So my bike's about to roll over 40,000km (about 24,000 miles for those who can't do metric) so I booked it in for a service. Dealer tells me it's a "Major Service" and checking the workshop manual confirms that. Dealer tells me it's AU$585 + $16/shim! and I tell the dealer I'll call them back later. After numerous phone calls I determine that I can't get it done anyplace significantly cheaper and I'm actually interested in protecting my extended warranty so I book it in. Very nicely they gave me an '06 speedmaster with about 700km on the clock as a loaner, and broke their own "no loan bikes out overnight" policy both of which made me feel a little better.
So I get the phone call saying my bike's ready to come back. I also get the good news that they've done it faster than the book says and they've saved me $45 in labour off the quoted price, and not needed any shims (they were done 10,000km ago). All good, I'm now feeling like a valued customer.
Bike's home and of course I'm going over it. First thing I check is the fork caps to see if the fork oil's been replaced as per the manual. I can tell the top yoke's been off for the steering head bearings but the fork caps look undisturbed. I ring the service dept and get "I'm sorry, the mechanic says he forgot, that's why I was able to save you the $45. If you'd like to bring it again in next week we'll do your fork oil for free." OK so I'm feeling pretty good now.
Then I see that the turn signal warning light and the led for my bike-watch aren't working, but since I've filled the console with custom wiring I just accept it and fix it myself.
The next day I see there's a bolt missing from the tow hitch (it was dark when I got it home) and since I'm just heading out for a long ride with friends and I'm still full of good humour over the fork oil solution I just grumble and fix it with some cable ties and get a bolt later.
When I get home from the ride I see that the pillion seat bolt's missing! Now that's bad enough with a standard one, however this was a custom made chrome-plated thumbscrew. Not a huge expense but still d*mn annoying. I ring the dealer AGAIN expecting to have a fight on my hands. Instead I get the response "I've asked my mechanic about it and he's sure he's replaced it, but we're not here to argue with you. Where can I get you a replacement? You're still coming in to get the fork oil next week right? We saw that tow hitch bolt was loose and meant to mention it to you but it slipped my mind and I apologise."
I gotta say that in the face of several problems stemming from the service (that really shouldn't have happened) the dealer (Team Moto Triumph, Springwood, QLD, Australia for those interested) has come through without a fuss, absorbed the costs for the $30 pillion bolt, the fork oil, and the mechanic's time for replacing it, and have fixed every problem I've thrown at them in a satisfactory manner without a fight.
