R III Reliability

[Rocket Mad]

Molinoman, it’s almost midnight in Florida. You’re obviously tired and confused. Go to bed.

You wrote: “… you appear to think that those of us who still like our Rockets are either ignorant or stupid … we are not.”. There is a difference between liking your Rocket and letting your “lust” for the Rocket cloud your judgment. Did you read the story I posted about my divorced friend?

Dennis, you sound like a nice guy with a very low threshold for argument. Don’t take my posts so seriously. I’m just having a little fun with the ridiculous conclusions being peddled by some of the Rocket blinded fools on this board. Ride on buddy … and as we say here in California, just ignore my “negative energy”.
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RM

[Rocket Mad]

Here’s an update on my Lemon Law Claim with Triumph. This time I’m naming names.

This post might be better suited under a thread entitled “Triumph Corporate Values” instead of “Reliability”. Yes, I understand ALL bikes have their lemons and we could waste even more time arguing over who spits out more lemons than anyone else. It’s like watching five year olds in a sandbox fight over the toughest dad on the block. While the loyalty is admirable, without pitting dad against dad, it is and always was a pointless debate. My focus in this post is to expose the crew in Hinckley for the company principles they apparently espouse.

First a recap: After three failed warranty repairs on my transmission, the Rocket locked up in second gear leaving me stranded in the mountains of San Bernardino. The closest Triumph dealership was Doug Douglas Motorcycles. Although the Rocket was still under warranty, they politely refused to take it in for repair. The reason … a transmission warranty repair had already been attempted by another dealer. I had heard that excuse before at Rocket Motorcycles in San Diego, but this time it was a cold November evening and I had only second gear to negotiate the 100 miles of dark and desolate back roads between me and home. That was the last straw. I filed a Lemon Law Claim and the Rocket has been collecting dust ever since. That was November 2006.

The discovery process of my Lemon Law Claim uncovered the sordid history behind my Rocket III. We discovered a handwritten notation in the pre-delivery inspection report stating that the transmission was sticking before the bike was even rolled onto the showroom floor. I also learned that my experience with transmission failure wasn’t the first one for this bike. I have an affidavit (signed under penalty of perjury) detailing a test ride by the sales manager during which the transmission locked-up BEFORE the bike was sold to me as new. The damage was so severe that the shop mechanic recommended a complete “unit replacement” rather than repairing the transmission. He was instead instructed to “just make it work”. It appears that the dealer wanted to sweep this one under the carpet as there is no record of a warranty claim for the repair. North County Yamaha in San Marcos California in case you’re wondering.

Well, it’s now April 08’ and I’ve finally received my first offer from Triumph. I’ll say one thing for the folks at Triumph … they are consistent. They’ve consistently failed to accept responsibility for a rogue dealer or the lemon that escaped Hinckley. In their warped sense of fairness and good customer relations, they’ve delayed responding to my claim for 18 months before finally suggesting that I accept one of their two pathetic offers. Last week they offered to repair the transmission (for the 4th time) or buy the bike back at today’s blue book value of $8,500. I have about $30K invested in my Rocket. I might be a little more sympathetic to their position if this lemon had escaped the dealer without their knowledge. But given that Triumph has clear documentation that my bike was a flaming lemon before it even left the lot, it looks as if they’d rather see their money go to lawyers than towards reimbursing this Rocketeer for his time, money and trouble.

It’s been said that character is what shows when no one is watching. Triumph has shown their character in how they’ve responded to my experience. I just want to make sure everyone here sees it too.

[Pig9r]

First thanks for sharing the story. Have you contacted an attorney? Personnally I would sue Triumph and the dealer for knowingly selling you that bike with that kind of reported/documented history. You should be able to not only get what you had in the bike back but a chunk in punitive damages.

You're lucky your state's lemon law covers motorcycles. Most states don't.

[Molinoman]

Go get 'em! Again, sorry to hear of your situation but you need to make Triumph make it right and I can't blame you at all (not that I was) for having to had put up with this type of treatment. Hopefully Triumph will learn from this and not make the same mistake in the future...we can always hope anyway.

Good luck, Florida just happens to be a "no lemon law for motorcycles" state.
Dennis

[Molinoman]

Pigger, how did I end up being a "Senior Member"???
Dennis

[Pig9r]

Originally Posted by Molinoman

Pigger, how did I end up being a "Senior Member"???
Dennis

I think they figured out how old you really are.

[Molinoman]

Oh...that would make sense.
Dennis

[dougl]

My dealer doesn't service more Harleys because there are more Harleys than Triumphs - it's strictly performance stuff, which all Harleys are in need of. They also sell MV Augusta, Vespa, Piaggio, and Pro-One choppers. I've had two of the newer Triumphs and haven't had any problems with either.

[Rocket Mad]

Hey Dougl, sorry about jumping down your throat in a previous post. I’ve been assaulted from all sides (the Rocket, Triumph’s dealers and Triumph’s attorneys) and the experience has got me just a little Postal. I apparently misinterpreted your post.

Piggy, yes, I have hired a firm that specializes in Lemon Law claims. I’ve learned that Triumph has a reputation for aggressively opposing owners if they choose to resolve their problems through the legal system. It’s a bully tactic that’s probably effective for dealing with the typical owner. I am not the typical owner.
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RM

[dougl]

Originally Posted by Rocket Mad

Hey Dougl, sorry about jumping down your throat in a previous post. I’ve been assaulted from all sides (the Rocket, Triumph’s dealers and Triumph’s attorneys) and the experience has got me just a little Postal. I apparently misinterpreted your post.

No problem. It's too bad Triumph and the dealer are being such a-holes. I'm not a motorcycle reliability scientist. I'd like to see reliability survey data for different brands. Consumer Reports doesn't have it.