3 issues with my Stark Varg in 1 week.

[wfopete]

Ok, but any Stark dealer should be able to handle the warranty for the bike weather you bought it from that dealer or not.

 

[Tim Sharp]

Ok, but any Stark dealer should be able to handle the warranty for the bike weather you bought it from that dealer or not.

To be honest with you, I worked in the motorcycle industry for years, and I just don't trust 75% of the mechanics that work at dealerships.
I would rather have Stark diagnosed the issue, and I will do the wrench turning.
I have been taking care of my own race bikes since 1985, so I'm kinda picky about who touches my bike.
It is very frustrating though, not really being able to troubleshoot the problem myself. I am used to just making sure I have spark, compression, and fuel. Those three things are good, you should be in business.

 

[wfopete]

I understand completely on all points.

 

[rayivers]

I would rather have Stark diagnosed the issue, and I will do the wrench turning.

I'd rather have Stark give me the ability to diagnose the issue (i.e.. documentation; yeah right, jk!), then I'll decide who should do the work (i.e., shoulder the responsibility for the repair and its outcome).

The Stark will be my 5th e-MC rodeo, and I've got a pretty good idea now of what I can do expect to do myself regarding battery/motor/controller issues:

1) void the warranty
2) turn the mfr's problem into my own
3) die on the floor of my garage

Surely others' lists will be longer - mine would too, except I will not work on new-to-me deadly systems without full docs and the time to study them (tried for years to obtain these for both my brands, finally gave up). If one has extensive knowledge of and experience with e-MC drivetrains that's great, but my list above still applies.

I've known four excellent / one OK / one terrible e-dealers. If this were an ICE purchase I'd much prefer a crated bike shipped from the factory but I'll definitely be buying my Stark from a dealer.

 

[Chaconne]

To be honest with you, I worked in the motorcycle industry for years, and I just don't trust 75% of the mechanics that work at dealerships.
I would rather have Stark diagnosed the issue, and I will do the wrench turning.
I have been taking care of my own race bikes since 1985, so I'm kinda picky about who touches my bike.
It is very frustrating though, not really being able to troubleshoot the problem myself. I am used to just making sure I have spark, compression, and fuel. Those three things are good, you should be in business.

Well maybe but if the ECU is bad or intermittent in an ICE bike or the injector sensors are flakey or their are electrical issues then troubleshooting old school bikes grows in order of magnitude in troubleshooting too.

I agree with you though Stark should be able to log into to your bike and tell you what the problem is with pretty high accuracy. And not just ship parts until they happen to land on the problem. I know it is made in Spain but this isn't a 1977 Montessa. If you contact them again ask them why they suspect the power unit now and why didn't they suspect that before they shipped you a brand new battery previously.

 

[Chaconne]

I'd rather have Stark give me the ability to diagnose the issue (i.e.. documentation; yeah right, jk!), then I'll decide who should do the work (i.e., shoulder the responsibility for the repair and its outcome).

The Stark will be my 5th e-MC rodeo, and I've got a pretty good idea now of what I can do expect to do myself regarding battery/motor/controller issues:

1) void the warranty
2) turn the mfr's problem into my own
3) die on the floor of my garage

Surely others' lists will be longer - mine would too, except I will not work on new-to-me deadly systems without full docs and the time to study them (tried for years to obtain these for both my brands, finally gave up). If one has extensive knowledge of and experience with e-MC drivetrains that's great, but my list above still applies.

I've known four excellent / one OK / one terrible e-dealers. If this were an ICE purchase I'd much prefer a crated bike shipped from the factory but I'll definitely be buying my Stark from a dealer.

Don't know where you are in CT @rayivers but I can't say enough good things about Motorbikes Plus in Portsmouth New Hampshire. They pretty much sell only dirtbikes and Adventure bikes. I bought my KTMs from them and recently bought my Stark from them. Excellent experience all the way around. I had a paperwork hiccup with documentation and MB+ took care of everything seamless and the price for my bike was reasonable too. No sales tax in NH either so if you aren't gonna plate it you can save some $$$ and make it worth a ride.

 

[rayivers]

Don't know where you are in CT @rayivers but I can't say enough good things about Motorbikes Plus in Portsmouth New Hampshire. They pretty much sell only dirtbikes and Adventure bikes. I bought my KTMs from them and recently bought my Stark from them. Excellent experience all the way around. I had a paperwork hiccup with documentation and MB+ took care of everything seamless and the price for my bike was reasonable too. No sales tax in NH either so if you aren't gonna plate it you can save some $$$ and make it worth a ride.

Thanks for that! Always great to have a real-world positive review, especially of a mainly-dirt-bike dealer. I live near Danbury, used to drive up to Portsmouth to the cable depot there - not a bad drive, looping north around Boston. Yeah, if the sales tax is avoidable I'll do that in a flash.

 

[fred900]

I have the same problem, my new battery arrives Monday. Kind of a weird thing, I have the battery and Cambus disconnected, getting ready to install the new battery. When I push the red button, the red light comes on even know the battery is disconnected. Since you're not riding this weekend, can you test you're and let me know if the light comes on yours with battery disconnected.
Do you think there is a small battery somewhere?

 

[Chaconne]

I have the same problem, my new battery arrives Monday. Kind of a weird thing, I have the battery and Cambus disconnected, getting ready to install the new battery. When I push the red button, the red light comes on even know the battery is disconnected. Since you're not riding this weekend, can you test you're and let me know if the light comes on yours with battery disconnected.
Do you think there is a small battery somewhere?

Did you try that multiple times? Does it discharge over time? Might be a small battery somewhere for the CPU.

 

[fred900]

Did you try that multiple times? Does it discharge over time? Might be a small battery somewhere for the CPU.

I left everything unplugged over night, even the ECU. Wonder where that battery is if there is one.

 

[Chaconne]

I left everything unplugged over night, even the ECU. Wonder where that battery is if there is one.

I am wondering if the power on system power is separate from the drive system power (somebody on this forum probably knows ). Maybe with a small CMOS-type battery. In computer systems these batteries can live for 10 years.

 

[Tim Sharp]

Just a little update on my 3rd issue. Stark sent me a new battery. I installed the battery, and still dead. Sent several videos to Stark, upon their request. Now they think the power unit is bad, and may have compromised the "new" battery.
So they are now going to send me the entire Gen 2 package. Battery, power unit, and wire harness.
DANG! Talk about customer service. Yes, I want to go riding, but I guess that is worth the wait. Plus it has been kinda cool disassembling the entire bike. I think everyone should do it, just to get familiar with this new technology.
I'll post pictures of the finished product next week. They are sending the parts air freight from Spain, so they are supposed to be here Tuesday.
Anton Voss for president!!!

 

[fred900]

I got the Battery also but I messed up the Orange power wire, so they said I need the power train also. Since I messed it up they gave me the gen2 unit and all I had to do was pay shipping, $140. What a deal! Basically a 2025 bike for $140. They are awesome!!!! No regrets buying this bike, never had a MX bike with a warrantee.

 

[Tim Sharp]

I got the Battery also but I messed up the Orange power wire, so they said I need the power train also. Since I messed it up they gave me the gen2 unit and all I had to do was pay shipping, $140. What a deal! Basically a 2025 bike for $140. They are awesome!!!! No regrets buying this bike, never had a MX bike with a warrantee.

What happened to the orange power wire?

 

[fred900]

I pulled one of the wires out of the orange connector.

 

[Chaconne]

Just a little update on my 3rd issue. Stark sent me a new battery. I installed the battery, and still dead. Sent several videos to Stark, upon their request. Now they think the power unit is bad, and may have compromised the "new" battery.
So they are now going to send me the entire Gen 2 package. Battery, power unit, and wire harness.
DANG! Talk about customer service. Yes, I want to go riding, but I guess that is worth the wait. Plus it has been kinda cool disassembling the entire bike. I think everyone should do it, just to get familiar with this new technology.
I'll post pictures of the finished product next week. They are sending the parts air freight from Spain, so they are supposed to be here Tuesday.
Anton Voss for president!!!

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Pretty awesome and I am glad to hear about the tremendous customer service. There are a lot of companies these days who should take lessons from these guys. That said, I am still struggling to understand why there are still couldas and wouldas in the diagnosis but I guess it doesn't matter now that you are getting the new Gen2.

 

[wfopete]

Has Stark made arrangements yet for you to ship the defective parts back?

 

[Tim Sharp]

Has Stark made arrangements yet for you to ship the defective parts back?

They have requested me to place the old parts in the crates when I get the new parts. Then they will arrange for the pick up. They probably want them back to properly diagnose the issue. I'm fine with that.

 

[wfopete]

Good. I need to remind them again I have a battery here they need to take back.

 

[Foss]

Honestly do not even bother, it’s their job to follow through with tracking the broken stuff. If they don’t, consider it spare parts. I messaged them saying I am waiting for a return label… only response I got back was closing my ticket. They probably damage it out with their vendor who makes these parts. It’s all insured air of like Amazon. And it cost them more to ship it back too.

But hey if you don’t want the dead battery I’ll buy it off you lol. I’m sure I could get it working