3 issues with my Stark Varg in 1 week.

[Tim Sharp]

Since I am new to the forum, I will give everyone some information of my background. I started racing in 1986, and raced pro from 1995-2002. I qualified for several AMA 250 nationals and had my best finish of 27th overall at Washougal in 1997.
I have always worked on my own bikes and have actually worked as a mechanic for around 28 years.
I was very excited to see something so new and ground braking like the Stark Varg, so I ordered one about 3 weeks after they started taking orders. Because of that, it took me 27 months to get my bike delivered to my house.
Problem #1. The bike was not processed yet, so I could not pair the phone to the bike for the first day and a half. First weekend of riding missed.
Problem #2. The connector on the charger was wired wrong, so it would not charge the bike. I figured out the problem during the week, and was able to charge the bike for the weekend.
Problem #3. I go to a local track here in LA Vernia Texas, and go out on the "vet" track to warm up and get used to the LHRB. The track is pretty hard packed and slippery, so definitely not something that was going to stress the drivetrain. Around 8 minutes later the bike just quit. No throttle response. I pull off the side of the track to look at what happened. The charge is still at 92% and the status light is still solid green. Obviously I was very concerned at this point. What if I was on the main track going up the face of a 60 foot jump? I turned the bike off and turned it back on. I was able to get back to the truck, but it turned off again. So I removed all the bodywork and checked every connector, including the handlebar connections behind the front number plate. Everything looks perfect. There's still not even any dust on this thing and it is dead.
I have since sent Stark several messages, but of course it was Friday at noon in Texas. Another weekend of riding missed.
I found this forum and read everything that I could find that involves the "Red light" status. I have tried holding the up&down mode buttons for 30-40 seconds. Nothing. I tried disconnecting the can bus cable from the battery, then holding the power button while reconnecting the cable. Nothing.
So currently, when I try to turn the bike on, the light is red the changes to a yellowish color, but as soon as I let off the button, the status light goes completely off. No flashing red, just off. I can hear a small clicking noise coming from the battery when I first hold the power button down. Like a relay inside the battery.
I also tried updating the Stark app to make sure I have the most recent version. This is requiring me to repair the phone with the bike. I obviously can't even do that, because I can't even turn the bike on.
Very, very, very frustrating.
So, I guess I'm coming to this forum for advice. I just don't have much experience with electric bikes.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Beagle]

Sounds like the issues you encountered had already been reported here, there had been a flurry of hardware issues and it gets covered under warranty, your best bet is to contact Stark customer service.

 

[Tim Sharp]

Sounds like the issues you encountered had already been reported here, there had been a flurry of hardware issues and it gets covered under warranty, your best bet is to contact Stark customer service.

Yes, I did read of some similar issues on this forum. Was hoping it was something simple that someone had figured out already.
I have sent several messages to customer service. Hopefully they get back to me soon.

 

[Chaconne]

@Tim Sharp did you resolve the issues with your bike?

 

[Mikec265]

Similar experience here with #1 and #2. My bike didn't die on me. My phone dock stopped working. Took a couple emails back and forth and then a phone call to confirm the faulty phone dock. Received a new one in a few days. The pre programmed settings were in the bike, but the phone was useless until installing the new dock.

They should send us bikes with us wiring. I got lucky and found a video to simply the wiring.

 

[Tim Sharp]

@Tim Sharp did you resolve the issues with your bike?

Stark has diagnosed the problem is inside of the battery, so they are sending me a new one. Kind of a bummer, but I'm very excited to get it back out there. It was incredible, while it lasted. Here's the current status of my bike.
@Tim Sharp did you resolve the issues with your bike?

 

[Beagle]

View attachment 11496

Were they able to send you a brand new battery in under a week or is that the old one to be replaced?

 

[PsychoBunny]

Since I am new to the forum, I will give everyone some information of my background. I started racing in 1986, and raced pro from 1995-2002. I qualified for several AMA 250 nationals and had my best finish of 27th overall at Washougal in 1997.
I have always worked on my own bikes and have actually worked as a mechanic for around 28 years.
I was very excited to see something so new and ground braking like the Stark Varg, so I ordered one about 3 weeks after they started taking orders. Because of that, it took me 27 months to get my bike delivered to my house.
Problem #1. The bike was not processed yet, so I could not pair the phone to the bike for the first day and a half. First weekend of riding missed.
Problem #2. The connector on the charger was wired wrong, so it would not charge the bike. I figured out the problem during the week, and was able to charge the bike for the weekend.
Problem #3. I go to a local track here in LA Vernia Texas, and go out on the "vet" track to warm up and get used to the LHRB. The track is pretty hard packed and slippery, so definitely not something that was going to stress the drivetrain. Around 8 minutes later the bike just quit. No throttle response. I pull off the side of the track to look at what happened. The charge is still at 92% and the status light is still solid green. Obviously I was very concerned at this point. What if I was on the main track going up the face of a 60 foot jump? I turned the bike off and turned it back on. I was able to get back to the truck, but it turned off again. So I removed all the bodywork and checked every connector, including the handlebar connections behind the front number plate. Everything looks perfect. There's still not even any dust on this thing and it is dead.
I have since sent Stark several messages, but of course it was Friday at noon in Texas. Another weekend of riding missed.
I found this forum and read everything that I could find that involves the "Red light" status. I have tried holding the up&down mode buttons for 30-40 seconds. Nothing. I tried disconnecting the can bus cable from the battery, then holding the power button while reconnecting the cable. Nothing.
So currently, when I try to turn the bike on, the light is red the changes to a yellowish color, but as soon as I let off the button, the status light goes completely off. No flashing red, just off. I can hear a small clicking noise coming from the battery when I first hold the power button down. Like a relay inside the battery.
I also tried updating the Stark app to make sure I have the most recent version. This is requiring me to repair the phone with the bike. I obviously can't even do that, because I can't even turn the bike on.
Very, very, very frustrating.
So, I guess I'm coming to this forum for advice. I just don't have much experience with electric bikes.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Just wondering what code level your bike is running.

For Electric Skateboards if you know who makes the BMS or Controller there is an app from that manufacturer you can use to see all your battery and other component details to see if they are getting too hot and shutting down or over voltage etc. I wonder if there is something like that for stark varg?

 

[Gtrbo1]

Hey tim, I’m just reading your thread. My bike will not charge 110/120 with the stark oem adapter. My bike would not charge my phone in the docking station, until very recent with an app update. Also my bike/ stand, charger will mildly shock me when the charger is in a 220/240 outlet. Regardless if plugged in bike.My electrician said my plug from charger is improperly wired. I/ we are not touching anything till I hear from Stark. Can you explain to me what was wrong with your plug? And did you have 110 charging problems as well? All of my outlets being utilized for charging the bike are all new and they are actually on their independent own circuit, including the 110. To describe the shocking it’s similar like if you put a 9 V battery on your tongue, but a little bit more significant. The crazy thing is it actually transmitted through the rear fender of the bike as well, which doesn’t make any sense at all. I’m waiting to hear back but just curious what did you find wrong with your plug?

 

[rayivers]

If your Stark AC-power plugs had their ground wires connected to the US-120V neutral (longer US-outlet slot) but were otherwise correct, you'd get the symptoms you describe (no 120V operation, 240V OK except for 'tingling' on charger chassis). Idk about the Stark's, but some plastics are very conductive - I have a number of conductive-plastic potentiometers, they work great.

 

[Gtrbo1]

First thank you for your immediate response. I really appreciate you. Second that makes total sense as to what is happening. I am now going to take a look at what I got but you are describing it to a tee. Thanks again

 

[Gtrbo1]

 

[Tim Sharp]

Were they able to send you a brand new battery in under a week or is that the old one to be replaced?

That is the "old" battery. It only had about 10 minutes total run time on the whole bike. I usually take my new bikes completely apart anyway, to properly grease all of the chassis bearings. So this is really not that big of a deal. So far, the bike seems very well designed and fantastic quality components.
I look forward to getting it back to the track.

 

[fred900]

I was hit with that same battery problem. My bike was blinking for an update for over a month, Decided to do the update since I wasn't going to ride for the next month. Update went well, I rode the bike around and all seemed ok. I drove 4 hours to California to ride at Glenn Helen, got on the track, did two turns and bike died. Had to do the walk of shame with all the ICE riders laughing at me pushing. Best one was, "Did you forget to put Gas in your Generator". LOL! I did the cam bus reset for the next hour and unplugged the fan and all the other suggestions. Even unplugged the battery and let set. Luckily, karma came my way, I let so many people test my stark when I got it, I had so many bike to ride, think I rode more that day then I usually do. MX people are the greatest people in the world!!!!!
Long story short, they are sending me a new battery also.

 

[Tim Sharp]

I was hit with that same battery problem. My bike was blinking for an update for over a month, Decided to do the update since I wasn't going to ride for the next month. Update went well, I rode the bike around and all seemed ok. I drove 4 hours to California to ride at Glenn Helen, got on the track, did two turns and bike died. Had to do the walk of shame with all the ICE riders laughing at me pushing. Best one was, "Did you forget to put Gas in your Generator". LOL! I did the cam bus reset for the next hour and unplugged the fan and all the other suggestions. Even unplugged the battery and let set. Luckily, karma came my way, I let so many people test my stark when I got it, I had so many bike to ride, think I rode more that day then I usually do. MX people are the greatest people in the world!!!!!
Long story short, they are sending me a new battery also.

Hopefully we don't get a second bad battery . I just want to ride this thing. It was amazing when it was working correctly.

 

[wfopete]

Tim, I had a similar experience but not exactly the same. I believe Stark has experienced software/hardware issues but what those issues are I don't know. I only know that much of the BMS brains of the bike are contained within the battery cases. A new battery solved my problem and it arrived within a week of contacting Stark with the problem. Stark has still yet to ask for the old battery back.

 

[Tim Sharp]

Tim, I had a similar experience but not exactly the same. I believe Stark has experienced software/hardware issues but what those issues are I don't know. I only know that much of the BMS brains of the bike are contained within the battery cases. A new battery solved my problem and it arrived within a week of contacting Stark with the problem. Stark has still yet to ask for the old battery back.

It would be interesting to take it apart and see if the "control board" could be repaired. Then we would have a spare battery.

 

[wfopete]

It would be interesting to take it apart and see if the "control board" could be repaired. Then we would have a spare battery.

Indeed it would be but Stark said it would void my warrant but how would they know unless they call for the battery back? I think they will probably forget about the battery but with batteries going for $3500 I would think some E bike tech shop would dig into the guts of these and start playing with modifications.

Personally I think Stark is covered up trying to keep track of all this, plus standing up dealership and developing policies.

 

[Tim Sharp]

Indeed it would be but Stark said it would void my warrant but how would they know unless they call for the battery back? I think they will probably forget about the battery but with batteries going for $3500 I would think some E bike tech shop would dig into the guts of these and start playing with modifications.

Personally I think Stark is covered up trying to keep track of all this, plus standing up dealership and developing policies.

I definitely wouldn't want to void my warranty. I don't understand why they wouldn't want these battery packs back. They could fix them and sell them as "reconditioned', for half price. They would sell like hot cakes.

 

[wfopete]

I think Stark DOES want them back but right now I think they have lost sight of them. Also they have to arrange for pick up and shipping of the units. By the time Stark get their act together to bring them back they will likely write them off as the tech will render the obsolete soon for a manufacture. The main reason to bring them back would probably be the liability of having them out in the public unchecked.