Another Bad Dealer Story

[Meat-BoX]

I went to my local Honda/Suzuki Dealer when I 1st picked up my Honda 125 M. I only wanted 3 new tires and an Oil Change untill I could buy a Manual for her.
Well it took 3 1/2 weeks to get the Tires and Have Them Installed on New Rims because they couldnt install on Split Rims. I asked about the Oil Change and they said they Forgot, and I just wanted out of there. Well less than 2 days later 2 of the Tires were Flat. Add another week without my Trike. :rolleyes: I brought it down and had em give me a Free Oil Change and ReBead the Tires. 2 Days Later 2 flat tires. :( So now im like well time to get dirty and check out this deal for myself. I pumped em up, Poured Soapy Water all over them and found several leaks at the Base of some of the Knobbies. Why they never did this I dont know, but after having my Trike for so long I was figureing that I didnt need to get Down and Dirty. :crazy: Soapy Water :D
Any ways I took the Rims Off and brought them down to them and Pretty much Shoved em up their :twisted: and told them to make it right. Well here it is 4 Weeks later and I got my Rims and Tires today. I guess I will go through the Checks before I install them. I still have a Front Rim and Tire about an 1" to 1 1/2" Off Center and that Bugs me bad. They put on Offset Rim on the Front, and I can barely pump it up because the Air nozzle is jammed up against the Brake Hub. These people sux. I lost 8 weeks of riding this Trike I just got about 9 weeks ago. :eek:

[Lomax]

sounds like that dealership is a bunch of (unprintable words).......

[bigredhead]

DIY dude .... that's what it's all about.

[thefox]

Sounds like Sport-mann to me?

[TeamGeek6]

Any ways I took the Rims Off and brought them down to them and Pretty much Shoved em up their :twisted: and told them to make it right.

GOOD! :D I wish there were more bikers that would get in these dealers face, it would stop a lot of the fraud that goes on. Last time I went to a Honda Dealer with the Goldwing, the mech left the clutch lever loose on the bars, just flopping up and down.

[sblt500r]

thats why everybody should try to stay away from dealers. i got a 87 rm125 from a kid who said the dealer put in new main bearings. well i had to pull it apart and guess what, they reused the old main bearings. you can't tell because its inside the engine, and they could have done what ever they wanted! and they did.

[Orangecnty250r]

Thats alot of lost ride time due to someone elses ignorance. Uh Oh my 81 R has split rims. Whats the deal with the split rim installation. Is it that Hard???

[MTS]

Thats alot of lost ride time due to someone elses ignorance. Uh Oh my 81 R has split rims. Whats the deal with the split rim installation. Is it that Hard???
Its a cakewalk, you just gota buy new o-rings for the center of the rims and plop em on...10 mins tops lol

[TimSr]

If your dealer cant mount tires, Id be looking for another dealer. Thats pretty basic! Id also say this is hardly typical of any dealership thats been in business for awhile. While it can be difficult to remove tires from rims, I cant even conceive going to a dealer to have new ones mounted on new rims to begin with since its so simple. For that matter, Id order a combo from RockymountainATV already mounted before Id go that route. Im curious as to why you didnt just mount them yourself. You shoudlnt need bead sealer on new rims!
Contrary to where this thread is headed, most dealerships who have been around a while are hard working, decent, honest, people. Thats how they stay around for awhile. Either that or I just happen to live in an area where the half dozen dealerships within 30 miles are decent.
Split rims can be a pain as far as leaking, especially if they are rusty, but they are no harder to mount or unmount than one piece rims.

[sandpuppi101]

My local Honda dealer actually treats me like a million bucks,and thats probably what I spend there a year also ,LOL! They don't even touch trikes anymore,they are caught up in the rat race of high volume sales,and get this-they send there trike work to me,at least some of it .It works out good for everyone,my customers are happy cuz all I work on is Honda ATC's,I am happy cuz I get business, and the dealer is happy cuz they sell me parts ,and they can sell there quads.Rare situation huh,a dealer actually working with someone!!!

[yyz4208@aol.com]

where is this shop located?
since I am also in central NY

[grundlegrabber]

2 dealerships newr me, both are very large and have been around for a long time. Neither one is worth a damn. I have been going to these places since I was a kid, some of the same people still work there that did back then. They treated me like **** back then and they still do now. When I was a kid I had an XR350. It needed some top end work so I took it to the dealer. They had it all summer, from the berginning of May until the end of August. It got to the point that I had to call every day to make sure it was getting worked on. When I finally got it back, I rode it for 3 hrs and the motor locked up. Seems the genius mechanic at the dealership disn't know how to tighten a valve adjuster locknut. After this experience, I decided I would never again take any of my stuff to a dealer to get worked on. I am now totally self sufficient, save for machine shop services that I occasionally need.
It's not just the dealers. There is a smaller shop that recently opened up near here. They deal with used sportbikes and the guy that owns it is a professional racer. He says that he places the highest soncern on having every bike run properly when it leaves his shop. After talking with him for over an hour, I decided to let him install a jet kit and do a carb synch on my R6. $350 and it barely runs any different than it did before. The carbs are screwed up and he doesn't have a clue what he's doing, and doesn't care (as long as he gets his money). I have decided to invest my money in tools rather than put it into the pockets of the dealerships. 16 years now that I've been riding and working on bikes and trikes and I have never found a shop that does good, quality work.

[Wickedfinger]

I went to my local Honda/Suzuki Dealer when I 1st picked up my Honda 125 M. Thats your first problem, right there ..... I don't know of any stealerships near me that would even work on a trike.

[sandpuppi101]

Like I posted a few back and like wicked finger said these dealerships don't want to be hassled with an ATC or something like an XR ,that stuff is old school.Why would they want to ,they need there cash selling those Quads ,we ATC guy's just get the middle finger in such words ,think about it the dealers got all this new stuff that brings big bucks sitting a shelf waiting for jimbob,who just bought a $5000.00 machine,to break something so they can charge him up the a** to get a little part.Now you go in there needing a part for say a 85' 350X and they look at you like your on crack,cuz they know and you do too that they don't have it,and your taking up time because the next jimbob is behind you needing a 10mm bolt that cost 4.99. Black and white I know how it is Brothers!!!

[TeamGeek6]

Thats your first problem, right there ..... I don't know of any stealerships near me that would even work on a trike.


Gee, I think weve been slammed! LOL Good one :D

Actually Ive not met many dealer mechanics that could count to 3.

Seriously, I heard a Honda dealer mechanic (experienced one) say that in one repair, even though he knew the right way to fix the problem, he wasnt allowed to do so by Dealer rules. He had to go "by the book." Sad. :cry:

[sandpuppi101]

I like that makes "MUDDOGS RESTORATIONS" my biz more busy!!!

[Meat-BoX]

Its Sportmann Suzuki/Honda in Syracuse New York.

The Best Dealer in the Area is K&H Kawasaki in Little York N.Y.
Its a 100 mile drive but they treat you like gold and allways do good work.

[daputz]

Yep.......... All dealer wrenches are idiots, It's just to bad that some of the ones here have bothered to help out :wondering

Most dealerships are oem oriented and work on oem products, unless they are familiar with the specific aftermarket modification or modifications they are shooting from the hip. There are a few (note the word few) aftermarket companies that offer reliable support for the products they sell............minor stuff like jetting, valve timing, clearances or even how to make their model specific prodoct fit the specific model correctly without the need to hack it up.

If you disagree with me, buy a service manual for your machine (probably less then an hour of labor at a dealership), the required tools (more then a dealerships hourly rate), and have at it. Just be mindfull theservice manual is not going to cover specs for aftermarket and customer modifications......................and for s&g's take other peoples machines in and listen to their description of how it runs and why stuff like compression, dirty air filter, improperly tuned carb, 10 year old silencer packing, "vintage" spark plugs, the foolishness of have synched carbs, 10 pounds of corn stalk packed around the counter shaft, the top end is fresh how could a bad crank seal destroy a piston, and bad batteries could no way in heck cause the issues they are having.

Is any dealership gonna know the specifics of every machine created, I doubt it.......but odds are they are gonna have more resouces availible to them. The people I know and work with will ask ques and find the people in the know to solve the issue.....it might take time but it will get done. Most oem dealerships do not like to tie up bench space on older machines because of the lack of parts availibilty, and other problems that can be found (we found this way outta spec while diagnosing you problem.............it should really be fixed to prevent trouble down the road).

Before you bad mouth dealership wrenches, just keep in mind they are enthusiast just like you.....................and are generally the ones who will stop to help on the trail or street. No one who does this for a living wants to see someone miss riding time because of a mechanical failure.


A bit off topic, and long read (but well worth it)


http://powroll.com/tech_guru_hallofshame.htm

[350x'inNY]

Well.... probab ly a little further than 100 miles, but Arkport Cycles is pretty good for me. Small town dealer that has built it up in recent years to have Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Harley, Kawi, Polaris and Arctic Cat.... They've been great for me when getting parts and working on things. The owner and mechanics welcome me and often ask how my trikes are.

Bruce

[thefox]

I have found Sprotmann to be an ok place to get parts but I try to stay away if I can.

Whenever I need something done I take it to Freds Sport Motors (Yamaha, Ducati). I have had then replace the valves for my old Honda 200s (I brought in the head and valves). I have been taking to Fred and one mechanic, Mark, about my YTM for the last year while I have been having the crank. problems. Mark even came out and listened to it a explaining what I shouldn't be hearing.

Of course I am in there alot too :eek: .

[brapp]

lol i have a restraining order from a local honda dealership for throwing a 250sx shock trough the drywall behind where the service counter . but i deal with dealer to order parts and try to find alternate sources but usualy do pretty well.

[mudduck14843]

Arkport Cycles
295 7426 ask for paul in parts.

[monster 84r]

lol i have a restraining order from a local honda dealership for throwing a 250sx shock trough the drywall behind where the service counter . but i deal with dealer to order parts and try to find alternate sources but usualy do pretty well.

HAHAHA :lol: :lol: thats hilarious, but i know how you feel. back when i had my old 78 gt80 dirtbike, they charged me for whatever they could...... some examples: a 5$ spark plug and another 5 to install, because they thought it was fouled!(i had just replaced it 2 weeks ago). they chagred me to true my rim before they would even put a new rear tire on it. this bike costed me an arm and a leg becuase greedy shop owners.... the only place around here i get parts from is steves cycle. for those of you in az, id recommend them. bernies cycle is the one who charged me an arm and a leg for small things on my ol bike....

the worst part was that my dad gave the nastalgic machiene away for free because the kickstart gears broke :cry: i wish i still had it to restore or take apart...