Victems of your local motorcycle dealer

Im starting this thread, one of the recent postings gave me an idea! Maybe if we tell our stories of how the dealer screwed us, when in fact we didnt need to be there at all. I hope Im not the only one, this may help the newbies or we may all just get a good laugh! My first bike ,a v65 magna by the way way to big but I did pass my course with flying colors. Was in need of a tune up or so I thought soI take it in and they change oil, filter,and plugs. Still runs like crap so I do my own investigation and find a mouse house in the air box.Now isnt that part of a tune up, Needless to say Ive grown to do my own on all my bikes.

speaking as a motorcycle mechanic for almost twenty years and as college instructor of same now for a grand total of one year it is sad to hear things like this about my profession. did they charge you for a full tune-up it sounds like the just did a service on it a full tune-up consists of many different things and removal of air filter is one of the first things you do. it gives the parts guy's time to track down one if it needs to be replaced. a full tune-up is valve adjust, carb sync and adjustment check all fluids top up if needed, oil change check and replace brake componets if needed adjust chain and tire pressures and what ever might also be needed a full tune-up takes about 4.5 hours depending on what model and size your working on so unless the the bill had 4 or more hours labor on it it was not a tune-up. a major tuneup you start at one end and go to the other fixing or add to every thing in between.

I've only had work done like 6 times at a dealer and I think I had trouble all 6 times. No funny stories like a mouse but a few memories.
My dad and I bought the 78 KZ650 new and they mandated a dealer 2000 mile check to maintain warranty. This was really a good running motorcycle and I checked fuel mileage every fill from new and we got right at 60mpg every fill for 2000 miles. Well a few hundred $$$ later and getting it back from the 2000 mile check it didn't run near as good and mileage was now 40mpg. We take it back and they deny fouling it up and laugh at our 60mpg claim. They get it running better, but still not where it was and if I was lucky I could get 45mpg, but around 40 still generally. I did my own tuning trying to get it back where it was but all these years never did. This is the 168,000 mile KZ650. A lot of gas has flowed through those carbs.
Next one was a 82 GPZ1100 I bought new. The motorcycle was under warranty and needed a valve job. I bring it in, get it back and ride 500 miles and check the clearances and find I have none, go to swap shims and see they have all 8 #200 thinnest shims already in there. What a mess.
3rd one I remember was not all that big of deal, but I was 2000 miles away from home and get a flat tire and as luck would have it I'd just passed a Kawasaki dealer. I turn around and ride back and they fix the flat. I ride away and just had a fealing I'd better check the chain. No play. I guess they didn't know 3/4-1" play was needed in a drive chain? It was tightened to zero. No clacking drive chain I guess.
4th and 5th one was a new BMW I bought new. I pick it up from the dealer and the way BMW attaches the windshield to the fairing is push rivets. The outer part of the rivet pushes on, then you have a center pin that presses into the rivet to expand it. These guys did not understand this complication and just cut all the pins off, so the rivets were useless. After I explained it to them they order me some new rivets so no big deal, but then the dreaded checkup. I take it back everything perfect. Pick it up and ride like 20 ft to the first stop and it dies. Well it won't idle after their tune? but I'll give it a few miles. About the same time I notice a clacking from the right cylinder. Quiet on the left, clacking on the right. Time to turn around. I go back and they are all snotty. "which cylinder do you perceive as noisy"??? Well the one THATS CLACKING MAYBE???. They get it idling and redo the valve clearances, then I'm riding home after maybe 5 miles I feel oil on the rear tire, stop and find the drain plug for the rear has fallen off. My gosh.
Also had a car once that needed some welding done on it and I get a call. "We had a little problem. The car cought fire and burned your interior to ashes". "don't worry though. We will fix it". So they fix it eventually but in the mean time I'm driving around with burnt seats and door panels.
Last one I remember was a 1986 Ford F250 that started running real poor and it was idling real rough. You could tell that something was dreadfully wrong. I take it back under warranty and they tell me it's fine. You have to be kidding? Take it to a private mechanic I trusted and he said I had a blown head gasket. Take it back to the dealer and sure enough, blown head gasket. They fix that and a few days later I just got the inkling I'd better check the head bolts. All were at about 2 ft/lb. I can see retorquing a gasket, but I don't know about after 2 or 3 days.
I've had not the best luck and sorry to ramble the boring details, but fond memories.

i went to a shop when i was 19 and payed a deposit on a metzler rear tire ,they wraped tape around it and wrote my name and date for service apmnt to install,came back on that day and they had wraped the tape around a dif model tire and claimed ignorance ,even told me i was wrong......later i worked there!!! and did some great service work and simple repairs,tried to get the boss to push helmets for the 1986 ninja 600r crowd and generaly did good motorcycle work.... i also smoked way too much pot,slept drunk most nights,watched letterman religiously with a bong and a beer, and showed up to work groggy,leading to a couple of dangerous mistakes on customers bikes......i've seen the guys working behind the scenes at my local shops,,,,boy,,,brings back memories,,that's FOR SURE!!!!!!

A couple of years ago, purchased my first bike... a 1978 kz650. Couldn't get it to run correctly to save my life, so I took the carbs into the Kawasaki LICENSED OFFICIAL local dealership. They cleaned the carbs, rejetted them, synced them, yada yada yada... so I was stoked! Went home, put them back on the bike, and rode it... still not good. Well, a couple of weeks later after riding like crap, took the carbs off myself. What did I notice: 4 different main jets: ranging from 115-127.5.
3 months later the crooks went out of business.

I had a shop work on my bike but once, and it was fine, they did a good job; but another time I went to the local Kaw dealer to buy some oil for the H2 2 stroke. I get out to the car with the can of oil and I notice it's leaking from the bottom. (This was when oil came in cardboard cans) I take it back inside and said this can is leaking and only half full! The owner said "Oh, I thought you wanted a half quart", giving a sheepish smile he said "Well I almost got away with that one, eh?" What a thief.

Back in the mid 1970's, I bought a new Suzuki GT750 Water-Cooled. When I picked up the bike, the dealer had stuck one of their stickers on the top of the tank. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but when I got home I removed the sticker to find it covered a scratch in the paint. The dealer refused to fix the problem accusing me of damaging the tank. I never, ever went back to them.

When I first got my bike I took it in to find out what I had and have the carbs sync'd. He told me that the carbs were not correct for the bike and he would swap the correct ones for $100 dollars. Then I asked questions on this site and was set straight and told I had smoothbores. I never went back to him for anything...Russ

Russ Jackson wrote:

When I first got my bike I took it in to find out what I had and have the carbs sync'd. He told me that the carbs were not correct for the bike and he would swap the correct ones for $100 dollars. Then I asked questions on this site and was set straight and told I had smoothbores. I never went back to him for anything...Russ

Now that's the definition of big balls. You ought to go back and punch him in the face.

I stay away from the dealerships so I don't have a caveat emptor story to tell. I can say that I've heard some amazing stories about the closest Kawasaki/Honda $stealership which really is a shame. The reality is that the factories go to great lengths to design, engineer, and build a good product and then their own dealer network essentially pisses all over them. Maybe it's the cultural barrier that enables this, but really, I wouldn't consider the local GM dealership for my service needs around here, although they are better than years ago as I understand it.

Perhaps the margins are so thin that dealerships can't afford to be any other way, but I would think that if the factories really cared they could find someone who would represent them well.

I took my bike in to get the cam plugs replaed and when i was riding home I found out that my horn no longer worked.

Another time I took the bike in to get some work done and they broke my tach cable.

The third time I brought my bike in to get an out of province inspection, my brakes worked fine, after picking it up and riding to the first set of lights i pulled the front break lever and it went all the way to the bar.
When I went back they told me it was like that when they got it. Anyways I made them drop what they were doing and bleed the breaks, after 20 mins we heard the bubble escape and they were back to normal.

I have yet to find a place where I trust that the work I am paying for was completed properly the first time. When you go back to get any problems resolved it is never their fault. It is too bad because if there was a place that did excellent work then I would refer all of my fellow riders to that Shop.

I went to a bike shop around here once to get my chain and sprocets, he said he would put them on for free..........like an idiot i said sure why not.......i waited 3 hours for them to get it done. And of coarse there were a bunch of people standing outside when i left so i cranked the throttle when i left, and about 1/2 mile later i heard a grinding sone, the sob's didnt tighten the rear axle or the adjusters. So i did so in a mc donalds parking lot. I went back there and they were packed, so i went to the front of the line and demanded my money back. The guy asked why, i said you theives didnt tighten my rear axles or my chain. And i threw a huge stink until he gave me back every cent i payed him.......i never went back there and i guess they went out of buisness a few months later. I worked at a kawi dealer and it was a joke the way they worked on bikes, half ass at best, but evey bike i worked on was 100% when it left.