Here's my take on it
I take a 12k mile, 14 year old bike with a perfect service record in for regular, recommended maintenance... valve adj, tires and a fork rebuild.
They find it needs bearings and seals, I okay the additional work.
I show up to pick up the completed bike, it won't start.
I wait 4 hours while they have the bike in the shop, trying to get it to start.
I'm charged an extra $350 (without my prior okay) to make the bike start.
I ride it home, it's surging, leaks oil and the oil cooler falls off.
I call the owner, who offers to make it right at no charge.
After examining the bike myself I correct the surging and discover 3 missing bolts and a number of loose ones.
Rather than waste my time and the shop's time by dragging my bike back down there, I'm willing to settle for having replacement bolts sent to me. The owner agrees and offers a gift certificate for my trouble.
Six months later, having let the bike sit without being ridden, I find more issues.
I have to adjust the idle screw (which they had messed with) to get it to idle correctly.
The speedo cable was incorrectly reinstalled, requiring replacement.
The front fender was poorly modified (without my knowledge) to fit a non-OEM tire size that they recommended.
The front fender bolts had been replaced with non-OEM and were loose to the point of falling out.
The front brake switch no longer works.
Rather than renew this issue with the owner again, I am resigned to the fact that
1) I'm probably beyond the "statute of limitations" with regards to these problems, given the time since the original work was done
2) It is cheaper for me to correct the problems myself (so far) than to take the bike back
3) The likelihood exists that were I to take the bike back I would not be happy with the work performed
My intent with this thread is not to attempt to recover my losses or slander the owner, but to warn others who may be considering having work done there.
|