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My bike is pretty much 95% complete with a few cosmetic exceptions. She runs/rolls and all of the regular tricks but since this was my first build EVER I wanted to have a mechanic look over my project to make sure that A. I didn't do something dumb that would get me hurt and B. I didn't do something dumb that was gonna get my bike hurt. I am pretty confident in the things I do but if I am gonna strap on my stupid and get at it down the street and 65+ mph on a regular basis, I wanna make doubley sure I've done a proper job.
Called up the local "go to guy" for all things vintage honda and he was so booked up with work that he wouldn't even take the bike on. He recommended another guy and I ended up taking the bike to him. He first wanted to see the bike in person before he would agree to work on it. He said that he had gotten into way to many messy "custom bikes" over the years and didn't want to get into a helluva mess once again. I thought that was fair enough and trailered it down to his shop. He liked the bike and told me he would give it a going over and he was pretty busy but would have it to me in two weeks. Its going on 3 weeks now and when I called to check in his response was "Nope, havent touched it. I parked it and thats about as far as I got. Don't know when I'll get to it."
At what point do you get frustrated with this kinda stuff? I work in a world of deadlines (maybe thats the biggest part of my problem) and when you tell someone two weeks, you mean two weeks.
Anyway...just bitching... I really want my bike back.
I had a similar problem then i started making it a point to tell the shop tech "I ride this to work daily and need an appointment for a one day turnaround" If they cant do that than f**k them. It is 2012 and if you can't handle a schedule than i don't want you around my bike. Most shops I have dealt with have an "appointment" log similar to that of a doctors office.
TOTALLY AGREE with your rant.
Ya man. The "Ill get to it when I get to it" stuff is for the birds. I understand a small shop being busy, but he should've called you at some point and told you that he didnt think he'd get to it. Sounds like another mechanic who thinks hes some sort of savior, and that the world revolves around him. Happens a lot. Go pick the bike up man. Chances are it'll be there for another three weeks if not. Or, I could be all wrong and hes a great guy/mechanic who just screwed up. Either way, go get the bike and finish the work yourself. Take your time, do it all twice if you feel the need. The more time you spend working on it, the better the chances that it'll be a solid build.
Well sounds like I've once again bought an all access weekend pass to the retard convention. Something about bike mechanics around here seem to make people pissed off b/c the "I'll get to her when I get to her" school of thought is still alive and well. Sounds like some of you guys have a few people who live in 2012 and that's great. Unfortunately for me......I live in Ky. It's a city of 290,000 people but it's still good old backwoods KY in so many ways. I guess I will go pick my bike up tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how that awkward conversation pans out.
Yup, go get it. I live in hick town too and can't afford a big shop and the shade tree crowd are more likely to spit tobacco juice on it than work on it. Therefore I network selected friends who know their shit and like free beer. Best way man..
Doesn't have to be awkward, man. "Hey, I know you said two weeks when I dropped the bike off, but it's been three. It looks like you're swamped, so no hard feelings but I'm going to pick my bike up. Thanks anyways."
Well sounds like I've once again bought an all access weekend pass to the retard convention. Something about bike mechanics around here seem to make people pissed off b/c the "I'll get to her when I get to her" school of thought is still alive and well. Sounds like some of you guys have a few people who live in 2012 and that's great. Unfortunately for me......I live in Ky. It's a city of 290,000 people but it's still good old backwoods KY in so many ways. I guess I will go pick my bike up tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how that awkward conversation pans out.
Cafe-Zuki: I kinda do want to tell him he is an asshole. I took the bike out to the guy for him to say YES or No to working on. I had no expectations either way an he could have very well said no and it would have all been good. BUT...he said "yes I will work on it and it will take X amount of time." If he didn't want to work on it he had a fantastic opportunity to tell me so.
The other guy I go to is a local Honda legend. He practically has a museum of classic bikes upstairs in his shop (I'm talking like a 100 bikes) and he does damn honest work. He also has that shade tree mentality too and it takes him forever to get to your bike. At least I know now that this is not the norm. I'm gonna call the guy here in a minute when he opens and go get me bike!
YAYYYYYYY, Stick it to em! I can not stand bad customer service, regardless of quality of work. Glad to hear you are going to get yo ride back, better luck.
On a related note, when i "finished" my bike I did not take it in to get looked at. i just started around the negiborhood, then to a friends 20 minutes away, and so on... Sooner or later all problems are gonna eventually shake themselves out. It seems like every time i go ride a new "problem" gets put on my mental list, sometimes its a squeak i notice or sometimes it is just something that i realize i can make prettier.
But Hey If it wasn't for the scratches, squeeks, creeks and leaks we would have nothin to do.
Good luck
You know, maybe the "I'll get to it when I get to it." mentality is the norm. I looked around for over a month to find a motorcycle mechanic that didn't have a ton of shit reviews before I settled on a guy an hour away from me. I kinda wanted the same thing done to my bike. In my case, I had it for over a year and didn't have the tools or knowledge yet to know what shape it was really in, what needed replacing or how to fix what may be wrong, but I did know it needed a good once over by someone who knew what they were looking for. The dude seemed great and I got a "couple weeks" timeline. Two months later I get the bike back. I must have called about 5 times in that second month trying to stay civil. He did a good job, explained what could still use replacing and was nice enough guy, but none of that makes up for "a couple weeks" turning into two fucking months. I decided at that point I'd just have to figure it out on my own.
Since I just put my ride all back together again, I'm just taking it slow and short distances and adding a couple miles and mph each day. Just like Zuki wrote.
There is very few things that you need to check for safety sake. Axle bolts torque and cotter pins etc. Brakes can be checked easly in the drive way etc. Take the bike out slow up and down the block, listen and feel, slowly go out longer, farther, faster and check stuff after your ride for tightness etc. Things can and will loosen up on you . I had 2 of 3 engine mount bolts vibrate out on a 160 mile ride on the 450 and they were torqued to spec, locktite is you friend. Cheers and good luck getting your bike etc.
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