Dealer performs hack job!

[BwanaDik]

This is a real saga. However, my dealer, Cycle Shack North, has done all my maintenance and recall work with great professionalism. Never had a problem in 25,000 miles. Going to have the valves checked soon but I'm not sweating it. I am always happy and professional with them too and I think it helps.

I was feeling lucky until I went to pick up my '96 Trophy 900 at British U.S.A. (1 hour south thru Houston from where I live). Charged me a shitload to clean the carbs and change the battery. OK, so I suck it up, at least the carbs were sparkling so I knew they did the job. And the bike started right up so I'm sure it has a new battery! However, the tech forgot to plug the fuel level sender back in so off with the tank again! And the service manager missed it on the test ride, whoops! I left it there, I think I'll ask them to deliver it to me

 

[freddiewest]

I received a call from the dealer that performed my ignition warranty service and dented my tank....

Received a new tank that they will install and I am welcome to participate during the service to make

sure I am satisfied with the results, so at least my outcome looks very promising!!!

I directed the dealer to this thread so that he knows that mine was not an isolated incident

 

[rbentnail]

I was hoping to get a feedback/comment form from Mammy Yammy regarding my service visit, but it's been 2 months so I guess it ain't gonna happen.

 

[xbmwscoot]

I just got around to checking into why I was getting a "loose" feel on turn-in, and a "creaking" noise while maneuvering the FJR in the garage, etc.

If I would push down hard on the left grip, I'd get a bit of the "noise", same w/ the right grip.

Turns out both upper triple tree clamp bolts were about ready to fall out, the upper nut was torqued correctly tho. The creaking noise was the triple tree clamp area moving on the fork tubes.

I suspect since the handling was getting worse as the miles added up, that the upper tree bolts might have been in more than finger-tight, but certainly not torqued correctly.

The ignition switch recall was done at the dealer...BEFORE they delivered this bike (new '08) a few months back.

I informed the dealer and got a "sorry" out of it.

You know "geeze, this was one of our best guys that did this".

Well, needless to say, I did my own work for the initial servicing...they did not get that out of me.

I chose this dealer because of their reputation for quality work...so much for that, I guess.

I'm not going to mention their name publicly here (PM if you want it). But, they are in the southern suburbs of the Mpls./St. Paul area.

One more screw-up on their part, and I am going to shout their name out from the roof tops.

The handling feels tight now, I was having some reservations about coming over to Yamaha from a R1200RT...less so now!

 

[palerider]

I chose this dealer because of their reputation for quality work...so much for that, I guess.

Jeez, Xbmwscoot, that's an ugly story.

As I can no longer physically do much of my own work, I feel lucky to have a responsible dealer (OTD Cycles in Marina Del Rey, CA) where they do good work, and if there's a problem, they fix it, no questions asked.

But even a dealer who tries hard and wants the work to go well is at the mercy of the independent mechanics they all hire. I'd say the real problem here is the business model the dealerships use. For the most part their mechanics are semi-itinerant, there one day, gone the next. It's rare to find a dealership where the mechanics stay for years. It's not uncommon for me to go into a Suzuki dealer and find a mechanic working there whom I'd recently seen at the local Honda dealer. Even with all the appropriate certifications, a mechanic who just doesn't identify with a particular dealer or brand and who doesn't care much about doing good work may not last long there, but if it just happens to be your bike he's working on, you're going to get shorted, maybe seriously, and next day he's got a job at another dealer across town. The dealers have a point--they don't want to be paying a mechinic when times are slow--but it's we customers who suffer from this arrangement.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

They forgot to tighten the pinch bolts on the triple-tree on mine as well, which I discovered when I felt an odd vibration in the front end at 80+MPH. Thought maybe I was getting a flat, and just about puked when the bolts were hanging loose. I repaired at the roadside, and since I got home from the trip (about 4500 miles), I've had the entire thing apart, inspected and re-torqued everything, and discovered a few more things.

They gouged the crap out of the triple tree when they were getting the stem nut off. Also managed to mangle the nut itself some. It wasn't properly torqued. The fork tubes were mis-aligned. They put the handlebars back with one set all the way forward and the other all the way back. The list goes on.

Needless to say, they'll never see me again. :angry:

Griff