Just another "buyer beware" thread

I'll gladly drop names to protect the community from dishonest sellers and shops however first I'd like to get some feedback regarding whether I'm overreacting or not. I own 2 zx6r's, 1 is an 08 that's bone stock. I bought it new and did a handful of track days and raced 1 season on it. I then purchased a used 07 from a fellow racer because his had ohlins goodies, quick shifter, full pipe, and other goodies plus the mechanic we both went to vouched for it and has built many championship winning bikes. I raced the 07 for 1 season and did a couple track days on it and it worked no problem.

About a year and a half into owning the bike it went boom and spit coolant out at the race track, I didn't have a problem with that, stuff happens at the track. Here's where it gets interesting, said championship building mechanic has closed his shop and moved to a different state so I get recommended to another local guy that has also built many number 1 plated bikes and has a great reputation amongst my local club. He himself on FB tells me to bring in the bike mid June of this year so he can take care of me.

It is now mid July I have not received any word about my bike however his social media channels are full of bikes he's currently building and moto America races he's attending. I drop by and he says he's been backed up but will start asap.

It is now mid August and I drop by again. My bike is being used as a shelf for leathers and the battery is dead. He hasn't even touched it. I should have taken my bike back at this point but he asks me when do I need it by so he can get started. Again this guy has a top notch reputation so I tell him I have a track day on September 5th and that I have a spare zx6r I use for spare parts. He asks me to bring it in just in case he needs to pull parts from it. I drop off the other bike 2 days later.

He notifies me the bike is ready to go over this past weeked so I showed up yesterday, Tuesday to pick it up. He pulled the motor, radiator, and gas tank with pump from the parts bike and stuffed them into the race one. The bike is running really rough at idle and it struggles to start. He said I just have to run it and let him know how it performs at the track so he can fine tune from there. No dyno sheets were presented but he did "ride it around the block, it's good". I bring the bike home and back track to the last time I rode the stock bike and realized the gas and oil have been in there for 2 years yet he never bothered draining it out or even asking me a history of the bike. I myself dumped the old fuel and while doing it I found missing bolts, an unplugged intake sensor, and the screw holding the back of the tank was only hand tight. I plan on putting fresh fuel in the bike now that the old fuel was drained and will change the oil myself before heading to my track day this weekend. So in conclusion I was charged a grand to wait 2 months for a bike that is running really rough and has fuel and oil that is two years old. What do you guys think?

 

IN on page 1

 

Honestly, you already posted the answer:

 

Its waaaaaaay too early for logic at this point.

 

I get what you guys are saying and I take full responsibility for it. I'll own my mistake. However I'm also looking for feedback from other mechanics to see if they would have approached the "repairs" in a different way.

 

IN ON PAGE ONE!

 

I had a well known race wrench "sit" on my bike back in the day. I wasn't quite sure what my race schedule was going to be, so he didn't make it a priority or even in the queue until I did. I let him know a month ahead of time but it still wasn't done. I partially chalked it up as me, but the onus was on him and he had four months all told. I missed the first race weekend that year.

-jim

 

I still don't understand how these things happen or when they do, how you don't get any kind of resolution in person, with said builder.

 

It's still fresh this happened yesterday. I'm still fairly new to racing so I want others opinions before talking to him.

 

You have to make YOUR priority HIS priority. No way I would have let two months pass by with out specifically setting expectations where both of us have a clear understanding of completion. Also if it just ended up him swapping parts from one bike to another - what building expertise are you paying for. Waiting two months for a simple parts swap. I would be more clear with my expectations with him. Water under the bridge at this point but no way I would except a crappy running bike from a shop I paid for work from.

 

This isn't a racing thing, its a human communication thing. If you are unhappy with somebody, talk to them, explain your position, and give them a chance to make it right.

 

I'd like to know how he supposedly has a good reputation doing shit work like that ?

 

Trebuchet!

Get on it. Start calculating range & trajectory of a zx6 engine.

 

In before Melka!

 

$1000 to do a 1/2 assed engine swap seems a bit steep.

 

That's the part that pissed me off. I work in industrial refrigeration so I have a good set of tools and steady hands to pilot said tools. I'm pretty sure I could have easily done that job a lot faster with a friend and a case of beer. Would have saved myself money.

 

Couple of questions before we can go any further

1) What rods were in the motor?
2) What is your favorite color pitchfork?
3) Define "hearsay"
4) What is your favorite kind of pie?
5) If a metalhead crashes an xr100, and nobody cares, does it make a sound?

 

werd... actual phone call or in person discussion.
(why does this sound so familiar ???????? )

 

You could have gotten that engine swap done during the red flag at the Daytona 200.

 

You want to know how I would have handled it? First if I'm too backed up to do work I explain that up front and develop a plan with the customer. Next, every single person who comes through the shop gets updates as needed. So if you bring a bike in that's wadded up into a million pieces you're most likely not getting it back in 2 days but you get a full written estimate within 24 hours, we figure out budgeting (for the customer) and any issues whether is be timing, parts, etc the customer gets a call (or text) immediately.

Anything that's on the invoice gets done. Suggestions are written on the invoice and I let the customer know before they pick the bike up.

Motor swap you get new oil, new oil/air filter, new gas, new coolant, etc. That's included in the original estimate. You don't get a shit running bike back. If something goes wrong you either bring it back or I come get it.

You need to call the guy and talk it out. Before dropping any names. Being level headed and calm gets you a lot further than flipping out. If he goes full Babuska on you then it's a different story.