| Author | Message | ||
     Crowley |
Can anyone tell me a direct way to contact Rotax? Any help would be greatly appreciated. My bike has been laid up for 5 weeks needing parts that dealers tell me are unavailable in Europe. I want my baby back! | ||
| Bikejunky |
pm sent (Message edited by bikejunky on October 13, 2008) | ||
| Crowley |
Sorry mate. Nothing this end. | ||
| Slaughter |
Painful as it might be - see if a US dealer could provide??? | ||
| Jaimec |
I would START with Buell Customer Service... | ||
| Crowley |
I have contacted them as well as the new head of HDB in the UK and their Head Technical bloke. The only reply I've had is from someone VERY high up in the US factory, who tells me they will be in touch with Customer Services and others. After a 5 week wait for parts, I feel I'll be needing to source them myself even if it means paying for them outside the warranty. My main worry is if the piston sleeve is scuffed (also unobtainable in Europe) then I may have another huge wait while this is sourced. I have asked HDB to make sure that one of these is available in Europe when the warranty work is undertaken, so if it's needed the wait will only run into days rather than months. The leaky clutch piston is a KNOWN problem, surely the parts to fix this should be available world wide? The '09 cover has been sitting in my dealers for months, as have the lining seals, the two 'O' rings are the problem. | ||
| Court |
I would START with Buell Customer Service... | ||
| Crowley |
I DID  | ||
| Trojan |
Adam, Is the clutch unit shared or similar to the Aprilia RSV or other Rotax engines? You could try Peter Knight at http://www.rotax.co.uk/. If he can't help he will be in a good position to advice on a relevant contact at Rotax. or maybe http://www.rsvr.net/ | ||
| Crowley |
Thanks Matt, that's an excellent tip  If I do get a lead into direct access, I'll be sure to pass it onto Customer Services so they can also offer this advice  | ||
| Court |
Something sure doesn't sound right. Can you E-MAIL me the following: 1) Your name 2) You VIN 3) Part numbers you ordered 4) Time you have been waiting for each. 5) Dealer name JDLR | ||
| Crowley |
I've exchanged emither with Erik and he's got people looking into this. I've asked at least 8 different dealers in the UK about the availability of parts and had the same 'unavailable' story off them all. Erik is aware of this shortcoming. When I get home, I'll send you the part numbers I require, they are the piston sleeve and the x2 'o' rings that fit over it. The '09 clutch cover has been sitting on the dealers shelf for months. | ||
| Crowley |
Not sure what JDLR is though? | ||
| Court |
JDLR = Just Doesn't Look Right By the way . . . . that is NOT questioning you, it is questioning the chronology of facts. There have been some snags at Buell, such as the 1125R service manual and getting some of the parts populated in the system, and it's important to try to get facts rather than just "Buell sucks" comments. One of very cool things is that Buell, as the 9 folks I helped in September can attest, has some folks who are ready, willing and able to respond rapidly. I genuinely want to see what your problem is, where the snag is, how to solve your problem and how to fix the process. Buell excels at this thanks to some very unique leadership. Court | ||
| Mikej |
"the two 'O' rings are the problem" O-rings should never be a problem. A complete wheel? Maybe. A triple tree? Maybe. But an o-ring? Never. Unless the o-ring has some special and unique shape and is made out of some special and unique material and is priced accordingly. But for a basic black rubber round profile round formed o-ring, never. Maybe someone can get the dimensions and find an alternate part that won't at the same time void the warranty aspect of the issue. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=o-rings&aq=f& oq= O-rings should never be the reason for a delay. And 5 weeks????? There's got to be more to the story. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I think the part Crowley is referring to is a little more than a simple o-ring. Crowley - the ones called "piston linings" in the parts book? CR0001.1AM and CR0002.1AM? They are like bands... o-rings made out of linguine instead of spaghetti. Z | ||
| Mikej |
The devil is in the details, helps to have the details. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Just checked h-dnet and neither one is on backorder... Z | ||
| Crowley |
Sorry Zac4mac the part numbers you cite are available in the UK. If you look back in your parts book, you'll find P/N CF0007.1AMA IS actually described as an 'O' ring and there are two of them which sit around P/N XOO87.1AM (SLEEVE) which several dealers tell me is also unobtainable in the UK. This sleeve has NOT been ordered, I've simply asked if Erik could get someone to ensure that it's available in Europe so that it can be obtained without undue delay if it's needed. No, I don't think that 'Buell sucks' at all, or I wouldn't have a different Buell for each day of the week. I have never said this and can't see a day that I ever will. I'm just a little bemused that some components are readily available off the shelf, yet the components associated with them are not. Having met Erik, I found him an extremely decent bloke with the interest of Buell owner central to his ethos. His honesty in the emails I've exchanged with him are refreshingly frank and honest. If they weren't then an RC8 and a 1098 would be in my garage. Long live BMC  | ||
| Crowley |
Just had an email from Buell UK (Mr Woodworth - Head Tech bloke) saying that they are going to be investigating the reason why some components are not in the European Distribution Center. I suspect someone in the UK has been prodded with a Trans Atlantic 'naughty stick'  Well done BMC  | ||
| Court |
Actually there is no "naughty stick". The folks at Buell work as a team. Nothing is perfect all the time and knowing that and a little mutual respect go a long way. I get involved, generally 6 - 10 times a month doing what effectively comes down to unauthorized rule breaking. When I see something that is not right my metric is to solve THAT problem and let the folks whose job it is investigate the root cause and make needed process and procedure changes. When I find something that needs fixing I don't blame anybody. I try to provide facts as best I know them and impute as little as possible. I work fast and my concern is getting the customers end of the snag fixed, the folks at Buell fix the other end and it's team work. It took, I will say, a few of the HD folks a bit to catch on to this and they got quite offended early on. Once we got in motion and they understood the way Buell works they are loving it and they are REALLY good at it. The word has too many blamers and not enough solvers. I've been a solver since day one and will continue to be. Buell has gone from a bike or two a year to where it is now. The process has not been without lots of challenges, the same ones that doomed Britten, Excelsior-Henderson and Indian. I appreciate, and am sure others do, your help on this. Buell's goal remains providing the best most uninterrupted customer experience possible. Court | ||
| Crowley |
Just been reading on another thread about the different components needed when fitting a REVB cover to an '08 bike. Buelligator and Jedipunk are disagreeing about whether a new piston has to be fitted to the later cover p/n X1086.1AM. Anyone got a definitive answer? I presume the sleeve is the same for the two covers but I may well be wrong. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Hmmmm    Z | ||
| Zac4mac |
Can't add attachments in an edit... You used Ohs instead of zeros, Crowley...  Z | ||
| Crowley |
Thanks for pointing that out, let's hope the dealers and Buell UK haven't made the same schoolboy error when they tried ordering the parts and were told they were unobtainable in Europe. If they have, which I doubt, it would reflect very badly on them.'O' rings are still 'O' rings and not the linings which fit the piston. Fortunately, I have not been involved in attempting to order any of these parts, since it's a Warranty issue. I'm at a loss to understand your last post which states that the sleeve is obtainable in the US. I should hope it is! Doesn't alter the fact that we can't get them in Europe (yet). | ||
| Krassh |
I believe the sleeve is the same. The reason I say this is I rashed my cover on a low side. I ordered the rev.b kit which includes rev.b cover, updated skid puck, emblem for skid puck and o-rings required for the retro fit. There was no new sleeve in the kit. My dealer swapped the cover out for me during my 5th gear recall. | ||
| Crowley |
Just rechecked the parts book again, it would seem that P/Ns CR0001.1AM and CR0002.1AM when bought separately are described as 'PISTON LINING' and when the 'HYDRAULIC PISTON' is bought with these 'LININGS' they suddenly become described as 'O' rings - as in your post above which seems to be some form of official ordering data base. I would agree with your initial post on this, that they are more than just ordinary 'O' rings since they have have a different profile. I can't understand why Buell give them two different descriptions? However, these are obtainable in the UK and I'm on my 3rd set | ||
| Crowley |
Many thanks Krassh. That's put my mind at rest. I hope my sleeve is ok and doesn't need replacing. | ||
| Crowley |
Now, all I need are the 'o' rings as described in the parts book. Assurances of future availability from both sides of the Atlantic, so I'll hold my breath | ||
| Pizzaboy |
Actually there is no "naughty stick". The folks at Buell work as a team. Nothing is perfect all the time and knowing that and a little mutual respect go a long way. I get involved, generally 6 - 10 times a month doing what effectively comes down to unauthorized rule breaking. When I see something that is not right my metric is to solve THAT problem and let the folks whose job it is investigate the root cause and make needed process and procedure changes. When I find something that needs fixing I don't blame anybody. I try to provide facts as best I know them and impute as little as possible. I work fast and my concern is getting the customers end of the snag fixed, the folks at Buell fix the other end and it's team work. It took, I will say, a few of the HD folks a bit to catch on to this and they got quite offended early on. Once we got in motion and they understood the way Buell works they are loving it and they are REALLY good at it. The word has too many blamers and not enough solvers. I've been a solver since day one and will continue to be. Buell has gone from a bike or two a year to where it is now. The process has not been without lots of challenges, the same ones that doomed Britten, Excelsior-Henderson and Indian. I appreciate, and am sure others do, your help on this. Buell's goal remains providing the best most uninterrupted customer experience possible. Court court, you rock. its guys like you that are part of buell that make me so proud to own one. to everyone else: try finding service like court's if you owned a ducati or suzuki!!! |
