Triumphrat

Nelson955 · 06-17-2005

I'm on my second ST. The first one was bought new in May 1999. It was kept in the street for the first 2 years of its life and by September 2000, I had clocked up 20000 miles. I traded it in last April for a new 2004 ST. By this time, it had 35000 miles on the clock and it was 5 years old. It was just starting to show signs of corrosion on the indicator brackets and the rear footrest hangers, but otherwise it was looking good.

On to my current ST. This one has had an easier life than my '99 ST. It has done less miles (as a result of having a second bike) and it has lived in a garage since I bought it. It covered 6000 miles in its first year (compared to 15000 on my first one). What has disappointed me on this one is the quality of the paint on the indicator brackets, the brackets that connect the pannier frame to the rear footrest hangers and the silencer brackets. The paint on all these brackets has literally peeled off. There is also corrosion on the rear brake pedal linkage and the gear change linkage.

Yes, I know this is pretty minor stuff, but I don't expect a year old bike that has been properly looked after to have such a poor standard of finish.

So, how have Triumph reacted to this? In a word, poorly. They have stated that the warranty doesn't cover corrosion! My dealer, Boyer Racing of Plumstead, South East London, have been marvelous. They have ordered new parts and are going to fit them at THEIR expense (yes, that's right, their expense) and then they propose to send the parts off to Triumph to take up the issue.

Quite frankly, this is a poor reaction by Triumph, an own goal. They aim to be on a par with Honda and BMW when it comes to fighting for market position. When you go on a factory tour, the emphasis is on quality. yet here they are turning down a warranty claim that would cost them b.ugger all!!

Hats off to Boyer Racing, their reaction surprised the hell out of me. They could easily have told me the party line and left it at that, but they have chosen to take up the issue and to keep me happy. They know the meaning of looking after their customers. It seems Triumph do not.

I will be writing to Triumph about this, and I await their reaction with interest. Next stop will be the biking press, should Triumph not satisfy me.

Has anyone else out there had any similar issues with such a new machine?

Bob

[ This message was edited by: Nelson955 on 2005-06-17 15:15 ]

welshrob · 06-21-2005

I was a m/cycle courier in london for 10 years and bought several new bikes. I had a BMW r80 with corrosion everywhere after only a year. That was 1990-91 when we had the bad snow. The roads were getting salted every day and it`s a killer for cars and bikes. The mid nineties had much milder winters and less salt. I had a new Kwaka GT550 for 94/95 and another for 96/97 with no rust at all. My third new GT550 in 98, another very cold winter, was showing bad corrosion less than year later, in fact I had an exhaust system replaced under warranty because it had rotted out. The previous 2 GT`s had covered approx 100,000 miles each with no dramas. I left the UK 6 years ago so I don`t know what the winters have been like on your bikes, but hopefully this will have been some help to you.

06-21-2005

hiya nelson
i have a 4 month old 04 st and it had/has many small pitted "bits" on the fairing and tank
by that i mean small raised imperfections the size of a sand grain
randomly spread on the left fairing and some on the underside of the tank
only noticed when polishing it and they dont rub out
previous trumpy was a black/yellow tt and that had first class finish
splinter

Nelson955 · 08-19-2005

Well, I just got a reply from Triumph UK. It seems I am at fault because I didn't clean the bike properly, according to the Triumph UK warranty department!! To quote from their letter;-

"These issues can be controlled by the correct cleaning regime, highlighted in your owners handbook"

Cheeky f**kers!!!!!!!!

Bob

DaveM · 08-20-2005

Splinter,
I've done almost 12000 kms on mine and the finish is very good except I've put a few stone chips in mine from chasing my mates too closely.

Nelson955
sounds to me like you have a very good dealer, sounds like from what welshrob says salt is your killer there.

davem

Nelson955 · 08-20-2005

DaveM,

Salt can be a problem, but it is not the cause of the problems on my current ST. The paint has flaked off a number of components due to being poorly applied. This didn't happen on my first ST. At 5 years old and 35000 miles, the same components on that bike were in much better condition than my current ST.

As for Triuphs warranty department, they suck big time, With an attitude like that, they will be losing customers hand over fist.

Bob

ST-ern · 08-20-2005

Seems like the build quality on the 02-04 Sprints has been pretty variable.

My paint's OK but like Dave's has chipped on the fairing courtesy of being a bit competitive riding with my mates :-D but I've had a clutch cable break, fuel sender die, nut drop off the subframe and rattle around in the drive sprocket cover, and finally had grease leak onto the rear disc. All in the first 1500 k or so from new.

Nelson955 · 08-20-2005

The build quality on my 2004 ST is not a patch on the way my 1999 ST was built. The fairing panels were poorly fitted and finished and now the paint peeling off numerous brackets. It wouldn't be so bad if Triumph accepted there was a problem and rectified it. But it seems their current strategy is to blame the customers for their shortcomings.

At least my dealer has gone beyond what they need to do and supplied the parts free of charge. They plan on taking it up with Triumph themselves. But it shouldn't be up to the dealer to have to do this.

Bob

DaveM · 08-21-2005

Nelson955
I agree with you it should not be up to your dealer, he is obviously very good at looking after his customers.
My experience to date has been good with Triumph and my dealer, I just had a new Triumph Stainless Steel race can fitted to replace my leaking carbon fibre one as Triumph don't seem to have solved this problem yet.
My dealer Powercycle Teamoto Triumph in Virginia here in Brisbane fitted this while I waited in about fifteen minutes and that was after I arranged it only an hour before.
Pretty good service in any ones book. Sorry to hear you havent had the same. I also havent had any bits fall off or break in 12000 kilometres of fairly hard riding.

davem

Nelson955 · 08-21-2005

Agreed Dave,

Boyer Racing, Plumstead, South East London, are top geezers! Great team all round from sales through parts to the workshop. I would recommend them heartily.

Yet with all this going for them, they get***** off Triumph UK because they have an old style showroom which doesn't conform with the new "corporate" image that Triumph are trying to push through!!

Bob