Triumphrat

Old Scratcher · 11-04-2007, 11:05 PM

I discovered my Scrambler's first oil leak yesterday. It's no big drama. Just a small weep from the oil filter, either from a failed seal or loosened from vibration. But I wanted it fixed pronto, as it's a Triumph, & oil leaks are the first thing people look for when you pull up anywhere. Non-motorbikers are usually the worst people for doing this, as it's the one thing everyone remembers about the old Triumphs.
Well the old girl's due for a service anyway. So I call up my dealer, hoping that my oil leak might bump me up their waiting list, but no luck. The soonest they can fit me in is 3 weeks away. So I'm either going to spend the next 3 weeks without a ride (fat chance!) or I'm going to be a mobile, oil-spewing advertisment for the new Hinkley twins.
I was so disgusted I went straight around to the Ducati dealer & asked him what's the soonest I could book aDuke in for a service. His answer? Tomorrow! With a fixed price of $250, provided no problems were found.
I almost traded my bike on the spot. & it's only my deep affection for it that stopped me, as I don't want to punish the bike (& Triumph) for the shortcomings of my dealer. But gee I wish by nearest other Triumph dealer wasn't 250 miles away.
I am still hopeful to have both a Triumph & a Duke in my garage by mid next year. But if this keeps up, I'm going to be hard pressed to find a reason not to sell/trade my Scrambler, & put a Hypermotard in my garage for Xmas.
Sorry about the rant. & I hope I'm not offending anyone with my heretical thoughts on brand loyalty. But loyalty is a double edged sword, & I'd like to see a little more cutting my way. What do you all think?

Shawn · 11-04-2007, 11:24 PM

I feel your pain man.

Maybe some of the experienced Twin owners can offer some suggestions.

ohiorider · 11-04-2007, 11:28 PM

Here's what I think. How much oil are you talking about? Seeping? Pouring out? Somewhere in between? I know it's aggrevating when something like this happens, but if it is barely seeping, does it keep you from riding until they can get the bike in to look at it? How much oil do you estimate you'd lose over the next 500 miles? A pint? Less? More?

Since it's from around the filter, have you tried tightening it just a bit?

I probably sound like some old curmudgeon who is used to leakers. Well, I do have an older Beemer that is beginning (over the past 10 years) to leak tranny 80/90wt oil ... a few drops at a time, and she does drip a little 20w50 oil on the garage floor frequently. A leak doesn't make me quit riding her, or immediately seek service (or start replacing things myself).

My Bonnie doesn't leak at the moment, but if I saw a drop or two coming from around the filter, I guess I'd make an estimate of how serious is the problem, and either ride while keeping an eye on the oil level, or find a dealer who would fix it now. But first I'd check the filter and make sure it was torqued to spec.

But would I consider trading a new bike because of a drip or so? Probably not. Way too expensive a solution for me. Sounds like the dealer's poor customer service attitude, instead of the leak, got to you. That'd bother me too.

Bob

Bob

road dog · 11-04-2007, 11:30 PM

During our peak riding season I had to schedule my leaky cam cover to be fixed under warranty... the appointment they gave me was two weeks out. I took it in and left it with 'em, since I wasn't gonna be able to ride with it leaking oil. They called me two days later to tell me it was ready to pick up. Might get to yours sooner if they can work on it the first chance they get instead of waiting for your appointment.

Old Scratcher · 11-04-2007, 11:48 PM

You're 100% spot-on Bob. It is the dealer's customer relations attitude that bugs me the most. The oil leak is minor. If it wasn't a new Triumph I probably wouldn't be bothered about it at all. & I have complained before, personally to the dealerships owner, about the long waiting lists for service, & how this results in rushed & imperfect jobs being done. But he wasn't paying any attention to me, as he hasn't expanded his workshop or employed one more mechanic since then. & as far as I know, has no plans to do so. I wouldn't mind so much if it was other Triumph's tying up the workbays, but the most of them are HD's & Suzi's. So it's easy to see that Triumph runs a very poor third place, in terms of priority, at that Dealership. They just don't care. They've already let the Ducati dealership go, because they couldn't be bothered with them (Their words, not mine). That's why I'm liking the Duke so much, as the dealer is new, & still trying to establish a rep. Plus his workshop is brand new too, & dripping with hi-tech goodies. i.e. They can hook your bike up to the engineers in Bolgna, via the internet. Who can then diagnose problems & re-program the black boxes from over there. Pretty impressive! Eh?
BTW I will give the filter a quick tighten, to get me through the next 3 weeks. Thanks for the advice.

road dog · 11-05-2007, 12:01 AM

I don't see how the fact that your dealer is busy equals bad customer relation attitude. If they're that booked up they must be doing something right. I'd prefer my dealer give me an appointment that they're committed to, rather than telling me to bring it in tomorrow and then it not being ready when I go to pick it up. That's actually happened to me at my Nissan dealership and I was none too happy about that either.

OKcarburetor · 11-05-2007, 12:36 AM

The wait for service is the same for everyone else. What's the big deal? If your time is really worth that much to you, just drain the oil and put a new filter on yourself. That's what I would do.

then again, mine doesn't leak

Tbirdnz · 11-05-2007, 01:12 AM

OKcarb and Ohiorider's got the right idea, either just tighten it up a little or do a complete oil/filter change yourself and save yourself heaps inc time. For level-1 servicing, that's simple maintenance, just follow your manual.

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Ride on !

mecscc · 11-05-2007, 01:12 AM

Scratch:I think getting this off your chest probably was the best thing you can do. Bob's suggestions are spot on. It actually sounds like the problem has nothing to do with the leak, and everything to do with your dissatisfaction with the dealer.

I was VERY unhappy with my dealer back when I bought my Tbird and I had to make a decision: did I buy a bike or a dealer? From then on I decided to do what I could and wanted to do myself and took what I didn't want to do to a great indy mechanic who had worked with me on my many project bikes for years. There are very few things that you HAVE to go to the dealer about, warranty issues being the topmost. And ANY dealer can work on them, not just the selling dealer.

If the unstated issue (I'm reading between the lines here and may be dead wrong!) is that you are charmed by both the duc and the duc dealer then you may well decide, unless you want to keep both, to buy the duc and sell the trumpet. Brand loyalty is nice, but being a happy rider trumps it every day in my book.

I'm guessing, as did several, that the actual problem is minor and can be solved by either tightening the oil filter or replacing it. If the oil is new you can even save it in a clean drain pan and use it again. If you don't want to do any of this stuff, any competent shop can. On one of our trips this summer I realized I should have changed the oil before we left. A small Kaw dealer up in nowhere Northern Michigan did it just fine, found a Kaw filter that was a perfect match, and I was in and out in 40 minutes.

Good luck and do let us know how you solved the problem.

Monte

BrianM · 11-05-2007, 01:22 AM

Your dealer's busy so you consider trading to another brand? That doesn't make sense to me. It's not like they did a poor job or the bike has persistent faults.

Buy a filter and some oil and fix it yourself. It's a ten minute job.