[mr.b]

My New Year's resolution is to totally expose this incompetent dealer before they Literally Kill someone!!

I'll try my best to be as brief as possible, but feel a long ramble is imminent.

Western New York Cycle, Inc
6695 S. Transit Road
Lockport, NY 14094
716-625-6111

I've been riding motorcycles for a little over 30 years. Have logged in several cross country trips, and at least a few hundred thousand miles in that time.

I had my first major crash on April 28th of 2003, when riding my HD Ultra Classic in the right lane on an Interstate at about 70 mph, this old bag in a new Caddy decides she wants my lane more than me, and ran me off onto the graveled shoulder. Everyone knows gravel is tough to maneuver at low speed, let alone at hiway speeds.

I was down for 5 or 6 weeks healing, and when well enough, I decided to take a gander at other touring machines out there. I rode everything, and wound up buying an 03 Hot Rod yellow GL1800. Since my purchase on June 6th, I logged 12,300 miles on er.

Picking the bike up after each service, I'd notice new scratches here and there, along with a grommet or two missing etc. I pointed this out to the dealer each time, and his reply would be that they're unbelievably careful with everyone's bike, so I just must not have noticed these defects. Funny thing is, I would do a mini detail on it, every day before riding, so I knew for a fact that it was their fault. The installation job on the trunk and saddlebag rails were botched so badly, that I swore to myself that I wouldn't allow them to ever do anything on it again.

Now, October rolls around, and lo and behold here comes my frame recall notice. I was really pissed! I've had at least 20 brand new bikes, and never enjoyed riding anything as much as I did this one!

Well, I found this site and a couple others, did some reading up on it, called Honda a few times, then decided to let them handle the job. They were also doing the ecm at the same time.

I figured I'd throw a set of new skins on while she was in there also, so I opted for Bridgestones as I hated the Dunlops on wet roads.(talk about dangerous) Bought the Stones from Hal.

Ten days later I get the call to come pick up the bike. Total of the charges was a little over $200.00, $90.00 for mounting the tires. This is Dec 12th, and it was a cold, rainy icey day. Of course, no offer was made to deliver it. I'm about 10 miles away, so I picked it up.

I did notice it ran much smoother, and the Stones made it handle like a mini bike, so I put her in the garage, covered up and forgot about it til this last Sunday, Dec 28th. It was a Gorgeous day in the low 50'S, so I talked my wife into taking a little spin for lunch.

As we're rolling down the 990 at around 70 mph, the bike became very violent, shaking and shimmeying all over the road, so naturally I pulled it over for a look see. My poor wife looked like Casper!!

My first thought was a frame problen, so I got er on the centerstand, and gave a long hard look at everything. It all looked fine. Then I spun the rear wheel, and the problem became as apparent as a fox in a henhouse. Every single lug nut was within one thread of completely falling off. I was in Shock!!

As there's no lug wrench in the factory tool kit, I had my bro in law bring some tools to snug it up. My wife rode with him back to our house, and swears she will never be a passenger on this bike ever again. I rode it home and it felt fine to me, but who knows.

I called the dealer 1st thing on Monday to inform him of his service dept's Blunder. Same canned response I always received, when describing their Extremely poor service. He did offer to have it picked up and checked out by the same morons who almost killed us and I declined. I can Not at this time have any confidence at all in their bogus work.

Anyhoo, I've made a decision to follow through and give them the grief they so rightfully deserve.

Upon calling a local prominent attorney, I was informed there's not much they can do, as no injury resulted. What a pity.

I have since filed a complaint with the NYS Attorney's Office, NYS Dept of Motor Vehicles safety dept, and have a 3 page letter addressed to Mr. Blank , the VP of Honda's motorcycle division, which will be Express mailed to him directly on Monday.

I really have no problems with my goldwing. I tried to get it serviced properly, took it in for the recalls, everything Honda says.
I still love it!!

My problem is the Total Incompetence of this dealer. I truly think if it happened to me, it can happen to anyone.

This could have easily killed my darling wife and I, and we're not really ready to go yet.

Please for your own good, stay away from:

Western New York Cycle, Inc
6695 S Transit Road
Lockport, NY 14094
716-625-6111

Yours truly,

Brian Blazynski

 

[Orange Bandit]

Brian, I would think that after the scratches that I would have kept my bike far away from that dealer. How far to the next closest dealer? Sounds as if that would be more prudent on your part. Doubt you will get any satisfaction from Mother Honda, but at least you will have vented in the right direction. Don't forget that word-of-mouth advertising is the dealerships and manufacturers best or worst advertising.

May the New Year bring you and your wife many safe and enjoyable miles.

 

[uneasyrider]

"Trust but verify", we all make mistakes and overlook things some times but my feelings are that I would rather do it myself and check it twice. If I have the dealer do the work I check it all before I take it.

I sell cars and I can tell you lots of storys about people leaving without oil after an oil change (we replace the engine at no change) it happens more than you can believe. Lots of other stuff too like "oh yeah, coolant, I must have forgot". There was a jet that flew out of Miami without any drain plugs reinstalled (local news), it glided back down when the engines stopped running. When 767's were new one ran out of gas because they filled it in liters instead of gallons (readers digest) and it glided onto a 1/4 mile track in Canada.

That must have given you the willies big time, I know it would give them to me, but your wife will probalbly get back on with proper reassurance from you, and dont forget to safety check your bike before take off expecially if you are picking it up from having work done to it, have you taken a close look at some of the guys who fix this stuff?

 

[Bulldog]

Brian,

First and foremost, I am glad that you and the little Lady are safe. As far as the dealer goes, there is nothing that I can say. However, by their not tightening the lugs is not a mistake, it is negligence.

I hope that your letter to Honda, was remiss of emotion. And filled just with the facts. I think that factual letters raise more eyebrows, than do emotional letters. Honda's response to you is going to be that dealers are independent, and that they have little control over their policies, QC, etc, etc. I have been down this path, and yes I got what I deserved, but it was not easy.

I can see in your post here, that you are a bit emotional, and I can understand. Just be glad that you are not in a body cast or recovering from surgery or worse...

God Bless and Happy New Year

Bulldog

 

[J-mac]

Mr B, happy New year, I live down the street from you (kind of) you might want to try Hollink Honda, in Spencerport. These guys are very good. I have never had a problem with them and they treat 'me' right.

If your in Amhurst, I would think it would take you about 45-60 minutes to get to spencerport. you could take 104 east or the thruway to exit 47 and back track on Rt490 to rt 251 (they are on 251 in spencerport)

or you coul pick up rt 31 and take it straight to Hollink

 

[BuffaloChuck]

I heard a few bad things about this dealer after I went in there and got a quote when I was shopping for my '03. I ended up buying at Hamburg Honda, about a 1/2 mile north of Exit 57 on the Thruway (Rt. 90). Good people and they just expanded their store. I haven't had any major work performed by them yet, but they have a good reputation. I've been happy with them.

I would stay away from Imperial also. I bought a bike there and had many issues. A couple of manufactures pulled their lines from them recently- BMW and Aprilia. They still have Honda and Suzuki.

 

[Gladiator]

Brian; Check the studs for any thread damage and check the swing arm itself for any gouging of the holes that the studs go through. If there is damage it could manifest as a potential problem latter on.

 

[RRIXX]

Brian

I agree with Gladiator about checking the studs. I had a similar experience, but on a car. My wheel was about to fall off about 10 miles after picking up my car after having some brake work done. I felt a wobble, stopped and checked my wheels. On one wheel, one lug nut was already gone and the other 4 were loose. After jacking the car so that the wheel was off the ground, I tightened the remaining 4 lug nuts, headed to a car parts store and bought another lug nut. Within two weeks, 3 of the 5 studs snapped off. When I looked at the last two, they were badly worn from the effect of the wheel being loose. I had to replace all five studs. I thought the problem was originally resolved after tightening the lug nuts down but obviously it wasn't. Remove your wheel and examine your studs carefully or the problem may not be over.

 

[mr.b]

WoW, you guys are A-OK in my book!! By the number of members that have read this post, along with responses, and the emails I've received, I think my objective is being attained.

It really is a shame that in this day and age, a dealer like this can be in business. Hindsight being 20/20, I most certainly wouldn't have done business with these clowns, if given a do-over.

I fully intend to get my wing checked out for any damage incurred in this fiasco, by another dealer of course. As for now, I won't put the chicken before the egg.

I assure you all that my resolve in this, will not be diminished with time. Who really knows how many accidents, or fatalities are due to "dealer error"??

Feel free to post your advice, and or private mails, with any other helpful procedures, that may help us all have a safer riding experience on this Incredible machine.

Thanks a Million guys!!!

Yours truly,

Brian Blazynski

 

[KennyJB]

Let Them Know How We Feel...

http://wnycycle.hondamcdealers.com/ This is the website for them. Maybe if they received a couple hundred e-mails on how a bunch of us feel about bad service they will really get the idea.

 

[topster]

Bad Dealer

Dealer must be really bad afer reading some of the post about them. Glad you and SO are OK. After having ANY work done at my dealer I check my bike out completely before I take it. No way would I have just rode off after having tires changed without checking them out. Learned a long time ago. TNO! TRUST NO ONE. Trusting someone else will get you killed. My dealer knows I will check out as far as possible the work done on my bike before I take it and he is not worried at all because he does have good wrenches. He insists that owners check it out before taking off.

 

[Big Red.]

Mr B,

Im so sorry about your terrible experience and also for your poor wife. These dealers need to be exposed by fellow bikers before some of them are responsible for the death of a customer. Always check your bike before each ride and especially after the bike has been in a workshop for any repairs. Remember we only have two wheels to keep us upright. Good luck to you and your wife and may you have many long and safe sMILES on your 1800. Happy New Year to you both.

 

[dcorby]

Forwarded this

Mr. B, just to let you know, that I belong to a GWRRA chapter in your area. I forwarded this to all of our members, told them to decide for themselves. I too have heard a few bad things about them, but have personally never delt with them. Hamburg Honda is closer to me, I have dealt with them for several years, and always had great luck. As a matter of fact, I am just about ready to take delivery of my 2005 Candy Dark Cherry ABS. I am leaving it up to them to install my first batch of accessories. Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to cut a slit in a brand new seat to install a Utopia backrest!! Good luck, and if you woul;d ever like to join us for a ride feel free!!

 

[Bulldog]

I thought I remembered this thread. It is almost 1 year old now. And we have hardly hears a peep from Mr. B.

BD

 

[dcorby]

Thanks

Thanks Bulldog, just happened to run across this, thought it important enough to forward to my firends. Funny thing was that one of them replied within a few minutes telling me that when he took his wing in there to get his CB antenna replaced, the mechanic told him that he didn't realize that they put CB's on wings!! He said he left running!!

 

[Closetchef]

Brian calls here to bother me (lol) about once a week. He's ok, don't knowif he's found a new dealer yet tho.

 

[BartOrange]

I bought my 03 Orange used from a dealer in Birmingham, Al. I had always heard of the bad service coming from this dealer. When I found out about the trunk latch recall, I stopped by and was treated horrably. :evil: They said it was my fault that the latch was bent and they would have to charge me to replace it. I told them about the recall but they said it was their choice whether to charge me or not. :shock: I called a dealer in Gadsden Al. and the service dept. took my Ph# and said they would call me back when the parts came in. I got a call about 45 days later and they said they had called me a couple of weeks earlier and talked to my grandson (they took down his name) so they followed up and called a second time. I took it in and they were super nice people. When I went to the back they were polishing the trunk to remove finger prints. What a differance in dealers. It is the same distance to the two dealers but I know where I will be going from now on.

 

[wa5rng]

I bought my '02 locally in June of '02 and it's been back to the dealer many times for service, recalls, etc. I've never had any problems with the mechanical work done, but the bike has always came back looking awful!

There were always new scratches (they cover them with paint), grommets missing, grease smudges, fingerprints eveywhere. The first time I replaced my tires, the wheels were not just scratched, but actually had gouges in them. Looked like they used a crowbar or something.

So for my most recent service I found a dealer 90 miles north of me and talked with the service mgr and expressed my concerns. He made me feel confident that they would treat my bike with "respect" and care.

They put on new tires, checked the valve clearance, replaced coolant and fluids, put in the all balls stem bearings, and other things. When I picked it up 4 days later, the first thing I did was drive to a parking lot and looked it over very carefully.

I was impressed. They had actually washed and dried it and it was cleaner than when I brought it in. No new scratches and no additional damage to my wheels.

Rode it 90 miles home. Pulled in the driveway and oil had splattered all over the engine covers, side covers, and back onto the mufflers on both sides! Further checking revealed the radiator was 16oz low on coolant and the overflow tank was empty!

The oil leaks were the result of removing the valve covers. The middle bolt in both covers was where the oil was coming from. Retorquing all of the bolts fixed the leak.

I am so frustrated! Is there any dealer who really cares??

 

[fluf]

I have an 03 wing and have never received any recalls. frame or ECM, nothing... Wonder why?

 

[Ridge Runner]

I have an 03 wing and have never received any recalls. frame or ECM, nothing... Wonder why?

I received the ECM thing on mine. Still debating whether to get it done or not as I've had no problems with it overheating, yet. But then I don't do parades, either.