[lonewolftx]

When I got the Green Wing I took her into a shop in Conroe TX to fix a coolant leak. Found out it was the O rings in the thermostat housing. Told them to replace all cooling lines, put floor boards on her, run the wire to the gps from the acc. terminal and do a 4000 mile service. He gave me an estimate of $1500.00.
1. They had to tear it down 3 times due to coolant leaks. (Didn't know how to size an O ring.)
2. Put the floor boards on and didn't use the proper bolts so they fell off in a few miles.
3. Wired the GPS tdirectly to the battery so I had to shut it off manually.
4. Didn't bleed the air out of the cooling system.
5. Told me there was a pipe plug in the oil drain so they just put it back in instead of useing an over size tapping drain plug. ($6.00 item) knowing the taperd pipe plug can split the case. I got her from my Son who said that the last time he changed the oil there was a oem plug in it and he used a new crush washer.
6. I varified the $1500.00 the day before but when I went to pick it up he tried to charge me $3200.00. He got 1500.00.

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

I had the same O ring problem on my 98 GL1500 SE when it was 2 weeks old. Took the dealer 4 days to order the part and fix it. Everything was done under warranty, but I was disapointed that the problem existed on a brand new bike.

 

[2003 GL1800 POLICE]

These horror stories are why NO ONE TOUCHES MY MOTORCYCLE but me. Trust me. I will never let even my own mechanics in my own shop touch my bike.

 

[budoka]

Jeebus lonewolf. Was there anything they did right on your work-order? Did you have a 'chat' with the service manager about the shoddy work? I mean you obviously said something since you only paid the quoted price but yeesh, they wanted over double for what they did do. Something that makes me wonder: your son said there was a factory plug/crush washer in the oil drain, and yet they said it was a pipe (NPT?) plug in there instead? OEM drain plugs are metric and all std pipe fittings are not. Wrong mounting fasteners for the boards, unswitched wiring for the GPS, o-ring size mistakes. Kinda makes you wonder what was happening in that shoproom doesn't it?

 

[fxrshog]

These horror stories are why NO ONE TOUCHES MY MOTORCYCLE but me. Trust me. I will never let even my own mechanics in my own shop touch my bike.

These stories are probably the reason they have earn the title, "STEALERS"

 

[Chopin]

I trust my Manassas Honda guys so much that I would even trust them with your bike.

 

[L2R]

I trust my Manassas Honda guys so much that I would even trust them with your bike.

If you were sttttttudering, you left off the last "s"

I have heard of a "guy thing" and a 'mancave'. This one is new and it scares the ship out of me.

 

[lonewolftx]

Lesson learned. I spoke with the owner. Did I mention tthey cut a hole in the rt side valve cover then plugged it with JB weld.
My Dad was a bike dealer from 1953 to 1984. He was astonished.

 

[trike lady]

This is sad, I wish you all were in Florida and close to where I am, as things like this wouldn't be happening. If you could only see some of the nit-wits at motorcycle tech school, you'd certainly want to get a service manual and DVD's to do it yourself.
As for these people being trained to work on Wings, big joke; I would let the students at the school change the oil on my Wing. Individuals need to go to specialized training for the Wing and not at these schools. It makes me wonder, the dealerships are too worried about which tech school you went to, are you certified and are you a convicted felon? They should be more interested in can you work on motorcycles. I feel very sorry for the bike owners who trust their bikes to these shops.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Very few places have real mechanics anymore! They are R&R specialist(Remove and Replace, not very special at doing that either).
Took a chance on letting a dealer(now out of business)install several items, when I purchased my Wing-Just didn't want to do all the work myself this time!
When I went to pick it up-I had to ask the service manager for a couple things to be corrected before I could ride it.
When I got it home, had to rewire the Ring of fire. Idiot had simply twisted the splices and covered(not completely on some)the splices w/electrical tape. No solder nor shrink wrap! Didn't even take the lower cover off the handle bars to run the wiring to the master cylinder switch under the cover. Also, I specified a right hand master cylinder switch in black. Switch was chrome and was a RH but, installed on the clutch side.
Mechanic didn't think I would want to take my hand off the throtle to turn the switches on/off!

 

[Radarsdad]

Was this a Honda dealer or an independent shop?

 

[budoka]

I'm guessing it was a Honda shop, but couldn't really say. Realistically, it shouldn't matter with the quality of work that lonewolf got, it's inexcuseable. tf got worked over pretty bad too, but at least that s**t shop is history. Back to lonewolf's issue, why on God's green earth would a mechanic drill a hole in the valve cover in the first place?. There'd be some serious excrement hit the fan if that was me! I know it's easy for me to sit here and say that but I'm not kidding, there would be some severe bruising on the guy that did that to my bike.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Was this a Honda dealer or an independent shop?

If you were asking me-It was a Honda dealership that is now closed-no wonder!

 

[BladeRunner]

That is just SAD! Must have been a flunky pulled in off the street or something..even THAT wouldn't explain it! I got one, I bought a brand new Magna 750 back in 1984.
I hadn't been riding for about a year and a half before that..long story short..I dropped it 3 wks in with only 900KM on it
Anyway the insurance paid for every little scratch, it was rideable and I took it to the dealer where I bought it. They were one of the largest Honda dealers in Toronto at the time. They had it ready in 4 days..great! I go to pick it up..WTF? No clutch lever! I ask where the heck is my clutch lever ( it wasn't part of the damage)..they say..get this.."You RODE it in here like that"
I say how the hell could I ride it here without a clutch lever?? So, the service manager goes away to talk to someone, turns out some guy from out of province tipped his Magna over in the parking lot while he was there looking at bikes, they didn't have the part in stock. Ok..and? They had at least a dozen Magnas in the showroom..oh well..we don't take parts off new bikes! HA! But I guess it's OK to take them from CUSTOMER'S bikes?
And just in case anyone is wondering what dealer that was; Cycle World on Dundas in Etobicoke.
I'm not sure they are still there,but they were around for many yrs and had huge volumes in mostly Honda bikes. Oh ya, I forgot to mention, I got a letter from the insurance Co. to release the damaged parts to me, most only had minor scratches and I could (and did) clean them up and I sold them.
I discussed the return of the old parts to me before I left my bike to be repaired and they said no problem..until I went to pick up my bike, then they said they couldn't release the parts because "they may not be safe"..they wouldn't give them to me till I showed them the release I got from the insurance co...And then I still had to argue my case to the general manager! I know for damn sure they would have used them somewhere else and made more money off them. needless to say..I never dropped another dime in that place!

 

[lonewolftx]

Was this a Honda dealer or an independent shop?

IN MY CASE IT WAS AN INDIPENDENT. In Conro TX. They sell voyagere conversions.

 

[trike lady]

IN MY CASE IT WAS AN INDIPENDENT. In Conro TX. They sell voyagere conversions.

I don't think I'd want them to put a Voyager on my Wing. I could imagine the sloppy job they'd do. Doesn't anyone take pride in their work any more? Or are companies just hiring idiots?

 

[budoka]

I'm curious lonewolftx, what did they say about the hole in the valve cover?

 

[trike lady]

I am trying to figure out why anyone would drill a hole in a valve cover.
Sounds like the guy that runs the moped & lawn mower shop and thinks he's a Goldwing expert cause he has one. Don't laugh I know someone who found such a nit-wit.
With all the unemployment and motorcycle dealers closing, you'd think that these shops would hire trained professionals instead of flunkies.

 

[lonewolftx]

THEY SAID THEY FIXED IT. The mechanic was cutting off the engine guard just behind the support with a die grinder and went too deep. Believe me folks, they did so many bad things to my baby I was afraid to give them another shot.

 

[IronLou]

I think I would have vomited right then and there. Right on the mechanic's shoes. Even tho my bike is brand new I do the work on her, my dealer will never see her unless there is a re-call on her. I did the first oil change and will do all the rest till the day she goes to the bone yard. I put any and all accessories on with my own 2 hands (sometimes a little beer involved) cause then I know it's done right.

It bugs the hell out of me the way some shops take your money and give you crap for service. It's just too hard to find a good place to bring your vehicle so I grab the computer and look up what I have to do and just go at it. It helps to have been around do-it yourselfers all my life, so I learned a lot in the brief 49 years I've been around.

If I were you lonewolftx I'd give them another shot....right through the front window. (just, no casualties please)