Workshop problem: What would you do?

[imdying]

So if i get this post as it sounds .......
You have one bad experiance from a Honda shop in some hell hole and suddenly all mechanics are idiots !!!!

He's telling lies, so you can add even less weight to his comments.

[roadracingoldfart]

50% of bike mechanics in NZ are useless possibly.

So then the point being... do you take the gamble every time you take your bike in to a dealer..???

Will you be lucky and get a good one... or get a useless one..???

I wont comment on the usless aspect of your post .... but .
The other side of the coin is this,
I was the service manager of a Honda shop and i left because of the appalling traetment i was told i had to support by managment . I was sickened by it and as motorcycling is generally a close knit society many of my customers were active friends as well . When i was asked to lie , cheat and generally rip customers off for work either not done , done to a very poor standard or just not neccessary i had no option but to leave and inform the relevant authorities of the antics carried out by the manager.
I was dragged through the courts but i won and i would do it again in a heart beat as anyone knowing me will attest to . I am now in the car industry as the foreman for a Ford & Mazda dealership and even though cars are the enemy to alot of bike riders , the internal self destructive politics does not exist like it does in the motorcycling industry.
Come to my work workshop and you will get good service , come to my garage for work on your bike and you probebly wont even get charged unless it costs me to do it.

Paul.

[Conquiztador]

Hi,

Had a problem with my local bike shop (well, their workshop to be exact) and I'm kinda pissed off about the situation, just wondering if you guys can think of anything I can do other then a MTA complaint (which I'll be doing).

So the story goes... (warning...bit of a rant!)

Got on my bike to go somewhere, was running late and it was rush hour so figured the bike would be the quickest way there...as soon as I put the bike in gear it would stall, basically the clutch was still gripping even when fully disengaged (lever in), once it warmed right up I was able to get it in gear with a few revs and off I went (if I had switched to car I would have missed what I was trying to get to) clutch didn't come right, and had to pop it in neutral at lights, etc, etc. EDIT: Sorry, this part is not quite right...once warmed right up, I could hold the bike at the lights with clutch in with it gripping a little (tiny bit of throttle and it wouldn't stall)

A few days later I went back to the bike and adjusted the clutch cable to see if it was just stretched a bit...wound it right out, clutch still engaged when the lever was in, and now it would slip when I gave it a hand full of throttle (due to it being semi disengaged due to me adjusting the cable).

At that point I decided to take it into my local shop, explained what was happening (clutch always partially engaged, adjusted the cable to see if it was just stretched, but it was still happening and of cause its now slipping due to the adjustment...I made sure I pointed that out to the guy in the workshop), guy at the shop said all good, they will get back to me once they know what the problem is with a price.

They ring me up about a week or so later, saying its the clutch and it needed replacing, I said sweet as, give me a bell when its all sorted.

I get a text about another week or so later saying bikes all sorted, come pick it up. Awesome I thought, just in time for the weekend and I had been dying for a ride tbh (hadn't had a proper ride for ages). I go and pay my money, get on my bike, start it up, put it in gear...stall...hmmm, again...stall...hmmm, again....stall...nope, bike is exactly the same as when I took it into them after spending over $600 to get clutch done (and new sump gasket)! So pointed it out to the guy in the workshop, he said sorry, will have a look at it tomorrow...all good I guess, people make mistakes...I then walk back home bikeless.

I ring them a week later to find out whats going on, guy says oh, the clutch perch is the wrong one...thats causing the problem (wait...thats been on the bike ever since I had it...but anyway) so thats causing it to grip? yep he says...so why did the clutch get replaced as it was only slipping due to the adjustment on the clutch lever? I ask...oh, it was slipping so I replaced it...wait, I explained the situation when I brought the bike in...basically his response at that point....Not my problem...

So now I've spent $600 on a new clutch that I didn't need, and still have to spend $200 for a new lever and perch.

I rang them back up after I'd cooled down a bit asked to speak to someone about the situation and was put on with some guy, asked what they would do about it...nothing, except put the new perch on for another $200...which I promptly told them to bugger off I'll take it to someone that knows what the hell they are doing! (well, its a perch...I think I can handle that myself!)

Picked up the bike last night, after stalling it about 5 times trying to get it into gear up the hill (outside there workshop) I finally got it home...still stuffed, but hey...its got a new clutch...

I think its pretty stink that they have miscommunicated within the workshop (guessing that's whats happened, guy I spoke to prob didn't write down all I said...although you'd also expect the mechanic to notice the adjustment was right out...but anyway, not blaming him in this) and now I have to foot the bill...I'd have been happy enough if they had offered something back (like put the perch on for free)...not expecting to get the new clutch for free (even tho I didn't need it, or want it as it wasn't the problem)

Every shop makes mistakes...its how they sort them out that shows what they are made of.

So what would you do? What rights do I have?

Sorry guys. I will not read all this. So here my reply:
Who ever you took it to need a kick up their ass. With a steel toe boot! Idjots!

You paid $600 for a new clutch????? There is approx 6 plates costing $20 approx each. It takes an hour MAX to replace them no matter what bike!!! That incudes adjustment and making a cuppa. Serious!

There is a cable. a clutch leaver and a thingy in the motor that is normally a pin that pushes the plates. Thats it. Carbies and valves are tricky and take an hour and half. Clutches... a few plates, a cable and a leaver....

Dude, they seriously need a kick up the ass. And you need your $600 back! They have charged you for...replacing bits that were working!

Give them heaps!

[scracha]

Come to my work workshop and you will get good service , come to my garage for work on your bike and you probebly wont even get charged unless it costs me to do it.

Paul.

Sweet. Will bring down the TDM next week

[Spyke]

Would it be the clutch plates/springs? when mine were worn it sounded like the same symptoms.

could it be they didn't actually change and clutch parts?

[bogan]

had a similar thing happen on my CR, clutch wasn't disengaging, so moved the cable way out (thought that doesn't look right) sure enough after bout 10 pulls of it actually disengaging same problem crops up again. Lay it down and take off clutch cover and the bloody main nut is loose! Tighten, push metal tabs to where they are sposed to be (last guy pushed them all onto the same side, numpty).

Basically what I'm saying, is a clutch is well simple, just DIY that shit.

[dipshit]

When i was asked to lie , cheat and generally rip customers off for work either not done , done to a very poor standard or just not neccessary i had no option but to leave and inform the relevant authorities of the antics carried out by the manager.
I was dragged through the courts but i won and i would do it again in a heart beat as anyone knowing me will attest to.

Good on you for taking a stand. Shame the motorcycle industry is losing people like yourself.

[roadracingoldfart]

Sweet. Will bring down the TDM next week

Roadbikes get special dispensations Steevie , you know that. What time you coming ???

[roadracingoldfart]

Good on you for taking a stand. Shame the motorcycle industry is losing people like yourself.

Ahhhh but the idustry gained an opposition lol.
My point was the techs are often blamed for the managments asshole , money grabbing persona.
Even techs have a mortgage and need to keep a job even though they dont agree with protocol , i was lucky i got a job later that night.

[Conquiztador]

Ahhhh but the idustry gained an opposition lol.
My point was the techs are often blamed for the managments asshole , money grabbing persona.
Even techs have a mortgage and need to keep a job even though they dont agree with protocol , i was lucky i got a job later that night.

Bling to you. At 14 I had my 3'rd or 4'th moped. A 50cc Oegland with 3 gears and pedals. It had, by the earlier owner, been worked on and was a little rocket (well, compared to other mopeds anyhow...). But had developed a loss of power at top revs, My knowledge did not, at that time, reach that far, so I took her in to the shop. I knew it was gonna cost me. But I reasoned, that if I gave it to a specialist she would be sorted... Well, they replaced some of the bits that made her "fly", charged me so much that I had to pay it off, and still had the same problem. But now she was much slower... That was the last time I had a shop do the whole job. Have had bits sorted by others who know their shit (crank reassembly and balancing, valve seats fittting, re-bore and similar) but apart from that I do it my self. Not always getting everything right the first time. But always in the end.

And that moped? I went back to the shop and got all the bits they had replaced and fited them again. Re the problem: I did some asking around and found out re 2 smokers and mufflers and de-cokiing. So I did the easy option and replaced the muffler, and the problem went away!

[Max Preload]

Sounds to me like they didn't have the foggiest fucking idea what they were doing. Something with these symptoms and I'd be looking firstly for warped plates (fibres and steels) and notched clutch basket fingers. You can be damn sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the lever perch.

[DEATH_INC.]

Sounds to me like they didn't have the foggiest fucking idea what they were doing. Something with these symptoms and I'd be looking firstly for warped plates (fibres and steels) and notched clutch basket fingers. You can be damn sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the lever perch.

Yeh, warped steels would be my guess...