26-07-14, 05:38 PM
As with everything, it doesn't hurt to check the bike over afterwards and there are poor dealers out there, as we all know. Even the best dealers can hire someone who's a bit flakey and only they will know what's gone on. It might just have been a very busy day and careless mechanic. Many years ago, I had one mechanic who managed to leave two pinch bolts off the yokes on my Fazer and it was just one of those things. He was excellent except for that one (drastic) mistake, and it was he who owned up and called me a couple of hours after I'd picked the bike up. I used him several times after that because he owned up to the mistake.
I am not a dealer, I don't work in the trade and none of my friends are mechanics, before anyone thinks I'm defending the indefensible! However, my one tip is try and talk to the mechanics working on your bike. If you strike up a personal relationship, it's much more likely they'll take a bit of extra care because you're not just a customer, you're a bloke they know. Some of the bigger dealers will not let you talk to them and that's the point I walk.
As for Loctite-ing caliper bolts, I just had the pleasure of a £150 bill for drilling a caliper hex bolt out of the fork leg on my ZZR because the previous owner had Locitite-ed the damn thing in. I asked whether this was recommended by Kawasaki and they said 'of course not', discs, yes, calipers no. I do a lot of miles and my wheels are off and on all the time, the last thing I need is a swiss cheese bolt rounding off every time I replace the tyres.
I am not a dealer, I don't work in the trade and none of my friends are mechanics, before anyone thinks I'm defending the indefensible! However, my one tip is try and talk to the mechanics working on your bike. If you strike up a personal relationship, it's much more likely they'll take a bit of extra care because you're not just a customer, you're a bloke they know. Some of the bigger dealers will not let you talk to them and that's the point I walk.
As for Loctite-ing caliper bolts, I just had the pleasure of a £150 bill for drilling a caliper hex bolt out of the fork leg on my ZZR because the previous owner had Locitite-ed the damn thing in. I asked whether this was recommended by Kawasaki and they said 'of course not', discs, yes, calipers no. I do a lot of miles and my wheels are off and on all the time, the last thing I need is a swiss cheese bolt rounding off every time I replace the tyres.