24 December 2010

Repairs & a Comment on Motorcycle Dealerships

I was able to only have to replace the back half of the left side control module, leaving the original front which had all the electronics and obviating the need to snake the cable to the wiring harness.  The bark buster was easy.  Left the clutch lever in place as it works fine and can fix when we return.

The right side starter module was pushed down by the mirror stem so all I had to do was push it back up.  However, that module has a unique fastener -- a bolt with a purpose-built and permanently installed washer that fits neatly into a pair of notches.  When the thing got pushed down, the bolt pulled its head and washer through the out and was a real PIA to get out.  I took the new bolt-washer from the replacement unit and am good to go.  Removed and reinstalled the right bark buster and everything is good there.

I discovered additional damage upon personal inspection.  The windscreen blew out 2 of 3 fasteners.  The Kawasaki dealership did not have any and couldn't get any in time.  Missing 2 of 3 (only the middle one remained), one of which was also missing the nut.  So I positioned the 2 nuts on the outside, got a bolt from another part and then rigged up something that works for the middle.  It is secure now.

Each fairing was damaged.  The right more obvious than the left.  The standoff on the right was crushed (but at least not broken), and the brackets were both bent, the bottom more than the top.  Straightened those and reinstalled more or less to spec.  The left standoff broke (which I'm trying to setup overnight in JB Weld; which didn't work).  The left should be fine w/or w/o the standoff because it has 3 fasteners (2 on the radiator cover, and one above on the subframe).

Panniers arrived today and installed so there is no apparent (other than scratches) damage to the Happy Trails rack.

I do have a comment though about this Kawasaki dealership, and motorcycle dealerships in general.  They appear to have a complete lack of enthusiasm for their purpose, and in my opinion customer service is a foreign concept to them.  When I phoned last week with my parts problem, there was zero interest in my situation -- they basically said, "Well, these parts may arrive by Wednesday, or not, we don't know (or care)."  In fact, I had to get them to double-check on the availability.  Today, was more of the same -- no interest in this strange guy from Nashville here in PHX buying $400 worth of parts, nor was there even any query whether there was anything they could do to help me out (or even whether I needed any help).  They did cut Curtis a nice key though -- for $15 (you'd think that if they just sold someone $400 worth of parts they could throw in a key!).

No comments:

Post a Comment