Hopeless AA!

[kellyjo]

Last week i was 200 miles away from home, my bike was left outside overnight in the pouring rain and in protest refused to start the next morning :-(, so i rang the AA cos id run the battery down trying it, after all i have been paying then handsomely for over 10 years without calling upon their services.

The guy turned up 40 mins later so that was good. Then he announced he didnt know bikes!! Well, as you've probably worked out i dont know bikes either, only been doing this a couple of months so the outlook wasnt good.

It was turning over fine, with assistance from his battery, just not firing, so his diagnosis was that it was damp causing the trouble. Well, even i'd worked that out!!
Luckily i knew how to get the seat off and lift the tank to get to one of the sparks for him to start fiddling and he reckoned that it was due to that plug only having a weak spark, couldnt get to the other cos of all the plastics. So anyhow, he drove me across town where i had to cough up £14 (gulp) for 2 new plugs, which made no difference. At a total loss he phoned his 'biker' mate for advice who told him what you are already thinking and i now know - WD40!!! It started instantly, thankfully.

What i dont understand is why the AA offer motorcycle cover and then not train their employees to carry out even the basics. I looked at their site and apparently the only bike specialists they have are on the M25, what about the rest of us? I feel like complaining cos without his 'mate' it would've ended up in a bike shop costing me a small fortune.

Anyway, hopefully im starting a bike maintenance course in October so this shouldnt happen again!!

Sorry, rant over :-)

[454697819]

sory to hear this.. come renewall try NCI rescue, they have alway sent dedicated bike guys with long wise beards and a book of stories to entertain during repair or being towed.

A Regular squirt of WD 40 should keep the plug areas ok during bad weather, if you ride in very bad rain fit a fenda extenda or carry wd 40 with you.

[kellyjo]

First thing i did to the bike was fit a fenda extenda, and from now WD40 is staying in my tank bag when im away and ive bought a waterproof cover too! :-) Renewal due November, will look at NCI, ta x

[Dave20046]

Last week i was 200 miles away from home, my bike was left outside overnight in the pouring rain and in protest refused to start the next morning :-(, so i rang the AA cos id run the battery down trying it, after all i have been paying then handsomely for over 10 years without calling upon their services.

The guy turned up 40 mins later so that was good. Then he announced he didnt know bikes!! Well, as you've probably worked out i dont know bikes either, only been doing this a couple of months so the outlook wasnt good.

It was turning over fine, with assistance from his battery, just not firing, so his diagnosis was that it was damp causing the trouble. Well, even i'd worked that out!!
Luckily i knew how to get the seat off and lift the tank to get to one of the sparks for him to start fiddling and he reckoned that it was due to that plug only having a weak spark, couldnt get to the other cos of all the plastics. So anyhow, he drove me across town where i had to cough up £14 (gulp) for 2 new plugs, which made no difference. At a total loss he phoned his 'biker' mate for advice who told him what you are already thinking and i now know - WD40!!! It started instantly, thankfully.

What i dont understand is why the AA offer motorcycle cover and then not train their employees to carry out even the basics. I looked at their site and apparently the only bike specialists they have are on the M25, what about the rest of us? I feel like complaining cos without his 'mate' it would've ended up in a bike shop costing me a small fortune.

Anyway, hopefully im starting a bike maintenance course in October so this shouldnt happen again!!

Sorry, rant over :-)
Yeah they're crap. You did try messing with the choke didn't you?

[kellyjo]

Yes of course i did :-)

[petevtwin650]

Not the first tale of cr@p service from the AA, although most breakdown companies are not overly bike friendly. Often depends if they sub the work out and then who turns up. Also be advised that should you need the AA to recover you after an accident, they may not do so.

Oh, and a small tin of WD40 will fit under the seat.

[Dave20046]

hehe just checking, did he spray the wd40 in the airbox or did he use it on the plugs? :scratch:
Not the first tale of cr@p service from the AA, although most breakdown companies are not overly bike friendly..
Can work in your favour though.... :) (i.e when they come to recover a crashed bike and know nothing about bikes)

[phi-dan]

A couple of years back one of the AA chappies tries convincing me to join up, so i quizzed him over the whole "will you be able to fix the bike" issue, and he admitted that everyone he knew was only trained on cars and wouldn't know for sure how to work on a bike, or even have the right parts on board for a roadside repair. His take on the whole thing was "we just get a trailer and take you home / to a dealer"

Thanks for the tip re NCI - I'll have a look at that

[kellyjo]

Oh, and a small tin of WD40 will fit under the seat.

In theory yes, but there's also a tool kit, mini jump leads, disc lock, chain to lock up helmets and god knows what else ive got under there. Luckily it's an SV tardis :-)

[kellyjo]

hehe just checking, did he spray the wd40 in the airbox or did he use it on the plugs? :scratch:


He sprayed plugs, coils and leads.... i think!

[PsychoCannon]

It's always been hit and miss for me with the AA as they do have "bike vans" out there but you don't always get them or a "biker" in the van.
Once I even had to show the guy that turned up how to load the bike onto the Trailer as he'd never done it before :)
Not sure if there are any dedicated "biker" breakdown services but it would be nice!

[kellyjo]

Hah! Just had a phone call from the AA market research dept wanting me to rate their service. So in my sweetest voice i said that their phone service and arrival time was exellent, but as for the rest ...... i told her in no uncertain terms what i thought and that come renewal time i will be considering an alternative rescue organisation who know one end of a bike from the other, as recommended by some forum friends of mine :-) No apologies from her for my dissatisfaction with their service or comment on it, she couldnt get off the phone quick enough!!!

[Sosha]

Kind of impressed by the amount of effort the guy put in tbh.

[kwak zzr]

Not the first tale of cr@p service from the AA, although most breakdown companies are not overly bike friendly. Often depends if they sub the work out and then who turns up. Also be advised that should you need the AA to recover you after an accident, they may not do so.

Oh, and a small tin of WD40 will fit under the seat.

yup the AA are rubbish, they are good at advertising and taking your money tho, their good til you need them.

[ophic]

yup the AA are rubbish, they are good at advertising and taking your money tho, their good til you need them.
gotta disagree - my MGF wouldn't start once, totally dead, and the guy they sent was utterly brilliant, he had a great deal of specific MG knowledge and identified the problem in about half an hour, fixed it within an hour. Of course, this was a car.

I had to wait 4 hours on the side of the M62 to get my bike recovered though. Not too bad as it was a hot summer day, but in the winter I think I might have been dead by the time he arrived.

[kwak zzr]

i think they just must be rubbish with bikes.

[Ceri JC]

Yes, this reflects my own experiences (although you were lucky with 40 minute call out time! ;)). Some of their chaps know bikes and they are generally very good, but a lot of them have no knowledge of bikes at all and will only try to recover it, even if it's a trivial problem, the moment they see it's a bike.

Answer: Learn DIY spannering, carry tools and some basic spares yourself and only ever consider the AA a "recovery service" when used in relation to bikes.

[philbut]

walkabout Andy on here broke down last summer due to a short in his loom. The AA guy fiddled with the wire and managed to engage the starter motor with bike in gear => bike ends up on floor with broken fairings - NEVER trust an AA man, just borrow their tools! my insurance company always send out bike specific repair people as they actually know how to fix and handle bikes.

[timwilky]

To be fair, the AA is designed to get cages running or to someone who can fix them. They extend their service to motorcycles. But should be offering a recovery only service. they are not equipped to attempt anything but minor roadside repairs.

My biggest gripe about the AA is that they do not tell you they will not recover after an accident until you need recovery. Never before you hand over the cash.

[Graciepants]

my friend got his bike recovered by the AA, and the guy knew loads about bikes, although that was just by accident, rather than they went a bike guy. went through loads of things trying to fix it, re-did the sidestand switch thing and spent about an hour trying to get it to work going through all the electrics

[trumpet]

Been with two cashed bikes and the AA sent lorries designed for cars to pick them up,one with only a driver,locked keys under my seat wanted to transport me fifty miles to m/c shop,took me ten mins with his tools ,AA had told him it was a triumph car.
Had a flat AA bloke made brilliant job it was a massive hole gave me his number in case i had a problem, must have been his first bike would'nt believe it was 42 in tyre I had to insist,??.

[AAPatrol]

Hi there I work for the AA as a motorbike patrol in London and came across this thread. There are 50 of us across six of the main cities in the country and we’re on bikes, not only because it’s the best way to travel, but also means we can get to our members in congested areas quicker.

There’s a few things we’re doing specifically around bikes that might be of interest. We’re trialling a new recovery service for bikes at the moment, within the M25 with 5 vans. The vans have been equipped with specialist recovery equipment which means your bike’s fitted securely and recovered undercover too. Depending on how successful they are, we hope to roll them out elsewhere.

As a patrol, motorbike faults are included within our training and our laptop diagnostic kit covers information and hints and tips on the major manufacturers, but someone who’s interested in or owns a bike will always know more. We’ll always do our best to get you up and running, so I’m sorry if that hasn’t been your experience so far.

[kellyjo]

Thanks for the reply, its good to know that steps are being taken to improve things. Any idea what the timescale is for completing the m25 trials and extending the service?

[AAPatrol]

Hi, I don't know the exact timescale for the potential roll out but I know that the trial within the M25 is so far proving to be a huge success. The AA are consistently reviewing their services with a view to meeting ever changing demands so all I can say about the motorcycle recovery service being offered nationwide, is watch this space!!!

[arcdef]

Im suprised none of you have mentioned the article in Ride this month, all about breakdown cover and compares the service to the price etc, here it is:

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h113/arcanedefiance/10092009312.jpg

Short of it is green flag offer the best for the least! Does not mention knowledge though, or you could just get insurance with breakdown included!

Hope it helps,
Ash.

[Iansv II]

Never used the AA but had the same kind of incident with the RAC as well, very few bike trained people, and yet they send them out clueless before they actually admit defeat and recover you..

I once spent 5 hours on the a406 in the pouring rain with a totally broken engine because I had to wait for the 2nd guy to actually bring a trailer to take the bike away

Been with NCI ever since and had very good service and always someone who knows bikes