Bike at dealer since 2/16!!!

[CAT in HAWAII]

I haven't logged on to brammoforum in a long while,,
Awhile back I took the. Ike out for a short ride, to warm up the transmission oil, changed the oil and grease up my chain,, and then my. Ike wouldn't start. And it wouldn't charge either!

Had the bike towed to dealer (Montgomery Motorsports on Oahu) on 2/16/17

They haven't been able to get the bike running, or to charge it either!
They ordered a VCU (was told that should do it! For $1700) but still no luck,,

Anybody have any ideas?  I'm sure they tried a lot of obvious things,, but apparently can't get anybody at Polaris or Victory that can get them on the right track,, I asked if they had re-set or re-installed the software,, and they don't have the equipment to do that,, (I as thinking it's just a laptop with a cable to connect to the bike,, with,, the correct software on it) no luck!

Amy ideas would help,, I call the dealer every week for updates,, but am getting no where,,, they have the bike since February ,, and its no june,, and I'd like to ride it again before I finish paying off the loan!!!

[frodus]

Can you maybe reach out to Brammo and see if they have a contact that can reach out to the dealer to walk them through it? I had the same issue with a local dealer, they never bothered calling Brammo to get help with the software update I wanted done.... so they just didn't do it.

What does the bike do when you turn on the key?

[CAT in HAWAII]

When the key goes in, and turned to run,,, nothing happens!
No lights up, no sounds, no screen on,, nothing!
And when it is plugged in to power, the lights come on,, the ones that usually come on, the rear light, and the screen doesn't even light up!

[frodus]

Are all of the fuses good?

[CAT in HAWAII]

Yeah,, they said that's the first thing the dealer checked,,,

[frodus]

but were you able to? I don't trust anyone with my bike except for light mechanical stuff.

Might be the DC-DC, fuses, something along that path.

[siai47]

To start one of these bikes, 12 volt power is required.  Turning the key sends a request to start the DC-DC converter.  If this doesn't work, nothing will happen.  On the Victory Empulse, there is a "Hella" plug (BMW style accessory plug) located under the "tank" cover on the left side of the bracket that supports the J1772 charging connector.  If it were my bike and nobody is helping me on it, I would connect a 12 volt motorcycle battery to the Hella plug.  The plug is fused with a 10 amp fuse.  Make sure your polarity is correct on your wiring (battery positive to the center pin) as you don't want to compound your problems.  With the battery connected all of the 12 volt systems should be powered.  At this point it would be interesting to see if the charger can be made to work or the bike was able to be placed in the "on" mode.  If it does work, it would point to a failure of the DC-DC converter or the main motor controller through which the key command goes. 

There is no real reference to the Hella plug in the maintenance manual but due to where it is located, it appears to be more of a service plug than an accessory plug.  Good luck 

[CAT in HAWAII]

Ok! I'll check that when I get home,, on vacation now,,,  thanks!

[GSX750ES]

Ok! I'll check that when I get home,, on vacation now,,,  thanks!

Hawaii, vacation........

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

I lost all of last riding season with the bike sitting at a dealer. I took it back after four months, unfixed. Dealer said it would be covered under warranty, but could not ever get the support from Polaris to do the repair. The problem still pops up, but the bike is rideable, so I keep riding. I figure I'll bring it back to the dealer this fall since the warranty expires in February.

Good luck fixing your problem, CAT.

[frodus]

This is absolutely f*cking ridiculous that we cannot get support from Polaris or Victory for our bikes.

Brammo is largely unreachable, Polaris doesn't care. I took mine several years ago to a Polaris dealer and they couldn't/wouldn't fix the bike.

I wish I could get someone's phone number so I could train and become a service center in Portland.

[CAT in HAWAII]

Here's what I just posted d elsewhere,,,

Ok,, my dealer has had my bike more than 4 months,, (I have previous post)
I just picked up a bike from my dealer that they swapped out for me,,

I don't want to get anybody all excited, but when I had my bike at the local dealer here in hawaii, they had a hard time ordering parts ,(nothing appeared on line) so I called up Polaris directly,, and asked what they could do to help,, they said just have my dealer order on line,,

I said ,, they can't! No parts show up,, well,, they have to use the printed catalog, and enter part numbers online,,
Ok,, so that helped my bike get back on the road,,
In January,, my dealer received my bike,, and haven't had any chance of getting it to start, run, or even charge!
They tried checking the fuses, VCU, and other things,, I had suggested re-setting the software, or better yet re-installing it,,
But I don't  think they have he equipment to do it,, long story short, my genius wife suggested that I ask Polaris about maybe a swap out for another bike,, and they came back a few days later and said I could!

I just picked up a new Indian bike yesterday!! So happy! It's. It electric, but it should run for a long time, and still be supported locally and by Polaris!
I have been waiting more than 4 months, so I don't think a one day call will net anyone a new bike,, but they really came through for me!

[siai47]

Glad to hear you are satisfied.  I appears to me that Polaris isn't setting up any parts or service for their orphaned Empulse.  I think they will handle complaints on a case by case basis at least until the warranties expire and then we will be on the hook with a bike without any parts or service support.  If they were serious about maintaining support (like they said they would) they would have at least set up a parts system for dealers to use.  To date, I have received one part for my Empluse, a 29 cent clip.  Everything else is backordered or explained away with some stupid logic like the crush washers used in the transmission oil change are part of a $3400.00 assembly and not sold separately.  That is insanity.

As these things break (at least for the Victory owners) there will be settlements one by one.  If enough fail there might be a bulk buyback of every Polaris built Empulse out there.  It would be a cheaper alternative than setting up a parts distribution system.  Case in point, the traction motors are already available from an outside source that must have bought up the Polaris inventory.  These are Polaris motors as they don't have the Brammo logo on the encoder cover.  Polaris is most likely selling off all the spares to offset what it is going to cost to stay out of court with PO'ed customers.  This really doesn't bode well for anyone who wants to keep their bike and keep it running.  I looks like Brammo customers don't have any path or recourse at this point.  It's a shame that Polaris isn't acting like the adult in the room here.

[HadesOmega]

Good to hear Polaris pulled through for you.  Hopefully your last bike was just a lemon.

[CAT in HAWAII]

Good to hear Polaris pulled through for you.  Hopefully your last bike was just a lemon.

Nonlemon! My  Empulse was great! 25K miles over three years,,
I think it was just a glitch, maybe a software re-set or re-install the software would have taken care of it,,,

But I like them new bike, Indian Chief,,
Totally different kind of bike, big, heavy,, sweet ride,,