black marks for honda dealer

[Insanity_rules]

I got enough grief finding a good mechanic for my 18 year old Honda. Go TSS! The treated me like I was a human being who is prepared to spend money on his bike. 250's are at enough of a premium without a bike shop telling you your bikes too old.

Not to mention the great find of econohonda for hard to find parts (Thanks heaps Nude metals).

Owned this bike about a month and have spend about $450 so far on new tyres (good ones) Cam chains, recovered seat and am about to do a serious remodel on it and I know where I'll be spending my money!

[Ixion]

As a matter of interest , I searched Trademe for Hondas pre 1996. About 200 of them, dearest $18000 for a Goldwing.

All of which one would presume this Honda dealer (who we must assume is following the Honda official line) would say should be scrapped (not much other choice if you can't get them serviced).

Wonder if other marques have the same attitude. If not, seems a very good reason not to buy a Honda. I know Experience BMW will service 1970's BMWs. Must try Colemans on one of my Suzukis sometime, be an interesting test.

I think that the real test of a dealership is its service department. The salesmen will always grease up to you and promise you the earth, but its how the workshop treat customers that shows what the dealership really is like.

[Riff Raff]

I had the same problem with a bike shop in Hastings 12 years ago with my 1967 B120. They did a little bit of work on it, then told me it was too hard and to take it away and not bring it back. Found someone who knew what they were doing with old bikes and it was fixed in a very short time.

[SARGE]

Wonder if other marques have the same attitude. If not, seems a very good reason not to buy a Honda. I know Experience BMW will service 1970's BMWs. Must try Colemans on one of my Suzukis sometime, be an interesting test.

I think that the real test of a dealership is its service department. The salesmen will always grease up to you and promise you the earth, but its how the workshop treat customers that shows what the dealership really is like.

we work on older stuff all the time Ixion.. even Motat brings thier old cop bikes up to us.. ive seen several mid-80's bikes in there too.. the problem fixing the older stuff is parts availability.. figure 15 years old and not many manufacturers are still making replacemet bits for a 1966 AFRTG-175 .. if we take this job on and cant get bits.. of course we will tell you to come collect your bike.. even if its 4 months ex-japan for bits .. most shops dont have much long-term storage.. every day your bike sits in the corner is another day it could get damaged.. sometimes its just not worth the effort

[Motu]

I remember back in the '70's when a certain grubby bike mechanic working in a dingy cave refused to work on older bikes,saying they had too many problems and were a waste of his time.A lot of people were shocked with his hard line attiude.

He still opperates a successful motorcycle business in Auckland,I doubt if anyone has been in this game longer than him....did he do the right thing - I think so.Try it from this side of the fence,you lose money working on older vehicles,you lose customers working on older vehicles by being accused of overcharging for shoddy work.

[White trash]

The very BEST way to manage it was done for me by WMCC when I ressurected a CBR600 to get back into bikes. Every time, and I mean EVERY time they found something wrong they contacted me and explained what needed doing and how much it would cost to do, and what it might cost me on a personal level if I ignored it. Communication by both parties was respectful.

What a laugh. I'm assuming this is the same WMCC that if you roll up on a 30 year old Harley Davidson Sportster trying to get work done, for which they are the only Wellington genuine service agent, they'll tell you to fuck right off. They don't work on old heaps of shit.

[Swoop]

Sometimes the technology of an older bike is actually easier to work on. No computers, no gizmos and widgets that need computer analyzing...

Yes, older bikes have their problems, but a competent mechanic can work wonders!

[Motu]

But will the customer willingly pay for all the time and effort he puts in? That's where the problem lies.

[Paul in NZ]

This was a factor in me passing on the Africa Twin that was being sold through here. I wanted a modern, reliable bike and I could not find a local Honda dealer to baseline it before I rode it home. The fact they are rare here (not sold new here) cemented the deal as far as I was concerned, I don't have time for another hobby vehicle.

Thing is, if you run an aged vehicle you better learn to twirl spanners. One thing the Guzzi is good at is easy servicing. Even a moron like me can keep it running.. sort of.

[SARGE]

But will the customer willingly pay for all the time and effort he puts in? That's where the problem lies.

first words i usually hear are

" how much Discount?"

"i want it but i dont want to pay for it.."

well then you dont want it that bad do you ?

yes i do.. but i dont want to pay for it ...

do i LOOK like the Warehouse ???

This was a factor in me passing on the Africa Twin that was being sold through here. I wanted a modern, reliable bike and I could not find a local Honda dealer to baseline it before I rode it home. The fact they are rare here (not sold new here) cemented the deal as far as I was concerned, I don't have time for another hobby vehicle.

Thing is, if you run an aged vehicle you better learn to twirl spanners. One thing the Guzzi is good at is easy servicing. Even a moron like me can keep it running.. sort of.

you should look at the Vstrom Paul...

[White trash]

you should look at the Vstrom Paul...

He did. And promptly threw up all over the carpet. Took me days to get the smell out.

Got to admit, much as I love riding the Vstrom, it deffinitely aint Suzukis best effort in motorcycle design.

[SARGE]

He did. And promptly threw up all over the carpet. Took me days to get the smell out.

Got to admit, much as I love riding the Vstrom, it deffinitely aint Suzukis best effort in motorcycle design.

wazzamatta Trashy... couldnt get it to wheelie?

[Jantar]

I have never struck this attitude, and I have one of the rarest Japenese bikes in New Zealand, only 6700 ever made, only 1700 left in the world, and its now over 30 years old.

Howver I do recognise that it is now almost impossible to find a mechanic who has trained on the old RE5, so even if it is just a wof, I take the service manual with me. If parts are required then I source the parts before taking the bike into the shop, and if parts have to be made, I take the worn/broken part to the shopand let them choose the engineering workshop they will get to make the parts.

I also make it clear that when I take a bike to any mechanic for work to be done that I want a good job, not a cheap job. My life depends on the bike being in good working order so I only want original parts, or parts manufactured to a higher standard than original to be used.

[inlinefour]

friend of mine took his ageing 650 in to honda shop to have afew minor repairs done, sorry mate we dont work on any bikes over 10 yrs old'''.what sort of bullshite is this, fortunately for them he had left his 12 guage over at the gunsmiths; its 30plus yrs old, no discrimination there though, however as he was being shown the door, one of the staff slipped him a card,seems he felt bad about things and wanted to help, he is sorting out the problem privately with my mate, good on yer mate, you are a bloody legend. by the way this all happened in auckland, must be hell and death on the nails darlings. think ill stay a country hick.

maybe they did not want your friends custom for whatever reason? The local dealer here has told me that they will work on any of my bikes, no matter what the age, or manufacturer...
Or maybe the bike was a total basketcase? I've restored a few bikes that when I would have never considered taking into a shop. However once all they donkey work was done, they was more than happy to tune em up for me. I think this thread needs to be put into perspective. I'm sure any of the other dealers would not want a shitbox to work on (irrelevant of make) as they all appear to be busy in the naki...

[Ixion]

we work on older stuff all the time Ixion.. even Motat brings thier old cop bikes up to us.. ive seen several mid-80's bikes in there too.. the problem fixing the older stuff is parts availability.. figure 15 years old and not many manufacturers are still making replacemet bits for a 1966 AFRTG-175 .. if we take this job on and cant get bits.. of course we will tell you to come collect your bike.. even if its 4 months ex-japan for bits .. most shops dont have much long-term storage.. every day your bike sits in the corner is another day it could get damaged.. sometimes its just not worth the effort

That's fair enough. With the old bikes , if I was getting it done outside, I'd source and obtain whatever was likely to be needed , and take it in with the bike.

And I wish workshops would say "come and collect it, cos the widget is 4 months away". Often , even though the widget needs replacing, the vehicle can still be used in the meantime. Nothing worse than a vehicle sitting in a workshop waiting and waiting for parts. Sometimes, it relaly can't be helped. Often it could be put back on the road in the interim.