Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech beware of the bike shop mechanics

so i bought a speedmaster some time in september.at the same time i got the service manual.road like hell to get the first 500 miles on it so i could get the first service check out of the way.i had them check the valves and check the carbs for proper jetting because i had put shortys on.OK they said everything was cool as far as valves and jets.they had put it on a eg sniffer and DIALED IN MY CARB!.so 1500 miles later i made some home made staitpipes and needed to rejet.i go to the shop and got 130 mains and 42 pilots.i take the carbs off and see that the left carb low speed is a 1/2 turn out from bottom .the right side was 4 1/2 turns out.this whould explane why my left header has been turning gold!what a bunch of retards.i showed them how stupid they were and asked them how they could tune a bike with the eg sniff when theres a crossover pipe.you'll never get it right.i'm so lucky i did'nt blow it up.i told them 2 turns out on both the carbs.i will rever take it to a mechanic again . i will do the work my self .

That's a timely reminder - I'm due to pick my bike up (hopefully!) next week once all the repairs're done so I'll be sure to go over it very carefully to make sure everything's tight & right before I get on it.

Given that a friend who's just bought a speed triple from the same dealer had a footpeg fall off after picking it up, and the america pipe I went to take to be modified today turned out to actually be a thruxton pipe, care is warranted. Unfortunatley I didn't have the option of doing it myself, since insurance is paying for it and they demand a dealer do it. Besides I couldn't lace a rim onto a hub to save my life.

Matt

Im hopeless at home mechanics. I know how to change the oil and adjust the chain, but thats about it. So i am very much at the mercy of my local dealers spanner men. BUT, luckily so far i have not had any reason to take it to them....touch wood.

However i must also point out that my bike is extreemily low milage as i rarely get a chance to ride her.

In my experience this is unfortunatly the norm today. I have yet to take my bike in and don't know if i ever will because in my experience with mechanics, car bike or whatever, will either purposly or accidentally screw you one way or another. Be it making a mistake and leaving something loose or scratching something, assembling something wrong, purposly not doing work that the owner could never tell, (like valve adjustment) etc etc. It's a losing battle. the way i see it your chances are worse than 50/50. Service in fact of any type has become pathetic in this country.There are no more craftsmen, just conmen and those who's minds are on the weekend 99% of the time instead of concentrating on installing your rear wheel correctly and tightening the axl bolt !

no pride in what they do .it's just a job.and i think thats ******.oh well i'm with you johnny .f um

Dont trust them. Verify everything. No matter how nice they sound. I had a couple of bad experiences. One almost killed me. After service, they forgot to clip the fuel hose to the fuel petcock. Within minutes of starting up, it came off and the fuel came gushing out all over my leg and engine. I was soacked and so was the bike.

I was lucky I was just riding it in their parking lot when it happened so I stopped and put the stand down. If it was on the highway it could have been a different story.

Needless to say, that dealer is history.

This seems to be a common problem. My original dealer was terrible. I have to say that Great Bay Triumph in North Hampton, NH has been outstanding.