SPV Dunedin: Useless

[hayden123]

Just got my bike back from SPV Dunedin after THREE MONTHS. Can't really say it's going much better than it was when I took it in. After it had been there for a week they told me it needed new carby seals and they would have to be ordered in from Japan which would take about a month. A month later I call them and they tell me they couldn't actually get the seals as Kawasaki don't make them any more. They made no effort whatsoever to find some second hand ones or even to contact me. He told me that I should try some wreckers but if I can't get some then he doesn't know what to do with the bike. I look on ebay and there's 26 of them. Once the carby seals turn up I take them in and he says the bike's going ok but still not idling very well and needs some other seal replaced. This takes another two weeks to turn up from Kawasaki. I call them once this is sorted and they say it's STILL not idling properly but that I may as well come and pick it up. I get there at 3.30 on a Saturday but they close at 2. My fault of course but then my dad goes in there the following Saturday morning to pick it up and they've taken the fucking thing to bits again to mess with it after they said it was ready. So I wait yet another week and then my dad goes in again to get it. They ask if he has a trailer to take it incase it won't start. They inspect the fuel system and discover THERE IS STILL GUNK IN THE FUEL TANK. Wouldn't this be the first thing you would check? No wonder it won't idle well for fuck sake. He then tells my dad that he thinks this bike's a bit of a dud and that I should sell it and cut my losses. What a wanker.

Overall, I think the guys at this place don't really give a shit about old bikes. They have a Kawasaki dealership and this is undoubtedly where they make the majority of their money. I do not recommend taking any bike here to be serviced and I can't stress enough what a bunch of idiots these guys are.

[JimO]

you should have taken it to MCR mate

[hayden123]

Yeah I should really have asked around instead of assuming the Kawasaki agents would be the place to go. Not always the case it seems.

[Max Preload]

Which seals? I can only think of four in each carb that they'd even have and they're all available from any good seal supplier (i.e. not Saeco or your run-of-the-mill bearing shop but Seal Imports and Seal House).

[hayden123]

Sorry I shouldn't have said seals. I meant the carby boots, big rubber things. Hillariously, a nice man rear-ended it while it was parked the other day destroying the mudguard and breaking a mirror (as if it doesn't have bad luck enough heh) and the rear suspension now makes a slight graunching sound when it goes down. I'm gonna take it into MCR after Christmas. Thankfully it won't be my money paying for it this time round but it's annoying having it off the road again. I've owned it for months but only ridden it a few weeks.

[speights_bud]

you might like to empty the tank out of the bike and have a look inside with a torch, the GPX tanks of this era have a design fault where the water drain line (that runs from the petrol cap overflow through the tank and out the bottom) rusts out on the inside and the tanks slowly fill up with water when it rains as a pinhole starts partway down the tube. (Or leak fuel when it's filled up too far)

Try blocking one end of the line with your finger and blowing through it from the other end, you may even be able to hear the air leaking out the hole, i had 2 tanks on my GPX and Both had done the same thing. Temporary fix was to try feed another plastic line through it and seal at both ends.

You may also have a small (or large) amount of water at the bottom of your tank. (mine Definitely did)

If there is orangy Gunk coming out of the tank it's rusting from the inside out, go down to Repco and buy a BIG fuel filter for a car and put this in your line, it may look a bit bulky but it'll catch all the crap and have the capacity to still allow sufficient fuel flow for you.

and about the rear suspension, get the bike shop to check it all out thoroughly as the swingarm/linkages may be bent in which case they'll have to pay you out for a new back end

[hayden123]

Thanks for the advice. Took the tank off today and there is definitely a lot of rust in there. The fuel that came out had rusty crap all through it. I discovered what the cause of the graunching sound was - one muffler was rubbing against the arm thing that the back wheel's attached to (sorry I'm not a mechanic...) so the damage isn't as bad as I thought it might be. I'll still get them to check it over though.

[hayd3n]

Thanks for the advice. Took the tank off today and there is definitely a lot of rust in there. The fuel that came out had rusty crap all through it. I discovered what the cause of the graunching sound was - one muffler was rubbing against the arm thing that the back wheel's attached to (sorry I'm not a mechanic...) so the damage isn't as bad as I thought it might be. I'll still get them to check it over though.

swingarm
MCR will sort you out fast friendly reliable bunch and free coffee

[speights_bud]

Thanks for the advice. Took the tank off today and there is definitely a lot of rust in there. The fuel that came out had rusty crap all through it. I discovered what the cause of the graunching sound was - one muffler was rubbing against the arm thing that the back wheel's attached to (sorry I'm not a mechanic...) so the damage isn't as bad as I thought it might be. I'll still get them to check it over though.

Sweet dude, hopefully its just the Exhaust thats bent inwards and not a bent swingarm, but im sure the mechanics will sort that out for you good luck for getting things sorted ASAP

[ColonelSponz]

haha thats funny because my (and a mates) experiences of MCR and SPV seem to be the reverse of yours.

[hayden123]

Were you buying a new bike or getting one serviced? I think that their after-sales service may not be as terrible as their mechanical ability or effort. I really don't think the guy could be bothered messing round with my crappy old bike but he could have just said so so I could take it somewhere else. I mean he put hotter spark plugs (which I intend to replace in the next few days) in it as a quick fix so it would burn through the shit getting into it from the tank. He must be either extremely stupid or lazy. Take your pick.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

you should have taken it to MCR mate

They are just as bad... they haven't even ordered the part yet I asked to to do a week ago...

Man am I going to miss the service of Honda Otago

[ColonelSponz]

I was getting my CBR250 (an 89 so it aint no new thing either) fixed up so na wasn't any after sales service. Certainly wasn't a new bike either!

I guess companies can't please everyone and they will have their bad days and their 'don't go there' stories. The posts on this thread alone are evidence of that. YOu can't stand SPV cause they gave you terrible service while I'm the opposite, I think they are great because they didn't waste my time and money like Honda Otago and MCR.

[hayd3n]

have ya been in to advanced motorcycles??? waverly st near paknsave
great bunch honest and helpful

[hayden123]

Na I haven't but if I need anything else serviced or parts in etc I might try them. MCR were OK but they didn't do some pretty basic stuff like adjusting the pilot screws to get it idling better or replacing the vacuum hoses which were a bit perished, they just replaced some more seals. I took it to my dad's friend who's obsessed with bikes and he thinks that the carby diaphram is probably cracked hence the poor idling but adjusting the pilot screws got it idling smoothly at 2k (it should idle ~ 1.3k). One pilot screw was 4 turns out and the other was half a turn out when I got it back from MCR so it was pretty unbalanced. They should have been about 1.5 turns each.