WORST bike shops

[Jackrat]

What utter shit! I can not believe someone would actually put enough stock into such a statement as to post it on a public forum!

Dope growers are amongst the most stupid, lying arseholes on the plannet. Anybody who actually believes it ranks right along side them.

And this from a fellow Gixxer rider. I'm stunned!

I fully agree with your opinion of dope growers and the swap for a bag of pot sounds a bit far fetched but a lot of HDs have gone out the door at AMPS in Auckland after being payed for in cash by unemployed types from Murapara and northland.A lot of the same bikes are now impounded by the law,while the owners that have been busted for growing try to exsplain were they got that kind of cash on the dole.The law is holding quite a few of the Tribesmens bikes right now for this reason.Even the gun shop I go to in penrose tell storys about young guys trying to buy guns an ammo with piles of twentys that reek of weed.
Bags of weed,maybe not but drug money definately.

[matthewt]

PM me with a price list and I like your style

I think if you grabbed one of the garbage bags from the back of the shop you might get a few more people on the ride this Monday :sly:

[moko]

I dont know if it`s the place the other guys mentioned but I was in the shop in Hamilton that sells Buells while on holiday taking a look with a mate.Salesman came up and we told him we were just taking a look.Brilliant bloke,knew we weren`t going to spend any money but must have spent 15 minutes showing us the bike`s he had,answering questions,even went into the office and hunted down a magazine to show me the Tuono,which was new out then.
There`s a big dealer down the road from me that employs probably the world`s worse salesman,I actually had an argument with him over whether CB500`s were water-cooled or not.More recently he tried selling a mate of mine a 600 hornet"cheap because no-one likes black bikes,so it`s got a big discount".Well yes it was Black but it was also the only one they had left of the older model,smaller tank e.t.c. only that little detail didnt get mentioned,just wish I`d actually been there with him instead of meeting him on the road on his way out.Same outfit sold a GSXR600 with a Yoshi exhaust then failed it on it`s M.O.T.(same as WOF)the next year for having an illegal exhaust AND they denied selling it with it on.Best bit is i trashed them on a U.k. BB only to find that one of their mechanics used it,got kind of heated.

[laRIKin]

Quoted:
- Good call Mate -- thats SWEET justice; some Dickheads forget that us (formally) young bikers grow up, as do our disposalable incomes but memories of crap service and dishonesty stick around!!

NEVER a true a word spoken.
Pay backs can be a bitch.

Fool me once shame on you
Fool me twice .........

[Skunk]

Boyles have always treated me well, the guys are really good, know there stuff and dont do the hard sell every time I walk in there. Arent the 2 shops (sawyers and motorad?) owned by the same guy?

I brought a bike in Sydney (Kawasaki Territory) and Boyles organised the shipping, getting the parts list and workshop service manuals for it. They've serviced it ever since. I got it there because Motorad weren't interested without cash up front.

Yes, Brendan owns Motorad and Sawyers, Sawyers first then Motorad when Peter got into 'some troubles' with BMW over money, like so many dealers did...

[Cleve]

No comment on WORST bike shops. However a plug for Spectrum Motorcycles just off Barry's Point Rd in Takapuna Auckland. Run and owned by a mechanic. So NO sales bullshit just the real word.
Cleve

[sedge]

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.

So... you're whining that a bike shop came out after hours on a Friday, picked up your bike from where it was stranded at the side of the road and fixed it for you ?.

Come on, it's just that you've had a bad run of things falling off your bike since you got it, I for one have always had awesome service from Boyles, that's why I keep going back. I'd be surprised if you got anything more than muffled laughter down the phone from any other shop in town.

Sedge. (yes, you know me, I ride the green whale )

[sels1]

Had the same trouble at Motomart....been there 4 times, only got spoken to once,when the shop was empty and the sales guy had no mates to talk to.
WMC people seem little better

[vifferman]

No comment on WORST bike shops. However a plug for Spectrum Motorcycles just off Barry's Point Rd in Takapuna Auckland. Run and owned by a mechanic. So NO sales bullshit just the real word.
Cleve

While I would agree with this in part (Brent does do some very good work, and seems to know his stuff), they are not without their faults too, and I don't intend to go back there. Every time my bike was worked on, it came back dirty and with fasteners missing. This may sound petty, but have you ever priced Honda fairing fasteners? Also, the wrong decals were fitted after a smash repair, and Spectrum refused to fix this. If the insurance company hadn't paid to have it rectified, I would have had to pay for it, and it wasn't MY fault - I didn't order the wrong ones. Would you put up with different coloured decals on each side of the bike? If you were responsible for ordering and fitting them, and there was a mistake, would you just pretend nothing had happened, or tell the customer and offer to sort it?
Anyway - this is in the past. If I had a tricky fault on my VTR, I'd think about taking it to Brent, as he has a good reputation for working on these. (Even though he more or less told me I shouldn't buy one, and should think about giving up bikes altogether...)

With all these complaints about bike shops, whatever happened to "the customer is always right"? Do these guys forget that their livelihood depends upon the goodwill of their customers? The arrogance some of them display suggests that they think that if we choose to use them, then they are honouring us with their service, or lack of it.

[Grumpy]

This is not my worst experience with a shop but definately my best.

My wife has just bought a bike from Hewitts in Dannivirke. She knew what she wanted but was still a little hesitant since she had never ridden one.

We went down and talked a deal, which was excellent, then when she was 95% sure she was going to deal we rang him up. He said come on down and he'll get it ready to go and she can take it for a ride before she decides.

I've bought alot of bikes through the years and never had a bad experience and thought that I'd been treated pretty well but they all pale in comparision to this deal.

Oh year, she decided to buy it. Well done Hewitts.

[Zed]

While I would agree with this in part (Brent does do some very good work, and seems to know his stuff), they are not without their faults too, and I don't intend to go back there. Every time my bike was worked on, it came back dirty and with fasteners missing. This may sound petty, but have you ever priced Honda fairing fasteners? Also, the wrong decals were fitted after a smash repair, and Spectrum refused to fix this. If the insurance company hadn't paid to have it rectified, I would have had to pay for it, and it wasn't MY fault - I didn't order the wrong ones. Would you put up with different coloured decals on each side of the bike? If you were responsible for ordering and fitting them, and there was a mistake, would you just pretend nothing had happened, or tell the customer and offer to sort it?
Anyway - this is in the past. If I had a tricky fault on my VTR, I'd think about taking it to Brent, as he has a good reputation for working on these. (Even though he more or less told me I shouldn't buy one, and should think about giving up bikes altogether...)

My bike is currently at Spectrum going thru an insurance repair. I went in and spoke with Brent yesterday for about 30mins and he seemed very competent. I'll be sure to double check the bike for any loose parts on completion before I ride it away. :sneaky2:

I'm also curious firestormer, why on earth did he suggest to you to give up bikes altogether??


Zed

[wkid_one]

My bike is currently at Spectrum going thru an insurance repair. I went in and spoke with Brent yesterday for about 30mins and he seemed very competent. I'll be sure to double check the bike for any loose parts on completion before I ride it away. :sneaky2:

I'm also curious firestormer, why on earth did he suggest to you to give up bikes altogether??


Zed

Zed, Brent fixed my VTR when I had my off. Did a fantastic job (they get the paint done through Reflections as well).

Best thing was, given I had purchased a new screen - he offset this against the excess cost over the OEM Screen saving me about $500, and let me select the pipes etc.

Highly recommend him, your bike is in good hands

D

[Zed]

Zed, Brent fixed my VTR when I had my off. Did a fantastic job (they get the paint done through Reflections as well).

Best thing was, given I had purchased a new screen - he offset this against the excess cost over the OEM Screen saving me about $500, and let me select the pipes etc.

Highly recommend him, your bike is in good hands

D

Agreed, and Brent told me that because my bike is in new condition with so few kms he pushed the insurance company to renew (not repair) most damaged parts!

[shadowman2]

In dealing with motormart for hard luggage for my bike I have found their prices very good and service excellent,I must have got them on a good day,but in dealing with bike shops in wellington i found honda in town excellent service but whats the deal with the parking all their bike parks are taken up with the shops bikes and the footpath therefore no parking for the customers.Is there any other bike shops like this,that is more important to display their bikes in the parks than to allow their customers to use the parks instead.

[moko]

Not a bike dealer I know but I arrived at Te Waipounamou Bike Hire in Takapuna stright off the plane after nearly 2 days travelling to find the XT600 I`d hired wasn`t ready.They`d already got a 650 BMW prepped for me at no extra charge,only trouble was that it didnt have rear footpegs and I wanted to carry a pillion.Darren there told me to grab a beer from the fridge and take in the sun while he got something sorted,came back 5 minutes later and told me he`d phoned the boss in Christchurch and they were giving me an R1100GS BMW for my 3 week hire,same price as for the XT.Brilliant,I`d only really wanted a runabout but took full advantage of having the big Beemer and turned my trip into a far more bike-oriented one than I`d planned and saw loads more of N.Z. than I would have otherwise,top blokes.