Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech So what should I do?

I don't know if everyone is following my luck in the "Another Ignitor gone?" thread. But here is the latest.
This is ridiculous. I just called the dealer they got an igniter in early this week. They put it in and it went bad on the test ride so now they are waiting for another one. And triumph north America doesn't have one in stock. So if anyone is keeping track that is almost 2 months that my bike has been down this summer due to electrical gremlins. If I was in the position to ride I would be really much more annoyed. But like I said how can I trust this thing now?

So any suggestions with how I should handle this?
The dealer really is great but they are new to the Triumph Warranty system and honestly have days of unpaid work into this bike. I have started looking into Lemon Law stuff and with well more than 30 days down she is starting to qualify.
Anyway looking for suggestions.
Not that I'm riding much this month, but I want to know that my NEW (the only new motorcycle I have ever bought) will get me from point a to b every time.

Lemmon law is a serious concideration...this is the THIRD ignitor...and your lost time is way past the 30 days now (I think) ...

If you havent already...its DEFINATELY time for a nice polite, factual letter to
Peter J. Carleo
Customer Relations Manager
Triumph Motorcycles (America) Limited
peter.carleo@triumphmotorcycles.com

Be sure to mention that you are a member here and thats how you got his addy...

I have had dealings with Peter and he seems to be a straight shooter...

Dill,
Have they documented testing the rest of the igniton chain to insure the faulty ignitor diagnosis is indeed correct? After all, while they're waiting they could slap on a new set of coils, adjust the pickup coil gap and give it a quick test with the second ignitor to eliminate the usual suspects. After Phil's bad coil discovery I'd sure be taking a hard look at the other components as three bad ignitors in a row seems as unlikely as hitting the Powerball twice.

Get a Yamaha

Use of the "lemon law" should be in no way taken as a slam against the dealer...it's there to put the responsibility for the manufacture and sale of a defective product right where it belongs - with the manufacturer. If your bike qualifies under the "lemon law" in the state of New Hampshire, you should consider using it and start the process of the bike's replacement......and don't worry that your actions will be offensive to the dealer.....they will not....in fact, the dealer might very well need to have the "lemon law" invoked in order to insure reimbursement from Triumph......if you think you've bought a defective product and have given its manufacturer sufficient time under the law to make its repair, and and you can no longer trust the bike ("......how can I trust this now?")......have it replaced!

An email was just sent to Peter.
A big Thanks to Rob for drafting it.
Lets face it Rob is better writer than I will ever hope to be. And 300 times better than me after 2 hours of sleep.
here is the email.
Thanks
Alden Dill
254 Bow St
Northwood, NH 03261



Peter J. Carleo
Customer Relations Manager
Triumph Motorcycles (America) Limited



Dear Peter,

It is with great disappointment that I feel the need to write you this
letter. Let me begin by saying that as an active member of
bonnevilleamerica.com I have heard that you are the best person to present
this to, and that you have been a great help to others, I only hope you can
also help me out.

Let me give you a brief history, I purchased my bike, a 200? Speedmaster,
new, from Great Bay Cycles in Portsmouth NH back in January of 2006 as a left over.
After having several dealings with that dealership I found them to be
condescending and frankly unacceptable for my needs. I heard, thru the
site, that a new dealership had been given to Secondwind BMW in Merrimack
NH; I visited the dealer and liked what I saw. When my bike suddenly
stopped running after a very loud back fire, I called them immediately.
They offered to pick up my bike and take it to their shop, which they did.

I posted my situation on the site and opinions were varied but the consensus
was that the CDI had gone bad. The actual truth was that the CDI HAD gone
bad, but due to its faulty firing it had caused the bike to fire at the
incorrect time and that in turn destroyed the lower end of my motor. After
having my bike for 3+ weeks waiting for parts for the total engine
rebuild, the dealership was finally able to reassemble my bike (at the time
there was a standard Bonneville with the EXACT same problem) During this
time the dealership, at their own cost, gave me a loaner bike, but it was
still not MY bike. When my bike was returned to me, I proceeded to ride it
for a few weeks, after 1,500 short miles, the new CDI again failed. This
time it was not a catastrophic as the last, but again I am with out my NEW
motorcycle.

The dealer believing that it MUST be something else, as the igniter was
brand new, spent a good bit of time testing other causes. During the NH
Bonnevilleamerica.com rally that Secondwind helped sponsor, a large number
of America/ Speedmaster riders were at the dealership, and it was it was
suggested that perhaps a igniter from one of the attending bikes could be
swapped in to test the igniter, Secondwind then informed us that they had
just taken in a identical year/model, even color, Speedmaster and since they
had tested everything else they would swap the igniters, they immediately
did so, and despite everyone thinking that it couldn't be the new CDI, when
they did this it worked. A new igniter was immediately ordered.

That was Saturday August 4th. I just got off the phone with the dealer and
was informed that the new igniter had come in and when it was put on the
bike, it was found to be defective. To make that even worse, there are no
igniters for my bike left in the USA and now the new one must come from
England.

Peter, this is the third igniter on my brand new bike and a total of more
than more than 2 months out of NH short riding season that I haven't had my
brand new bike. All of the criterions for the New Hampshire lemon laws have
been met. I'm desperately trying to avoid a long drawn out process....I just
want my Triumph and I want to trust that it will get me home.

Secondwind has done everything I think a dealer can do, but now I think this
issue goes beyond the scope of a dealer's responsibility and I am asking you
to please help me resolve this issue.

I have had my NEW Triumph in the shop for a total of 2 months all for a
series of bad igniters, and at this point I have NO idea when I might get it
back

What can you do for me???


Thank you for your prompt attention to this and I anxiously await your
response.
If you need to contact me for any reason please do so at 603-475-**** or
through email.


Sincerely,



Alden Dill

I want Rob to write stuff for me.

Dill, I hope you get this gremlin sorted and quartered.

no problem, anything for you Moe!

I agree, very well written. I feel for you man. I would be so POed by now I would have blown a gasket. I love my bike but if I had your expereince I'm not sure I would still want one. That being said there are always exceptions to the rule as far as machines go. No one has a 100% product record and maybe you did in fact get one with an underlying defect. You may have something in the ignition system defective that hasn't been found causing the failure. I think the lemon law is a good route if you can do it.Good luck.

Ok Peter is the man.
Oh and so is Rob.
Here are the 4 emails waiting for me.
And Ian if it wasn't for that pretty little girl sleeping in the next room I would have flipped out also.


Email 1
Alden,

I apologize for your inconvenience. I will do a few things for you.

First I need to check on how fast I can expedite the delivery of the igniter. As
you claim it is on backorder.

Once we get your bike back under your seat, I will extend your warranty, and
offer some form of compensation for the time out of service. (Maybe some warm
riding gear so you can ride further into the winter??)

I will keep in touch as I get more informed about the parts.
Thanks

Email 2

Alden,

I just did some checking. The dealer ordered the wrong igniter. That is why it
didn't work. I will need to check on the current order and make sure that they
didn't order the wrong part again.

I will get back with you.

Email 3
They ordered the wrong part again. I will sort this out.

Email 4
Alright,

I got the correct part on the order. The part should be here Monday. I will have
it to the dealer by Tuesday (provided that the delivery is not delayed).

Then its up to the dealer to put it in. You should be back in the saddle on
Wednesday.

Then the fun starts. If you need an accessory catalog to select some
compensation from, let me know and I will send you one.

Cheers!

Dooood..... Jackpot!

SO glad to hear it worked out!!!

wow that is top notch service

Frank

I was following this, feelin' your pain....and now things are lookin' good for ya now. I'm floored by the quick response you got, but not astonished at all by the help you can get from these forums. Way to go guys!

That was prompt friday afternoon in the corporate world not much gets done. I bet the Harley customer service manager wouldn't have done that.

couple more emails. He emailed back within 5 minutes.
W
-

Thank you very much for you prompt attention to my plight. I really appreciate
it.
Second Wind is a great dealership who has been good to me. Like I said when the
bike was first down they gave me a sprint for 2 weeks free of charge which I put
more than 2500 miles on.
But this problem seems to have gotten out of their hands. The other thing I was
wondering was should the coils be replaced? Something must be causing this to
happen. Getting stranded twice on the side of the road stinks. Even though I
carry tools and am capable of working on my own bike, there is nothing I can do
when the igniter goes. While the extended warranty does help allay my fear of
getting stranded again. I would like to know the root of the problem.
Thank you again for your prompt attention. It really does help set Triumph apart
from the crowd. None of my Harley riding friends could believe that a dealer
would be willing to give a free loaner while my bike was laid up. And they will
also have trouble believing that someone in the corporate world would go the
trouble of answering me on a Friday afternoon.
Oh I don't have an accessory catalog.

Sincerely

Alden Dill


What's your address? I will send you a catalog so you can get ready for the
comp.

I will touch base with you on Monday.

Cheers!

he makes it sound like you're about to have a shopping spree

as I said before...in the few dealings I have had with Peter he has always been great....this just adds to the list!

That is absolutelu amazing! I can't believe they got back to you so fast!! I hope they get this straightened out for you. Sounds like he is willing to make it right. If the dealer ordered the wrong part I think offering you more than a simple apology and expidited part is above and beyond customer service! I'm happy for you and fingers crossed this solves it!

I wonder if that catalog has any baby stuff in it...I think little Charlotte NEEDS a Triumph something-or-other Can't have her dressing in plain old non-Triumph gear

seems to me , if your dealer wants to remain a good dealer
they need to better train their employees on their motorcycles
if they ordered the wrong ignitor twice then they are not
that well trained in their jobs.

gee , everythign sounds great but I still like the idea of getting a Yamaha ....

I am glad he responded, thats nice. The bike is now $1,500 depreciated with normal age and you missed nearly a whole riding season. It has a rebuilt bottom end and has had serious electrical issues. They owe you a new bike in my humble opinion.

Alden,
Maybe you could work out a trade in on another new bike, with the compensation from Triumph USA being the dollar difference of the trade in needed. Then you would have a new bike hopefully with no problems, although you would still have the lost time. That's probably what I would try to do in your situation.

Ok so the dealer just called me last night. The bike is running now. It turns out it was a problem with the pickup it was going intermittently. They had got a 4th igniter in and it wasn't working so Peter put them in touch with a factory tech who walked them through the system.
She's running great now.
I haven't heard back from Peter yet on the other stuff yet.
Hopefully I will soon.

Interesting. I know sightglass posted about the gap but that's the first pick-up coil I have ever heard about that went bad.