So I blew out the shock a couple of weeks ago at the track with a grand total of 632 miles on the bike. The shock was on backorder for 3-4 weeks, but they finally convinced me to just go ahead and ride it. I rode it to work today, and it just didn't feel right, so I got down in the parking lot and checked out the linkage. One of the holes didn't line up quite the way I thought it should, and my boss told me to go ahead and check it out. This is what I found holding my shock to the swingarm- As you can see, I was riding around on a death trap- the only thing that stopped the bolt from coming completely out was that it got cock-eyed in the swingarm and hit the inside of the swingarm, just barely inside the hole. There is a punch holding everything together right now, but I'm dead in the water. In a related note, does anyone know if there is a nut on the end of that bolt or if it is threaded right into the swingarm? I hope there is a nut, otherwise the threads in the swingarm are screwed up too and I need a new swingarm.
If I were the service manager, I would have MADE you come to the shop, gathered the techs to check out the bike and diagnose if anything precipitated the shock's demise. Instead, your shop ("they" I'm assuming means your shop where you purchased the bike) encouraged you to keep on riding. Lovely.....
Yes it is a nut and bolt arrangement, not a threaded insert in the swing arm. I tend to agree that the dealer should have done a post-mortem on the shock before they arbitrarily said to go ahead and ride it.
The dealer is 50 miles away one way, so when the shock blew up, they said that I could just take pictures of the shock and send them their way in order to save me the trip. Oh, and no dealer would MAKE me do anything. You can refuse service or whatever you want to do, but you cannot force me to do anything. Now, if they offered to come pick the bike up, that is a different story.
OK, your iron will and resolute sense of independence are duly acknowledged. I would have strongly encouraged, enticed, persuaded, recommended....whatever. Anyways, my focus was on your dealer & that he should have been motivated to check your bike out. A blown shock at a little ol' piddly 700 miles should raise eyebrows.
Sorry for snapping... I was/am pretty frustrated. Especially at myself. I should have checked everything out myself. I like to think of myself as not an incompetent person.
A thorough pre-ride inspection on a dirt bike before each ride never hurts.. mandatory in my book... Hope you can obtain the replacmenet parts quickly to enjoy your new ride.
Everyone keeps saying that. How long does this take you? 30 minutes? an hour? How thorough is thorough? There are probably thousands of fasteners on the bike, most of which are critical to maintaining 100% of the bikes original mass. The problem is, I ride my bike every day. Literally, every single day, I am on the bike. I have never, and I mean never, had a bike fall apart just from using it. Maybe I bought the wrong bike if, unless I spend an hour a day checking out the bike, something MAJOR falls off every 600 miles.
Did you do a typical thumper setup after you got it before riding it overmuch? Are you in the habit of trusting others to work on or set up your bike? I've got about 200 miles on mine and should in the next week be stripping it down verifying bearing grease, proper torque and either loctite or vibratite on most everything....... My understanding is that it's just part of owning a thumper, new or not.
I do my own work, but I'm not going to re-assemble everything just in case it wasn't done correctly at the shop and/or factory. I rode a 1978 yamaha sr500 single, and nothing fell off. Is it true that a 30 year old bike is more reliable than a brand new one? Is this just something you should accept? I refuse to accept that it is my fault that a motorcycle fell apart with less than 1000 miles on it. Easy miles, if I might add. I did take a look at the shock linkage and steering head to verify there was lube there- when I saw there was plenty, I figured it had been set up correctly.
I think that you should have every reasonable expectation that the bike was properly dealer prepped and ready to ride. Some dealers do a better job than others and this is true no matter what brand of bike you buy. Personally, no matter what bike I buy, new or used and regardless of manufacturer, I spend a full day stripping down things and going over every detail but that's just me being programed that way from my old competetion days. If you're not using the bike for competetion then you should be able to trust that it is in ready to run condition. It's not you're fault and the dealer should do everything within their power to make the situation right for you. They also owe you an apology for taking such a cavalier attitude about a critical safety component of you're bike.
I understand some bolts can work themselves loose, but I wouldn't think they would this soon, and I wouldn't think that they would this easily. When I lost the footpeg bolt, it didn't really matter- I got home and put another one in. Not a big deal- I won't wreck because of one of the two footpeg bolts coming out. I didn't know about the swingarm bolt then obviously. Would I be out of line asking to ride one of their demo bikes until mine is fixed?
No. I would explain that you really need a bike and does he have a loaner of know of someone who does. There is the obvious issue of liability if something goes wrong while the loaner bike is in your possession that needs to be talked about first though.
I don't really need a bike, I can ride my wife's and we both have a cage in addition to the bike, so it isn't completely necessary... It just sucks that I don't have a bike in my posession that I am paying for. I probably just need to get over it and suck it up. I did let them know that it is my main form of transportation and I take it every day I can.
Your frutration is completely reasonable, IMO. Well, don't get in a hurry to get over holding the dealer accountable for taking care of you. Were I the GM, I'd pay to get the bike to me and get your bike fixed PRONTO. If I didn't have a demo bike to offer you while your bike is being repaired, I'd try to do some damage control some other way by offering discounts on accessories and/or services. It's too easy to disappoint people today who never even walk through your door that taking the extra time for customer service really counts. Businesses aren't isolated anymore to where they can take for granted that disgruntled customers will return because the local shop is the only show in town. My $.02 .....hope things work out smoothly for you.
Update: Yesterday I e-mailed the dealer asking what the new time frame was for getting the bike back, and asked what my chance of getting a loaner bike was. He replied and said that the parts were in customs and should clear today, then be sent to the warehouse, and from the warehouse they would be sent to the dealer. Sounds extremely stupid to me, but maybe thats how they make a part take that long to get here. I know people that order a japanese part and it gets here in less than a week. Seems like they're about the same distance.... Anyhow, he said the parts should be here by the end of the week "if everything goes well." He also said that if it was just for a couple of days, they could loan me a bike, but they couldn't do it for a week. I replied and told him that if it was just a couple of days, I wouldn't even bother! It woudln't be worth driving all the way up there to get another bike if it was just a couple of days! I think I let him know how frustrated I am, but I tried to not take it out on him. I did say that my inconvenience, cancelled plans and trips, payments without a bike etc etc should be reimbursed in one way or another. I am pretty ticked about the whole deal. I e-mailed Husky twice and didn't get any sort of a reply either time. It would seem they are just giving the finger to their customers- not a good way to maintain business. I can tell you I will never again purchase another Husky, no matter how good they should be.
Some dealers will pull the parts from new bikes to cover an issue like this and then when the new parts arrive stick them back on the new bike,, at least I've had this done for me several times. I'd still be suspect about how that bolt became loose in the first place. Has your bike been out in public without you having an eye on it? Got any envious guys you ride with? I could see it becoming loose and not properly torqued but to be as you pictured would take some riding time...
I was at the track when it happened, so it was under much more stress than just cruising like I usually do. That may help the bolt to have come out. I keep my bike locked safely in the garage at night, and no one at work would damage it. Thats too much work for the lazy jerks that don't like me!
My GasGas dealer did this very thing for me on numerous occasions. He even tore apart a family member's bike once so I could make it to my race and didn't even charge me for shipping This sort of thing can be done if a dealer is creative and empathetic to your plight. WoodsChick
Dealers can pull parts of bikes, but the may not have a 2008 610 to pull parts off of. It is incredibly difficult to discern from the internet but it is possible the dealer could be trying as hard as he can to rectify the situation.
