[chesterwgunn]

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As many of you have probably already read, I've had some tire issues over the last few weeks. On this last tire, I opted to pull the wheel off of the bike and have someone mount the tire for me. I called around and the best deal I could find was $35.00 at the local Honda shop. After they had mounted the tire, I was paying my bill and the service manager walked out of his office, looked at me and asked me when I was going to let him start working on my bike???? Dazed and confused, I turned around to see if he was talking to someone standing behind me... Being the only person in the store at the time, I asked him if he was talking to me??? I reiterated to him that my bike was an 84 Goldwing, and he said that he was aware of that and that he'd seen my bike. He said that he could re-build the carbs, replace the brakes, change the oil..etc...When I told him that I'd already done all of those things myself (thanks to the help I recieved from my friends on this forum), he looked like he'd seen a ghost.

I just thought this was kind of funny, as this dealership has a posted policy of not working on bikes over 10 years old. I'm not saying that I will never let them work on my bike, as one dayI may have to do just that. But, times must really be getting hard for these dealerships.

 

[Rudy]

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Problem is, if they have been rejecting 10 year old bikes all this time and now want to do them again, you have to wonder how much talent they have retained that is capable of doing the job correctly.
Guess they should have thought about that when times were better.

 

[Bagmaster]

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Rudy wrote:

Problem is, if they have been rejecting 10 year old bikes all this time and now want to do them again, you have to wonder how much talent they have retained that is capable of doing the job correctly.
Guess they should have thought about that when times were better.

ditto.

The local dealer here is fairly new to me as the old dealer closed up and retired. The new dealer does, however have 2 old school mechs working from him. One is an old Goldwing mech and the other is a mech from the old dealer I've had work on my bikes before and I trust his work on any bike.

 

[rcmatt007]

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was in out local stealer getting a part, and the manager flatted stated they didn't work on old bikes....

 

[wrongway]

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Good story because it always seems to get that way when times get tough.

I agree with Rudy about the talent pool. Everything today is so computerized that many of the new age techs don't seem to be able to think outside of the box.

This is in no way a slam against the technicians. It's just a computer age and that's the way it is.

 

[nightwizard40]

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If you do take it over there for them to work on, makeSURE you give them the forum web address so they can get on the tech page when they get stuck!

 

[wrongway]

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nightwizard40 wrote:

If you do take it over there for them to work on, makeSURE you give them the forum web address so they can get on the tech page when they get stuck!

That's funny (and possible not far off the mark).

 

[lostinflorida]

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I think the dealer here in Sarasota would work on older bikes. They have been a family affair forever and I know one son is one of the mechanics. The other is in sales.

I personally can't afford the $60 an hour they charge. They too charge $35.00 to mount a tire if you buy the tire from them and take it off your bike.

 

[chesterwgunn]

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nightwizard40 wrote:

If you do take it over there for them to work on, makeSURE you give them the forum web address so they can get on the tech page when they get stuck!

So very true my friend, so very true...I could show them things from this forum that would absolutely blow their mind....The folks on this forum never cease to amaze me..

 

[chesterwgunn]

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lostinflorida wrote:

I think the dealer here in Sarasota would work on older bikes. They have been a family affair forever and I know one son is one of the mechanics. The other is in sales.

I personally can't afford the $60 an hour they charge. They too charge $35.00 to mount a tire if you buy the tire from them and take it off your bike.

That is a complete load of CRAP!!!! I can't afford it either, and my dealer's labor charge is $90.00 per hour.. I think I caught my guy on a day when they weren't busy...because he did hesistate when he quoted me the $35.00 to mount the tire..I guess it just bothers me that these guys turn their backs on the people that ride the bikes that helped to build their success.. I don't feel like I owe them a damn thing..

 

[BC]

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We have an independant shop (Mark P)here that works mostly on older bikes. If I buy my tires from him and take just the wheels, he mounts and balances them for free. Last summer I had an appointment with him for a tire change (2 tires) and he called me to ask if I could bring my wheels the next day instead becasue he had a 1985 Aspencade that needed a new water pump. The owner of the Aspy was passing through on vacation and started overheating. Luckily Honda stealership down the road 50 miles had the part and a helpful customer ran over and got it. The Aspy driver was on his way within 6 hours of breakdown. Mark worked until 7 pm to get the guy on his way.
That is great service.

 

[Bagmaster]

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BC wrote:

We have an independant shop (Mark P)here that works mostly on older bikes. If I buy my tires from him and take just the wheels, he mounts and balances them for free. Last summer I had an appointment with him for a tire change (2 tires) and he called me to ask if I could bring my wheels the next day instead becasue he had a 1985 Aspencade that needed a new water pump. The owner of the Aspy was passing through on vacation and started overheating. Luckily Honda stealership down the road 50 miles had the part and a helpful customer ran over and got it. The Aspy driver was on his way within 6 hours of breakdown. Mark worked until 7 pm to get the guy on his way.
That is great service.

Now that's a shop worth spending money with. My first GW was a dressed 76 1000 and it blew the rear master cylinder while on vacation in Virginia Beach. The local dealer was overloaded with work but still managed to get me into the shop before lunch. 2 hrs later and 90 bucks lighter in my wallet and I was on my way. That included parts and labor.

 

[nobbie]

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I asked the local Honda Full Line shop about a small service call and was told everyone waits their turn. While that seems fair in one way I find it difficult to accept waiting for a couple of weeks to get a minor problem resolved. Riding season here isn't a 12 month affair.

My 2 cents worthbut the supermarket has an express lane for small purchases. Fortunately there is this site.