Oil mess.

[Sierra1]

I, and apparently you, am/are lucky to have a good dealership. Sometimes a person doesn't have a choice. Ironically, 40 years ago, the local Honda dealer's attitude toward a 16 year old kid soured me on the brand. 15 years ago....another Honda shop....failed to torque the lug bolts on the RT after a tire install....and then told me that it was MY responsibility check the bolts. I've been with my current shop ever since; don't know why it took me so long to get here.

 

[RonH]

Do you have personal experience with botched work from dealerships Ron? I blame the customer for choosing poor dealerships to perform work on their bikes. With careful research and communication skills it's not hard at all to find highly qualified mechanics. I always ask questions and meet the guys/gals working on my bikes. It's pretty simple to filter out incompetence. I'm fortunate to have long standing relationships with really good mechanics.

I had my first service done at the shop I bought my Super Tenere from. I would have done it myself but the heavy discount was well worth it on a bike I'm not familiar with. Since it was the first time using this dealership, I stayed there until the work was complete. There is a window you can watch them doing the work. Very transparent. The young man went above and beyond what was required. He did everything noted for the 600 mile service and came out explaining some stuff I needed to do after every ride. He actually readjusted my clutch and told me to give it one full day of riding in stop and go before adjusting it back the way I liked it. I'll be damned if his adjustment was way better than mine!!

Point is that you have to communicate before and after bring any bike in for repair. Mistakes happen, but it's almost always customer induced.

I can honestly say in 50yrs of riding, and 43yrs since I first started driving, in all that time I can't recall one single time I took a motorcycle or car or truck in for any service that there was not something incorrectly done. It may be simple things, hoses routed wrong ect, that don't really pose a big problem, or it may be things scratched up, or it may be performance problems, or bolts left loose, things bolted up backwards and so on. I have pretty much done my own work even when I was 13yrs old, so rarely have I gone in for service unless warranty, but oh my gosh I can sit here and write a whole book on all the botched work I've seen. Took a car in for recall once, and the morons started it on fire and I had to drive 6 months with half the interior burned while they tried to secure parts. Just one story out of 25 or more.

 

[blitz11]

I can honestly say in 50yrs of riding, and 43yrs since I first started driving, in all that time I can't recall one single time I took a motorcycle or car or truck in for any service that there was not something incorrectly done. It may be simple things, hoses routed wrong ect, that don't really pose a big problem, or it may be things scratched up, or it may be performance problems, or bolts left loose, things bolted up backwards and so on. I have pretty much done my own work even when I was 13yrs old, so rarely have I gone in for service unless warranty, but oh my gosh I can sit here and write a whole book on all the botched work I've seen. Took a car in for recall once, and the morons started it on fire and I had to drive 6 months with half the interior burned while they tried to secure parts. Just one story out of 25 or more.

AMEN!!

I started early, working on cars with my dad at age 5. I worked in a motorcycle shop in high school/college as a mechanic. We had so sign our name on every procedure and the final service form. IF there was a problem, there was no skirting the issue. If you f'd up, you owned it (and caught hell from your coworkers / boss).

Nothing like signing your name that you did it right. If I did make a mistake (we had a batch of Kawasaki points which had soft plastic on the cam follower - when they heated, they'd soften, and retard the timing), I would meet with the customer and explain what happened, and if it was my fault, i owned up. I actually received a tip once from a customer who had the bad Kawasaki points - he learned what ignition timing meant, and how that system worked.)

I learned more in those four years working on motorcycles about life/engineering than i did in 12 years of college and three engineering degrees.
I try to let no one work on my stuff. I am even having a hard time letting the Toyota dealer change my oil with Toyota care. I have 5K miles to think about it.

 

[Sierra1]

My current Jeep had a bent axle. After the axle was replaced, and I was driving home....the brake caliper bolts backed out, and fell off, which destroyed the wheel. All I could think of was comedian Ron White talking about the guy that missed "lug nut day".

 

[ballisticexchris]

I can honestly say in 50yrs of riding, and 43yrs since I first started driving, in all that time I can't recall one single time I took a motorcycle or car or truck in for any service that there was not something incorrectly done. It may be simple things, hoses routed wrong ect, that don't really pose a big problem, or it may be things scratched up, or it may be performance problems, or bolts left loose, things bolted up backwards and so on. I have pretty much done my own work even when I was 13yrs old, so rarely have I gone in for service unless warranty, but oh my gosh I can sit here and write a whole book on all the botched work I've seen. Took a car in for recall once, and the morons started it on fire and I had to drive 6 months with half the interior burned while they tried to secure parts. Just one story out of 25 or more.

AMEN!!

I started early, working on cars with my dad at age 5. I worked in a motorcycle shop in high school/college as a mechanic. We had so sign our name on every procedure and the final service form. IF there was a problem, there was no skirting the issue. If you f'd up, you owned it (and caught hell from your coworkers / boss).

Nothing like signing your name that you did it right. If I did make a mistake (we had a batch of Kawasaki points which had soft plastic on the cam follower - when they heated, they'd soften, and retard the timing), I would meet with the customer and explain what happened, and if it was my fault, i owned up. I actually received a tip once from a customer who had the bad Kawasaki points - he learned what ignition timing meant, and how that system worked.)

I learned more in those four years working on motorcycles about life/engineering than i did in 12 years of college and three engineering degrees.
I try to let no one work on my stuff. I am even having a hard time letting the Toyota dealer change my oil with Toyota care. I have 5K miles to think about it.

I too am very capable of doing most of my own work. OTOH, I cannot recall one time that a qualified mechanic that I chose botched up anything. I'm very fortunate to have good communication skills and being able to sniff out someone who will not do work to my standards. Also having a good circle of riding buddies I've known over the years helps. They always know what shops are capable to work on their bikes.

I'm at an age now that I'm letting someone else do work on my vehicles. Easy stuff like oil changes, spark plugs, top ends, valve adjustments, etc, I'll do myself if I have the time. If I don't have the time I have no issues at all letting a qualified shop perform the work.

I don't have 12 years of college or three engineering degrees. Yet I continue to learn about life, working on vehicles, and engineering all the time to this day.

 

[Tenman]

Some of us have a long drive for dealership work. I gave up on the only local dealer here 25 yrs ago. Now I have 2 100 mile drive options. The dealers I've been to. You never get to see a mechanic and you can't even get a peak in the shop. The service desk takes care of you. I know a service manager at the Ford dealership that acts like a know it all mechanic. The veteran mechanic their said he actually don't know sh-t.

 

[RonH]

Some seem to have good luck generally, some don't. I'm firmly in the don't. Could be I'm overly tainted by prior experiences. If I do get something done by others, I right away go home and check every single bolt/nut/hose/clip/ect for proper install. Kind of dumb probably, as most the time most things are fine, but for me most things is not enough. I see so many cars and trucks lose a wheel and sitting there on the road on 3 wheels. I don't want things falling off so go overload probably on rechecking things.
I wonder though, are most cars you see that lose a wheel all the lugnuts fell off, or maybe broken axle? I believe more often all lugnuts fell off, but hope I'm wrong. I still check and recheck all work I didn't do myself.

 

[1Steve]

Ok, 1st, I don't usually go to a dealer for service often. I do usually let them do my 1st service after purchase. I have never had a problem. This dealer has been good to me over the years and like I said, never had a problem, even though they haven't done alot to my bikes personally they do have a sound reputation. I will always check the cap from now on. Never had this happen before.

 

[jeckyll]

The thing I've found is that it is down to the individual mechanic doing the work.

Sure, the dealership sets standards ans expectations for their employees, but it eventually comes down to a single individual.

 

[RonH]

The problem is they are on commission and try to work fast to make more money. May not be all the mechanic fault, I'm sure most dealers would rather have a mechanic that does 10hr work in 6hr, but leaves bolts off, stripped, things hooked up wrong, than a mechanic that takes 10hrs. More money, and probably most riders don't notice cables routed wrong ect. I notice, and won't let the dimwits even check tire pressure. If they do, I recheck when I get home, so they really serve no purpose since you have to redo or at least recheck everything they touched.

 

[Tenman]

The problem is they are on commission and try to work fast to make more money. May not be all the mechanic fault, I'm sure most dealers would rather have a mechanic that does 10hr work in 6hr, but leaves bolts off, stripped, things hooked up wrong, than a mechanic that takes 10hrs. More money, and probably most riders don't notice cables routed wrong ect. I notice, and won't let the dimwits even check tire pressure. If they do, I recheck when I get home, so they really serve no purpose since you have to redo or at least recheck everything they touched.

I took a zrx1200 to an independent mechanic. He was training his 15 yr old son. He would let him button things up. Loose oil plug fell out of my bike and almost caused a crash. A multi brand dealership I went to let teenagers assemble new bikes. Same deal. Half the things were not tight or possibly stripped. I was checking out a new S10 there. First thing. The salesman new zero. I checked a few things like the handlebar controls. Shit was loose.