Stark varg support is the worst

AgileMike · Jun 2, 2025

I don't know the situation of the OP at all, but having ridden Starks since November 2023 and spoken with quite a few Stark owners at MX races, my opinion is this:
1. Many dealers are not familar with Starks or electric dirt bikes in general. They are not good at troubleshooting them. Many dealers view Starks as a fad that will soon fade, thus it's not worth the time to become knowledgable. Everyone I've talked to with major Stark issues is relying on their dealer to fix their bike.
2. If you rely on your dealer to fix your Stark, you many have major issues due to #1 above.

I work in the construction industry and it took plumbers about 10 years to become proficient at working on tankless water heaters. They loved tanked water heaters with 70 year old technology and complete refused to understand/debug tankless water heaters. Eventurally they begrudgingly began working on them.

In a decade, dealers will be great at working on electric dirt bikes. Until then, it's probably better to call Stark support yourself, as you are more motivated to get your bike going than the dealer is. And Stark support is generally great.

AL_V · Jun 2, 2025

AgileMike said:
And Stark support is generally great.

I agree, but they are getting much slower lately.

DaveAusNor · Jun 2, 2025

AL_V said:
I agree, but they are getting much slower lately.

This is probably due to them having maybe 10,000 bikes out in the wild now as opposed to a few thousand. And most of the team focused on getting deliveries out of the door. Hopefully they increase the amount of man hours on their support team as time goes on.

OpaTsupa · Jun 2, 2025

DaveAusNor said:
This is probably due to them having maybe 10,000 bikes out in the wild now as opposed to a few thousand. And most of the team focused on getting deliveries out of the door. Hopefully they increase the amount of man hours on their support team as time goes on.

I experienced poor communication with Stark while attempting to place an order, but I must forgive them when I see all the dumb complaints from the new owners floating around.
Dealing with that sort of correspondence deserves it's own level of hell.

DaveAusNor · Jun 3, 2025

OpaTsupa said:
I experienced poor communication with Stark while attempting to place an order, but I must forgive them when I see all the dumb complaints from the new owners floating around.
Dealing with that sort of correspondence deserves it's own level of hell.

Yes, I agree. It seems like many new owners haven't even opened the manual or watched the unboxing/assembly video

Beagle · Jun 3, 2025

One problem they're facing with scaling up so fast is the lack of training for their 400+ dealers. And of course scaling up online support.
Even more so when you're past early adopters and start tapping into more casual riders.
Growing pain (for everyone involved!).

Erwin P · Jun 16, 2025

I still have problems with my bike not recording rides. Did contact them at the beginning and they didn't really came up with a solution. But that was at the time that montly updates were comming so i decided to sit it out for some time and maybe those would fix it.
So far it didn't so i contacted them last week. Got a reply in just over 24 hours, wich i think is very much OK. After that most emails got answered seriously within 2 hours. Only the one i did send back friday did have to wait for a reply up to today, wich again is OK. It's with tech support now so we'll see.

However on their dealers... Most of them are dirtbike dealers, not E bike dealers. Anything to do with wires was concidered witchcraft not so long ago (and by many up to today). So i'm not surpriced ''their'' dealers are close to useless in this thing.

Beagle · Jun 16, 2025

Erwin P said:
I still have problems with my bike not recording rides. Did contact them at the beginning and they didn't really came up with a solution. But that was at the time that montly updates were comming so i decided to sit it out for some time and maybe those would fix it.
So far it didn't so i contacted them last week. Got a reply in just over 24 hours, wich i think is very much OK. After that most emails got answered seriously within 2 hours. Only the one i did send back friday did have to wait for a reply up to today, wich again is OK. It's with tech support now so we'll see.

However on their dealers... Most of them are dirtbike dealers, not E bike dealers. Anything to do with wires was concidered witchcraft not so long ago (and by many up to today). So i'm not surpriced ''their'' dealers are close to useless in this thing.

That's fair but all the more reason to train their dealers. They've been selling bikes for 2 years, now would be as good a time as any.

Erwin P · Jun 16, 2025

True, although with many dealers it might be a lost case all together. My dealer is very good with finetuning carbs and is an excellent rider. Still when i had the cracks in the inverter cover there was no doubt in my might replacing the motor myself or having him do it free of charge if you know wat i mean.

It's a bit of a hard case.
On the one hand you want dirtbike dealers to be you dealer. They have the customer base and the knowhow of suspension etc etc.
On the other most of those guys got stuck in the 90's for better or worst. Often great mechanical workers, but little fee with electronics or connectivity.

Beagle · Jun 16, 2025

I would not like to pretend I know anything about this.
From my armchair perspective, providing your dealers with some troubleshooting guidance, access to diagnosis tools and explanations of errors codes, procedures to follow to solve or rule out issues would gain time for everyone. Simple cases could be solved at the dealer level, more complex issues would escalate to CS, knowing what has already been checked by the dealer. OFC give them some privilege access to Stark CS as well for timely answers.

They must have their reasons not to do that, and they're probably awfully busy, but with about 10 000 motorcycles out in the wild and much more to come whenever they'll branch into proper road bikes, they will have to do that. Dealers simply have to be able to diagnose and service bikes, exchange parts and so on.

Erwin P · Jun 16, 2025

I've seen what dealers receive and it's at least as detailed as any OEM. However a lott of them have proven too @#$% to open up a manual let alone read it.

As you can read i don't hold most MC dealers in high regard for anything more complex than part swapping.
Saw my local dealer do fault finding on a ICE bike he has been dealer of for years. Somehow picking up the multimeter and just start top-down from the troubleshooting page to pinpoint it in minutes didn't occur to him so it was swapping expensive part after the other and waiting for those parts to arrive...

If that is the average Stark, and thus us poor consumers, have to deal with i'm glad Stark does answer email from consumers directly.

Slidinsidewayz · Aug 14, 2025

jasonjm said:
yes there is a law specifically that addresses when manufacturers refuse to honor warranties, ive used it before.

I agree with you I get 1 email every we hours takes 24 hours to respond to something simple like send a video of the problem sent the video in like 1 min don’t hear back till 24 hours dragging warranty days out milking warranty time in my opinion. Time from problem and solving it should be recouped back into warranty time since they are the ones trouble shooting and sending parts. Now time to install parts if you want to do it is on you. But I am personally dealing with 1 sentence emails and 24hr responses to a question maybe longer. It’s agitating to have 10k machine down over a product that is well built and under designed technically. Should at least be able to talk to someone over a phone. Last email I got was seems Like a power train failure I need to run this by my supervisor stand by! And you don’t know who you are talking to just stark team. Shit I’m still standing my legs are tired! I’m fixing my self when parts arrive if they send any thing. They have so many of these problems should be easy to diagnose. No bs. Look your under warranty we’re sending you theses parts to fix it end of subject follow up after install to inform us of the problem being corrected. That’s all. Verify your address or shop address is correct. Period. Very simple

markhamr · Aug 14, 2025

Same shit different day.
As i have said before STARK r f useless.

OpaTsupa · Friday at 7:30 AM

If "Ferragosto" (mid-August holidays) is observed as religiously in Spain as in Italy, then nothing is getting done.
It's frustrating if your business falls in this period, but it can't be helped.

Well, it's either that or I've been blacklisted by Stark.

Chaconne · Friday at 7:50 AM

Slidinsidewayz said:
I agree with you I get 1 email every we hours takes 24 hours to respond to something simple like send a video of the problem sent the video in like 1 min don’t hear back till 24 hours dragging warranty days out milking warranty time in my opinion. Time from problem and solving it should be recouped back into warranty time since they are the ones trouble shooting and sending parts. Now time to install parts if you want to do it is on you. But I am personally dealing with 1 sentence emails and 24hr responses to a question maybe longer. It’s agitating to have 10k machine down over a product that is well built and under designed technically. Should at least be able to talk to someone over a phone. Last email I got was seems Like a power train failure I need to run this by my supervisor stand by! And you don’t know who you are talking to just stark team. Shit I’m still standing my legs are tired! I’m fixing my self when parts arrive if they send any thing. They have so many of these problems should be easy to diagnose. No bs. Look your under warranty we’re sending you theses parts to fix it end of subject follow up after install to inform us of the problem being corrected. That’s all. Verify your address or shop address is correct. Period. Very simple

Actually, I don't think they have many problems and what they are doing is shaving costs by keeping staff numbers at their service center small --that is why service is slow and at times unavailable. The internet tends to exaggerate problem/issues. I have bought 2 Starks (MX) over the last 2 years, and had no problems outside of the shitty tubes. And people who don't have problems don't post at the rate that those who do as expected.

Having a large call center to handle consumer problems/warranty work is incredibly expensive (for example with overtime during holidays) and honestly mostly impossible and almost every company or manufacturer in any industry that has ever tried it has failed. That is why there are dealerships and actually why retail even exists. The Japanese proved this in 70s.

Stark did it mail order because they had to, since many dealers/retailers were unwilling to invest in Stark initially and only came around once the bikes were selling and a proven commodity. Stark sold a lot of bikes and continues to do so and now there is a network of dealers. Of course, in the motorcycle industry dealers are no panacea as I am sure you know.

The general hope is longer term the E will be much more reliable/lower maintenance than ICE and remotely de-buggable, so there will be a decreased need for service, but my thinking is that with complex machinery (and even software and firmware) there will always be a need for retail/field techs/local service and trying to do this online on a shoestring budget is a prescription for angry customers.

I hope you get your stuff soon and get back riding.

And BTW some genius thought it would be good idea to run address verification through AI and that hunk of shit software mangled addresses that weren't conventional i.e. shit learned from the internet...check your Stark invoice.

UKLee · Friday at 8:36 AM

Chaconne said:
Actually, I don't think they have many problems and what they are doing is shaving costs by keeping staff numbers at their service center small --that is why service is slow and at times unavailable. The internet tends to exaggerate problem/issues. I have bought 2 Starks (MX) over the last 2 years, and had no problems outside of the shitty tubes. And people who don't have problems don't post at the rate that those who do as expected.

Having a large call center to handle consumer problems/warranty work is incredibly expensive (for example with overtime during holidays) and honestly mostly impossible and almost every company or manufacturer in any industry that has ever tried it has failed. That is why there are dealerships and actually why retail even exists. The Japanese proved this in 70s.

Stark did it mail order because they had to, since many dealers/retailers were unwilling to invest in Stark initially and only came around once the bikes were selling and a proven commodity. Stark sold a lot of bikes and continues to do so and now there is a network of dealers. Of course, in the motorcycle industry dealers are no panacea as I am sure you know.

The general hope is longer term the E will be much more reliable/lower maintenance than ICE and remotely de-buggable, so there will be a decreased need for service, but my thinking is that with complex machinery (and even software and firmware) there will always be a need for retail/field techs/local service and trying to do this online on a shoestring budget is a prescription for angry customers.

I hope you get your stuff soon and get back riding.

And BTW some genius thought it would be good idea to run address verification through AI and that hunk of shit software mangled addresses that weren't conventional i.e. shit learned from the internet...check your Stark invoice.

" Having a large call center to handle consumer problems/warranty work is incredibly expensive " Not as expensive as loosing customers because of a very bad service and those customers spreading the word. My stark has been out of use over half the time I have had it, that will only get worse with this got to take it to a dealer thing.

What makes me laugh is you now have to take the bike to a dealer to change the battery on supposedly safety grounds yet the stark enduro teams change the battery with the bike often thick in mud, soaking wet and rushing.

Chaconne · Friday at 2:06 PM

UKLee said:
" Having a large call center to handle consumer problems/warranty work is incredibly expensive " Not as expensive as loosing customers because of a very bad service and those customers spreading the word. My stark has been out of use over half the time I have had it, that will only get worse with this got to take it to a dealer thing.

What makes me laugh is you now have to take the bike to a dealer to change the battery on supposedly safety grounds yet the stark enduro teams change the battery with the bike often thick in mud, soaking wet and rushing.

I hear you UK. But just remember when dealing with the public not everyone has as much wrenching experience as you do. The lawyers use the Darwin Awards as a baseline when advising about public use cases. Stark's teams and their dealers doing something limits their liability.

Here in the US if some jackass removes the battery and somehow catches it on fire or blows it up and kills himself or somebody else the lawyers will be circling like vultures over a carcass in the desert.

Erwin P · Friday at 10:56 PM

Mmm when i had battery problems they offered to just send me the battery. Also i had the on the videocall to diagnose the problem.
I don't know how you all have such bad experience with their service. But my only complaint is that you have to wait 24-36 hours before they answer the first mail and when you answer with clear answers it's smooth sailing from there on.
On the videocall they even asked me to disconnect the battery for fault finding.

UKLee · Friday at 11:39 PM

Erwin P said:
Mmm when i had battery problems they offered to just send me the battery. Also i had the on the videocall to diagnose the problem.
I don't know how you all have such bad experience with their service. But my only complaint is that you have to wait 24-36 hours before they answer the first mail and when you answer with clear answers it's smooth sailing from there on.
On the videocall they even asked me to disconnect the battery for fault finding.

Me too not battery but most of the rest of the bike,
From stark....
"Please note that, as of July, powertrain and battery replacements must be carried out by an authorized dealer due to updated safety regulations.
We kindly ask you to contact an authorized dealer of your choice to arrange a suitable time to drop off your bike. You can find a list of dealers in our network here: Stark Future Dealers | Stark Future.
Once the dealer receives your bike, they will contact us immediately so we can begin coordinating the repair process.

Best regards,

Stark Future Team"

Erwin P · Friday at 11:56 PM

Ah oke, mine was somewhere last year. However my dealer is so lazy he will just hand me the parts if he gets the change.

Stark varg support is the worst

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