Bike/Service Story - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

Stasy · 05-24-2007, 11:35 PM

I'll admit... my dealer responded like a champ to my problem. Figured I'd share the story.

I take my 06 C90 into the dealer for it's 600mi service....at damn near 800mi. I was peeved bout waiting 2 1/2 weeks to get it in the shop. Anyways, they originally quoted me 160 bucks for the service, but they ended up only nailing me for 100. On the way home I was going up a hill close to where I live, and as I shifted, it sounded rather loud and clunky (almost like a POP!). Nothing was wrong, so I dismissed it as such.

About 3/4 mil down the road, I think I notice a light flashing on my display. As I look down, the oil indicator light flickered again. And then again, staying on for a few thousanths of a second longer. Aw crap....what's going on. Again it flickered. I slowed down, keeping the clutch in and begin to pull over, when I smell the oil burning on the engine. And then I look more intently in my rearview and notice the small trail where I just drove from. As I come to a stop, the light begins to flicker more intensely. I thow the kill switch.

Once at a stop, I look down, and get off the bike. There's a pool of oil flowing onto this poor guys driveway, coming off the hot bike. I realized it's bad, and then push the bike off the pavement onto his lawn, where it continues to leak oil at a fast rate. I call home and let my GF know that she needs to find alternate transport to work, cause It might be a long evening for me. I then scramble to call the dealer. Service closes like 3 minutes ago.

So, I speak with the guy, and he says no problem, we'll send the truck out. I tell the driver where I am, and I sit and wait. A HD rider pulls out of a driveway a few houses down, and asks if I need help. I thank him, and let him know the dealer might need the help after I ream him for messing my bike up. He laughs, and takes off. He comes back 3 minutes later and informs me from where I hear the loud shift, there's a solid path of oil back to me. Great.... Then as he leaves, my dad shows up. He's already yelling "your getting a new motor, you messed that one up, no oil and whatnot" I dismiss the idea, simply cause no dealer in their right mind will go right to motor replacement with an oil leak.

So Andy the tech shows up with a pickup truck towing the flatbed trailer. He asks how I'm doing, and begins to inquire about what I experienced. Did the motor cut out on it's own? How long was that light on for? Any tapping or ticking? I told him the truth, that I killed the motor and the light was just flicking on and off, and no there was no funky sounds as I stopped. He then got down on the grass and felt my bike. He looked at me and said, "I'm gonna chew that tech out who serviced your bike personally...I think I know what it is." He went to his truck, yanked some tools out, a can of brakeclean, towles, a filter, and 4qts of oil.

So on the side of the road, he removed my filter and pulled two gaskets out. "Yeah, that guy is gonna get yelled at. Didn't remove the old gasket." So he then proceeds to put a new filter on and refills the oil. My dad asks about permanant engine damage. Andy reassures us, if what I told was true, it probably didn't loose enough oil to do anything. And if it did, we'd be hearing it when we fired it up. So once he did the repair, and sprayed as much of the oil residue off, he fired the bike up. Sounded like nothing happened. He took it for a test ride, and came back. He was satisfied with the bike, and asked if we were too. He then gave me the remainder of the quart of oil and the can of brakeclean. He then asked if I'd like it towed to my house because of the oil on the tires, or if I'd want to ride it. And then gave the the name of the head of service at Two Jacks. "Go get yourself a can of degreaser and whatever cleaning items you need to clean the bike up. Keep the receipts, and bring em in. We'll reimburse you for it all. And if ANYTHING seems out of place or abnormal, call him up and we'll bring the bike in imediately."

So I rode the bike the rest of the way home, and I goosed it and listened hard. Nothing sounded off at all. Matter of fact, the bike ran as good as it did when I left the dealer. I went out after dinner and picked up my $30 in cleaning supplies (ok so the armor all might be a strech for the needed items, but If I didn't just buy the tire and rim cleaners last weekd I'd have that on my list too). I didn't feel like waxing and polishing, but /I scrubbed the fenders and underside of the bike with the degreaser and it all seems cleaner.

I guess I'll just have to watch out for any noises. I'd hate to have something go wrong in 10 months when the warentee expires, but I don't feel the need for any more work to be done. Everything seems fine, and I'm sure Andy would be correct in saying those hydraulic lifters would be rappin and tappin hard if there was damage.