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How bad is the service department at your dealer?


SouthernSpeed

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SouthernSpeed

 
 So i have always been scared of what yahoo is in the back turning wrenches at the dealer where they are usually under trained and under paid.  And after looking closely at my bike tonight i found the following things.   One of the bolts that holds down the rider seat is missing (prob from when the battery was installed at time of set up at the dealer, no big deal get them to order one.  The tool kit was missing, and wanted to adjust the shock, no big deal get them to order one.  Then i noticed the 12mm lock nut for the chain adjustment bolt is missing on one side, not good.  so i checked and after the first service where "they adjusted my chain" (it still needs to be tightened to proper spec.)  I noticed the rear tire was not lined up evenly on each side where the chain adjustments are made with the marks on the swing arm. This made me a little upset and i had to drive and get a darn 27mm deep socket so I can adjust this chain and rear wheel properly and evenly myself. So anyway keep an eye out for screwy dealership work.   Oh yea after i called them to order these parts i tired to get them to just give me the parts for the battery cable recall so i could just install it my self , but they said that the dealer had to install it for warranty reasons, so who knows what else they can mess up.  end rant.
 

The torque on this thing is pretty addictive....

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hippiebikerchick

Not getting a warm fuzzy feeling reading of your experience. Since these bikes are under warranty and the work was done by an "authorized dealer" I would hope any problems they cause will be corrected at their expense.  :-/ 

Illegitimi non carborundum

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This is a bummer to hear. Being a mechanic, I understand the whole "flat rate" thing and trying to get things done quicker to move on to the next thing. However, that doesn't mean skipping corners. I'm coming up on my 600 mile mark and have, i believe, 3 yamaha service centers around. I'm trying to figure out which one would be the most competent. And also, I'm going to make an effort to get buddy buddy with the tech and try to observe the process while he performs the first service. Will definitely provide info after this happens.
 
Anybody know about the quality of service technicians in So.Cal?

'15 FZ-07
'93 Honda XR650L (supermoto/pig) (SOLD)

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The service is spotty at my dealer but what really galls me is that you can't even [strong][em]see[/em][/strong] the shop where the motorcycle mechanics are supposedly working on your bike. When you bring your motorcycle in for service, they get some employee to ride your bike around to the back of the building where "employees only" are allowed. Makes you wonder what they're hiding, no?
Customers simply wouldn't stand for it if they did that at the local garage where you have your car serviced, or the maintenance hangar at the airport where you have your expensive airplane fixed.
 
 
 
 
     

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This is a bummer to hear. Being a mechanic, I understand the whole "flat rate" thing and trying to get things done quicker to move on to the next thing. However, that doesn't mean skipping corners. I'm coming up on my 600 mile mark and have, i believe, 3 yamaha service centers around. I'm trying to figure out which one would be the most competent. And also, I'm going to make an effort to get buddy buddy with the tech and try to observe the process while he performs the first service. Will definitely provide info after this happens.  
Anybody know about the quality of service technicians in So.Cal?
I don't know what part of So Cal you're in, but I go to . Did my 600, battery replacement and 4K there. I've had a pretty positive experience with them. The service department is up front with the entrance of the showroom floor; So you can watch them working in the garage when you walk up. Don't know about staying since I haven't… Can be a little sporadic on how well they are on the phone, but they're pretty good in person. 
AND they're nice enough to pick your bike up AFTER service hours (6PM-9PM). 
 
I'm by no means a mechanic myself, but I haven't found anything wrong with their work. Bike always feel great when it comes back.
 
 
 

Instagram: @meekmade | You don't need to flat foot a bike to ride it.

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TwistedTorque

They can be a bit grumpy at my dealer sometimes but I was impressed last time I went to get the recall on the battery done. I have heated gear and they took the time to rewire it better than I had it the first time.

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The service dept (and dealership as a whole) near me are terrible. Hacks, scoundrels, scabs - scalliwags of the worst variety.
 
I take my bike to a Ducati/Triumph/Aprilia dealership for service and they've been good. Fast, priced well for the small jobs I've had done and pretty pleasant.
 
Don't know when I'll get the warranty work done, cause my bike aint goin nowhere near the aforementioned Yamaha dealer.

Everything went braap.

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I don't let dealers touch my bikes. They pay very low, so the good mechanics quit and start their own bike repair shops and dealers often are left with a bunch of newbie mechanics who work for peanuts.
 
Stick with the smaller privately owned bike shops. Usually much lower rates and higher quality work.

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I'd prefer to be the only one to ever touch my bike. Hell I would have done the pre-delivery inspection myself if they let me. But I've heard not getting your bike serviced, at least every once in a while, will void the warranty.

'15 FZ-07
'93 Honda XR650L (supermoto/pig) (SOLD)

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If you keep receipts to show the work was done you should not have any warrantee problems. The work does not have to be done by a dealership.

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SouthernSpeed
I don't let dealers touch my bikes. They pay very low, so the good mechanics quit and start their own bike repair shops and dealers often are left with a bunch of newbie mechanics who work for peanuts.  
Stick with the smaller privately owned bike shops. Usually much lower rates and higher quality work.
This is exactly what I have seen also!  I only let them do the 600 mile service for the warranty, but I guess I have to let them do the recall work too.   I worked at a Honda/Ducati/BMW dealer for a very short time and the few mechanics in the back had such a high turnover. 

The torque on this thing is pretty addictive....

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SouthernSpeed
If you keep receipts to show the work was done you should not have any warrantee problems. The work does not have to be done by a dealership.
This is good to know.  I always wondered about that and just assumed that the dealer would use that reason if something ever happened. 

The torque on this thing is pretty addictive....

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carcrusher1978

I bought my bike at Del Amo in So Cal...In the OC. The service dept has been great and so has the parts dept..I've checked out my bike after being there 3 times now.
Everything has been in proper order ( i.e. bolts torqued down, nothing missing, and a cost effective bill). i would recommend them in OC.
 

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Well im just to pickup my bike on tuesday, but as for know i have just a non positive impression of the service garage at the local yamaha dealer wich by the way is the only yamaha dealer in town.
 
Their workshop is very tinny, only room for 3-4 bikes, just only one mechanic there, a lot of oil everywhere, so im not planning on having any service over there, i think i will just do the 1000km service and thats all
 
Let me tell you this, i asked the dealer to sell me an oil filter and 3 quarts of yamalube oil, then they asked why i wanted them, and i said, i will be doing an oil change at the first 80-100 kms to take off the debris on the engine, and they refused to sell me the oil and filter, they said that could only be done by their mechanics and there is no point to change oil earlier than 1000kms !!!!
 
So WTF if i want to change oil as much as i want?, it is my bike so... i was very angry at that moment with the service guy, and spoke to my salesman and told him everything wich at the end he just told me same thing as the service guy so i was just at canceling my order, but because i have just paid 80% of the sale price, it will be a pain in the ass to have that back to me....
 
All kind of terror stories come on on Mexican dealers, if you think you have bad service/dealers over the US, Mexico delaers kick them all they suck

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My bike had damage sitting on the floor at the dealer. It had some minor scuffs, but the left peg, bracket, and shift lever were a mess making it unridable. They told me a couple days to get the parts. A couple days turned into 4 weeks as some parts were "here" one week and oops, not the next. Meanwhile, they sold another FZ07 while I waited. The day I finally picked up the bike, they'd still not put a state inspection sticker on it and I had to wait another 30 mins for them to find that guy.
 
As for a 12 month warranty, well mine is effectively 11 and no one - not Yamaha either - would fix this.
 
I've seen picts of the battery cable recall and can't imagine my cable being longer. They routed the original so poorly that it's all kinked in knots anyway, so I'm gonna bite the bullet and let some shop do that recall.
 
Aside from that, I've never seen a motorcycle shop that fixed something that didn't need more fixing afterward. I own 4 torque wrenches and I'm never in a hurry. At least if I screw something up, i only have myself to blame.
 
BTW, even if you don't do your own 1st oil change, at least hand them a magnetic drain plug for shop's monkey to over-tighten, lol.

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