Last June I had some major work done on my bike and it spent 5 weeks in the shop. More notable than that… I spent 5 weeks off my ride. Now, it’s in the shop again. The suspect: the idle-stepper. The problem here is that if the part were actually kept in stock, I’d be back on my bike after a day or two at most. But because of the bureaucratic red-tape, the bike has been there now 4 days and the part still hasn’t been ordered. And it pains me.

I’m not happy. In particular, the qualities of service I’ve received from Southern California Triumph leave me questioning my decision to have gone with Triumph in the first place. Here’s my personal experience.

June 2009. My bike was making a strange noise. This was diagnosed as the bevel-box bearings (part of the final drive assembly) gone bad and had to be replaced.  It took several days to get the parts in, less than an hour to actually install them. I received a call after the bike had been in the shop a week with “good news and bad news.” The good news; parts are in and installed. The bad news; they had misdiagnosed the problem and they explained I needed what us Rocket III owners know as the “upgrade kit.” This essentially means my transmission needed to be rebuilt. 4 weeks later I got my bike back. Total time in the shop was five weeks. FIVE WEEKS!!! Most of this time was spent waiting for the parts to come in.

Now it’s in the shop because the idle kept going up to 3000 RPM. I took it in on Saturday morning, right when they opened. 45 minutes later I get a call telling me that the bike is ready and that all it really needed was a simple adjustment to the idle-stepper. I remember telling my wife this was too easy. So I get back to the shop, sent my wife on her way, paid my $45.00 and got the key. I start the bike and it goes to 3000 RPM!!! WTF?! At this point the original mechanic who had inspected the bike comes out, fiddled with the idle-stepper and brought the idle back down to 1100 RMP (Right where it should be). But as soon as he let go, it jumped back up. More fiddling… more up and down on the idle. In the end he says, “Dam it… the idle-stepper’s bad.”

So I get my $45.00 back and am told they need to now put it through the Triumph warrantee process which means they’d need to call, get authorization blah blah blah. Here’s my problem; they, once again, misdiagnosed the problem. AND I get to deal with the red-tape now. By the way, did I mention that in just a few days I was to be taking a 1000 mile weekend with the bike? Clearly I’ll be taking my road trip in my car. I am not happy. To replace the idle-stepper would amount to no more than a half day worth of work. Now it’ll be more than a week. Why? They don’t stock this part either.

Note something here; the first time the bike was in the shop was because of a “known issue” with the transmission. This time, the high idle, is also a “known issue”. How do I know? Because I happen to be a part of three separate world-wide forums of those who own the same exact bike as mine. And I have read enough to know these are common problems. But if you ask the guys at SoCal Triumph, they’ll say they rarely have to deal with these particular problems and consequently, they do not stock those particular parts. WTF?!

I’m pissed. In fact I was so pissed I actually went Harley shopping. Yes I said Harley. I’m sorry… it was a moment of weakness and desperation. I’m glad that I had my friends with me. They managed to talk me back from the ledge and reminded me that it’s actually good to have these things happen while the bike is under warrantee. They also reminded me that the real thing that pisses me off the most is the timing. If I wasn’t planning a now ruined road trip, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Perhaps that’s true but it still doesn’t do a damn thing about the crappy service I’ve been getting. THAT still exists.

So where does this leave me?

1. I’ll have to wait more than a week for what amounts to a half day job on my bike.
2. My road trip that was to have been a cool ride is now going to be a very long drive in my car.
3. I now have to find a new shop for work to be done in the future because I will not be taking my bike back to Southern California Triumph again.

Anyone have a bike I can use for the weekend?

Update:
Tuesday September 1, 3:48 PM

I just got off the phone with Trevor at SoCal Triumph. They had the required conversation with Triumph America and after exercising their suggested troubleshooting, they have determined that it’s NOT the idle-stepper but instead the problem is the TPS. Which is exactly what I told them it was when I took the bike in 4 days ago. And of course they expect to receive the part in the standard “3 to 5 business days.”

So I hope to have my bike back by some time next week. Of course this does nothing for my scheduled (and paid for) road trip but fine… I’ve resigned myself to that anyway. I’ll just be happy to be done with these guys.

Update:
Thursday September 3, 7:08 PM

I got my bike back! In time for my trip! Check it out!

General, Rants