EX left me stranded today

[AbnormalWrench]

Anyone else get stranded today? Got an email while at work, saying Stark's cloud server was down causing the app to stop working. Didn't think much about it. I assumed that just meant the display wouldn't function. Got on the bike to head home and just had a solid red light, stuck in neutral.

What genius thought it was a good idea to design it to disable all bikes if the cloud server goes down?

Where do I send my Uber receipt for a refund?

 

[Erwin P]

This is really bad and undefendable.

Bike should always work whatever happens. Although we do like Stark to lock it if a bike gets stolen. I think however that should always involve a manual input with a certain passkey of some sort so no mass stop can happen.

 

[rayivers]

Although we do like Stark to lock it if a bike gets stolen.

Speak for yourself. I don't like the idea of Stark locking ANYTHING, especially with all the wireless-related problems going on lately. Sh*t like this is how innocent people get killed.

 

[drehwurm68]

Got on the bike to head home and just had a solid red light, stuck in neutral.

Could you confirm that it was really the server break down? Is it working now?

I could live with the app not working, but the bike being down as well would be a no-go. On the other hand i have been to a few places without cellphone coverage and everything was working fine ...

Michael

 

[Raindog]

Mine logged me off but eventually came back online right at 5pm so I made it home.

 

[Sharktank]

I'm pretty new to the bike, so if people could explain how this worked (or didn't work). Wouldn't this be the same was when you were somewhere remote and couldn't connect to wireless? Is this related to using the electronic lock in the app?

When I got the bike and had problems with setting up the app on the phone, I didn't have access to a dash, but I could still switch the bike into drive.

 

[AbnormalWrench]

Could you confirm that it was really the server break down? Is it working now?

Went to pick up the bike this morning. Still had the same problem. I found that one of the connectors had pulled out a little bit under the phone holder. I installed bar risers yesterday to raise the phone holder up a little bit, to make room for my hand guards.

OK, now I feel dumb.

 

[Chaconne]

I'm pretty new to the bike, so if people could explain how this worked (or didn't work). Wouldn't this be the same was when you were somewhere remote and couldn't connect to wireless? Is this related to using the electronic lock in the app?

When I got the bike and had problems with setting up the app on the phone, I didn't have access to a dash, but I could still switch the bike into drive.

The notice from Stark indicated that this impacted the app not the bike itself. So the bike itself should be operational without connectivity. And in fact my bike was stolen and Stark told me they need connectivity to disable the bike and it would still operational for the thieves if it was unable to connect.

That said I don't know about the electronic lock, if the app is disabled or dependent on the cloud and the lock is reliant on it that could be a problem and a bad design. Say you were in a remote area with poor connectivity and locked your bike and then were unable to unlock it. I'd hope the SW designers considered that, especially for a dirtbike whose use cases would certainly include rural areas with poor connectivity.

 

[Chaconne]

Went to pick up the bike this morning. Still had the same problem. I found that one of the connectors had pulled out a little bit under the phone holder. I installed bar risers yesterday to raise the phone holder up a little bit, to make room for my hand guards.

OK, now I feel dumb.

Well thanks for posting in any case. It seemed to coincide with the outage so it was a worry.

 

[Chaconne]

Mine logged me off but eventually came back online right at 5pm so I made it home.

When you say logged you off do you mean the app right? Your bike was usable in any case wasn't it? You'd be without indications but your bike would work unless the EX operates differently than the MX.

 

[drehwurm68]

OK, now I feel dumb.

Welcome to the club I guess most of us have been there ... but thanks for the honest update

Michael

 

[Beagle]

Went to pick up the bike this morning. Still had the same problem. I found that one of the connectors had pulled out a little bit under the phone holder. I installed bar risers yesterday to raise the phone holder up a little bit, to make room for my hand guards.

OK, now I feel dumb.

Thanks for your honesty, that would have been really horrible design. There are enough stories about bricked Teslas to not do the same thing with bikes.

 

[OpaTsupa]

What happens to the bike if the phone really gets damaged or lost during the ride?

There are a lot of reports on Facebook groups complaining that phone or the software has: locked, limited, bricked and more or less blame anything on it. In many cases it reads like a user error, but they are loud enough to confuse the little real information there is.

Stark should clarify exactly what the phone can and can't do, what data it gathers, how to troubleshoot it etc.
Some bikes have been genuinely scrapped by an unsuccessful software update.


I'll leave this here, by the way.

 

[Erwin P]

The Stark runs fine with the phone turned off, completely destroyed or on the other side of the country. Seen all 3 of those.
Did finish a training session with the phone still in the paddock.

The lock your bike feature can only be used with the bike standing still. I would think Stark's remote bike-lock works the same. That way no accidents can occur.

 

[Sharktank]

What happens to the bike if the phone really gets damaged or lost during the ride?

There are a lot of reports on Facebook groups complaining that phone or the software has: locked, limited, bricked and more or less blame anything on it. In many cases it reads like a user error, but they are loud enough to confuse the little real information there is.

I have plenty of criticism of the implementation using the phone as a dash -- mine didn't even work when I first got it. But the bike still started without it. Lots of low-effort information on Facebook.

In my mind, if you're going to try a new design like Stark has, you need to do a outstanding job on communication and documentation. On that front they're falling short.

 

[Erwin P]

A lott of the startup issues/problems are documented very well in the manual. But not a single soul reads that so that doesn't count i guess?

Don't get me wrong, i hate the wireless phone thing as well. I would pay extra for a hardwired dashboard that always keeps up with the bike.
But as far as documentation goes there are not a lott of other OEM's at the same level.

 

[Sharktank]

I hear what you're saying, but one big difference between Stark and other OEMs is that there's a huge amount of institutional and customer knowledge with the existing designs.

This doesn't apply to a company like Stark that decides to go a different way on some things and is shipping in relatively low numbers.

 

[Erwin P]

True, but if you put a lott of trouble shooting etc etc in your manual, but people are too lazy/stupid/arrogant to read it... How much more should you do?

Those same people clog up their tech support wich in turn gets a bad name for long waiting times.

 

[Vega]

Don't use the lock feature in the app, it's a horrible design it will leave you stranded one day.