1150 Scorched cylinders woe - SPC

[Freebietd4]

Hi Folks - advice needed !

i bought a 1150 GS (non adventure) form SPC 5 weeks ago. overall it was a great experience but ive had the following go wrong :

Overheated 4 times in the London commute
BAD vibrations - possible throttle sync problem?
shot paralever bearing
gearbox impossible to go from 1st to second in the London commute when its warmed up

The bike was serviced by SPC before i picked it up and had been serviced by them all of its 30000 mile history. within 3 weeks of ownership and 750 miles the above faults were apparent

Result ? they have had my bike 2 weeks now and have traced the overheating fault to a faulty oil thermostat which on a call last Friday they said they had just had a spare delivered and I may have the bike back Saturday... Trouble is today they said the oil thermostat had arrived today !!!

the overheat has scorched the cylinders according to the mechanic at SPC which they are going to be "repairing/repainting"..

they have apparently replaced the paralever bearing and when i quizzed them on the gearbox they said "yep, thats gonna be done too" and the throttle body balance as it was well out vibrating like a pig they said "yep, thats gonna be done too".

So, based on the fib about the oil thermostat arriving 5 days before it did im really unsure about this all now and dont know if they can be trusted

Im losing confidence in them - ive been without my bike for 2 weeks with a GS 650 replacement thats got no luggage (I need it for work and mine has a full set).

Overall, they have rung me twice in the 2 weeks - ive been very polite to Dean on the phone and havent been chasing them but with my loss of confidence im now quite miffed about this

Should they be replacing the cylinders etc if they are scorched ? its under warranty and ive owned it 5 weeks now inlcuding the last 2 where i havent had it as its in their garage !

ive not chased them in the hope they would be appreciative that ive not been bugging them and do a better job on my bike but im now wondering if i should have been more pushy... ?


any advice from you lot on what I should do ?

 

[Droopy Dick]

It seems from what you've written that SPC are doing the repairs that are needed.

FWIW, I would be phoning every other day to keep them on the boil.

Why not speak to the affable Mr Simpson (owner of SPC) and get him to put some pressure on the workshop guys?

 

[cookie]

my 2000 GS had a defective thermostat which prevented the oil cooler from being in circuit for the first 7000 miles of it's life .

doesn't seem to have done it any harm,

 

[Freebietd4]

Was it stop-start in London and getting to the last bar on the temp gauge ?

i never noticed the problem till we had the hot april day in london and it was stop-start all the way.

 

[mpriestley]

a fair bit of it was

 

[cookie]

a fair bit of it was

you still here? not heard from you in a while


my experience was outside london on the free flowing & uncrowded dorset highways

saw 7 bars on the M3 once.

 

[Shep]

I think, give them the chance to put it right, quite often service desk staff will often say what they think is right and what they think should happen but the workshop has other idea's. Often reversed as well

Contacting the owner may be a good idea, but he is unlikely to stab his own staff in the back, when the job is complete and then, if unsatisfactory, then bend their ears till satisfaction is gained

Shep

 

[Freebietd4]

Think you're right - they are trying to make good the faults and I think a polite and non-confrontational approach is the best way to getting a good result.

if then it goes boobs-to-the-ceiling i'll maybe not be so gracious

 

[Snooky]

Have a chat with Dean and tell him the 650 is no use as no luggage and you need it for work, laptop etc and you would like to swap it for something more appropriate and at a guess you should be able to get one of the 2 1200RT's that they have, I also had problems which ment it took forever to diagnose and fix a fault and had the RT for 2 weeks, although unlike you mine cost me a small fortune once I got it back as no warranty, but working now.
Dean does seem a fair guy most of the time.

 

[Freebietd4]

Yeah he's a super chap - very polite and friendly.

Spoke to them yesterday and said they had the cylinders off for repainting but hopefully I should have it back for next week sometime

i'll stick with the 650 for now as its hopefully not long to go till i get my bike back