Dealer Nightmares

[crockettrider]

I made a post in the 2nd generation area that got me to thinking......

 

I have a list of dealer related nightmares when I have had to have them do repairs to my bikes over the years.

Last April a group of us were heading out for a ride.

Sure enough the night before I find a nail in a relatively new Avon and the wife catches wind about the dangers of patching.

Sure enough, on the way out we hit a dealer and have a new tire put on.

 

100 miles later we pull over to eat lunch and my buddy ask when the saddle bag cracked...What? Sure enough I have a big crack down the back. S.O,.a B.

I call them and they say to bring it by after the trip. I showed up with 4 other bikes that were on the trip and they discover the metal spacers were not installed at the bottom of the bag.

They must not have been there (according to them) but they should have pointed it out so they will replace the $1500 dollar bag.

 

This was April and I have watched them order the wrong color twice, The upper bag once and the wrong side twice. They were apologetic and as nice as pie but totally incompetent. Well, two days ago they get the bag in and forgot to order the spacers.....I was able to cut some tubing to do the job but was amazed at the total lack of professionalism.

 

Now I can tell you similar stories with 4-5 other dealers but it's someone elses turn at this point:witch_brew:

 

I stay busy but am doing more and more of my own repairs due to their incompetence. Just wish I could see better.

 

I imagine there are tons of scary stories about dealers....along with some good ones.

[CMIKE]

It is mostly the same everywhere. From what my favorite dealer tells me...they cannot pay them enough to keep a good mechanic. The other dealership down the road gives them $1 more and hour and they gone...he gives them $0.50 more and they are back. Mostly anybody that can identify different wrenches can work in a dealership as a mechanic. The most trouble dealers have with bikes is adjustments and set up. Rarely do they do rebuilds or real deep repair.

I have found one dealership that has guys working there that have gray hair...to me that is a plus. Most are kids with no experience and it is just a job.

So far I had not let any dealer touch my bike...I removed the wheels and hauled them down to them so they could change the tires. I pulled the rear end down to lube the drive pins and splines when it made all that noise at 800 miles.

You know it is not just the the motorcycle dealerships...I bought a SHO Taurus from the local Ford Dealership. It was a left over on the lot with a few miles on it and a hell of a deal. $10K off sticker.

It did not have one of the key bob remotes and they were to get me one so I would have 2 for the car.

After a week or so they called and said it was in...bring the car so they could program the remote.

To program the remote they had to access the ECU and put in a jumper or something...so they got in the trunk looking for it. There was a card board like panel against the back seat where they thought the ECU was located. Instead of removing the bolts to gain access to it...they just ripped it back to see if it was there. The ecu was under the dash behind the glove box.

They brought the car back out and said it was ready...I put my laptop backin the trunk and saw the panel torn off. I flipped out of course and they had to get a new one to replace it 2 weeks later. Of course I called Ford and complained also.

I have my doubts about any dealership...car truck or bike unless I know who is doing the work and trust them.

I will continue to do all my own work so I can make sure it is done right.

[Wanderer]

I have a local bike shop do some work for me. Not a dealer, an independent, but I tell them what I want and some times I offer the knowledge I have or have gained from this site. They follow my instructions each time but before I drive off I check.

I'd do most of it myself, but when you live in a motel it's pretty hard to do.

[skydoc_17]

Because I work on mostly older bikes, (that darn 5 year warranty!) The local Yamaha Dealer sends the bikes that are more than 10 years old to my little shop! They don't have a mechanic that knows the older technology and they just don't want to be bothered with them. I try to treat every bike I work on as if it was my own, so I am not the fastest mechanic in town. But on the other hand, when you get your bike back, there will be nothing broken and the service that was performed will be done as well as it could be done, no matter how long it takes me to do it right!

The two local dealers within 100 miles of my home won't even work on either my 86'VR or my 87'VR! Makes you wonder, for sure, how can they stay in business! On a positive note, the dealer's incompetence has kept my "little shop by the creek" pretty busy this summer!

Earl

[Wanderer]

That's what I'm talking about. If I were closer to PA, you'd be my man Skydoc.

[a1bummer]

Aside from occasionally having someone mount new tires for me, I do all my own work. Always have. The one time I did let another mechanic touch my vehicle, was in the middle of January and I did some brake line work on my Ex's car. It was so cold out I couldn't bleed the lines very well and told her to take it to the guys across the parking lot to bleed the lines. They told me there was transmission fluid in the system and told me I had to replace all the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder. Sure enough, "someone" had put trany fluid in with the brake fluid! Seeing as I'm the only one who was ever under the hood of that thing, I knew who did it and why, but they wouldn't dare admit it. I immediately drained it and flushed out the system with new fluid and everything was fine.

 

I figure if I do my own work, I know it's done right.

[1BigDog]

I can list many of the wrong things the dealer did to my bike when it was in for warranty repair but the most glaring ones are leaving the windshield loose and only tightening 1 bolt which cracked the fairing (they replaced it), Leaving one bolt out completely on the rear caliper and finding out about it at 2 am with a loud knocking sound while coming home from work and leaving the gas line disconnected.

[crockettrider]

I was running real busy with Hurricane Ike repairs and brought my bike to the Yamaha dealer to have the valves checked and wanted them to check the backfiring I was getting.

 

2 weeks later I went to pick it up and drove out and made it a mile and ran out of gas. They ran back with a can and filled my tank. Rode 28 more miles and I was almost running out of gas....I had fuel running out the exhaust pipes and told them they needed to come and get it.

They sent a kid that wanted to strap the bike over the lower fairings. After telling him to sit down and watch he brought the bike to the shop. 2 weeks later I pick the bike up and the backfiring was worse than ever. His response was that's what these bikes do.

 

Got home and started looking and the mechanic left both tank bolts out.