what would you do?

[beekstersocal]

got my bike on wed. from the dealer after receiving it's 12000 mile service. i washed it all up nice and clean and got it ready for a saturday ride . after going about 80-90 miles ( from oceanside to julian the long way ) finally getting to the top of julian after aggressive turns and hard accelerations i'm at the top and have no rear brake . i proceed down with still no rear brake and pull over to check and low and behold motor oil ALL over the rear tire, rim, brake disk, and shaft and dripping from the fender well . mind you just received bike from dealer 3 days prior. called bmw road side assistance who quickly flatbedded me down the mountain back to the dealer. needless to say they said they were sorry and gave me a loaner bike and kept my bike to futher inspect. at this time it is unclear as to what caused it until futher inspection. i requested to know in writing the actual reason for this happening and they said they would meanwhile i was a turn away from being in an abulance rather than a tow truck. what would you do?

[bikermeow]

Ride very, very carefully after getting my bike back from a free repair; wearing my free BMW apparel that my dealer gave me after being sorry and remorseful for selling me this bike.

Cheers

Meow

[morrie]

I think I'd want a new tire for sure, after your's got saturated with oil.

[wncbmw]

You sure have them by the short hairs. Be sure the bike is alright, get some compensation, then find a new dealer for the next service.

[big papa]

On my 2nd service, the right valve cover did not seal on re-installation. After riding 1/2 way to work, I felt slipping under my right shoe. Oil all over the lower right side of the bike. I called the shop, and a guy came out and made the repair on the road side. They offered to detail the bike. I cleaned the bike the next day , and never really gave it another thought. I guess you could press them for some stuff or $$. poo happens, and you didn't take a spill.

[jimcameron]

Glad you are okay, scary.

I'd wait to find out what the dealer says was the cause. It would seem highly unlikey that it was independant of the service, but I would still wait to hear. My patience is based upon an excellent service history with my dealer (BMW Orlando). I've been to other dealers where I would be ready for war, based on their sloppy work and attitude.

Good luck, hope all works out well.

Ride on.

[ProductUser]

No question, that sucks!

After each of my services, I typically ride the bike for 15-20 miles and then park it. I'll walk around the bike looking for leaks and loose hardware. If I do find something, at least I'm not that far from the dealer. I also give the bike a once-over just before I leave the dealership; hoping to see anything before I hit the road.

Am I too paranoid? Nah, just too many years spent as a mechanic

ProductUser

[mnnden]

No question, that sucks!

After each of my services, I typically ride the bike for 15-20 miles and then park it. I'll walk around the bike looking for leaks and loose hardware. If I do find something, at least I'm not that far from the dealer. I also give the bike a once-over just before I leave the dealership; hoping to see anything before I hit the road.

Am I too paranoid? Nah, just too many years spent as a mechanic

ProductUser

This is Great advice!! I am even more careful when I have to take the cars or truck in, I have not had any serious problems but have had friends who have, and rarely will the dealer fess up to a mistake. "The oil plug was in tight when you left!!!!" Den

[DJ Downunder]

We were about to head off on our Snowies ride last week when one of the guys said his Ducati felt a bit wobbly in the rear end.

His dealer had just serviced it...but we checked the rear wheel nuts and they were very loose..so they tightened it.

Then when we went to ride off the Ducati would not move...the wheel spacer was fitted wrong and jammed the wheel baring.

The bad thing was that they must have loosened off the wheel nut so the wheel could turn.. ...now that's bad..IMHO..I would be so pissed.

DJ

[Variance]

Here's my short story of similar events.

After my 6000mi service, the oil fill plug would leak (splatter onto my boot, pants and bike). I've read about this being a not uncommon phenomenon, so I tried in earnest to thoroughly clean/dry the o-ring seal many times, with no success. I finally go back to the dealership 2X more and they try the same thing, with no success. I return a 4th time and force them to do something other than clean or replace the o-ring. They finally take the bike and reseat some inner seal. Voila, problem solved.

Now, I can understand these things happen as an above mechanic proclaims. But the lack of solving the problem is inexcuable. It seems to me a combination of incompetence (problem happened in the first place, and/or they 'fix' it with no success) and arrogance (what did you do to cause this, or this is all you have to do to fix this).

May be I'm a bit harsh, but at $74/hr labor (or what ever it is), I have high expectations. I, or any one seems to get much compensation for mistakes. Seem's everyone here has been lucky surving dealership mistakes. I would gladly go somewhere else but BMW seems to have locked up the market, thus, severely limiting reasonable alternatives.

I'm off my soap box now.

[morrie]

I return a 4th time and force them to do something other than clean or replace the o-ring. They finally take the bike and reseat some inner seal. Voila, problem solved.

Those O rings leak frequently, both the upper and lower. I always carry a spare set of both O rings and a filler cap.

[toner87]

The only problem is, if you take the bike back to the dealer that serviced it, you'll never reallly know if they screwed up, as they can fix anything they messed up and say that, after thorough examination, it turns out they can't figure out what went wrong. Of course that's assuming they're dishonest. Maybe they're honest and will say, "We're really sorry, but we didn't tighten the valve cover bolts tight enough. Would you like a free massage?" However, I doubt that would ever happen... Even if they're the most honest service department out there, I think they'd hide the fact that they screwed up and plead ignorant... Maybe we're expecting perfection? Competence would be nice.
T.

[frozennorth]

Frightening! Glad you're ok. I've finally decided to do my own service work after too much sloppy service work--leaks, work not done that they said they did, loose bolts, things not clipped back in, etc. Assuming that you are somewhat mechanically inclined, you can do almost all of the 12,000 mile service with a half-way decent set of tools, an extra $120. for some little specialty items, and a shop service manual. Only thing I haven't done is my valves and throttle body sync. (that's just around the corner). I find that there's something really satisfying to doing your own work . . . and, if you ever break down somewhere in BF nowhere, you at least have a chance at fixing whatever broke. Although, I'll admit that maintenance ain't for everyone.

Got my wife convinced that she should be doing her own service too. One of the guys that belongs to the Chain Gang Forum puts out a 2-DVD that shows the complete service for the F650 she has. She's thinking that she can do most of it after watching. Wish one was out for the R1150R

I agree with the idea of doing a maintenance check ride before really riding. I do 20-25 miles with frequent stops and checks. Then let her sit for awhile and check everything again. If she's still dry, tight, and sounds right, I'm good to go.

Just my 2 centavos worth.

[beekstersocal]

thanks for the input guys. i did ride the bike about 30 miles the day i brought it home and everything seemed fine .. i was riding pretty hard up to the oil leak thats why i consider myself lucky. the mech that worked on it is very well known for quality , but to error is human i guess.
i'll keep ya posted on what the end result is. i do consider these guys as buddies and will be going to track day with most of these guys in a couple of weeks, hey maybe the'll pay for my track time i may look for some kind of compensaition but the reallity is i was'nt out any money.

[beekstersocal]

picked up my bike today and im very pleased with the end result. the dealer stepped up to the plate and replaced the rear tire, all new brakes and detailed the bike, plus a few brakes in the future.. i still have some respect foe the mechanic i mean to error is human, and i think the way i handled it will make my dealer expeiriance's in the future even better.
also the bmw roadside service was there in 30 minutes and had a good expeiriance with them on the phone so overall considering i could of been wiped all over the road ,all has ended well