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braking problem

816 Views 17 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  AspectOne, 
peterbilt
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it starts out simple i was riding my wing on a poker run with my dad and several others i hit the rear brakes and noticed it wouldnt release i immedatly pulled over and fount the rear caliper siezed tight and no rear brake plunger woudnt come back... i just had this all rebuilt by a local repair shop "unamed" they do good work for my dad and i never had a problem until now



so i called the shop and told them what i had i told them i have some tools and could removed the bleeder from the rear caliper and see if that will get me home they said ok do it and i did so the fluid shot out and i could move but only on front brakes.





after i got it home i trailered it to the shop other side of town dangerous with only front brakes. i wasnt too upset my dad loaned me one of his spare ones a harley..... sportster i said cool but i would really rather walk... my ass is still sore



4 days later the shop finally called me and said the rear master cylinder needs rebuilt... odd..... i said you just did it they dissagreed i said ok what ever i think the rear master cylinder relieve hole inside is plugged with gunk or something not returning pressure....



anyway i picked it up on the 4th day paid the bill and went down the road i was going through town in total trust they've never done me wrong and all of a sudden wham i hit the rear brakes after the umteenth time and they locked up as i was turning a corner dropped the bike like a sack of potatoes pinned me under it thankfully i have the crash bars and everything i wasnt hurt the bike has a couple of scratches but nothing serious



i called the shop only 30minutes after picking it up i did the same thing pulled the bleeder and hot footed it back to them

VERY PISSED NOW



now im a mechanic for a living and i know stuff happens....

i found out they did not test ride it after the repair.... odd i would have especially a rear brake seizure



now they say its going to cost more i disagree on this i said it shouldnt cost me anything i know it will cost alittle but i should be compensated for the damage, and so forth



ive never ran into this issue i usually work on my own stuff but seince they did all the brake work i sent it back





they said they will fill it up with gas a whole gallon whoopie... touch up the paint, buy and install me a brand new front tire .. its very worn, and repair the brakes cost yet unknown.......



should i ask for more?



or should i just take my lickings and never go back



my father and i have used this shop countless times and they have always came through no problems



any sugesstions????





ps i know i cant spell sometimes this is one of them just alittle mad and frustruated???



thanks





alex
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1 of U
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they said they will fill it up with gas a whole gallon whoopie... touch up the paint, buy and install me a brand new front tire .. its very worn, and repair the brakes cost yet unknown.......

it sounds like theyare treating you pretty good to me ,,


my 1100 did that once to me , i made it home and bled out the old fluid and it hasnt done that again ..

1 of U
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oharaLTD
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A new tire is great and all, but they are not fixing what they messed up ordid'nt fix the first time. Is that the offer from the management or owner?
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DaveO430
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Do you have any documentation of the work they supposedly did previously like a detailed list of parts and labor? Any reputable business should have given you details, not just a receipt for $xxx.
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peterbilt
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yeah i have the reciept with the details to the last item i talked to the service manager not the owner who is always in the office my dad wants me to go to him and see what he will do but he is the owner and doesnt oversee the shop everyday that is what a manager is for but if i have to take it to him i will
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DougW
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I would think talking to the owner is the right thing to do. A customer who is dissatisfied enough to go to the owner is a customer who is going to tell all his buddies about the bad experience. The owner will know this and should fix things up so you are happy when all is said and done.
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V
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Just my opinion.I would talk to the owner an try to get this resolved.I don't think I would use them anymore.JMHO.
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Reitzclean
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nothing more frustrating then this. I would go to the owner and talk to him. Sounds like he has built a good reputation? at least with your Dad. As a owner, I'm sure he wants to keep that intact
Service Manager is trying to make it right but he's the one that let it go out with out a test ride. He would have to earn my trust again.
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Bagmaster
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When my rear locked up on me while on a poker run, I popped the banjo bolt loose to bleed off the pressure. Once I got her home I rebuilt the rear caliper myself and now how twice the amount of rear brake I had before. I also installed new pads at the same time.

Luckily I didn't need to rebuild the master cylinder at the same time.

:action::action::action::action::action::action:
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FenderHead
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It is advisable to calmly discuss this issue with the owner. He/she may not be aware of the manager's/mechanic's shenanigans and/or incompetence...worst case is you will learn about the integrity of this shop's business practices.

My daughter went thru something similar with a 5 month old television that suddenly went south on her. She documented & photographed every attempt/action that the customer service people did, which were all shoddy attempts at getting her to go away, then I showed her how to find the company CEO thru the SEC Government website.

She declared to customer service that she was terminating negotiations with them, and emailing the CEO, attaching copies of all correspondence and photos of bad shipping. They immediately agreed to a full refund and arranged for FedEx pickup of the 2 TVs we were holding, no expense to her. She never had to contact the CEO.

Calm, polite communication, backed with documentation really does work, quite often. :waving:
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Mike Toon
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Just think, you could have done the work yourself. You would have taken less time and it would have been done correctly. I have to ask, why would you, as a mechanic, take your bike to someone else and waste your money?

Being a plumber for 40 years, I hate to watch other plumbers work because I see a lot of "wasted motion".
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Lyrkin
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Really good comments here... I agree that you should talk with the owner.
All that I can think to add is that they (and you) are **** lucky you weren't physicaly hurt by their incompetence.
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tire joe
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Mike Toon wrote:
Just think, you could have done the work yourself. You would have taken less time and it would have been done correctly. I have to ask, why would you, as a mechanic, take your bike to someone else and waste your money?

Being a plumber for 40 years, I hate to watch other plumbers work because I see a lot of "wasted motion".
Click to expand...
Mike said what I was thinking.
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Jason m
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A good solid reputation takes years to build... but sub standard employee can screw it up in days.
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G
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Speaking as a business owner. If my company performed work that caused damage after it was done then I would be liable. Not only would I re-do the work but I would repair any damage it caused. Do yourself a favor and talk directly to the owner.
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Wingle
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I suppose that if the repair shop that your father deals with exclusively for his various Harley's is good enough for him, they should be able to handle your Wing. (But maybe they are a Harley shop and not familiar with Oriental ingenuity.) Unfortunately they screwed up and not taking it for a road test was really stupid move on their part. Brakes are an important safety requirement by law.
Their offer of a new tire and some gas is an appeasement of your accident through rational negotiation and compromise and hopefully repair your rear brake correctly. Hopefully your father's relationship with the company won't be ruined.

As a one time busy mechanic, I often wondered if it would be worthwhile leaving my bike into another mechanic to have work done by them. I bought a new machine and left it in for it's first complimentary service to fulfill the contract for warranty service. On picking up the bike he said "I didn't change the oil" as I knew you would have done it in your own shop. I went over the bike thoroughly wondering what else he didn't do. It's guys like this that give mechanics a bad name.
Take his peace offering and don't grace his doorstep again.
My two cents..
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exavid
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Three likely causes of brakes locking, pedal sticking due to rust and crud in the pivot, the small return port in the master plugged, and a frozen caliper. The caliper has to be free to move slightly side to side to center on the rotor. The sleeve in the caliper body where the small mounting bolt passes through has to be free to slide in the caliper. If that freezes up as they tend to do over time, it will keep the inside pads tight against the rotor causing the brake system to heat up to the point the caliper can lock up especially of the small return port in the master is plugged as happens with old or dirty fluid. Also the brake pedal pivots often sieze up to the point the pedal doesn't come all the way back up. The only cure is to remove the pedal and clean the pivot and the pedal and regrease.

I don't think I'd go back to a shop that can't fix a brake problem or one that wouldn't break their butts to make good a problem like that. The problem they supposedly fixed has already caused you and accident, go elsewhere.
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AspectOne
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This is what I was talking about when i made my post about dealers not servicing Honda bikes or others after a certain age... once you find a good shop that will work on them you then have to trust your life and perhaps that of your significant other to who knows what. Its very disconcerting. I am no motorcycle mechanic but have vowed that until I can afford a newer bike that a dealer will work on to do as much work myself as possible even if it means buying a shop fullof tools, my life is worth it, So is my wife's.
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