A trip to the Suzuki (?) dealer

[Desolation Angel]

i stopped at mine last Friday to get a chain on order for the Honda and looked around. The kawa's were pretty interesting this year but gone are the bandits...

And gone, also, are the wonderful ZRX1200Rs.



Except they still have 'em in the rest of the world.

I can't believe bike buyers didn't demand more GSF & ZRX 1200s!

[gs650girl]

yup

As someone who is brand new to motorcycles and went looking for a nice old used bike...I officially found [U]none in my area. I asked my MSF teacher where I should look and he suggested ebay. It's sad when a person cannot find a nice used bike for a starter bike somewhere, and all of the dealers that I went to looked at me like "you're just a little girl who knows nothing about bikes....we'll either ignore you completely or try and sell you some over-powered high priced bike that you will kill yourself on". Eventually I just bought my gs on ebay, she needs a lot of work yet, but I wanted a nice old bike that I can make my own...maybe it worked out for the best after all.

[dlancer]

Back in 1979 or 1980 I owned a 76' Suzuki GT 750. I had to have the water pump replaced which I did at the local Suzuki dealer. When I got the bike back it would leak a little bit of coolant while it was sitting in my garage.I went to a little repair shop a couple of blocks from my house to let him look at it. He told me that there were supposed to be head bolt washers with O rings inside to keep the coolant from leaking. He did not charge me a dime to look at it. I took it back to the dealer and told them about the washers. They told me the bike had those on it, but they were not supposed to be there, so THEY THREW THEM AWAY! I then went back to the little guy.He told me to call Suzuki USA in California and ask for a one guy. I did that the guy in California sent me the washers at no charge. I took the bike back to the little guy who installed them for me also at no charge. Because of that first meeting I have been a loyal customer of his ever since. I would venture to say he knows more about bikes than any other tech. in the Cincinati area.

[bradleymaynar]

I've seen the local Suzi dealer go through a major change over the past couple of years. The previous dealer was very knowledgable and extremely friendly. When I had my 750 in there for some work (VC gasket, pre GSR) and when I went to pick it up, he noticed that it was leaking gas. He'd forgotten that I'd told him about a gas shut-off valve b/t the tank and the carbs. My wife had dropped me off and left, so, rather than letting me ride off on the bike, the owner gave me a ride home so that he could have the tech check things out.

Since then, he has since sold the dealership off to a younger group of people. And while the service is still decent, they don't have much of a clue when it comes to looking up parts for older bikes. I still go to them for filters and other general maint. items, but it'll be a cold day before I let them crack a wrench on the bike. It seems like every time I go in (every few months) there's someone new behind the counter and the showroom has been rearranged again. The last time I was there, they had at least 4 'busas on the floor. Mind you this is a very small shop.

Don't get me started on the local A-holes at the Honda shop! :roll:

Brad tt

[Rake78GS]

I made a post a few days ago on buying at the dealership instead of online. I havent been into the deeler in over a year and was still greated by name, on sight, by the counter staff! they didnt need to pull up my file or anything else. All he said was "still on the '78 gs?".........

Now thats service!

OTOH the sales staff on the floor, they wouldnt give me the time of day......

[graymulligan]

I think I'll throw a positive into this thread. There are a lot of local shops around where I live, and where I work (45 min. apart) Most are too busy to deal with people, much like what has been expressed in thsi thread.

I ended up buying my GS from a little shop about a half hour from home that has no New line they sell, just used. Been in business for a million years, friendly, just a great bunch of people.

I cam in looking at an 700 in white, all done and in the wrapper, really pretty. When I commented that it was going to be my first bike in a decade or so, one of the mechanics mentioned a mechanically great bike that was ugly in the back, that need paint and not a lot else. I went back and looked at it, and ended up buying it, and saving about 800 bucks over the one that was all done.

Oh, the day I came to pick it up, on their little showroom floor were a Silver bandit, a red Moto Guzzi with a stunning chrome tank, a late nineties YZF600(maybe 750) and a 2005 triumph bonneville america. Talk about a wide array...

They service everything, and I've stopped in a few times simply to chat with them, and usually I'll end up in the back yacking with the owner and a couple mechanics about all sorts of stuff. Just a great, great shop. I'll be taking the GS there for anything I can't handle on my own without hesitation.

(I may even get lazy and have them do the oil changes...stupid 4-1 pipe is going to make those a real pita)