WORST bike shops

[claire]

We spent lots of motorcycling dollars with these guys - gear, tyres, even my 250 brand new. They did it when they wouldn't trade the 250 back on a bigger bike (they didn't have anything I wanted anyway!!) The final insult was wanting us to sell the R1 privately when we wanted to order a 03 R1 as they had too many road bikes that had been on the floor for too long. So now I spend my hard earned motorcycling dollar elsewhere.

Mt Eden Motorcycles. Excellent. Bought my Thundercat there and bought a new helmet at the same time. Bike was exactly as they said it was and they had no trouble dealing with a woman. Believe me big tick for them after some of the dickheads spoke with on the phone.

We now deal mostly with Tony Rees Motorcycles in Whakatane and they're great. Thats why they got our order for an 04 R1!

Claire

[750Y]

I like the service dept at Colemans.
I like Mt Eden, good guys, good service, very helpful.
Amps are friendly too.. .
I go different places, for different things, for different reasons.
I tried to support a local shop but $670 for a pair of diablo corsas and I have to bring the loose wheels in? later...

[Motu]

Cycletreads Barrys point road- it has burnt down now (a few months
ago )

Aside from general tired service from them anyway, I had my bike in there
one day with the "experts" putting a front and back tyre on. I was waiting in the coffee room when there was an almighty CRASH out in the workshop

It turns out, that when they raised the bike ramp up by about 2 feet my
2001 Yamaha YZR6 came crashing off the platform onto the floor - cos my bike hadn't been secured well enough on the platform. The dickhead that was responsible for it wasn't even @$#@# fazed by my scratched and damaged bike.

I was so stunned at the incompetance, I couldnt say a word......customers were saying to me "how come you arent spewing...I would be if that was my bike" - I wonder what other things have happened to peoples bikes when they arent around- that they don't know about

So that was you! - I was in that day I think getting tyres fitted to my rims,ended up taking about 3 hours for them to do it because they were stuffing around with a bike that fell off the ramp!

[KATWYN]

So that was you! - I was in that day I think getting tyres fitted to my rims,ended up taking about 3 hours for them to do it because they were stuffing around with a bike that fell off the ramp!

Actually they took about 2 hours to complete the job after the event - we were there about 3 hours as well and feeling really towey cause it was taking so long!!...maybe it was you (the customer) I spoke too?

p.s in defence of that chick mechanic, it was not her fault although she
felt really stink

[Motoracer]

Cycletreads Barrys point road- it has burnt down now (a few months
ago )

Aside from general tired service from them anyway, I had my bike in there
one day with the "experts" putting a front and back tyre on. I was waiting in the coffee room when there was an almighty CRASH out in the workshop

It turns out, that when they raised the bike ramp up by about 2 feet my
2001 Yamaha YZR6 came crashing off the platform onto the floor - cos my bike hadn't been secured well enough on the platform. The dickhead that was responsible for it wasn't even @$#@# fazed by my scratched and damaged bike.

I was so stunned at the incompetance, I couldnt say a word......customers were saying to me "how come you arent spewing...I would be if that was my bike" - I wonder what other things have happened to peoples bikes when they arent around- that they don't know about

I wonder who it was that burnt it down... hmmmm...

Just kidding

I'd F-ing pissed off if they did that to my bike!

[Motu]

I don't buy bikes new or used from dealers - but I got my XT400 from Mt Eden,the price was right and so was Mike's attitude - he tossed me the keys and let me go for a ride,was prepard to fix things on the bike...but I like to do it myself,and he took my cheque on a saturday afternoon - he's as far from a used car salesman as you can get.

I use them also for most of my aftermarket stuff,they are prepard to go through the sprocket book,or a seal book,whatever,the ability to think in spare parts is a lost art.Motomail gets some of my money,mainly because they are open 7 days - as I work 5.5 days I'm prepard to pay for the convieneance.I've already done a whole thread giving Econohonda a plug,but now I'll have to go to them that are useless in Honda parts for my Yamaha parts - Haldanes were good.... Chris puts as much interest in getting me PW50 parts as if it was an R1.

[KATWYN]

I wonder who it was that burnt it down... hmmmm...

Just kidding

I'd F-ing pissed off if they did that to my bike!

Hehe -Yea that was me sculking around in the dead of night with a can
of gasoline and packet of matches.....only it wouldv'e been more
lucrative if my bike had've actually BEEN in the premises that night

hehe

disclaimer: No officer it wasnt me

[dangerous]

Another thing to add about my winge at Casbolts is when I brought the VTR it came with a free set of Scorpion pipes, but they wernt in yet. So I went back about 2 weeks later and they said do you want us to put them on? 'yes please' so I went for a walk....1hr later I went back in and they presented me with a bill of $45= 1hr of work a grand total of removing 6 bolts.......shezz I thought after spending over $16000 on the bike and acceserys they'd say 'na dont worry about it'

Sports zone ChCh I havent ever brought anything from them but when you are just standing there day dreaming at a bike (SV1000) and the sales dude comes up and says 'take it for a spin' I replyed 'but its almost close up time' (12:30 Sat) he then said 'so take it for the weekend and drop it of Monday'.....Now that kind of PR has you going back (pity I think that the SV is ugly as, nice to ride though but prefered the firestorm)

[bane]

Boyd Honda deserves the Dealer of The Year award every year. Friendly caring people that knows their stuff, yo. And, if you have time, get on one of their organized ride-days. Guaranteed experience and satisfaction!

Have to agree - even though all my bikes have been Suzuki's... John in parts has always been more than helpful, and always has a better price if you ask

As for road and sport (Suzuki agents), I have to wonder how Boyds can sell me a GSP for less....

[jrandom]

'so take it for the weekend and drop it of Monday'

Bugger me. Really? Speechless.

pity I think that the SV is ugly as, nice to ride though but prefered the firestorm

Is that the SV-S you're talking about there? TBH I can't say I like the looks of them all that much myself (sorry Spank) but the nekkid SV thous are the dog's nuts. I want a black one.

[Lou Girardin]

Sounds like we're well served by dealers in Auck. Maybe I'm an intolerant old fart, but some of you guys put up with real bullshit. Like paying to have cans fitted that were sold with the bike! Stand up for yourselves, tell them you'll take it to disputes tribunal. They usually back down quickly.
Lou

[phil_elvey]

What is it about bike shops. Do you have to grab sales staff by the freekin' throats to get them out from behind the counter??

WORST BIKE SHOP AWARDS for the Wellington region:

1. Motomart. Out on its own the worst. If the retail staff haven't got a mate to yack to or a mag to read, they wander out the back. I'm tempted to wheel a Duc out the door and see if that gets anybody's attention. Crap location too. An unfriendly experience in all ways.
2. ANZA in Palmerston North. More interested in selling cars, I suspect. The guy behind the counter has his feet superglued to the floor. Its only redeeming feature is it's open on Sundays.
3. Wellington Motorcycles. "OK, so you haven't got it in stock. Any chance of ORDERING ONE IN??" Mrs H had to go to Palmerston North to get a test ride on a new Marauder coz WMC didn't want to get their's wet or something. Offered her a ride on a very used Honda 750 Shadow though...
4. Phil Turnbull in Palmerston North. Although Mrs H got a test ride AND bought her new ride from PTMC she got SERIOUSLY dicked around after riding up from Wellington for her bike's first service. Sawyers/Motorad have now got this job...

First three - dead on.
Last one (PTMC) - Can't agree. I've test rode a bike from Phil and found him to be very helpful. He even rung me the next week to see how I was going even though I tested probably the lowest value roadbike in his shop.

On the contrary, I have started dealing with AFC motorcycles in Palmy. They have been extremely friendly and personal in dealing with me. When I went in there enquiring about leathers on 5pm on a Monday, the salesman Brian went the extra mile to try and find something I would be happy with. They have found themselves a permanent customer with me.

[MrMelon]

Last night the nut holding my front sprocket on fell off, and so my front sprocket slid across and was just spinning on the output shaft.

I was just charged an hours labour + $20 for parts for what should have been a 10 minute job max.
This is after I told them that if they could get me the right nut for it I'd do it myself because I can't fucking afford $95 for a simple job to replace a tiny little nut!

Last time I took the bike there they charged me $110 to replace a snapped clutch cable too..

That just pisses me right off.

The nut holding the front sprocket on shouldn't be able to come off anyway, isn't there normally a split pin or something holding it on? I've only had it back from the last shop for a month too... grr.

EDIT: Well they gave me $20 off, so I'm not so pissed off now, but it's still kinda sucky.

[vifferman]

Hey, I know this is about the worst bike shops, but I don't want to slag off at any. Sure, you get bad service sometimes, and I've had some, but everyone has bad days, and there are some eedjits working in various places. I could say something about dealers who never seem to carry common items in stock and I almost always have to wait for it to be carrier-pigeoned from Japan, but I won't. I also won't say anything about the huge difference in parts prices between NZ and Australia. Maybe they get their parts from a different Honda or a different Japan.
Anyway, the places that pissed me off don't get any more of my money.

So instead, here's some

Motomail - I have no problems with their prices, and their customer service is great. I don't feel they're ripping me off, and I've had some great deals on gear, like those StylMartin Stradas.
MotoHaus - Kerry (usually) knows his stuff. But if you ever read this, Kerry, bike owners sometimes know more about their bikes than mechanics. When I say I've reversed the eccentric on my VFR's swingarm, and it loosens up backwards to usual, I'm not talking through my butt. Mebbe if you'd listened, I would've told you it was a 525 chain and you couldn't thread a 530 chain over the sprocket with it.
Holeshot - Always willing to let me test-ride summat, despite the fact I've only ever spent $100 there.
Mount BMW - great shop to visit (or it was every time I went there), and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable.

My biggest goes not to a shop, but a person - Jason at Streetstyles. I bought some braided brake lines from him, and despite *me* making a mistake, and no fault on his part, he was more than happy to give me my money back. Thanx for your great customer service, Jason. I'll have to shout you a beer some time.

[White trash]

Hey, I know this is about the worst bike shops, but I don't want to slag off at any. Sure, you get bad service sometimes, and I've had some, but everyone has bad days, and there are some eedjits working in various places. I could say something about dealers who never seem to carry common items in stock and I almost always have to wait for it to be carrier-pigeoned from Japan, but I won't. I also won't say anything about the huge difference in parts prices between NZ and Australia. Maybe they get their parts from a different Honda or a different Japan.
Anyway, the places that pissed me off don't get any more of my money.

So instead, here's some

Motomail - I have no problems with their prices, and their customer service is great. I don't feel they're ripping me off, and I've had some great deals on gear, like those StylMartin Stradas.
MotoHaus - Kerry (usually) knows his stuff. But if you ever read this, Kerry, bike owners sometimes know more about their bikes than mechanics. When I say I've reversed the eccentric on my VFR's swingarm, and it loosens up backwards to usual, I'm not talking through my butt. Mebbe if you'd listened, I would've told you it was a 525 chain and you couldn't thread a 530 chain over the sprocket with it.
Holeshot - Always willing to let me test-ride summat, despite the fact I've only ever spent $100 there.
Mount BMW - great shop to visit (or it was every time I went there), and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable.

My biggest goes not to a shop, but a person - Jason at Streetstyles. I bought some braided brake lines from him, and despite *me* making a mistake, and no fault on his part, he was more than happy to give me my money back. Thanx for your great customer service, Jason. I'll have to shout you a beer some time.

Exactly the idea. Don't bitch too bad about the bad (unless it's chronic!) as everybody has bad days.

Reward the good service you receive by writing a letter, telling people you know, that sort of thing.

Everytime I get my bike serviced and am looked after, I bring in a dizen for the guys at the shop. Guess what happens next time I'm in? It's well worth the $15 for beer.

I'm off for a