Bike suddenly got louder

[rick]

Just an update:
The bike has now been out of commission 41 of the 101 days I've owned it.

I called KTM North America yesterday to complain because, 30 days in the shop for warranty repair in 18 months puts it into Lemon Law territory in California. I also mentioned that it costs me an extra $20/day for gas a parking while the bike is out of service. KTM was nice but totally unconcerned. They said they have the dealer call me which they did just now. The dealer, SBM, said that they're cross shipping a parts with KTM and that they should have the last parts they need in 2-3 days. Which probably means another week of waiting.

As I understand it, KTM won't ship replacement parts under warranty normally until they have the damaged parts. The "cross shipping" statment suggest they never shipped the cam (etc) to KTM. #$%(*&%$#*%&!!!!

 

[rick]

I sent an email to Road Racing World and Sport Rider Magazine (with photos) asking for their advice on speeding this up. They might respond.

 

[fs1ephil]

I really feel for you and reading this thread has really made me feel quite lucky over here in the Uk.
I no this is no where as bad as the problem you have had but my front brake disc warped on my Rc after 700miles
I dont take any of my new bikes to be serviced by dealers and have always purchased original parts and carried out my own servicing.
Even though I'd carried out my own first and second service I kept receipts for the parts purchased so went to my ktm dealer
and asked if they would honor my warranty for a new brake disc to be fitted. The service manager looked at my receipts for the service
parts purchased and said yes no problem well book you in and get that done.
Two weeks later I took my Rc in they fitted a new disc and new front pads free of charge under warranty. I cant knock that kind of service.
It seems you have trouble in the states with Ktm but here were treated totally different. Its a shame

 

[Chris The Welder]

fs1ephil, here in the states, when I want a new bike, I buy it from a dealership. That is when my relationship with that dealership ends. Until I want another bike, that is.

 

[fs1ephil]

fs1ephil, here in the states, when I want a new bike, I buy it from a dealership. That is when my relationship with that dealership ends. Until I want another bike, that is.

I dont blame you, I did ask if they could supply me with the disc so I could fit it but he would only honor my warranty if they did the work.
I wasnt going to argue, It was very descent of him to agree in the first place.

 

[rick]

48 days and counting. No word from the dealer and no reply from the magazines. Boo.

 

[Superpacman13]

Just an update:


As I understand it, KTM won't ship replacement parts under warranty normally until they have the damaged parts. The "cross shipping" statment suggest they never shipped the cam (etc) to KTM. #$%(*&%$#*%&!!!!

Thats a negative, dealer negligence. KTM strongly suggests dealers to order the part as soon as the warranty claim is submitted, this dealer sounds like a certifiably certified turd. There is another option that isn't the dealers fault, and that is if the warranty part is back ordered. At that point all anyone can do is wait. I would be up KTM NA's ass right now trying to circumvent the dealer IF the part is not back ordered. I can give you specifics if need be through PM.

 

[regular_guy]

Tell them that if they don't get you back on the road asap that you're going to want all your money back for the bike and that if not you're going to sue them.

 

[sturge]

Good to hear things will be done under warranty but I feel your pain with all the BS you are dealing with. Recently dealt with blown head gasket issue (bike was only 3 months old) and got the same sort of run-around with my dealer. 'Well...we need to take pictures and send to KTM warranty guy' (that took over a freakin' week). Then it's...'well...we need to order the parts' (another week or so). Then it's...'well...Joe has today off so he will start tomorrow'. It took almost 3 weeks to get the bike back. Not all are like this but it sure does seem like the norm (from all dealers...bikes and autos). Usually works best to be somewhere in the middle...be patient but be firm and stay in touch to hold them accountable. Get names and force some ownership to let them know you are expecting 'this' by 'then' and will be following up.

I decided a long time ago to try and avoid dealers for any service. I buy the vehicle and I'm gone. Usually do my own mntc which can be a pain but it's lesser of two evils to me and I always know it was done right. Unfortunately, with warranty issue you gotta play the game if you want the repairs done on their dime.

 

[rick]

It's day 49 of 109 (45% of the time I've owned the bike)

I called KTM North America again this morning. The rep, Tyson, remembered me from last time I called. I emphasized that we were well beyond the presumption of reasonableness under California's Lemon Law and he got much more sympathetic. He said that he'd call the dealer again again and pass it up to a higher pay grade on his end. He pointed out that dealers are independent businesses and that they can't control them.

He did want to confirm that the bike was delivered disassembled to the dealer. I confirmed it (the valve cover was off and the damaged cam was removed) as it was transferred from my usual mechanic to the dealer. I'm curious what that's about.

The google turns up a bunch of California motorcycle lemon law lawyers the work on a contingency basis if it comes to that. Ugh.

 

[rick]

Oh, and right there with you on the "avoid dealers" theory. If you want it done right and in a timely fashion then dealer's are typically your last resort. My theory is that once a shop starts selling things more than wrenching then the wrenching becomes less important to the owner and the quality starts dropping off rapidly. Then you tend to get entry level mechanics who are just trying to get enough experience to get out of there and work somewhere better or start their own shop.

I forgot to add the Sport Rider and Road Racing World magazines did not respond to my email. I though Sport Rider would have since they've got an RC390 in their long term fleet and wrote an article on the Lemon Law and motorcycles not so long ago. Oh well.

 

[sturge]

Good luck man...the aggravation and frustrations involved with pursuing lemon laws and suits never jump out to me as a great option. Spending lots of time and effort dealing with that BS when I could be riding and smiling is not what I am looking for. Following repairs, if I had limited confidence in the reliability of my bike or KTM's support I would sell it and move on to something else in a heartbeat.

 

[ToraTora]

Rick I'm really surprised that they are putting you through all of this crap. But like they were saying on the Barf don't settle for just a new cam. Metal has gotten into the engine, and the bearings are to be suspect now. Even a good flushing isn't going to put you in a state of knowing that things aren't screwed up. I'd do that sort of work in a get the bike home from a ride, but not for a real repair.

One of my riding buddies had his RC8 engine fail on him. KTM didn't have the parts to fix it, but eventually they found a race team in the US that has some parts, and they were able to fix his engine. It took a lot of hounding, but eventually the engine got properly fixed. This was trough Scuderia who did the work. I know people don't like to post dealer names, but I think that's something that should be posted to foros, because people need to know which dealers take care of people, and which dealers do not.

Anyway, you are now in touch with the Rep and that's the best way to go about these things. Talk with him about an engine swap, and if they wont do that go for a bike.

Also, in California, everyday that the bike is in the shop the warranty is extended that amount of time. Yup. I went through this with a computer with Apple. They ended up giving me a brand new, and better machine, but it's important to know these things. I don't know how this effects your extended warranty because that is probably through a third party, but I would check in to the shop time effect on that too if I had one.

 

[rick]

Well, I did get the bike back last night! Despite all this I was just so excited to see it again!

They buttoned it up as much as they could so, laziness/time constraints prevented me from pulling the valve cover to see what they did. So, I checked the fluids, added some air to the tires ('cause it had been sitting so long), put the bodywork and my R6 shock (that had been ready since the bike died) on and rode it the 35 miles into work today (half twisties). The motor seemed about the same which is good. I guess I'll just ride it like nothing happened and hope that, if it's gonna break, it does it soon.

I'll serious consider the lemon law option if it ever breaks again and it should be *easier* since it's already been at the dealer far beyond the maximum under the California Lemon Law's presumption of reasonableness.

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

'same thing happened to me yesterday! took it to the shop and they are on it today, someone mentioned the small engine size doesn't withstand commute in the freeway, bought it 6 months ago! still under warranty so we'll see

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

what ended up being the problem? my bike is in the shop for exactly same thing. someone said it could be engine

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

so im sure im in the very same boat that you were on. I bought the rc 390 at south bay motorsports, and I have done all oil/services there. but I may have delayed the service by a couple miles, I fear they will want to use it against me. any suggestions?

 

[rick]

I'm sooo sorry!
I don't have any advice except to be firm and to not be afraid to raise some hell if they push you to it. I don't think they'd give you a hard time about a couple of miles but, my local dealer did seem to be working harder to build a case against me rather than going to bat for me. I'd love to hear how it works out.
When my cam went bad, I got the impression that it wasn't an extremely rare issue for this motor. FWIW, mine does seem to be running well in the 48 days and 2,200 miles I've put on it since I finally got it back and the first post-repair oil change came out clean.

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

So I spoke to South Bay Motorsports yesterday, they said the estimate was about 3,000dlls. I've had the bike for about 6 months (bought it brand new) and put in a lot of miles on it since I use it primarily for commute. Services have all been done there and they said they would send the paperwork to KTM to see if it would be covered by the warranty.

I hope they do, regardless I'm very disappointed. I spent about 7,500dlls in credit on this bike and extended 3 year warranty and didn't even go more than 6 months without issues.

Keep in mind a 3,000dlls issue is not something small. I don't even know what's wrong with the bike, other than the engine was making a strange loud noise. I'm thinking the CAM-SHAFT or ENGINE blew out.

I will update on Thursday with what I hope will be good news, I'm sure the warranty will cover it, but still I'm looking at about a month without a bike. and in the time being I'm spending about 30dlls/day in transportation!

 

[rick]

Dayum, you can buy another engine for less than that!

It's hard to imagine a scenario where that shouldn't be covered by warranty on a bike so new with dealer performed maintenance. Still, they didn't tell you what was wrong, just how much it would cost? Weird. I'm scared you found an awful dealer like mine.

Can't wait to hear how Thursday goes!