Kawasaki ZX14R Motorcycle PSA: Maintenance Check
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2015
- A quick PSA as to my dealings with Kawasaki dealerships and maintenance. Normally I have nothing but good things to say about taking my bike in to have work done, but this time it really got under my skin....
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Wait wait wait, you're a helicopter mechanic and you couldn't change the oil, or replace the battery on your bike? 😳
Aircraft mechanic here too, of 28 years. Best solution is get a factory service manual and do things yourself, I've been doing that for years now. All bolts are torqued to spec, all grommets in place, tires at correct pressure etc. Dealership maintenance is usually disappointing. The only thing I have to farm out is tire replacement which consists of me handing them a wheel and a new tire to put on.
Good mechanics are worth their weight in gold, I wouldn't go back there.
Still riding bro, beautiful machine they are and yours looks sweet 👌🏼
Thanks for posting your experience here. I'm fortunate that Kelly's Kawasaki in Mesa, Arizona has exceptional service writer and techs. And if there was ever a problem, the owners are approachable. I too am an A&P mechanic and do almost all my own maintenance but there are times when it's just practical to have a service done by the dealership. IMHO you have every right to say there name of the dealership. Thanks for being a brother and sharing your experience.
You should state the name of the dealership. There's no reason to protect them from the consequences of their scams or let them do it to all of the customers after you. They have no respect for us.
That's why I always work on my own vehicles
had this happen on my suzuki when i took it in for recall work.. missing frame plugs and scratched it up getting the plugs out. they replaced the plugs for free.. they lost my original ones.. scratches where minor and plugs covered them up.. later started smelling something burning and found they pushed the original plugs inside the frame and the rubber plugs where burning from being so close to the radiator.. took a air compressor and they blew right out.
this is why i do my own work now on all my vehicles. hard to find a good place to trust and will take the time and care to do it right and not fuck up your shit.
preach it brother! glad to know there are people out there with similar experiences.
Best thing is to do your own maintenance work.
NEVER take a bike to the dealership for simple work like oil/filter changes. I wouldn't own a motorcycle unless I knew how to wrench on it myself.
it's always good idea to check your bike before you bring it in for service
I always prefer to do that kinda thing on my own .
but I hear what you saying ..
most of those guys don't care about nobody's hard earn money .. But you had your bike for 3 years and you only have 1300 miles wow. Get that 14 out and put some miles on it . I usually put more than when the weather it's nice in a week sometimes ..But again don't expect to much from dealership workers ..
only you can have 100% caring for your bike ....
I bring a checklist with me for the employee taking the bike to sign off on after he inspects the things on the list. Then after they're done, I go through the checklist and inspect it before taking possession of it. Just like when you rent a car. ;)
Just a quick note to your video. The same thing happened to me with one of my ZX14R's they pushed a grommet into my intake manifold on top of the valves. I too live in Texas, Austin. Georgetown area. I was extremely lucky it didn't get into the intake valves. I don't let anyone even touch my motorcycles anymore.
I would be interested in your dealer area.
Take Care.
JohnD.
Excellent video , thanx !!
VERY INFORMATIVE THANK YOU
You are lucky. My bike's oil change ended up to a crash after all the oil came out. The mechanic used only his fingers to tight up the oil screw. He forgot to use a torque wrench after it. I had only 80-90 km/h speed when rear wheel slipped in a curve. I didn't hit anything, so only scratches and bruises here and there. The mechanic admitted that he just forgot it.
I have owned more than one 14 and one thing i will say is... i learned early on that those grommets are really easy to push out when reinstalling the grills. When you do go to reinstall the grill... put a little lube (i just use spit) on the grommets so the grill will push through easy. A similar thing happened to me at my own fault.
Hey, I to have a zx14r. I have had 3 of them. I also live in central Texas the Austin area. Please let me know if you use a dealership in this area. I too have had a few maintenance problems after work had been performed. I had just about the same experience with one of my zx14's. I would be glad to talk with you. The way you explained your situation is exactly what happened to me.
If you are going at high speeds when the bike becomes unbalanced or the laminar flow is upset the vibration can crash you. I had one of the mirrors not put on right and the vibration at around 155 was very sudden and violet. Anyway good luck to you. The ZX14r is a fantastic machine and a real pleasure to ride.
Thanks for the video.
Which is why I take my bike apart before taking it to the shop and I also film and take pictures. After the break-in period though I stop taking my bike to the shop.
Do everything myself except taking the motor apart. They sound like a spot here in AL lol.
Years ago in Texas I had a new tire put on in the front, after riding wheelies one day, I stop and looked, and two pinch (same side)bolts are gone on the forks, and the other two are loose. That was 26 years ago, nobody works on my bike but me since then.
You are correct you have to take that piece off to get to battery
I feel your pain. Dealership put a crack in my car dashboard once. And u should be able to trust that people will take care of your stuff. U paid for it.
I feel ya my dude...
Sorry to hear but this is typical of all dealers as far as I'm concerned. Over the last 25 years every time i took my bike to a dealer for any service it always came back worse than when it went in mechanically or physically. Because of this I try to do all that i can myself
I'd be pissed! Had situation with a Ktm dealer in uk. They were supposed to put new spokes on my bike. Ended up getting bike back with crack across rear wheel rim. They had my bike 2 months and couldn't find cause. After I threatened to go legal the replaced both rims. I agree the upsetting part is their denial of a problem they caused. Got ZZR Now And happy! Ride safe
Dealerships are trash the one by my house almost killed me went in for a tire change and they didn't even tighten the rear axel tension bolts left them completely backed out chain came off 20 secs after I left had to have them come pick me up didnt go down but chain messed up alot and took weeks for them to fix all the damages.
I learned ages ago not to trust my bike to a bike shop. I had my new bike (ZX14) delivered to my house and when it arrived, it was filthy; they didn't even bother cleaning the stock number off the mirrors. The dealer was incapable of carrying out a successful new motorcycle delivery, so it's no surprise therefore that I decided to do the first service and other maintenance on it myself. Jam the warranty. Its more likely the dealer would have buggered something up on my bike than having a major mechanical issue that I may not be able to have repaired under warranty due to me doing the first and subsequent services.
Where was this place at so I don’t take my bike there to get worked on. I’m in Texas and own a ZX-14 also
dont go to dealers, they generaly have bad mechanics. the best mec are INDIPENDENT mec.
Brother 2016 zx14r oil filter parts number?
i recently bought a zx14 for $8,000 out a dealership, loan made it $12,000; it has no battery cover, the negative wire is broken, the wires on the negative nut are chipped horribly, the positive wire extra fuses are also horribly chipped, the head is cracked, the clutch is snapped in half, and the chain is rusty. Yet here I am, hearing this guy talk about missing nuts on his zx14.
You're a helicopter mechanic and you took you're bike in to a dealership to change the oil? And battery?
Ive skinned my bike so many times i can do it blindfolded. I wont let anybody skin my bike, if you are not very careful you will break tabs and screw it up. Ive learned to do all work on mine. Oil, Brakes, air filter, fuel pump, tires. Dealerships are the biggest thieves on earth.
Did my own oil change on mine and you don't have to touch any part of the fairing on the bike at all.
What's the point in doing this long video and say that this is a "public service announcement/caution/warning" if you're not going to tell us who the dealer is???
Exactly, how is it informative or helpful at all when at the end you still don’t know what dealer to avoid?
I’m with you I believe it , I’ve been riding 50 years , I also have a ZX14R and a few others , the worst experiences I’ve had were with Harley Davidson Service , and I love the bike , I’ve had s few , but no more , and it because of the service , I’ve had better luck with a private mechanic , most of them use too work for dealers and did not like what they were seeing , and I’ve heard this many times , they swap parts , and someone stole yours , the service writer you spoke with was on the defensive , hello red flag , it probably goes on all the time !!
i do my own work
Yep same here. If you can do it yourself. Don't trust anyone to work on my bikes.
I have herd different versions of your story. Funny how the dealerships will always believe some concocted story of why their guys f ed up. I would bet If you told the service manager you and a friend that was blind drank a 5th of Jack Daniels and lost the gromets he would believe that. A side note, on those gromets apply a small amount of grease on the male parts that go into them. It will help keep the gromets from tearing out when you take the fairings off. 2012 and 2013 are the best looking years. Only 2 Gen 2 models that have the polished rims, Gotta love the polished rims.
Sad my friend, to many dishonest people out there just for the money. I’ll either work on my bike myself or a trusted mechanic, with a good reputation. I am pretty sure you were trusting a Kawasaki shop but there is were you will find all those crooked losers. Good luck with your bike and be safe!!
You can not trust anyone to do the job correctly. Always check their work before you leave the shop. Otherwise they aren't liable.
time for a new dealer.
honestly this is one of the reasons why I do almost all stuff myself.
New dealer doesn't help. They all pretty much suck.
@@Zx14rrrrrrrrrrr DIY then.
@@azr2d1 yep. I have a friend that finally learned his lesson. He always took his bike to the dealer because he "doesn't have time to work on it". After so many times of them messing something up. Half assing work. Or keeping the bike for weeks. He finally stopped bringing it back. Now he either does it himself or asks me for help. I do everything myself. Except for mounting and balancing tires.
I paid for an additional 4 years on my warranty and the first time I had maintenance done at the dealership I happened to look to see if it was done and I saw the mechanic using a black marker on my mirror so I waited for my bike to be brought out to me and upon inspection this guy had dropped my new ZX-14R and was hoping that I would drive off without noticing.. long story short everything was replaced by the dealer but I would not let them do the installation, me and a friend did it ourselves and it was hell but the bottom line is these guys aren't very professional, I wasted money on an extended warranty because I would never take it in again.
I don't know if it's just these mechanics but when I was younger ever time I brought my bike in always something wrong. Then I just taken a night school Motorcycle mechanic course. Even though I brought the bike in just for new tyres the bastard's put a gouge in my rotors,I noticed it 2 days later,of course when I called them I was just a bother to them. Asshole just don't care.
They probably have a mechanic that either had his own bike with missing grommets or lost parts on another bike and took yours so he wouldn't have to tell the boss.
Those grommets do not just fall out. My guess is they did not remove the grille correctly or forced the grommets out somehow...And I would have asked for a replacement battery cover. The 14R fairings are not difficult to work on, but care must be used on this bike. And everything goes together and comes apart in a specific order. Can't just start ripping these plastics off on this bike, I actually watched Brock's video for exhaust install before I ever worked on my bike and removed the fairings..
Right on! The first 5 minutes of the Brock video gives you access to the battery, coolant and air filter.
your a helicopter pilot and don't do your own work?
+gene harrison With a new bike, under warranty. It's better/you have to get the work done by a log book approved serviceman.
So you can't do your own work
@@BoereworsRoll Agreed
Please, I want to know the special code number for the color of your bike, because I have one like you and I want to know the color code number
They are so bullshit , they think you just a dumb customer , I’ve been screwed so many times by Harley, Kawasaki , you name it I’ve had all kind of bikes , I trust no dealership , especially cars , sometimes your better off with the smaller back yard bike or car mechanic !!
Tag racing in Kent are the best mcanics in the south of England but that's a bit far for you 🤔I trust my guys with my life as they are working on something that can kill you 🤔 I think I'd let you work on my helicopter 😁 if I had one ride safe bud
I would have named the dealer!
Cool story Bro, just service the bike at home unless it's a valve clearance service.
If you work on helicopters,you should be able to change your own oil and battery.I have a ,2006 ZX-14 and I would not let anybody perform repair that required plastic removal.Do your own repair such as you described.You would probably have a stroke if you actually witnessed the battery replacement and bolt torque on the pan plug! Sounds like you left Jennifer Aniston unattended in a biker bar.
l
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Why wouldn’t you say where? By all means when you get poor service tell where. That’s common sense
shouldnt matter if you ride it 186 mph it should be put together correctly have fun with them guys when you get valves shimed at 24000 they will reallly booger it up i shim all my bikes myself and they scream
YOU SHOULD BE CHECKING EVERYTHING AND CHECKING FOR LOOSE PARTS, BOLTS, NUTS......AND FUCKING RIDE.
A&P do your own work
piss poor performance from that dealer, glad its not like that here is Scotland.
they screwed up period
First of all your dealer would not be getting anymore business from me..
2nd its obviously been a young inexperienced apprentice mechanic working on it..
3rd basic mantenence on a zzr is simple pal you would save yourself a fortune..
4th these plastic panels have to be nutured with kid gloves they are easily damaged..
5th thank god it wasnt a more serious job or who knows what they would have got up to or mess they would have left the bike in...DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR GET YOURSELF A MECHANIC THAT KNOWS ZZR'S INSIDE OUT ....RIDE SAFE BRO...
I know very well what it is, these grommets came out when they pulled out the pannel. If they dont pay attention this is what is happening. This motorcycle is a missile that goes 300+ km per h. People who maintain it, should know what they are doing - for real. You would be better off doing the maintenance yourself - unfortunately.
Dealers suck nothing new here.
helicopter mechanic.... pays 180 for service on bike... not seeing the logic
Typical short sighted dealer. Defensive and don't understand the lifetime value of a customer.
Sorry bro but you're wrong. If it was from the battery service wouldn't you have heard the rattling at that time. Shit rattles loose on motorcycles all the time.
DonTHEhandsome1 Yeah you are right, IF I had been riding it I would have heard it. It was on a trailer to and from the battery service. But just riding doesn't cause grommets to come out.