Rotorua Suzuki "Bike Force"

[baffa]

Another day, Another thread about poor dealer service.

When purchasing my Fireblade recently, the previous owner arranged for Suzuki Rotorua to service the bike, in exchange for me tidying up the bike I was trading with him.
He had recently come into posession of the bike due to a deal with a client of his, and hadnt ridden it, hence didnt known much about the condition of the bike.
So Suzuki was tasked with servicing it, and tidying things up.
5000 kay later, and I get the Bike Dr to give it a service, and this is what he tells me.

Steering head bearings need doing, Front wheel bearings are shot as well. This would explain why it feels a little funny diving into corners, I thought it was just me.

Tyres need doing, but I understood that when I purchased it.

Chain and sprockets. They fitted a new chain before I bought it but didn’t change the rear sprocket, which is badly worn, and because they didn’t, the front and rear sprockets and chain all need to be replaced together. Oh and he said he thinks the chain is some cheap Chinese make.

Oh and the plastic weld they did in the front fairing failed as I rode it home.

So not exactly happy, the bearings will cost hundreds in parts and labour, the tyres will be over $200 apeice, chain and sprockets will proably be another $150.
I’m guessing at least $600 to get everything in order, and that still leaves the crack in the front fairing.

Interestingly the mechanic at suzuki managed to "accidentally" wheelie the bike when he took it for a test ride, saying he was impressed with the power of the bike, and yet wasnt able to notice glaring faults like the bearings, that would and should be an instant wof failure.

The point of this QQ is that any reputable bike shop or mechanic would pick up on these faults, and they would advise their customer. I pulled aside one of the staff when we picked up the bike and confirmed everything was okay, and they told me the bike was great, and good to go. So they are either inept, or lazy, and I cant figure out which is worse.

[nodrog:Me]

Who is the bike Dr? And do you not think he may be trying to embellish things a little to get some business out of you?

And you have got 5000kms out of it, shit like bearings and things can fail in that time, especially if they are already old.

If it was less than a couple of hundred kays you may have something to be unhappy about, but at the moment I am struggling to understand what you are whinging about.

[merv]

I'd be surprised if you can get a decent chain and sprockets for $150 too.

[Maha]

Botany Honda will sort it out...

[sil3nt]

I would think 5000k's is plenty of time to turn bearings from good to shit.

[nodrog:Me]

I'd be surprised if you can get a decent chain and sprockets for $150 too.

fucksakes, dont upset him even more!

[HenryDorsetCase]

Oh WAAAAAH!

get a grip, big boy: unless and until you see the work order given by the other owner to the shop, you are at least jumping the gun, and at worse being a complete cock, and unfairly labelling a workshop that in all likelihood did exactly what they were asked to do by the then owner of the motorbike in question. All that shit is wear parts and all of it you can do yourself in a happy sunday in the shed. Stop being such a frickin' baby and whining on the internet, get out in the shed and sort your bike out.

How likely is it do you think that an owner who didnt want the thing in the first place and is only doing the bare minimum necessary to get rid of it would have tasked the dealer with "fettle this bike so it can win the next Production TT at the isle of Man"?

[sil3nt]

I'd be surprised if you can get a decent chain and sprockets for $150 too.

$80 for sprockets and cheapest chain at $225 from http://www.bits4bikes.co.nz/parts/honda/662.aspx

[baffa]

I appreciate the thread looks a little whiny. That isnt the intention, more a warning. I'm not seeking anything further from Rotorua Suzuki, but just suggesting that others be wary.

A few of the other bits I left out:
The radiator fan wasnt working from the day I got it. Never bothered me, but they never picked it up.
Intake pipes are not there, never mentioned, or better yet, they removed them to do a poor job of plastic welding the front fairing and never replaced them.
They fitted a new chain, to an old and badly worn rear sprocket. You can argue that both the wheel and steering head bearings somehow only failed after they looked at the bike, but they should have noticed the sprocket.

I'm a big boy, I can pay my own bills, but I didnt choose these guys, and I didnt like them from the outset.
Any mechanic that pushes a bike hard enough to wheelie on a test ride is a cowboy.

If I'm the only one to experience bad service from Suzuki, then fantastic, I was just unlucky. But once the new bike euphoria wore off, I realised just how shit these guys are, and I highly doubt I'll be the only one.

[jasonu]

I appreciate the thread looks a little whiny. That isnt the intention, more a warning. I'm not seeking anything further from Rotorua Suzuki, but just suggesting that others be wary.

A few of the other bits I left out:
The radiator fan wasnt working from the day I got it. Never bothered me, but they never picked it up.
Intake pipes are not there, never mentioned, or better yet, they removed them to do a poor job of plastic welding the front fairing and never replaced them.
They fitted a new chain, to an old and badly worn rear sprocket. You can argue that both the wheel and steering head bearings somehow only failed after they looked at the bike, but they should have noticed the sprocket.

I'm a big boy, I can pay my own bills, but I didnt choose these guys, and I didnt like them from the outset.
Any mechanic that pushes a bike hard enough to wheelie on a test ride is a cowboy.

If I'm the only one to experience bad service from Suzuki, then fantastic, I was just unlucky. But once the new bike euphoria wore off, I realised just how shit these guys are, and I highly doubt I'll be the only one.

Sounds like you didn't take the time to do a prepurchase inspection yourself. You should have atleast spotted the 'baddly worn' rear sprocket and said summat about it before you handed over your cash. Knackered steering head bearings are not that hard to spot either...

[Crasherfromwayback]

Any mechanic that pushes a bike hard enough to wheelie on a test ride is a cowboy.

If I'm the only one to experience bad service from Suzuki, then fantastic, I was just unlucky. But once the new bike euphoria wore off, I realised just how shit these guys are, and I highly doubt I'll be the only one.

Even a wiff of throttle will have a blade on one wheel. Not saying they should be ripping around pulling mono's mind you.

But I think you're being (well) overly harsh on the dealership all in all.

[tri boy]

Any mechanic that pushes a bike hard enough to wheelie on a test ride is a cowboy.

You don't know many m/cycle mechanics do you.
Saddle up par'ner, we got us a RG500 to service.

[HenryDorsetCase]

You don't know many m/cycles do you.
Saddle up par'ner, we got us a RG500 to service.

I'll give you a hundred bucks cash if I can take it for the "test ride"

[tri boy]

I'll give you a hundred bucks cash if I can take it for the "test ride"

Alas, those days are long
Back on topic.
Nah, screw that.............

[baffa]

I remember as a young un taking the faster cars on a car yard I worked at for a fang.
I got a good telling off for that. I expect someone taking your vehicle for a test ride/drive will rev the engine out and make sure everything is tickitey-boo, but popping wheelies is not professional.

Each to his own though, if you are happy with people thrashing your bike, thats up to you.