I love this bike, but already have problems...

ew83

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Location
Seattle
I got a yellow light when I plugged my charger in the other day (EX). This was right after a rainy ride. It's been over 3 days now and I still get a yellow light when I plug it in, however, as of yesterday, it will sometimes go to blue and charge for a few seconds, then right back to yellow, randomly. Mostly stays yellow though (85% of the time).

I have never liked a bike this much. I really wanna give it a shot, but this has me a bit concerned.

First, does anyone have a fix? I contacted stark and so far all I've done is confirm it's not the charger by trying to charge the bike on another working charger (bike still won't charge).

I checked the left hand switches for moisture (none) and got some water out of the throttle (there was some in there and I have since turned the throttle housing upside down. I also unplugged the orange plug on the front of the battery and plugged it back in, and unplugged the vcu (I think .. round plug to the right of the orange plug in the front of the battery)and plugged back in with no luck.

I'm at a total loss for troubleshooting now. I'm really hoping it isn't the battery but I don't know. Also, if I can't ride the bike in wet conditions, there's a big problem for me as most of my riding is in the wet.

Hoping someone here can help me thanks in advance!
 

Theo

Well-known member
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241
Location
Italy
If you have a steady yellow light with the charger connected it means that the bike realizes that the charger is connected but doesn’t receive current. For example if you accidentally unplug the charger from the wall you should see that yellow light. If sometimes it turns blue, then maybe there is some connection which is not stable.
However on an EX, if the charger is not the problem and there are no obvious problems with the charging port like some damaged pin, it’s hard to find a possible connection that the user can check.
 

ew83

New member
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Location
Seattle
If you have a steady yellow light with the charger connected it means that the bike realizes that the charger is connected but doesn’t receive current. For example if you accidentally unplug the charger from the wall you should see that yellow light. If sometimes it turns blue, then maybe there is some connection which is not stable.
However on an EX, if the charger is not the problem and there are no obvious problems with the charging port like some damaged pin, it’s hard to find a possible connection that the user can check.
No pin damage I can see.

I know. This is very frustrating. I told myself that all the people with issues are a small minority, and here I am. Murphys law I guess.
 

AL_V

Well-known member
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278
Location
Canton, Ohio
Cables are fine. I checked the bike on another charger and have the same issue on a confirmed good charger
A friend of mine had a Stark MX that wouldn't charge on a good charger.
After a couple of weeks of email tag, they sent him a new power train.
However, they changed their policy in July, and now battery and power train replacements have to be done by a dealer.
It seems to be a Stark owner's responsibility to have a spare bike to ride during warranty work.
My battery went bad July 17, and the dealer still doesn't have the battery nor any tracking info from Stark.
 

ew83

New member
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Location
Seattle
A friend of mine had a Stark MX that wouldn't charge on a good charger.
After a couple of weeks of email tag, they sent him a new power train.
However, they changed their policy in July, and now battery and power train replacements have to be done by a dealer.
It seems to be a Stark owner's responsibility to have a spare bike to ride during warranty work.
My battery went bad July 17, and the dealer still doesn't have the battery nor any tracking info from Stark.
This is what I'm worried about. If that's the case I'd rather warranty the bike than wait months for parts. Plus, if it happens again, I'm supposed to do the same thing and wait months on end again? How do you trust a company after that? This has me wondering what it's like getting a bike warrantied
 

drehwurm68

Active member
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Location
Austria
I checked the bike on another charger and have the same issue on a confirmed good charger
Did you use the "good" charger in the same environment (same wall plug/location, adapter, extension cord, ...) you are using your malfunctioning one? The charger has some protection circuits build in that react allergic to certain ground configurations/installations. This can be plug adapters that are wired incorrectly internally, faulty extension cables and even wall plugs. So to make 100% sure it is the bike you'd need a place where a Varg is charging just fine and then plug in your bike into the same setup to make sure.

Michael
 

ew83

New member
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Location
Seattle
Did you use the "good" charger in the same environment (same wall plug/location, adapter, extension cord, ...) you are using your malfunctioning one? The charger has some protection circuits build in that react allergic to certain ground configurations/installations. This can be plug adapters that are wired incorrectly internally, faulty extension cables and even wall plugs. So to make 100% sure it is the bike you'd need a place where a Varg is charging just fine and then plug in your bike into the same setup to make sure.

Michael
Yes it was a different outlet and not at my house but a dealership where a stark was charging fine that morning
 
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