Just another "buyer beware" thread

Hearsay!

 

.. true. (but i don't really care )
give Geoff at GPTech a call. better clear your schedule though, you will have had enough of how much he dislikes him after about 10 minutes. lol
i included the invoice in the photo showing "FREE" so that part is not hearsay

 

One of the worst things you can do is drop off a bike with a builder without a specified plan and completion date.

Livengood has taken my bikes back with him after every race weekend except for 2 of them I think. He always knows when the next event is, and he brings the bikes back ready to roll. He took them both home after Talladega to get them ready for the GNF (we do a different rebuild scheme, rather than rebuilding them during the offseason, he rebuilds mine prior to the GNF).

The point is that in every case, when he leaves the track we already have a plan in place for what is going to be done (even if it is only an oil change) and when we will be at the track again.

If you don't give them a set timeframe/schedule, you are basically telling them "whenever you get some free time"...and if the builder is worth a shit, he may never have free time.

 

This is why I build and work on my own shit. Granted I have friends and family who have assisted and taught me over the years but I also had to learn a lot myself. I'm not big money bags like some people in this sport and if I didn't learn how to build my own bikes years ago I wouldn't still be participating. We could have swapped that damn motor before lunch break on race day.

In my opinion like others have said you need to have a talk with this guy. What did you get for a grand? I suggest you talk to him, bring the bike back and make sure you get your 1000 dollars worth. At least get the guy to give you an oil change, new air filter, a brake bleed and a dyno tune. If you can get that out of him wipe your hands clean of the deal, be nice about it, smile and never go back again. Take some initiative to start working on your own stuff. It's understandable to have to bring a motor in to get built or to bring a bike in for tuning. But to pay a grand to swap a motor seems like a royal rip off to me.

And just to play the other side from the mechanic / shop point of view... Bringing a bike to a shop in the summer when everyone needs everything now is sketchy. They are typically swamped and especially considering they are running Moto America. Their priorities are not aimed towards your trackday bike especially if expectations aren't clearly defined.

 

What city is the tuner located in?

 

At the end of the day, you essentially paid $1000 for nothing but a motor swap....and they didn't even change the damn oil or put fresh gas in it.

Plus they never put it on the dyno, bolts were left loose, plus it hardly starts and runs rough....and this is after having the bike for 2 months. Yeah, I gotta say, that is bullshit. I would be pissed too.

I might expect that if I came in on a Friday and said "here are 2 bikes, I need to get the motor from that one over to the other one ASAP because I am gridding up tomorrow". But if they had the bike for 2 months, and I paid them $1.000, I would expect that shit to be right.

 

So, essentially, Livengood has some bikes that he lets you ride once in awhile.

 

In this day and age of social media and internet do these guys think this shit is not going to come back around and bite them in the ass or do you think they just don't care? It also blows my mind that shops continue to take in more and more work when they know there is no way they are going to be able handle all of it in a timely manner. Either tell the customer straight up they can't get to the bike for a few months or turn the customer away and tell them to come back because they are so swamped. It's both an honesty and an ethical thing.

 

Haha, something like that.

 

I know right. I have wondered that myself. Because like you said, everything is public these days. They cant expect to do stuff like that and not have everyone find out about it.

 

This is exactly where this problem started.

 

I'm not reading through the 4 pages already posted, just a response to the op and post 1 and if it wasn't already mentioned- if you have 2 bikes that are the same and can't come up with 1 running bike on your own time and wrenching skills to take to the track, either find another hobby or don't complain about having to drop that $1k, it really is that simple. Yes, it's too long and yes, 9 out of 10 shops will do that to you in the middle of the summer.
And with the whole thing about building "number 1" plated bikes, please, we all have garages full of bikes that will shatter lap records*.

*with the right rider...

 

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

"First off, let me start by saying... I usually HATE motorcycle racing, but I went into WERA fully expecting Mongo to change my mind. Boy was I disappointed! Tried the racing school first... flavorless, bland, and even resulted in my expertly prepared turns being overcooked. Next I tried an actual race... so much hype over this dish, but when brought to my table, felt like it had been left out in the cold with disappointing results. Complained to the manager... he offered no refund, no effort to even correct my less than stellar experience. At this point, I didn't even want any parts of his complimentary pie for dessert. Will NOT be coming back. 1 star."

 

im in SoCal as well. i def want to know who it is.

 

*update* I worked a 16 hour day yesterday so I did not have a chance to talk to him. I'm going to call today at noon pacific time during lunch. Some things I want to clarify because a lot of posts are making assumptions.

-said builder works with my local racing organization and track day provider. He's at all the events so he knows the days and I repeatedly told him that I wanted to attend those events as well. Deadlines were set.

-I do work on my own bikes as much as I can but this was a possibly blown motor. What if I had problems with the cooling system and ended up blowing both motors? Would it have really been worth it to try it myself? I didn't want to drive 3 hours to the track and drop $200 only to be uncertain if I would get quality riding in due to equipment failures. Some times paying a professional for that peace of mind is worth it.

-I don't win track days. I do race and the season opener is coming up so I really drove the point home that I needed my bike up and running because I want to get some practice in on the same bike I'll be racing.

-I work in industrial refrigeration, it's summer and I work crazy hours. After wrenching on equipment for 10-12 hours a day 6-7 times a week the last thing I want to do is go home and wrench on bikes. I have other interests outside of motos that occupy my free time.

*edit* I also never told him about my parts bike. I just told him because I started to get desperate to have some thing up and running. Lesson learned, don't be buddy buddy with people you are hiring to do a job.

 

This is the main reason I declined registering with the BBB. Same shit.

 

How does Geoff feel about FBSr? I can be persuaded either way with free stuff

 

Andy palmer at AP Motoarts?