Post recall nightmare

My advice is that one should avoid the recall and avoid dealing with Husqvarna. My bikes have been in the dealer (3rd time now) for a week and a half. I am getting NO feedback and no communication. Was supposed to be 2 days. Totally unimpressed. When I pressed the dealer today, as I am missing out on work, cancelling trips, etc I am told they have to do what Husqvarna says and won't really say what that is, but that I can have the bikes back maybe today or tomorrow. Won't say what, if anything, is being done to fix them. I had been considering looking at the new 701, but to be honest, since KTM purchased the company, it is becoming readily apparent that the brand has been compromised, and service is garbage. Customers mean nothing. They will likely follow the KTM path of over-priced machines requiring constant dealer intervention, with the customer only being a constant source of revenue for them. The brand is dead as far as I'm concerned. I planned to ride these to the end of the earth, but now I find myself not trusting the bike or the brand, and will now go in search of replacements. Sad, as they WERE brilliant machines.

Hey there James, can you share the phone number for Husky NA? Same issues here, the BMW dealer in San Jose charged me $800 to replace the key ring with no improvement. They didn't even replace the key so not sure if they really did anything. I hate to love this bike!

The number I got for Husqvarna North America Customer relations is : 1-877-441-4451 extension 4250.

Sorry to hear about your issues man.

According to my dealer if 1 of the 4 components of the system which can cause an EWS error ( dash, ecu, chipped key set or antenna ring) is replaced then the bike needs to be hooked up to the computer to sync it all up again. If not EWS kicks in because it dosent recognize a component. Do you know if they did That?

Soooo, you are having issues with a Husky dealer and to remedy the problem you are considering another Husqvarna at a price (Australian) just under what I bought my Tiger 800 XRX.

My Strada has been updated and I did not let a dealer near the bike. All I did when I received the ECU back was connect the battery, start it and let it idle passed the second time the cooling fan kicked in. It was a challenging bike to ride before, now it's magic. Great bike lousy service.

I also made inquiries at the local KTM dealer about there equipment compatibility with reading the ECU. They said they couldn't.

Select your dealer well !

i agree, most of the reported issues seem to be due to incompetent or unmotivated dealers. Too many very positive examples to blame the bike.

Pretty stoked. Returned to work from Christmas block leave to an email from my dealer.
They ordered a new Dash assy, ECU, keys and ingition assy with antenna a few weeks ago. Its all here now.

Sure it's mid January and it's cold as hell outside but I'll be bringing the bike out on Friday for the work. No rush to fix it obviously. But I'm pretty happy it's going to be fixed.

Lucky man. Husqvarna Australia appears to be ignoring me, hoping I'll go away. They took a couple stabs at fixing the problems the recall created for me, and now have just gone silent, refusing to take my calls or respond to my messages. Just lost the only dealer here, as they pulled teh rug out from under the largest volume dealer in Australia. I guess KTM really did buy the brand to bury it. Totally hung out to dry. Parts on order and no recognition, no response, nothing. Talked to a RTW rider who got stranded on a new 701 and they can't be bothered to fix the bike that THEY APPROACHED HIM TO RIDE RTW WITH!!! Husky is dead. Very sad. KTM and Husqvarna can go get F***ed. Never gonna own either ever again.

F#%k, You say both your machines got totalled? Have you swapped ecu maybe? I'm in Brisbane, is there any way I can help. WayneC is very astute in theses matters also.

They aren't totalled, just f***ed ECU's. Did the recall flash, which has now caused both my wife and I to go down (in the bush fortunately) on our bikes. I finally jacked Husky execs up good enough it appears, and also filed another ACCC complaint, to get the ass that's been ignoring me to call back. I have demanded the last BMW map ever made available for these be put back in my bikes so they will run correctly again. They try to threaten me with the fact BMW won't support the bike... hahahahahah, like they DO? Its a shame... I LOVED these bikes. It has no replacement in the market, particularly for a shorty like me. So with my upcoming multi-country odyssey to launch a new company, I am gonna have to settle for another bike... one too big and too heavy and too expensive for my taste. Bad timing too... I really don't need the expense and drama of bike replacement right now.

As for ECU swapping, its my understanding one can only do a full swap of ECU, Dash, and Ignition. Unless you had dealer and manufacturer support, which of course we don't have any longer. Husky (read, KTM) wants all of us to disappear. They want to eradicate every Husky built prior to the purchase, and probably even since. Shit they aren't even supporting the new 701! We're all on our own to either scrap or preserve what will become relics of a previous time. Love to keep mine but currently don't have the space or $ to just put them to pasture.

The brand manager for Aus has given notice, as have many here in Aus. They want no part of the destruction of the company. When KTM bought Husky, they closed the Italy factory and pissed off and mis-treated everyone who built Huskies. Most of the engineers and sub-contractors have gone to work now for SWM. So KTM has nowhere to turn to support the brand. KTM is farming most of its stuff out to China and Malaysia and such now anyway. Just a cheap Chinese bike with an expensive name on it. Unfortunately, SWM's new bike, the SuperDual, is no match for the TR. That TE630 was a good engine... for a dirt bike that saw occasional weekend use.... not 10's of thousands of km's as an ADV bike, doing double duty on the road and off.

I'll update if they play nice and get the BMW software back into it. If not, I told them I'm tired of jerking around and will just spend the time pursuing legal action. They've violated plenty of Australian and International laws with the lack of support of the brand, and failure to follow protocol on the recall. Both bikes have been held for weeks and weeks over 3 different occasions, with me ferrying them back and forth. 2.5hr round trip for each pick up and each drop off. I'm done. I'd like to bend a couple KTM execs over and ride both mine up their asses.

Wow! I had my Terra remapped @ Foothills Motorsports in SC and it is running better than ever. In fact, I am getting ready to pull my AF-XIED to sell. The only strange part is that Stealership told me that my battery needed replacement since it would not hold a charge and they could not "test" the remapped ECU until I approved a new battery. No choice although I argued that my battery had never given me any issues and in fact, I keep it on a Battery Tender constantly when not riding. At the end, I had to say "yes" to a $100.00+ battery. For what it's worth, it was the original battery on my 2014 Terra and in fact, I had just ridden the bike a week before and no slow start or any issue starting. The Stealership did show me my old battery to prove that it was dead when I got back from the road test. I was too excited about the transformation of my Terra and did not argue. Foothills Motorsports is a large Husky/KTM dealer in SC. Husky NA website also showed other non motorcycle dealers closer to my home such as Husky chainsaw and lawn equipment dealer that when I called told me that they could do the ECU mapping but I decided to play it safe and took it to Foothills Motorsports.

Here's the contact at KTM that actually responded to my email about the ECU recall and called me couple of times to let me know the progress of the ECU recall. Weird as that was the last thing I expected to see on my phone's caller ID- KTM North America calling me.

KEVIN PETERSONCUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
KTM NORTH AMERICA, INC.38429 Innovation Court
Murrieta, CA 92563
T: 951-600-8007 x4127
F: 951-600-8866
kpeterson@ktmnorthamerica.com

Jon

You boys are lucky in N. America. From all I am seeing, hearing, and reading, KTM understandably seems interested in preserving that market (seeing as how its the largest in the world), whereas we here in this little itty bitty market (only 25m people) are just an annoyance to them. Brand manager for Husky Aus has quit, as have many others. The attitude of manufacturers here is most generally "piss off, we don't care about you and your minuscule market". They all act as though they are doing us a giant favour even bringing bikes here. And to be honest, the way the govt treats them, they are doing us a favour. But it ends there. "You want the bike, mate? You're gonna live with what you get and like it. Don't ask for more". Hell right now I am shopping for a new bike, and nobody can be bothered to show much interest at all. I want to ride a low seat (I'm short) F800GS, but nobody can be bothered to round one up, find a seat, etc. You can spend an hour in a dealership looking at bikes and never be approached. They all just can't be bothered. Then when it comes to service? Hahahahahahahahaha. They will write up an invoice, never touch the bike, and wait for you to come back for the bike. I'll call the N. America guy but with other companies they all tell me they have nothing to do with us here and really aren't interested. KTM's reputation here is on a log ride south, damn near free-fall. But they really don't care. They are simply eliminating competition to force people to buy their over-priced chinese, rattletraps.

Had mine done a couple of weeks ago. I didn't get a call.

Figures. They have a legal obligation to notify but are refusing to do so. When I pinned the brand manager down here, in person, he and the team with him just went silent about it.

I may not be posting in the correct thread and mods, please move if incorrect. My experience with the remapping of the ECU is that it provided more bottom end response than before. Previously, before the ECU mapping, I had to rev the bike higher in the rpm band in order to ensure that it would not stutter or hesitate when taking off especially when riding in tight terrain. I was careful and followed other inmate instructions to disconnect any booster plug or AF-XIED before dropping my bike off for the recall work.

Post recall, the bottom end is stronger as I no longer have to rev it high. Almost like the KLR or DR, it will just chug down low and takeoff without stuttering or hesitating. The mid range also feels stronger but not sure. I drag raced my buddies KLR, at 5mph roll on, before and after the recall. Pre-recall, the KLR would pull 4 or 5 bike lengths on the Terra until about third or fourth gear but the Terra would catch back up and take the lead for good at anything above 6K rpm in third or fourth gear. With the recall, the Terra now starts even with KLR, at 5mph roll on, and pulls ahead for good at 5K rpm in third or fouth gear. Overall just a better throttle response and no more going down in tight terrain because the motor sputtered on a tight switchback. Anyway, just my experience.

Yep, this is my trouble. Everyone (including Husky) wants to tell me about how great the update is. That's super its worked for many. But the fact that it HASN'T worked for mine, and has created a safety hazard far worse than before, causing injury to 2 people, is falling in deaf ears. Lots of things are SUPPOSED to be a certain way. But when they AREN'T that way, for who knows what reason, a new remedy needs to be found. Nobody wants to remedy my bikes because they "shouldn't" be the way they are. Again, glad it worked for you, but to be honest, I am really sick of hearing how great the update is SUPPOSED to be. It is doing nothing to remedy my bikes. I want the old BMW mapping, with a booster plug. That worked great. I only did the recall because of pressure from dealer over it being a safety recall, ability to re-sell, etc. BIG mistake for me. And as I've stated about Aus, Husky doesn't give a DAMN about its customers here. They want us all to go away. Hell, the did away with the dealer for my area! F*** Husqvarna and F*** KTM. I will forever do all I can to bash those companies and convince people to NEVER own one of their machines. Absolute shitbags. Oh and I wrote the guy in N. America. His response.... a polite "go F*** yourself, call Husky there". Pure wanker. Never have I come across a shittier company than KTM. I've proudly dissuaded 2 people this week from KTM purchases. One went Yamaha, the other sticking with BMW. It aint much, but doing what I can.

Sorry to hear about all your troubles
I had my fair share after the recall was initially done but looking forward to getting my bike back to see how round 2 plays out. Dealer call a few days ago and said my bike is ready, I go tomorrow to pick it up. Took the day off work to go get it since its almost 400km round trip.
I will say my dealer has been great about the entire process and if I had the cash id definitely use it in their shop for a new bike. Freedom Cycle in Truro Nova Scotia, Canada if anyone is wondering.
Biggest problem Canada has with the red Huskys is BMW's lack of Diagnostic support (or should I say zero) and spare parts towards KTM's now bastard children.

This is now 2018 and the biggest sales and advertising agent companies have is Social Media. Have you tried hitting them where it hurts?
Fill KTM and Husky's Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc with your complaints and concerns. My advice would be to leave emotions out of it and be professional when writing your posts. Sooner or later someone is bound to answer you. Possibly make you happy in the hopes you'll remove the posts. I know many people with Car dealers and Car/Truck brands who went that route and within days there was a personal email/message for them to contact a customer service rep to remedy the situation.

Food for thought

Cheers.

Thanks but no, I am not on any form of (anti) social media, nor will I ever be. I prefer to live an actual life. I won't get on that soapbox. Lol. I am dealing with the top people for the brand for Australia. They don't care. Hell, the guy in charge of the head office for the country... just hangs up the phone on you. Then refuses to answer it. It's a tiny office, so they can do that. In person they just give excuses and then don't respond at all when you have them in a corner. I have been very professional, patient, and diplomatic for months with them. It does no good. They are not a company that cares about a few owners in a tiny market. Hell, KTM doesn't care if you are riding around the world on their bike, doing professional production work for them! They still treat you like dirt. Ask Tolga Basol, the Turkish guy who ride around the word on a KTM. They truly are the most arrogant folks you'll come across. N. America has the benefit of the power of the market. Here, they could lose the ENTIRE market and not care. One dealership (of many) in a city like Phoenix (where I moved from) out-sells an entire country here. So what do they care? I could tell EVERYONE here, and it won't make a dent in their empire. I've complained to all 3 government bodies who have anything to do with their behaviour, but they say "we can't make them do anything". So there literally is nowhere to call and nobody to hold them accountable to anything. That is how it works here. We are "blessed" with what we get. We have no power, have no say, and they know it. I'm just stuck. So all I can do is encourage people to never deal with them. These two TR's will be the last KTM/Husqvarna's I ever own, no question. My mate is gonna sell his 2 KTM's in support. All I can do is make that kind of statement. But again, I've told them this... the guys in charge... they don't give a rat's ass. And I'm a guy who has documented, with the authorities, an injury sustained as a direct result of their behaviour. Doesn't matter. No my wife has been injured. Again... doesn't matter. I am told my N. American KTM that the guys I am dealing with here are my only resource. Wish there was something I could do, but there doesn't appear to be. So, as I tramp around the glob on my bikes, I will tell every soul who will listen NOT to buy the brands, and make sure my new global website carries a message of anti- KTM/Husqvarna.