Enraging

[zeakers]

I have a '13 Trophy and have had the same issues. There was a software update that was to take care of this issue. Since mine was updated, I have not had the problem return. Make sure you have the latest when visiting the dealing again.

[Sport-Touring]

[ARD]

I have a '13 Trophy and have had the same issues. There was a software update that was to take care of this issue. Since mine was updated, I have not had the problem return. Make sure you have the latest when visiting the dealing again.

+1

And some dealers do not seem to know about it.  I had to tell two dealers.  I think sports touring bikes are not big movers for them.

[BobW]

+1

And some dealers do not seem to know about it.  I had to tell two dealers.  I think sports touring bikes are not big movers for them.

I have been fortunate to have enjoyed solid dealerships with all my bikes (Triumph, BMW, Guzzi, etc.), but the most common theme in owner dissatisfaction regardless the OEM is this lack of "knowledge". How hard can it be to care enough to use their diagnostic equipment, service bulletins and if nothing helpful is found to then do a simple google search of "XYZ model XYZ problem forums". It aggravates me when better communication and detailed information is available on line from riders rather than within authorized service channels.

Good Luck with this, no excuse for repeat trips with a known fault and proper fix is available.

Cheers

[garry]

It boggles my mind that OEMs and dealership employees don't monitor web forums for the various brands/models they sell to stay abreast of owner issues, fixes, and tweaks.

[viffergyrl]

It boggles my mind that OEMs and dealership employees don't monitor web forums for the various brands/models they sell to stay abreast of owner issues, fixes, and tweaks.

I have used information from an online forum (Acurazine) to leverage the dealer (Acura) to give me a goodwill replacement. No dealer is going to give you anything unless you hold their feet to the fire with data. Even if they know about it they may not be forthcoming. Knowledge is power.

But I'm not sure how the big companies allocate their marketing dollars - that is, how much to the motorcycle divisions of Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and BMW get? And then how much of that could be allocated to monitoring forums?

When it comes to Ducati, Triumph, KTM, Moto-Guzzi, I'm not sure they have the manpower/computer power/sophistication to comb the internet.

Of course for that sport-touring market, they wouldn't be coming here for any marketing insight. Who the hell could ever satisfy this bunch especially when trying to build that 'middleweight' sport-tourer?  

[sprint_st]

It boggles my mind that OEMs and dealership employees don't monitor web forums for the various brands/models they sell to stay abreast of owner issues, fixes, and tweaks.

Garry, I comprehend exactly what you are saying, and have been frustrated many time when I know of a problem and the dealer doesn't know anything about it.  I have been lucky to have very good dealerships, except for my FJR (lots of dealers, just not any good ones LOL) and have talked to them on this subject.  After those conversations, I understand their point of view much better.  To make a long story short, they don't trust forums that much for a couple of reasons.  First, forums tend to have what is statistically a small number of problems blown into major catastrophes.  It's hard for them to determine if it is a "real" problem.  Second, there are a lot of people with too much time on their hands regurgitating things they have "heard" about and not having enough mechanical horse sense to evaluate the validity of the problem. Almost the same as the first, what do you believe.   Here is an example problem that I am sure you are aware of.  There was a time when a bunch of Triumphs had issues with the brake lever travel adjustment.  At the time I was on at least 5 different Triumph forums and they were all jam packed with misinformation.

[Gary B.]

Garry, I comprehend exactly what you are saying, and have been frustrated many time when I know of a problem and the dealer doesn't know anything about it.  I have been lucky to have very good dealerships, except for my FJR (lots of dealers, just not any good ones LOL) and have talked to them on this subject.  After those conversations, I understand their point of view much better.  To make a long story short, they don't trust forums that much for a couple of reasons.  First, forums tend to have what is statistically a small number of problems blown into major catastrophes.  It's hard for them to determine if it is a "real" problem.  Second, there are a lot of people with too much time on their hands regurgitating things they have "heard" about and not having enough mechanical horse sense to evaluate the validity of the problem. Almost the same as the first, what do you believe.   Here is an example problem that I am sure you are aware of.  There was a time when a bunch of Triumphs had issues with the brake lever travel adjustment.  At the time I was on at least 5 different Triumph forums and they were all jam packed with misinformation.

+1
As a former car dealer tech, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. In fact, forums are little more than entertainment in many cases. I use a Chevy HHR as my business vehicle. I found a forum for HHR owners. These folks are nuts! Most of 'em treat the car like it's some kind of exotic classic car. Minor glitches turn into a crisis. Something major fails, out of warranty, and they want GM's CEO's head on a stick. A major accomplishment for them is painting the dash panels a "custom" color.

[Bounce]

It boggles my mind that OEMs and dealership employees don't monitor web forums for the various brands/models they sell to stay abreast of owner issues, fixes, and tweaks.

As an owner, would you be willing to pay someone hourly wages to surf the internet? Given the expectations of wandering "off point" how could you be sure you were paying them for work and not personal stuff?

[Volfy]

+1
As a former car dealer tech, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. In fact, forums are little more than entertainment in many cases. I use a Chevy HHR as my business vehicle. I found a forum for HHR owners. These folks are nuts! Most of 'em treat the car like it's some kind of exotic classic car. Minor glitches turn into a crisis. Something major fails, out of warranty, and they want GM's CEO's head on a stick. A major accomplishment for them is painting the dash panels a "custom" color.

Yap... if you read VFR1200 forums, you might believe that the bike runs like shit and has zero bottom end... until you stick a $59 thingamajig on the gear position sensor wiring (which you can duplicate by rewiring yourself for $0), and all of a sudden the bike is tranformed into a world class power machine.    Not only that, any owner with any sense at all should just skip the $59 thingamajig and send their ECU to get reflashed for $300.  

I've had mine for going on 3rd yr now, and never once did I feel the need to do any of that.

[slvrsprint]

It boggles my mind that OEMs and dealership employees don't monitor web forums for the various brands/models they sell to stay abreast of owner issues, fixes, and tweaks.

Bonjour.

[garry]

As an owner, would you be willing to pay someone hourly wages to surf the internet? Given the expectations of wandering "off point" how could you be sure you were paying them for work and not personal stuff?

Yes, absolutely, especially when they are just sitting on their asses on weekdays when traffic is slow. Their job is to know their product inside and out and if spending some time on the internet learning about owner's concerns is what it takes, then do it. In fact, if I were an OEM, I would create a job position whose sole function was to surf the web harvesting info from end users and (if they were brave) to interact with said customers online.

There is no shortage of bitching on bike forums about clueless sales people and service managers that know less about the products they sell than the end users.

[Bounce]

Mechanics should be mechanicin'; not surfin' Faceplant and Pintrest.

Parts dudes have free time but often wouldn't know the mechanicin' part to understand what to look for and how to apply it if they found it. Same with sales and owners.

If mechanics want to clock out as mechanics and clock in a clerks @ minimum wage, then there's that.

Otherwise, just like the rest of us in fast-paced professions, do it on your own time. Companies quit paying for my continuing education and time to keep up with changes in tech somewhere in the mid-90s.

The difference is that we can focus on our bike of interest and dig deeply while they have to be generalists and end up with a wider but shallower knowledge of trends and changes.

[sprint_st]

Just a comment.  IMO, most of the "good" mechanics and "good" salesmen do use the net and a lot more to keep themselves informed because they want to, not because they are paid to.  It's their passion, like most of us.   Nobody can read all the forum stuff on all the bikes.  Single brand shops are kinda rare nowadays.

[Aah5]

It well and truly gets up my nose listening to all these complaints people are making about the reliability or the mechanical fitness of their bikes components, warranty claims for fairly menial problems, etc.
 Come on get real, bikes have never been more reliable, powerful and comfortable and just a joy to ride. Some of us remember that when planning a ride we had to think about not just getting there but will we get there. Sitting out on the side of the road chasing an electrical fault or repairing a broken chain on a cold and frosty night, not fun. Solid state electronics, o'ring chains, heated grips are so much nicer.
 Personally I have never had to make a warranty claim on any of my new bikes nor have any let me down mechanically or electrically since the late 70's, maybe it's because I treat them kindly, keep to the maintenance schedule, don't ride them like I stole them and do all servicing myself so if anything goes astray there is no one to blame but myself.

[mugwump58]

Who needs a calender? Clearly it must be February.

[Aah5]

Month of the year doesn't come into it where I am, I ride all year, all conditions on 3 different bikes so I don't have the time to waste bitching about dealer support, warranty problems or have I got the latest ECU upgrade.    

[sprint_st]

It well and truly gets up my nose listening to all these complaints people are making about the reliability or the mechanical fitness of their bikes components, warranty claims for fairly menial problems, etc.
 Come on get real, bikes have never been more reliable, powerful and comfortable and just a joy to ride. Some of us remember that when planning a ride we had to think about not just getting there but will we get there. Sitting out on the side of the road chasing an electrical fault or repairing a broken chain on a cold and frosty night, not fun. Solid state electronics, o'ring chains, heated grips are so much nicer.
 Personally I have never had to make a warranty claim on any of my new bikes nor have any let me down mechanically or electrically since the late 70's, maybe it's because I treat them kindly, keep to the maintenance schedule, don't ride them like I stole them and do all servicing myself so if anything goes astray there is no one to blame but myself.

Your either extremely lucky or don't fully realize how your new bike is "designed" to run like.  My new Sprint ST would die at 900 ft of altitude.  They completely checked my fuel system but had to replace the ECU.  Sprints, Tigers, S3, and early 676's had loads of brake caliper and master cylinder issues.  The quick disconnect issues had to go to NTSA because Triumph refused to admit it had a problem.  The fix changing to plastic QD's was BS.  Over the years FJR's had all kinds of electrical issues.  The bottom line is that most bikes do run reliable and well; however, if YOU are in the group were they don't, how well it is fixed reflects more on the manufacturer than the individual bike.  Not sure what Triumph USA is like now but when Peter Carleo was in charge of Customer Service, it flat sucked and so was his idea of what Triumph's responsibility to the buyer was.

[viffergyrl]

yes it is winter regardless of whether one can ride or not.

[Bounce]

Over the years FJR's had all kinds of electrical issues.

Really? I'm aware of Gen 2's of 1 or 2 years have a ground joint (spider) problem that was resolved by yahama (warranty recall?). What were the others?

[PatM]

Really? I'm aware of Gen 2's of 1 or 2 years have a ground joint (spider) problem that was resolved by yahama (warranty recall?). What were the others?

Other than the Spider, not many that I know of. This is the actual list of issues as posted on the fjrforum.

FJRF001 - Valve Ticking / Premature Exhaust Valve Guide Seal Issue (Gen I Bikes) (Fixed since 2006)
FJRF002 - Throttle Abruptness Issue (Gen II Bikes)
FJRF003 - Ignition Failure (Gen I and II Bikes)
FJRF004 - Altitude Sickness (2006/2007 Bikes)
FJRF005 - Ignition Switch Issue (2006-early 2009 Bikes)
FJRF006 Throttle Position Sensor (2005 Bikes)
FJRF007 - Touring Trunk Stress (2003-2007 models)
FJRF008 - Cam Chain Tensioner (CCT) Issue
FJRF009 - Intermittent Ground Wire Connection "Ground Spider"
FJRF010 -
FJRF011 - Fast Starter Syndrome
FJRF012 - Front Brake Switch Recall (2011)