Bad experience with a Triumph dealer
- Thread starter Phil68
- Start date
BinDerSmokDat
.040 Over
PC you have a PM.
Phil68
.040 Over
Update
Good news. I picked up my bike today. The shop said the battery had low cold crank amps so they replaced it(not under warranty). Triumph said to possibly change the oil to a thinner viscosity during the colder months to reduce friction and alleviate the hard starts on cold mornings.
The oil sweating from the head was easily solved by re torqueing the head bolts.
The dealer said they couldn't find any coolant leak. They did tighten all hose connections. By the time I rode the 20 miles home I was smelling the antifreeze again. The mechanic said that Triumph's don't like to have the coolant filled in the reservoir to the "full" mark and that they'll dump the coolant till the reservoir's at a level that's ok(We'll see).
All's well that ends well! I'm back on the road
Good news. I picked up my bike today. The shop said the battery had low cold crank amps so they replaced it(not under warranty). Triumph said to possibly change the oil to a thinner viscosity during the colder months to reduce friction and alleviate the hard starts on cold mornings.
The oil sweating from the head was easily solved by re torqueing the head bolts.
The dealer said they couldn't find any coolant leak. They did tighten all hose connections. By the time I rode the 20 miles home I was smelling the antifreeze again. The mechanic said that Triumph's don't like to have the coolant filled in the reservoir to the "full" mark and that they'll dump the coolant till the reservoir's at a level that's ok(We'll see).
All's well that ends well! I'm back on the road
Navigator
Living Legend
Re: NO
It is near Tacoma. I stopped by the other day. It is a small shop owned by a couple of retired military guys. I met one of the owners, a very nice guy. The other was not there but was a medical officer and apparently fairly senior.
But the best part was talking to the absolutely drop dead beautiful young lady in the MC leathers who was at the counter. A real stunner. She was Asian or part Asian, you know, the type who looks like she should be in a James Bond movie. Well, that was my impression.
mitchcpc said:
It is near Tacoma. I stopped by the other day. It is a small shop owned by a couple of retired military guys. I met one of the owners, a very nice guy. The other was not there but was a medical officer and apparently fairly senior.
But the best part was talking to the absolutely drop dead beautiful young lady in the MC leathers who was at the counter. A real stunner. She was Asian or part Asian, you know, the type who looks like she should be in a James Bond movie. Well, that was my impression.
Geek_Law
Supercharged
I'm just seeing this, but I'll share my thoughts regardless.
First of all, I'm glad you are back on the road. Mine is still in the shop, where it has been for about a month now.
I've been pretty happy with my dealer, Cascade Moto in Beaverton Oregon. They were a bit hesitant to do the warranty work on my bike because Triumph apparently has fixed fee pricing. So its $x to remove the water pump, and $y to swap the clutch springs, regardless of experience, equipment, service volume, and most importantly, without regard to the actual time it takes.
However, the dealer did spend some time discussing the issue with Triumph warranty who has assured them that they will be flexible with the amount they reimburse the dealer.
But basically, same concern, they didn't want to spend 100 hours and get paid for 20.
The fixed fees basically assume that a dealer is proficient with a particular task, which may not be the case. This isn't the customer's fault, and it's not triumph's fault, and it's not really the dealer's fault either. It's just sort of reality. For example, it took me 6.5 hours to remove and reinstall my clutch, but I'm sure a real mechanic could have done it in two.
Anyway, I agree with the above advice, whomever is experiencing this problem. Be nice, encourage them to talk to triumph warranty, and stay calm.
First of all, I'm glad you are back on the road. Mine is still in the shop, where it has been for about a month now.
I've been pretty happy with my dealer, Cascade Moto in Beaverton Oregon. They were a bit hesitant to do the warranty work on my bike because Triumph apparently has fixed fee pricing. So its $x to remove the water pump, and $y to swap the clutch springs, regardless of experience, equipment, service volume, and most importantly, without regard to the actual time it takes.
However, the dealer did spend some time discussing the issue with Triumph warranty who has assured them that they will be flexible with the amount they reimburse the dealer.
But basically, same concern, they didn't want to spend 100 hours and get paid for 20.
The fixed fees basically assume that a dealer is proficient with a particular task, which may not be the case. This isn't the customer's fault, and it's not triumph's fault, and it's not really the dealer's fault either. It's just sort of reality. For example, it took me 6.5 hours to remove and reinstall my clutch, but I'm sure a real mechanic could have done it in two.
Anyway, I agree with the above advice, whomever is experiencing this problem. Be nice, encourage them to talk to triumph warranty, and stay calm.
msitter@bellsouth.net
.020 Over
Warranty work
Flat rate labor is pretty much the norm for all motor vehicles. It is an imaginary time figure based on the input of a competent technician and the engineer who disputes that input for a particular repair. From what I have heard from auto techs, a good one can actually benefit from this system based on the mix of work available. It is the old sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield syndrome. One only hopes you are the windshield more often than not. On the matter of a franchised dealer not performing work on a product not sold by them but under his franchised manufacturer banner, I believe he is in direct violation of his franchise agreement and shoud be reported to the manufacturer. In addition, the Better Business Bureau, Angie's List and all three of the major R3 forums should be notified. If this happened on a consistent basis the problems would diminish because the bad dealers would go away or change. My bad experience is with Powersports of Greenville, SC includes the same not bought here, may not fix it here statement and being told that the recall on my R3 was not that important to do. That and the fact that they never have any Triumph parts has forced me to (1) find another dealer who is very attentive to all owners regardless of where the bike was purchased and has the needed parts and (2) never miss an opportunity to relay my bad experience with one and my good experience with the other. Myers Motorcycles of Asheville is great. I did not buy the bike from them but only went there for service. The informed me that my bike needed the dealer upgrade due to some noise they heard in the trans. They scheduled the job, obtained the parts and performed the work in less than 2 weeks and the bike now is perfect. Kudos to them and they will be getting all of my motorcycle purchases.
Flat rate labor is pretty much the norm for all motor vehicles. It is an imaginary time figure based on the input of a competent technician and the engineer who disputes that input for a particular repair. From what I have heard from auto techs, a good one can actually benefit from this system based on the mix of work available. It is the old sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield syndrome. One only hopes you are the windshield more often than not. On the matter of a franchised dealer not performing work on a product not sold by them but under his franchised manufacturer banner, I believe he is in direct violation of his franchise agreement and shoud be reported to the manufacturer. In addition, the Better Business Bureau, Angie's List and all three of the major R3 forums should be notified. If this happened on a consistent basis the problems would diminish because the bad dealers would go away or change. My bad experience is with Powersports of Greenville, SC includes the same not bought here, may not fix it here statement and being told that the recall on my R3 was not that important to do. That and the fact that they never have any Triumph parts has forced me to (1) find another dealer who is very attentive to all owners regardless of where the bike was purchased and has the needed parts and (2) never miss an opportunity to relay my bad experience with one and my good experience with the other. Myers Motorcycles of Asheville is great. I did not buy the bike from them but only went there for service. The informed me that my bike needed the dealer upgrade due to some noise they heard in the trans. They scheduled the job, obtained the parts and performed the work in less than 2 weeks and the bike now is perfect. Kudos to them and they will be getting all of my motorcycle purchases.
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