have ridden the bike with all of that damage. I just hope you did not void anything with the dealer, ZEV or the delivery company by riding the bike. Like the guy said in an earlier post, you paid for a new bike, not a salvage bike. If this had happened with a new Harley, you would have a new one there within a week. No questions asked. I do wish you the best here.
yount
No need to answer my other question, I now know what you ride.
Ouch, sorry to hear about your ongoing difficulties.
Ya know, ZEV might make a fine bike, but if they can't solve the shipping problem, they might as well not make anything at all.
After reading all this you have been through, you've gotta be looking forward to the day when these things are so common your best friend or family member can drop you off at the store to ride your new bike home instead of wondering what damage they will come up with this time.
For what it's worth we suffered from similar shipping woes early on. So we moved to building custom crates (I meant to post a picture but I don't have one right now). These crates are relatively expensive to build and they add weight to the shipment so they add to cost the shipment as well. But they're also easy for one person to get the bike out of the crate and so far they've resulted in hassle free deliveries.
Here's some more insight into how LTL (Less than full load) shipping generally works. It might be that you're right about the local depot being the issue - but it's far from certain:
- first the bike is picked up at the factory and taken to the depot that's local to the factory.
- then it's loaded on a long-haul truck and routed in whatever the most efficient and/or timely way the freight company can manage. Depending on what service level you paid for this can result in the bike being unloaded and reloaded as many as 3 or 4 times.
- then it reaches the depot that is local to the customer and is unloaded, stored and then put on a local delivery truck (usually after arranging a time with the customer!)
So, depending on the source and destination that bike could be loaded and reloaded 4 or more times. Each time that happens is a chance for something to go wrong. Human nature then comes into play and it's always the other guys fault.
Our shipper provides an option for a "sealed load" (can't remember what they call it). The bike is loaded at the front of the trailer that it will stay in until it reaches the destination. In fact they even construct a wall to separate your load from the rest. They then load whatever else they want but your bike stays in the trailer and the trailer is delivered to the local depot. Then the bike is delivered the "final mile" (or if you're a business with loading dock they can actually bring that trailer to you). This minimizes the handling of your bike.
It's also a pretty expensive solution. So, right now, we're sticking with standard delivery but with high quality shipping crates.
Since starting Current Motor this is just yet another little piece of knowledge I've learned!
I did ride it - sort of. Hours after putting it in the garage I realized that I should have it in there with the tail end facing out, to make it easy for the claims adjuster to see the damage. So I carefully lowered the seat past the broken rack mounts, and did a slow turn out in the street before driving it back in. The throttle is definitely 'touchy' even on the lowest power setting. It came with a new throttle assembly sitting under the seat, so I'll install that and hope it improves the response. The upside: now my X-Treme feels 'silky smooth' on the low power setting, by comparison. ;-)
The dealer was very concerned that there might be serious damage to the mounting points for the luggage rack, so this morning I removed the four bolts that let you lift out the under-seat compartment. (I left the charging port and main breaker in, though, as I only needed to lift it about 9".) The right mount seems in perfect shape, but the left one is seriously bent. I believe I can straighten it enough to remount the new rack, but it won't be nearly as strong as it was, and I plan on showing the adjuster that.