won't charge -- problem solved, and new Bay Area service center.

[Adan]

Dash lights up but does not draw current, according to the readout.  This happened at my work, where there are several Level II chargers in the garage, so I tried a few of them, and then tried to charge at home off Level I, always with the same result. 

So my first question is an extremely basic one.  When I go to check the fuses, I notice they're not like other fuses I've seen that are transparent so that a blown fuse is visually evident.  These are opaque.  How do you know if it's blown?  I just haven't encountered this before.  The 3 charging fuses all appear the same visually.

If it's not a fuse, then I've got a big problem, because Scuderia no longer does Empulse-specific work and I doubt there's anyone else in the Bay Area now that does.  I suppose I can get on the phone with Polaris and try to talk to someone who will look at the data.   But this could turn into a huge inconvenience. 

On the positive side, I'll get more riding time on my Nine T.

[Adan]

I think I can answer my own question about testing the fuses -- use a multimeter.

Which I will do tonight.  But I have a bad feeling about this . . .

[Shinysideup]

I agree, Adan: This doesn't sound good. I too have a (much smaller) electrical question and Scuderia doesn't want to take it on without a trained technician.

I called Polaris HQ about service and was told to contact my local dealer. I called all in Northern California and none of them have been trained. Actually, most of them didn't know what I was talking about!


Maybe we should contact Adam in Oregon? This is not a comfortable place to be right now and I hope Polaris comes through quickly.

[Consultec]

Talk to Adam.  I will text him to read the forum..

[Adan]

Adam contacted me and so we're talking.  My charge logs seem to have huge gaps, most of my charging events don't even show up.  Either that or I'm reading them wrong.  I'm going to send the drive to Adam to look at.

Anyway, it's reassuring to know that someone is paying attention and seems to care.

[Shinysideup]

Yep, I've always found Adam to be good people!

[Consultec]

Those guys at Brammo are awesome!!!

[Adan]

I'm happy to report that I'm charging again and back on the road.  It was a long process because Brammo, mainly in the person of Adam Lukoic, basically had to establish a new service center for the Bay Area.  Scuderia will no longer do Empulse-specific work, such as a failed charging system.  From what I can gather, Adam talked to Polaris and a decision was made to make Arlen Ness Motorcycles in Dublin the new service center.  This of course would have happened anyway when Victory began selling the Empulse, my problem was just the catalyst for it happening a bit sooner.

Arlen Ness is a big place.  I guess Arlen is a well known name in custom cruisers, which is why I'd never heard of him.  But it's a classy operation, squeaky clean, and looks like they make money hand over fist.  Cruisers galore.  So it's strange to go there for matters related to an electric sport bike.  But Jon, the service manager, seems to be quite happy to be in the Empulse business now.

The problem, I was told, was the connectors to the charger.  They melted.  I was told this is a "known problem," the solution to which is to install more robust connectors.

So I missed about two months on the Empulse, but I have fun riding my new-ish Beemer Nine T in it's place.  And Brammo paid for everything, including the tow to Arlen Ness.

The bummer, for the future, is that Arlen Ness is about 50 miles from either my work or my house.  Scuderia was 20 miles from my house but only 2 miles from my office.  Arlen Ness is close to a BART station -- just 2 blocks.  For ordering parts or any help I might need with tires, brakes, chains, etc., I'll still go to Scuderia.

[Sabinn]

This is a great success story. thank you for sharing
Well done on getting your repairs sorted!

[Adan]

I would be remiss if I did not add to the accolades for Adam Lukoic.  He kept in touch with me throughout the entire process, and I always felt that he was personally invested in solving this problem as soon as possible.  It took a long time to get resolved, but that's not Adam's fault, it was just the unfortunate situation of developing a problem during this Brammo-to-Victory transition.

I don't know how Adam will keep this up if the Empulse starts selling in real numbers.  Hopefully his minions will be as good as he is.

[Consultec]

Adam is awesome.  Now we need to find a place in Santa Cruz or San Jose area.


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[Consultec]

Known problem with the internal charging cables and connectors?


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[Shinysideup]

Great news, Adan. Both your bike and a service center, even if it is in Dublin, but then I kind of expected that, given the Victory dealers' locations.

I've charged pretty much 5 days a week for 2 years and haven't melted anything yet, though almost all the charges have been on 120V.

[katacrak]

Adan level II chargers are the type meneques with 3.3 kw allowing charging from 0 to 2 hours . 30 ?
I usually charge only 230v schuko without problems. That the load from 0 in 3h 30min.

If as you say this problem is known to Brammo , should make a campaign , or internal technical note to dealers to change without charge when it happened

[Adan]

Almost all my charging has been at my work, which is Level II.  I was told this was a "known problem" and that the replacement connectors will not fail in this way.