| Author | Message | ||
     Tdog |
I don't know how your experiences with the dealerships have been, but I really wanted to hurt someone last week. I had taken my xb12r to my local dealership(70 miles away) to get the TP reset. I had just installed my race ecm. They quoted me .5hrs which is $32. Anyhow, this was Sunday.. Monday rolls around and I get a call from the service advisor telling me they had reset the TP but it wouldn't run!! They were going to have to work on my "problem." I told them "I didn't have a problem, I put a race ecm on and I needed my TP reset." The guy kept telling me "well this thing says "race only" on it, it may need to be mapped" I told him that I bought it from their parts department and that it was a "plug and play" part except for having to have the tp reset. He then told me they needed permission to spend more time to try and figure it out. I told him he "needed" to figure it out. 2 hours later I called them back to see what was going on, the little guy said the tech had been working on it and it was running a little better but still was not exactly right. 5 minutes into this conversation he lets it slip out that the tech that usually works on "these" wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Tuesday rolls around and I hadn't heard from him(2:30 pm) so I gave him a call, again. "oh we got it running good now" he said. How much is my bill I asked.....$268.00!!!!! Holy hell I said.. well we will talk about this when I get there. Boy was I hot@!!@I had to talk to someone, so I called Al at American Sportbike to get some peace of mind, that they were full of crap...He pretty much gave me the scenario of what they screwed up. So I drove for 70 miles mad as a wet hen ready to rip someones head off before I was going to pay $268. I walked in to shop , found the little fellow and told him I wanted a thorough explanation of the bill I was about to get!! He says"Well there was a misunderstanding yesterday of what was going on." the bill is $59. They were going of make me pay 4 hours of B/s time because some dumba$$ was working on it and goofed it all up!! Apparently this place only has 1 tech who knows how to work on our Buells. Its hard to say if I will ever take my bike to a "stealership" again. I plan on buying myself the equipment I need to diag and do my own tp resets. Sorry so Long a bitch, but I told Al I would post and let everyone know what had happened to me. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, DON'T GET SCREWED BY THESE PLACES!!!!! | ||
| Twintour |
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Hey tdog, ditto on your pain. I just did pipe ,ecm and filter change on my XB12SS. I got the software from a fellow bueller(toona)and hooked it up ,read the directions ,15 mins later done. Now that I have done it,I could do it in 5 mins, including hooking it up to the bike. When you do get the software. There is three thing to help things go smooth. 1)keep a battery charger on the battery when hooked up.So to keep the voltage up , electronics like voltage 2)use a pc with a serial port interface.The cable comes with a serial port connector,the use of a USB to serial adapter causes problems 3)The idle adjustment is backed out so the throttle is completely closed before you reset the TPS | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Talk to the service manager. Find out who the "Buell Tech" is. Ask when they will be in BEFORE dropping your bike off. You wouldn't drop your kid off at a daycare before you met the administrator, his teacher, his teacher's aid, or had a good look around the school. Your bike is no different. Ask Barker about his TPS reset experience. Prime example as to why I don't take my bike to Appleton HD, in MURFREESBORO, TN. | ||
| Bombardier |
Same deal in Oz. Second class citizens us Buellers. I do all my own stuff now. ECMSPY is good free software. Find someone who cam make you a cable and you are set. | ||
| Barker |
"Appleton Harley(Tennesee) is trying to screw me! Please help." http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/283075.html Now I have ecmspy. I still get freaked-out when I get near a dealership.} | ||
| Pwnzor |
Many of us have had similar experiences, some with one dealer after the next. Talk to the service manager. Find out who the "Buell Tech" is. Ask when they will be in BEFORE dropping your bike off. Yeah, right... that works about 1% of the time. They just lie. I've had my bike sidelined for two weeks waiting for the Buell tech to work on it, and when I finally get it, I ask the guy who rolls it out to me in the parking lot, "where's Josh?" and he says to me "Oh, he doesn't work here any more and I did the work". I get the bike home and clean it, take it out for a spin to find I have NO back brake. I call the shop and raise hell, and they figure out they "forgot" to do the mandated test ride after the service. grrrr... I'm never letting anyone but a real Buell lover work on my Daisy again. | ||
| Hdbobwithabuell |
I think, for fun, I'll call all the dealerships and ask how much to reset the TPS on my '08  | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
my first adventure into a harley dealer was that way...i got lucky and found cityxslicker and legend harley...now its time to take the honda in and im a little freaked...donth think that its just buell people that dealers rip off...most dealerships are like that,,,,they get to used to being able to horsesh!t u cause they hardly ever see anybody that knows jack about their bikes or knows how a dealership works...that makes it real easy to take advantage or lie when they have to to cover their own @ss..i worked at a lot of car dealers and most of the time u dont wanna know what goes on with ur car when u cant see it...same for bikes...across the board check out any forum honda,zook,kwak,duc, whatever they all callem stealerships for a reason. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
It's a shame these stories even exist. I was in the same boat and vowed to never let another dealer mess with my bike. Save a little cash for the tools and equipment necessary to do ALL of you own work and you will be a much happier man! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Many of us have had similar experiences, some with one dealer after the next. Talk to the service manager. Find out who the "Buell Tech" is. Ask when they will be in BEFORE dropping your bike off. Yeah, right... that works about 1% of the time. They just lie. I've had my bike sidelined for two weeks waiting for the Buell tech to work on it, and when I finally get it, I ask the guy who rolls it out to me in the parking lot, "where's Josh?" and he says to me "Oh, he doesn't work here any more and I did the work". I get the bike home and clean it, take it out for a spin to find I have NO back brake. I call the shop and raise hell, and they figure out they "forgot" to do the mandated test ride after the service. grrrr... I'm never letting anyone but a real Buell lover work on my Daisy again. Sounds like the description of a bad dealership to me. | ||
| Newbolt |
It is ashame that this happens with the dealerships. Just rest assured they do it to the Harley guys also, not just Buellers. There are a few good dealerships. You just have to find them and then take your business there. Anyone in North Central Florida can try Gainesville HD  . They have more than a few Buellers and are always helpful. | ||
| Buellrcr |
if you can find techs that ride or race buells , they know them in side and out | ||
| Odinbueller |
if you can find techs that ride or race buells , they know them in side and out Ditto! I know that there are dealers out there that are a bit below the line as far as quality customer service, but please try to keep the faith. I know we're doing everything we can to be an exemplary dealership, but of course, no one is perfect. I had a similar dealership experience trying to get parts for my Jeep Commander. My dealer closed & sold to an auto mega-mall, and they are down right atrocious, and don't seem to care that they are. Went to another dealer, basically needed oil & filter. They didn't carry my oil from Mopar in my weight in quarts, and then after selling me the filter, one of their techs told me Wal-Mart sells Mopar factory parts for less. It was like they wanted me to go away for ever. Try not to get discouraged, or look into a quick ride to Jersey  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Bumpus HD has a service writer and Buell tech who are Buell riders. So is the service manager and the owner. I don't feel like I'm sucking hind tit there. | ||
| Packdog |
Don't forget about the small independent shops. Although there doesn't seem to be a lot that are Buell friendly/literate, if you do find one, they are likely to be really good. I am fortunate to live about half a mile from one that sponsors a local Buell racer. Sadly, I do all of my own maintenance, but if I ever decide to take my bike to someone else, they will be my first choice. | ||
| Mesafirebolt |
One word... ECMSpy | ||
| Xcephasx |
My tale of woe: i had a couple error codes and my fan sounded funny, so i took my xb12x to the $tealership to get checked out. codes 13& 36. they told me that my ECM was sending too much voltage to my fan, and that my o2 sensor was bad, and that they had to replace the ECM and the o2 sensor. being the electrical genius that i am, i deduced that the gummed up bearings in my fan would produce extra load on the fan and actually "draw" more amps from my ECM. Needless to say, i promptly took my bike out of that dealership as quickly as possible. i went to radioshack and bought a 4.00 can of "tv-control cleaner/ lubricant" sprayed it into my fan, and it seemed to clear up the fan problem. i went to the other local dealer and explained my concerns about the previous dealer. i said, "look, i think they are totally off base on this ECM thing. please just replace my o2 sensor, and swap my fan out with this e-bay fan." "sure, no problem," they tell me. 3 (180.00) hours later they call me back and tell me that the o2 sensor is fine, my fan is fine and that my "aftermarket ECM" needed replacement. their story was, "the ECM isn't sending any voltage to the o2 sensor" once again, being the electrical genius that i am (really not at all, maybe a radioshack hobbyist at best) i argued with the technician about the com-loop between the o2 sensor and the ECM. i argued that the o2 sensor generates a small current, which the ECM monitors. "No!" they said. i had a discussion with the service manager and eventually acquiesced to their claim that i needed a new ECM (200.00) The next day, they called and said my bike was fine. i went in, paid my 400.00, and five miles later, thew a code 13 again. i took it back and they were totally confused. next day, my "aftermarket ECM" was re-installed, and the o2 sensor replaced, full refund and all was well. but damn. needless to say i have since put together my ECMSPY cable, and won't need them anymore. |
