similost Posted April 23, 2009 #1 Posted April 23, 2009 So I get the new bike home Tuesday night. The wife and I take about a 5 mile ride to check it out. Pull up in the driveway, and notice one of the rear speakers aren't working.. BRAND NEW.. come on now... SO, I call the dealer the next morning, and of course, depends on how busy we are if we can get to it right away or not... UM... I just spent how much for what?!?!?! Got home last night and decided I'll look at it myself.. Pull the seats, and yep, sure enough, plain as day is a a connector with nothing plugged into it... I start looking around for the other end. It's up under the trunk, with the wire running between the trunk and the trunk bracket. You could tell exactly what happened... They put it together, couldn't get the connector pushed back through from between the bracket and the trunk, so said WTF.. it's only one speaker.. I ended up pulling the speaker pod loose, and it gave enough clearance to force the connector through... I also noticed that one of the connectors for one of the antennas wasn't routed correctly and placed in the holder for it.. and another wire laying loose that should have been run through a wire keeper.. SO.. I sorted it all out, put it all back together, and now I got sound all the way around, and no worries of wires rubbing from being in wrong places.. It sure makes me wonder what other problems I'm going to find from the dealer assembly though... If they do something like this with a brand new bike, I'll be damned if I'm going to trust my life to others when you have no ideas if they take shortcuts or not.. At least when I work on it, I know what was done.
Squeeze Posted April 23, 2009 #2 Posted April 23, 2009 Makes me sick to say, but you better get yourself some blue Loctite, a basic Set of metric Tools and go over your Bike by yourself, open each and every Bolt, put some Loctite on it and tighten it down. There have been reports of loosening Bolts on new Bikes in the Past and i for one, i did check each and every Bolt my Dealer had to open or install during preping my '09. I have had the Installation Manual in Hand, so i know exactly what they have had to do and what i have to check. Found no loose Bolts, but i'm glad about that and not sick about wasting Time.
V7Goose Posted April 23, 2009 #3 Posted April 23, 2009 It's too bad your shop has such lousy quality control. But with a new Royal Star there are a number of other things that you need to check for yourself. Primarily bolts and nuts. Start at the front fender trim and work back, checking virtually every frame or trim bolt. Pay particular attention to the fender chrome trim bolts, the shifter bolt, and the bolts on the side of the rear fender holding the hand grips and trunk supports - all of these are commonly lost at some point within the first year of ownership. The shifter bolt is so bad at coming off, I suggest you use locktite on it now. Goose
similost Posted April 23, 2009 Author #4 Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks. Yep, I've got lots of tools.. I did actually go over a lot of them last night, and didn't find anything that was loose. I did find the assembly instructions on here last night, so I'm printing it out and plan to go over everything thing in it particularly. I hate dealing with replacing lost or damaged parts from things being loose, but even more so, I prefer to trust my safety only to myself.
BigBoyinMS Posted April 23, 2009 #5 Posted April 23, 2009 Also, the factory is bad about thinking grease is gold... cause they hate to use any! If it was my new bike I would have the rear wheel off and lubing everything with Moly60. And also changing out the rear diff grease; now and in 600 miles. And I would probably change oil now and in 600 miles. Just to make sure all the junk is flushed out. But that's just me.
BoomerCPO Posted April 23, 2009 #6 Posted April 23, 2009 I'm very lucky that the Service Tech who works on my scoot is also a good friend and riding partner. Even with that being the case I go by the old saying "Trust But Verify"!! Boomer........who's seen enuff parts fall off Harleys....and 1st Gens....to know that Blue LocTite is worth its weight in gold.....if used.
similost Posted April 23, 2009 Author #7 Posted April 23, 2009 I've been watching the thread about the bad teeth on the drive shaft.. I'm already all over that one.. I think I'll be visiting the honda dealr just up the street and getting me some grease and taking care of that as soon as I can. I know I had issues with my Roadstar and the neck not being greased well. Yeah, they think grease is gold.. I don't understand that.. cheap stuff compared to warranty repairs..
Captainkirk Posted April 23, 2009 #8 Posted April 23, 2009 Send them an itemized invoice. I'm dead serious! Write up what you did, and charge my rate, for example, of $40.00 per hour. Send along a personal letter voicing your displeasure. The dealership may forward it on to national, and you may get something out of it, if nothing else, perhaps a credit.
similost Posted April 23, 2009 Author #9 Posted April 23, 2009 Good point.. Might have to do that. I did call the guy that sold the bike to me, and had a talk with him. He would like me to bring it back in so they can double check everything. I did check most everything so far though. They didn't get it right the first time.. why bother for a second is kind of the way I'm feeling. The sales rep said he would be having a discussion with the service manager though. Not that that does me much good, but at least they know they have a person that isn't paying attention to detail. Might save someone's life...
Chaharly Posted December 12, 2009 #10 Posted December 12, 2009 I'd tell those guys to take the F*%#ing thing back, and that you can find a dealer who gives a crap about his customers:cool17:. That guy is an idiot, almost as much as he is a jerk!
bongobobny Posted December 12, 2009 #11 Posted December 12, 2009 Yah! There are good dealers and not very good dealers!! Perhaps a letter to Mama Yammy is in order...
Midrsv Posted December 12, 2009 #12 Posted December 12, 2009 It may not have been the dealer that prepped the bike for sale. My dealer uses a service that preps the bike and then delivers it ready for sale. I asked him about that and being a small dealer with only one or two mechanics he said he couldn't afford to have his mechanic tied up assembling bikes. So when he orders a bike it is shipped to the company that does the prep work and then they deliver it to the dealer. That's still no excuse for the shoddy workmanship. About that shifter bolt, do make sure it's got loctite on it. I lost a mine a few hundred miles from home and noticed it when I got the top of an exit ramp and couldn't feel the shifter to down shift. Fortunately the shifter was resting on the floorboard and I was able to wire tie it in place for the next few hundred miles unitl I could get a new screw. DT
YamaDuck Posted December 12, 2009 #13 Posted December 12, 2009 One thing HD has that Yamaha doesn't have is competent mechanics in my opinion. Everything they work on is HD. Yamaha dealers on the other hand is totally different. The machanic may be working on two or three bikes at the same time or one after the other and one is a Yamaha and one is a Kaw, and one is a Suzuki. I don't take mine to the dealer but mine is out of warrenty (thank goodness). If I had to take it in for warrenty work. A friend had new tires put on by the dealer and the mounted it so that it ran in the wrong direction. I don't have any expierence working on motorcycles but with the help of VentureRiders I have change the rear valve cover gasket, installed passing lights the way VentureRiders suggest, and several other things. I chane my own oil and filter and save about $50.
Bummer Posted December 12, 2009 #14 Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) ... About that shifter bolt, do make sure it's got loctite on it. I lost a mine a few hundred miles from home and noticed it when I got the top of an exit ramp and couldn't feel the shifter to down shift. Fortunately the shifter was resting on the floorboard and I was able to wire tie it in place for the next few hundred miles unitl I could get a new screw. DTIt has probably been posted a hundred times, but it can't hurt to mention it again: There are two bolts on each side cover. One is cosmetic. One is "real". These bolts fit the shifter. There's an allen in the side bag that fits, just pull one of the forward bolts (the cosmetic ones), use it for the shifter, then order a new shifter bolt and washer. When they come in put the side cover bolt back and use the new one. It's slightly different from the side cover bolt, but it'll get you by. Edited December 13, 2009 by Bummer typo correction
Sideoftheroad Posted December 13, 2009 #15 Posted December 13, 2009 and it isn't just new bikes that you lose shifter bolts on. How about after around 60k.
Midrsv Posted December 13, 2009 #16 Posted December 13, 2009 It has probably been posted a hundred times, but it can't hurt to mention it again: There are two bolts on each side cover. One is cosmetic. One is "real". These bolts fit the shifter. There's an allen in the side bag that fits, just pull one of the forward bolts (the cosmetic ones), use it for the shifter, then order a new shifter bolt and washer. When they come in put the side cover bolt back and use the new one. It's slightly different from the side cover bolt, but it'll get you by. Thanks Bummer, I found that out after I got home from that trip. I should have mentioned it. Dennis
Aussie Annie Posted December 13, 2009 #17 Posted December 13, 2009 Just goes to show how an old thread can be reserected and still be relevant eight months later!!!!!
YamaDuck Posted December 13, 2009 #18 Posted December 13, 2009 I wish I had read about the shifter bolt before I took my trip out west. I was two days from home and I got off the interstate to gas up and I started to downshift and the shifter was not there, I looked down to see the shifter just flopping around. On top of that I had taken a wrong turn and had to make a u-turn. All I can say is it is possible to make a u-turn in fifth gear on a fully loaded 2nd Gen Venture.
Dave77459 Posted December 14, 2009 #19 Posted December 14, 2009 It has probably been posted a hundred times, but it can't hurt to mention it again: There are two bolts on each side cover. One is cosmetic. One is "real". These bolts fit the shifter. There's an allen in the side bag that fits, just pull one of the forward bolts (the cosmetic ones), use it for the shifter, then order a new shifter bolt and washer. When they come in put the side cover bolt back and use the new one. It's slightly different from the side cover bolt, but it'll get you by. On an RSTD, the bolts that hold the tank trim also will work. I had mine come off exactly as described, finding out when I went to downshift from the freeway and found the shifter on the floorboard. Dave
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