Missing bolt! k7 sv650s

[DavidSV650]

Hi, ive got a k7 sv650s. It recently went into a Suzuki dealer to have a front fairing fitted. Ive since noticed that they did not replace a bolt, which i think is the lower rear mounting bolt (found a picture in the Haynes manual).

My knowledge of bikes is pretty limited, so how dangerous is this? and what steps would you advise i took? eg just get a new bolt, or send in a complaint etc. Cheers

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a157/MaxPower_/06102007366b.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a157/MaxPower_/211020071015.jpg

[ClemsonSV]

I obviously didn't look close enough. Sorry.

[kwak zzr]

i may be wrong but isnt that the rear engine mount bolt? if it is id get back there and play your face.

[DavidSV650]

Flipping through the haynes book last night, it looks to be the lower rear mounting bolt, so same as you said. Ill be giving the manager a call today, see what they say.

[kwak zzr]

i wouldn't be happy with that david thats a school boy error.

[kwak zzr]

its not like its a small bolt it goes through to the other side and is about 12 inches in length.

[svtcschell]

I found my 05 missing this bolt after about 200 miles left it for about 3000 miles before doing anything about it and it melted a little of the fairing where it was closest to the exhaust and left rub marks on the engine case. I wouldn't be happy that it was missing.

[DavidSV650]

I phoned them today, theyll fit a new one if i take it down there. If they are expecting me to pay for it though they wont enjoy my tone of voice lol. Oh well. On the other hand, its nearing its first 600 mile service, so excited about being able to give it a bit more soon!

[kwak zzr]

i would ask " why this got over looked "

[DavidSV650]

Yeah i will do. Ive had a whole host of problems from that dealer, not what you expect when its a brand new bike

[kwak zzr]

PM me the dealers name if you dont mind.

[DoubleD]

I would be pushing them for FREE parts and labour for the first service you have coming up as well as sorting out that bolt!

[AlanB]

I'd be pushing to have the service done elsewhere at their cost, what would they miss next time?

[Baph]

You can clearly see from the picture that the bolt in question not only holds the fairing on (and without it in place can cause damage to the fairing - as already stated in this thread), but also helps to hold the engine to the frame!!

I'd be refusing to start the bike, and telling the dealer they can pick the bike up in their van, fit said bolt, then drop the bike off at my conveinence, or I'll be putting down the phone & calling trading standards to enquire why a mechanic would miss such an important bolt.

If you miss one engine mounting bolt, it puts all the others under undue stress. Why risk the engine falling out?

Granted others in this thread haven't had much issue with it, but it'd be unacceptable on my bike.

Also, if you've had problems with the dealership in the past, IMHO find another dealership once this issue is sorted out.

[DavidSV650]

I would be pushing them for FREE parts and labour for the first service you have coming up as well as sorting out that bolt!

Brand new bike k7, so the first service is free anyway :)

The list of wrong doings so far:

Very pushy salesman, asked me about 6 times to give a deposit, as 'if you dont, i cant guarantee we will be able to get the bike road ready in one weeks time' 'just leave a 100 pound deposit, if you change your mind we will refund it' etc etc. This was a few days before i was taking my DAS test anyway, so i didnt want to put pen to paper so early. Plus it was the first time i had been to look at the bike - so i still had plenty of research on it to do.

2nd problem: Phoned them on thursday (Saturday delivery) just to check it was all ok, and find out when it would arrive. Was told they dont do saturday deliveries, so i would have to go and pick it up, even though it was agreed before i signed.

3rd problem: They cocked up, and ordered the wrong fairing, so when i collected the bike it wasnt fitted. A week later, it was due to go in, and they then told me they didnt have time, as they had an engine to rebuild. they tried to put me off, saying they would fit it (and the crash protectors i ordered) when the first service was due. I phoned the manager, the bike got collected 3 days later, and dropped back to me the following day with the bits fitted.

4th mess up: The finance company only asked me for ID 3 days after i collected the bike (I gave it to them after the manager agreed to collect the bike to fit the fairing)

5th mistake: I recieved a letter a couple of days ago from Datatool, the Suzuki dealer hadnt filled the Alarm form in properly, missing out the registration number.

6th problem: A couple of weeks later i notice the above mentioned bolt is missing, and was never fitted.

So yeah, theres been a number of problems so far!

I think ill phone the manager again tomorrow, see what he says.

[kwak zzr]

your dealer sounds like my local one.

[Warthog]

Ah yes, I see your problem; you still have the standard exhaust :-P

[DavidSV650]

Ah yes, I see your problem; you still have the standard exhaust :-P

Cant find any for the K7 yet :( Scorpion are still in development, and its theres that i like the look of. Apparently the k7 has an exhaust probe or something...

[Warthog]

Ah yeah, I think "exhaust probe" is another name for lambda sensor. And with that, we step out of the realms of my knowledge. :)

[muffles]

Brand new bike k7, so the first service is free anyway :)

It *should* be only labour free - but I hope you get it all free, it'll be some recompense for this...

Btw is that definitely an engine mount bolt? Not being silly...and a lot of people say it is...but when I fitted my lower fairings to my old K3 I thought the only bolt I changed that went all the way through was the crash bung one for the R&Gs (which I added at the same time). Obviously don't want it missing anyway....just wondering if it was a structural component or not.

[DavidSV650]

Yeah definately an engine bolt, as it passed through the oil casing bit as well - so the bolt is fully enclosed. (found it in the haynes manual - in the engine removal bit)

Phoned the manager today, and he told me its probably just fallen out. I asked him how an 8 inch bolt can undo itself and fall out, and he got a bit stroppy saying its not their fault, hes sure they fitted it. After i told him ive got pictures on the internet on public forums - so time and date stamped - he said he would collect the bike and fit the bolt. I told him i wasnt happy with the situation or service ive received off them, and he said its not his fault or problem, as he had offered to pick the bike up to replace the part.

Am i reading into this too much, or should i take it further? Im unsure whether to just let them refit the bolt, or contact trading standards to find out my rights. Ive lost all confidence in the dealer, and wasnt too happy with the way i was spoken too. Although he wasnt directly rude on the phone, i certainly didnt feel like a value customer.

[kwak zzr]

personally? me? i wouldn't be happy but it depends on how far your willing to take this, if the dealer is being a stubborn ar#ehole just have the bolt fitted and never go there again, when the bolt is fitted tell the dealer your intension's. as for the bolt FALLING OUT? well, don't you need one of those engine removal tools to get this bolt out? i believe you do, how could it fall out? he's dug his self a hole there.

[DavidSV650]

Ive phoned the suzuki number from their website, and customer services are going to give me a call in the morning. At the very least ill ask them to move the service contract to another branch, it might have just been a one in a million mistake by the mechanic, but i cant take that risk.

[kwak zzr]

any suzy dealer can service your bike it doesnt have to be where you got it from.

[DavidSV650]

Thats good to know! Cheers for the replies mate, been rather helpful

[Lozzo]

any suzy dealer can service your bike it doesnt have to be where you got it from.

Any recognised motorcycle dealership with trained and qualified technicians can service a bike and keep it in the manufacturer's warranty, according to European Law. It doesn't have to be a Suzuki dealer, it can be Honda, Yamaha etc etc, as long as the guy who does the work is trained and qualified.

[kwak zzr]

just checked, that is a engine mount bolt that needs a special tool to remove it, it cant have just fell out.

[muffles]

If he says it just fell out, tell him you're taking him to court for selling unsafe goods :D

[ukgooner]

If you don't want to name the dealer in question at this time because of ongoing issues, would you mind saying what town the dealer was in?

[DavidSV650]

Just heard back from the head office. Apparently ive got no rights.

The dealer is going to collect my bike, fit the bolt and do the first service, then drop my bike back. So its back to square one, which they would have done in the beginning.

If i take the bike elsewhere instead, ill lose the 200 quid service contract (they wont refund). It will also cost me approx 200 quid including collection, and ill have to pay for the next 2 services aswell.

All in all it'll cost me an additional 500 quid or so. Not really an option, so im stuck with them.

So im now going to have a dealer ive got no confidence in, who is probably ****ed with me for going to customer services, working on my bike. Great. Their goes my faith in suzuki.

[kwak zzr]

bad new matey sorry bout that:( keep an eye on ya bike while in their possession and make sure it comes back how it should.

[Lozzo]

If i take the bike elsewhere instead, ill lose the 200 quid service contract (they wont refund). It will also cost me approx 200 quid including collection, and ill have to pay for the next 2 services aswell.




I'd risk losing the money paid for the service contract. I wouldn't want my bike touched by them again. Sometimes it's worth paying the extra.

Another lesson to be learned from this, never ever spend money on a service contract with any dealer - it's designed purely to rip you off.

[DavidSV650]

Another lesson to be learned from this, never ever spend money on a service contract with any dealer - it's designed purely to rip you off.

The 200 quid included all parts and labour costs for the first 2 years of servicing, so it made the idea of a new bike a lot more attractive

[G]

If its less than 6 months old then reject the bike on safety grounds. Speak to citizens advice and trading standard who can advise you more on this.

Its easy to do if you have a case, which by the sound of it you do.

Write everything down with dates and times it happened.

The dealer saying the a bolt that requires a special tool to remove may have fallen out sound like the final nail in the coffin.

Worth a try then get a bike from elsewhere.

[northwind]

Are you sure about the bolt needing a special tool? There's a castellation in there but I know I didn't touch it when I removed that bolt on mine. I'm not sure what it's there for but it was just a regular socket job. That's a cruvy though, can someone with a pointy check it? (the engine won't fall out!)

[kwak zzr]

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/kwak-zzr/bolt.jpg
the other side-
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/kwak-zzr/otherside.jpg

[DavidSV650]

If its less than 6 months old then reject the bike on safety grounds. Speak to citizens advice and trading standard who can advise you more on this.



I phoned trading standards yesterday, who put me in touch with citizens advice. They said that under the trading act (1983?) that the dealer has to be given a chance to rectify the fault.

Still would have thought the suzuki head office would help me through goodwill though, but nope.

[Biker Biggles]

Sounds like you may as well get your monies worth of services out of these clowns,and get the book stamped up for warranty and resale value,but I would get into the habit of checking everything they do.When you have the 600 mile service done,put a little scratch on the oil filter before,so you can check its been changed.Learn to do the basic bike checks yourself(if you dont already)as you cant trust the dealer to have done it properly.

[kcowgergmm]

I wouldn't deal with that shop the shop i deal with when im home always gives me good service well does good changing the tires since i do everything else. THe give me reasonable prices on parts i bought my bike used so the guy had it serviced there and thats where i picked it up they gave an extra key license plate mounting hardware for free and said come back to see us. and i didn't even buy the bike from them. when dad bought his 4 wheeler dad said ill take it today if you deliver it by 6 pm it was like 5:30. The owner showed up and delivered it to our farm shortly after six for free. this is what you should expect from a dealer. Not what you are getting

[northwind]

Right, so there's not a specialist tool needed to remove the bolt itself, the castellation is for a different part. Be careful of that, you don't want to undermine your argument with any confusion, even when it's not relevant.

[ukgooner]

Perhaps we should have a "Rate a Dealer / Garage" thread, could possibly give marks out of 10 for certain things like.....

Attitude / politeness
Workmanship
Time keeping
Price
ETC, don't have to be specific with details, or will this be construed as libel / slanderous?

[DavidSV650]

The haynes manual says you have to slacken these off before you remove the bolt. Never done it myself, so wouldnt know for sure, for thats what it seems to suggest.

Cheers for the advice Biker biggles, i hadnt thought of that, but i will do!

Kcow, thats the kind of service and customer relations i expected to get, but no such luck

[DavidSV650]

Perhaps we should have a "Rate a Dealer / Garage" thread

ETC, don't have to be specific with details, or will this be construed as libel / slanderous?

Thats why ive kept their name off the public forums..as im not too sure. although i dont think it can be slanderous if its true lol

[kwak zzr]

well rouge traders name and shame shoddy work.

[natcar]

It's a bit harsh slagging them off for missing one bolt - accidents/mistakes happen, although they should have just sorted it out instead of being difficult/denying responsibility. I would rather service my own bike and double check torque settings, but even checking things carefully I usually end up with a handfull of spare bolts/washers :joker:

[ukgooner]

David,

Get them to update their safety check to a 28 point one!

"This motorcycle will be supplied with the balance of the Manufacturer's warranty (expires 19/05/2008) and a 27 point safety check will be carried out prior to delivery."

Natcar, I think it is more of their attitude after the missing bolt was discovered that is more the issue now, and their total disregard for the customer. Basically, we have your money, so get stuffed!!

[the_lone_wolf]

well rouge traders name and shame shoddy work.
windmills?

:confused:

;)

[DavidSV650]

It's a bit harsh slagging them off for missing one bolt - accidents/mistakes happen, although they should have just sorted it out instead of being difficult/denying responsibility. I would rather service my own bike and double check torque settings, but even checking things carefully I usually end up with a handfull of spare bolts/washers :joker:

Its my first bike. It was brand new. I didnt know a thing about bike maintenance, thats why i bought a brand new bike, as theoretically, i shouldnt have had to do much to it to keep it running smoothly, and could learn the basics as i went along.

I shouldnt have had to go around checking all the bolts after it came back from the dealer, that was their job not mine. And as i havent grown up around bikes/ not a mechanic, i didnt notice the bolt was missing at first, as i wouldnt have known what to look for anyway.

Servicing my own bike is not an option at the moment, as apart from lack of knowledge, i need the stamps in my book to keep a high re-sale value and warranty.

[DavidSV650]

I remembered something that was said in a previous conversation with suzuki customer services, so i rang them this afternoon. They had told me that the bike was perfectly safe to ride. So i asked them to fax me this through, as i need to use the bike tomorrow.

A fax came through, saying the bike should NOT be ridden in the present state, and 2 hours later a mechanic came round and fitted the bolt.

Job Done http://www.socweb.co.uk/forum/smileys/smiley1.gif

[kwak zzr]

Result! the hard way but never the less a result.

[DavidSV650]

Back on the road in time for the weekend :D