Brand new bike - catastrophic engine failure

[Beau 88]

Honda will pay there shop rate for the warranty repair. Sounds like the dealership is trying to do what's best and get him a new bike.

Dealer wants honda to replace the bike and send back the old bike because if the dealer does an engine rebuild they only get warranty work paid which is nothing .  ? It's not worth the dealers time to do the rebuild especially if it's a big dealer that loses that time to 85 bucks an hr. taking paying customers money. 

[ozglenn]

I say Honda fixing it is fine, we all ride around in rebuilt bikes and they work fine.

Just a word of advice, when you buy a brand new bike, IMMEDIATLEY

drain their oil, put yours in correctly,

set tire pressure,

Bleed brakes

Tighten spokes

Use brake clean on rotors

Grease all bearings (more important on mx bikes)

These should all be done before the first ride, and if i bought a new bike they'd be done before i even putted around my yard

Very good advice here..but,alot of people end up buying their first ever dirtbike at a dealership and don't know that dirtbikes come with pisspoor  pre delivery,you have every right to expect your brand new bike to be able to be ridden straight off the showroom floor,it can be very dangerous for people not in the know,they could at least pull people aside and mention that they really need to do this and that to get the best from the bike

[gimped up]

Just a word of advice, when you buy a brand new bike, IMMEDIATLEY

drain their oil, put yours in correctly,

set tire pressure,

Bleed brakes

Tighten spokes

Use brake clean on rotors

Grease all bearings (more important on mx bikes)

Lmbo, something to ponder!

Sad isn't it?

You pay all that money,

for a brand new bike,

you deconstruct and lube, then reconstruct to be able to ride. But you still payed for dealer prep!

Would you feel as good about a brand new car,

if you had to do all this?

I understand on a used bike.

But for a new bike at $8000.00 + or - ,

Its sad!

Its like selling pizzas then making the buyer make their own with your ingredients!

[Beau 88]

Lmbo, something to ponder!

Sad isn't it?

You pay all that money,

for a brand new bike,

you deconstruct and lube, then reconstruct to be able to ride. But you still payed for dealer prep!

Would you feel as good about a brand new car,

if you had to do all this?

I understand on a used bike.

But for a new bike at $8000.00 + or - ,

Its sad!

Its like selling pizzas then making the buyer make their own with your ingredient

I assembled a lot of bikes at our dealership we had a checklist of stuff to be done after uncrating , if you went by that checklist of what they wanted you to do in the 1.5 hrs. they give you to do it in , you would miss half the crap that wasn't done at the factory. After about a week of going by " the so called book " i never used that checklist . Every bike was different and i would usually end up screwing myself because the time you spent over the 1.5 hrs. you just didn't get paid. 90% of bikes come on a wooden skid bolted to a metal frame box. No bars, controls , gas,oil, front wheel , battery was dry ( you have to add electrolyte and charge 4-6 hrs. to be correct ) ect,ect. It usually took me half an hour to get the forklift and get the bike off the shelf and uncrate it , then try to lug a goldwing out of a crate with no front wheel without scratching it  ? . Then have to finish assembly , i'd always unbox the battery first and get it started . By the time you got it assembled and filled with gas and oil your 1.5 was up. Then you have to take them outside to wash them because they are shipped with cosmoline all over them with wood shavings stuck in it, roll it back in to dry them off to find a lot of bolts missing or loose bolts and nuts, chain is tight as a drum , tail lights won't work so you get to pull the seat to plug them in. Salesman coming back in the shop every 8 minutes asking if you're done yet because a customer wants to look at that bike never mind the 6 other ones on the showroom floor just like it . We had a small dealership with only 3 of us in the shop and no dedicated pre-delivery guy so we took turns with new bikes and seadoos . Moral of the story i guess is don't hate on your pre-delivery guy he's just trying to do a job in the time allotted with a big boss breathing down his back too, it's not fair to customers whatsoever but that's how it is and this doesn't just pertain to motorcycles either. Best thing to do is remember the old adage about  ( assume ) and if you want it done right do it yourself. Check yo' shit people ! ?

[zotis777]

Lmbo, something to ponder!

Sad isn't it?

You pay all that money,

for a brand new bike,

you deconstruct and lube, then reconstruct to be able to ride. But you still payed for dealer prep!

Would you feel as good about a brand new car,

if you had to do all this?

I understand on a used bike.

But for a new bike at $8000.00 + or - ,

Its sad!

Its like selling pizzas then making the buyer make their own with your ingredients!

It sucks huh, there's a reason for it. If rather skip dealer prep, I'll pay them and let them do it that doesn't bother me. But i work on all my own bikes and it would be completely gone over by me even if they did everything perfect

[BDubb106]

I am another who checks everything and does all my own labor but at the same time I like to help out the dealers as well because without customers they shut doors and bikes become harder to find. Not everyone is crooked. Some dealers actually care about the customer but there is only so much they can do. Not all service techs are master mechanics and not all salesmen know everything about every bike, infact most of them only know what they read in brochures and magazines. It is up to us as the customer to know what we want and what we are getting.

 

I am supported by a dealership, they save me a ton of money on parts, gear, etc. and I buy all of my bikes from them. They would service my bikes as well as part of the deal but I would rather do it myself. Picked up my RMZ and it was in pretty good condition but as soon as I unscrewed the gas cap I knew that the gas had been sitting in the bike for the 2 years that it had been sitting in the garage behind the shop. The sales guy wanted to "show me the correct way to start the bike" but I declined that he start it until I could get it home to inspect it for myself which is when I discovered the nasty fuel. Point being, they hook me up and do their best to give every customer a bike that is ready to go but that doesn't mean things aren't overlooked. 

 

I took my R1 to them for an oil change, plugs and new tires, chan, and sprockets, just a typical yearly service because as I said before I like to help them out for helping me out. It's an oil change and simple maintenance items... what could go wrong? One of my buddies (who works for said shop) got side tracked while working on another bike because they often have more than one project going on at once. Well the wife drops me off to pick up the bike and they didn't have it all the way back together so they drop what they are doing and put it back together for me. About 15-20 mins later I am following her home with plans of heading out to bike night at one of the local restaurants.  I noticed my clutch felt like it had a TON of drag and I noticed that the engine was getting hotter than usual per the gauge so I call them on the phone and they come pick me up. I head back to the service department and sure enough there was not near enough oil in the bike  . It only had about 1/3 of the oil that should have been in there. Honest mistake, and luckily it was enough to protect the motor in the 2 or 3 mins that the bike was running. If the clutch had not been acting up there is no doubt that I would have locked up that motor.

 

Moral of the story, it is good to double check the work (esp things that are as easy to check as oil, tire pressures and fuel) and I 100% do but there is only so much I can do in the dealer parking lot with no tools. I still take the bikes to them for tire changes and things but I do all disassembly and assembly myself and anything motor related gets done by me. I am/was not upset at the dealer because it was an honest mistake and they made it right (I am confident they would have if there was any damage as well) but I don't trust anyones work except my own for the simple fact that I know it is done to my liking if I do it myself. Support them and they will treat you right but don't trust them to get everything perfect every time. I've learned my lesson. 

Edited June 6, 2014 by BDubb106

[Still Bill]

Get them to install a new factory engine and let you keep the old one for parts?

[xcbuckeyeguy]

Dealer wants honda to replace the bike and send back the old bike because if the dealer does an engine rebuild they only get warranty work paid which is nothing . ? It's not worth the dealers time to do the rebuild especially if it's a big dealer that loses that time to 85 bucks an hr. taking paying customers money.

My brother is a tech for a local dealer. Warranty work pays the same shop rate as any other service they perform. So why wouldn't it be worth there time? They sell and service Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki, Gas Gas, Husky and Kawasaki. They do not sell Honda, that might be the difference.

They don't try to weasel there way out of warranty repair. The corporation gets the bill instead of the customer. The corporation is guaranteed to pay. They won't give them the " I didn't know it would cost so much. I can't pay that right now" that customers give from time to time.

Edited June 6, 2014 by xcbuckeyeguy

[moose_338]

1. This is the kawi 2 stroke section.

2. Count your blessings Honda is trying to make this right by fixing the bike for you, they could leave you hanging. Keep refusing repair and Honda may get fed up and you'll be stuck with a broken bike and an even sadder story.

 

Things like this happen could be a bad casting in the oil passages or a bad oil jet, or even something by chance got into the engine while it was being assembled. be glad Honda is trying to fix this for you. You agreed to the warranty that Honda gave you with purchase of the bike and it is up to Honda's discretion in what way they decided to fix the bike.

 

Get over it.

Edited June 8, 2014 by moose_338

[BDubb106]

Why in the hell would a mod move this thread to the Kawi 2 stroke forum? This site gets worse every day.

Edited June 8, 2014 by BDubb106

[nomybrother]

I posted this in the general discussion section but it was later moved - not sure on why - guess because I mentioned my KDX?

[don46]

At a minimum I would go for a new complete motor. In 1993 I bought a new KX 500, it boiled every time I rode it, I checked the water pump to make sure it was turning as well as anything else I could think of, after much dilema I found the problem, when the case was cast the csasting plugged the water pump discharge so no water was going to the cylinder. Kawasaki wanted to rebuild the motor, I refused and told them they could install a new motor but I felt like ther were going to be issues down the road due to the excessive heat introduced to the motor, in the end they gave me a new bike, rebuilt my old one and sold it as used.

[shrubitup]

At a minimum I would go for a new complete motor. In 1993 I bought a new KX 500, it boiled every time I rode it, I checked the water pump to make sure it was turning as well as anything else I could think of, after much dilema I found the problem, when the case was cast the csasting plugged the water pump discharge so no water was going to the cylinder. Kawasaki wanted to rebuild the motor, I refused and told them they could install a new motor but I felt like ther were going to be issues down the road due to the excessive heat introduced to the motor, in the end they gave me a new bike, rebuilt my old one and sold it as used.

Wahoo!

 

Now we're talking Kawasaki two stroke!

[chris12901]

you have to break in your bike's engine! I can't believe no one is mentioning this. You can't just ride a bike off the show room floor! Google breaking in a bike or search on here and it will explain how....

[gimped up]

you have to break in your bike's engine! I can't believe no one is mentioning this. You can't just ride a bike off the show room floor! Google breaking in a bike or search on here and it will explain how....

He did! Its broken in, out, upside down!

Lmbo

So what did Kawasaki say?

[shrubitup]

So what did Kawasaki say?

Let the good times roll

[adam728]

My brother is a tech for a local dealer. Warranty work pays the same shop rate as any other service they perform. So why wouldn't it be worth there time? They sell and service Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki, Gas Gas, Husky and Kawasaki. They do not sell Honda, that might be the difference.

.

 

I worked at a Honda dealer. Honda definitely pays for warranty work. 

 

Both dealers I worked at loved warranty work. You always got paid. Same couldn't be said for many customer jobs. 

[JTRacing1967]

Maybe I missied it....how did this end?  New motor, new bike, rebuild? 

[gimped up]

Let the good times roll

I thought it was funny the bike in question was a crf230.

But thread got moved to kawi 2stroke.

Lol

[BushPig]

I thought it was funny the bike in question was a crf230.

But thread got moved to kawi 2stroke.

Lol

Never mind.

Edited October 21, 2014 by BushPig