JamesD
Member
So, my brother found a new 2013 NC700X at Rocky Mountain Cycle Plaza in Colorado Springs.
They traded away the one he was looking at to another dealer, but they were able to assemble another one right out of the crate for him.
He got it for a decent price (I would have gotten a little more out of the deal but that's just me, they claimed it was $300 under cost but that's probably $300 under invoice which doesn't include factory dealer holdback).
He rode the bike home last night, and that's where his problems began.
At about 1 mile from the dealership, the bike died.
He had to call the dealer and they sent out a truck to pick it up.
I guess they had a jr technician put in a brand new battery because of the age of the bike, and he didn't attach one of the terminals correctly.
He cross threaded the bolt or something so the battery cable vibrated off. They had to replace the bolt from what my brother said.
But the dealer was able to fix it fairly quickly and my brother was able to ride the bike home.
He was a little miffed but still pretty psyched about the bike.
He loves the way it handles and how it deals with the stretch of dirt road he has to take every day.
Compared to the Goldwings, Kawasaki twin, XT500, etc.. he's owned, he said it felt really good.
He did say he wasn't quite used to the low redline yet but no biggie, and he was excited to be riding it on a trip the next morning.
So, I talked to him this morning about an hour ago and he was livid.
He checked fluid levels before the trip he was going to make today, and there is no coolant in the reservoir.
He couldn't get the radiator cap off right away, and he did have time to mess with it, so he had to leave in his truck instead.
It appears the technicians didn't perform a proper checklist on the newly assembled bike.
Maybe the coolant was just low, but if it was run without coolant... I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions about what that would do to the motor.
At this point, I don't know what the dealer is going to do, but my brother no longer wants the bike and is prepared to get a lawyer if he has to.
I don't blame him one bit. When a bike is so poorly prepped that you don't get a battery connection and fluids right, you have to wonder if something else will come loose as you are going down the road.
He's also going to give Honda a piece of his mind about the dealer. I would not want to be the person on the other end of that phone call.
Maybe the situation will be easily resolved, but as mad as my brother is... I doubt it.
Pretty much every bike I've purchased seemed to be meticulously prepped.
Maybe this was just a fluke, but one thing is for sure, I know I'll never buy a bike from these guys.
I know crap happens, but come on!
Even if you ignore the coolant issue, if the battery had come disconnected on his trip it could have happened in a place without any cell phone coverage and he couldn't have fixed it because it supposedly needed a new bolt.
Funny thing, when he was stopped at the side of the road, a lot of bikes passed him but only one stopped to see if he needed help.
It was a guy on a BMW. Forget everything bad I've said about BMW riders.
They traded away the one he was looking at to another dealer, but they were able to assemble another one right out of the crate for him.
He got it for a decent price (I would have gotten a little more out of the deal but that's just me, they claimed it was $300 under cost but that's probably $300 under invoice which doesn't include factory dealer holdback).
He rode the bike home last night, and that's where his problems began.
At about 1 mile from the dealership, the bike died.
He had to call the dealer and they sent out a truck to pick it up.
I guess they had a jr technician put in a brand new battery because of the age of the bike, and he didn't attach one of the terminals correctly.
He cross threaded the bolt or something so the battery cable vibrated off. They had to replace the bolt from what my brother said.
But the dealer was able to fix it fairly quickly and my brother was able to ride the bike home.
He was a little miffed but still pretty psyched about the bike.
He loves the way it handles and how it deals with the stretch of dirt road he has to take every day.
Compared to the Goldwings, Kawasaki twin, XT500, etc.. he's owned, he said it felt really good.
He did say he wasn't quite used to the low redline yet but no biggie, and he was excited to be riding it on a trip the next morning.
So, I talked to him this morning about an hour ago and he was livid.
He checked fluid levels before the trip he was going to make today, and there is no coolant in the reservoir.
He couldn't get the radiator cap off right away, and he did have time to mess with it, so he had to leave in his truck instead.
It appears the technicians didn't perform a proper checklist on the newly assembled bike.
Maybe the coolant was just low, but if it was run without coolant... I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions about what that would do to the motor.
At this point, I don't know what the dealer is going to do, but my brother no longer wants the bike and is prepared to get a lawyer if he has to.
I don't blame him one bit. When a bike is so poorly prepped that you don't get a battery connection and fluids right, you have to wonder if something else will come loose as you are going down the road.
He's also going to give Honda a piece of his mind about the dealer. I would not want to be the person on the other end of that phone call.
Maybe the situation will be easily resolved, but as mad as my brother is... I doubt it.
Pretty much every bike I've purchased seemed to be meticulously prepped.
Maybe this was just a fluke, but one thing is for sure, I know I'll never buy a bike from these guys.
I know crap happens, but come on!
Even if you ignore the coolant issue, if the battery had come disconnected on his trip it could have happened in a place without any cell phone coverage and he couldn't have fixed it because it supposedly needed a new bolt.
Funny thing, when he was stopped at the side of the road, a lot of bikes passed him but only one stopped to see if he needed help.
It was a guy on a BMW. Forget everything bad I've said about BMW riders.