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Return of the Wolf

Wolf

Wolf

Joined May 2008
379 Posts | 0+
Norfolk
some of you may remember me from ages ago, some, wont but anyway i figured i would make a post explaining why i went from being quite active on this forum to vanishing without a trace

i have a 2005 RSVR, which was affected by a swingarm recall (as some of you will know) however mine apparently never had it replaced by the previous owner, how about i just let the pictures do the talking for me:

IMAGE_151.jpg


IMAGE_152.jpg


That would be my swingarm, that would be a crack in it :rant
sorry about the poor picture quality, its hard to take a picture in such a dodgy place, for clarification the crack started on the inside and runs all the way between the two red lines i added, and has started to creep around to the outside of the swingarm as highlighted by the red circle.

Finding that was enough of a kick in the nuts, but i also found my almost brand new tyre got a hefty nail in it.. gutted. :puke

Bike was picked up in van by local dealer yesterday who quite frankly added insult to injury by telling me the engine is probably f***ed and aprilia might turn around and tell me where to shove it since its not been serviced by official dealers (i have been servicing it myself, though it is due a valve check which is now being done by them...) they have also told me that this crack is not the recall they have done before, however they did apparently find out from aprilia my bike is definately due to get its swingarm replaced on recall

Anyways, cant really think anything more to say.. im feeling very down about the whole thing and am totally dissapointed about how its being handled. wish i could go for a ride and clear my head.. but i cant....
 
i feel your pain cos i had the handling on my bike go off in spain in 2004.

I thought i had blown the shock but coldn't see anything at the time but i just wasn't comfortable riding as i was sure something was up.
The other guys on the trip took great delight in calling me a sissy cos i backed off etc.
anyway i got back to blighty and discovered a crack (not quite as long as yours) and the felleing i was getting was the swigarm flexing from the loss of rigidity arounbd the crack. To say i was gutted at the thought of what if considering i was riding roads in the Pyrenees with significant drops if you went off.

there are a few tales of dealers at the time claiming warranty swingarms against bike vin numbers but if the original hadn't cracked they left it on and kept the new version and sold it on ebay. Then the poor owner got a crack later and aprilia say sorry you already claimed.

Why do they think your engine is duff ?
Takes something serious to kill a rotax lump.
 
The swinging arm replacement is an official recall issued by Aprilia and affected bikes as yours is, must have their swinging arm replaced FOC with no cost to the customer. You can see the reason for the recall as cracks can form around the lower chain guard mounting as has happened in your bike's case, RSVR and Factory 2003.5, 2004 and 2005 models.

To be quite blunt, the dealer involved are acting like a bunch of tossers. They almost certainly know about the recall and for them to then tell you your engine is ****** because it hasn't been serviced by them is in all honesty, appalling.

Which Aprilia dealer is it?
 
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I'm with legs

Certainly if they say your servicing was the cause of a written off engine i would be saying prove it.

Regards the crack it is 100% exactly where all the others broke and i can give you pictures to stick up there nose if you like including my own swingarm.
Even if there were no cracks or 15 cracks that has no bearing on the recall. a recall is a recall, it doesn't say we will only change it if your crack is a certain shape and size etc. Where do these people get off.

It's out of warranty so it matters not to them but i would be very sceptical of someone making such a sweeping statement of negligence without backing it up.
In my experience 75% of Aprilia dealers we have are the biggest servicing Fu**wits out there and more likely to screw it up than you are. :angry

Vote with your feet and wallet amigo.
 
Welcome back Wolf, although the news is not the best to be reading as a welcome back to the forum. I'm with LEGS, name and shame the twats for making stupid comments about the engine, especially since the servicing element is irrelevant when it comes to recalls. Aprilia wonder why they have a (mostly) unwarranted bad reputation. With dealers like that they shouldn't be surprised. Prats.

Hopefully the next time you post it will be with some good news that man. Don't get to disheartened, you'll be back in the saddle soon enough :thumbup

Good job you saw those cracks on the swingarm :eek:
 
thanks guys, i couldnt agree more a recall is a recall and should have nothing to do with the warranty, or the service history (which is what they were giving me the impression could be problematic..)

they havent said the engine is written off, i guess i should just quote them "your engine is probably f**ked then" after he heard i had personally been servicing it, he about had a heart attack when i told him i had just put the wheel back on myself (having had it off to rectify the nail problem) got the distinct impression they feel if anyone but an official aprilia dealer does work on an aprilia bike then its blasphemy

have been waiting on them to call me back, apparently they had to call aprilia again to see if they are allowed to fit the new swingarm or not, i guess i have to call them tommorow and see whats going on with it all.

the dealer has been very helpful and friendly in the past, i bought my first ever bike brand new from them when i was 16, it seems alot changes when you get a bike which does not come from them, i have never had this with other dealers but i feel very unwelcome there now and they seem to be putting a very negative spin on everything.

i dont really want to name and shame, they still have my precious bike lol!
but anyways i have heard about people naming and shaming companies and then getting sued by them for defiling their good name or whatever so im not really interested in getting involved in that sort of thing, it is only my experience with them and i am probably half the age of the average mille owner so perhaps they just think im young and dumb

its funny you said about feeling a bit funny when riding spoonz, i was having the same sort of feeling the past few times i have been riding and i'll bet you're right in thinking loss in rigidity is the cause, scares me to think what would of happened if i was going round one of the blind and crappy country lanes and it snapped...
 
welcome back mate:thumbup
i think everybody has covered what i was going to say aswell must admit the fooked engine also had me puzzled:dunno sound like a bunch of chimps!
 
Nice bunch of guys at your Aprilia dealership....hope the swingarm issue is rectified via Aprilia as it's certainly their responsibility following the recall. all the best mate!
 
Wolf said:
thanks guys, i couldnt agree more a recall is a recall and should have nothing to do with the warranty, or the service history (which is what they were giving me the impression could be problematic..)

they havent said the engine is written off, i guess i should just quote them "your engine is probably f**ked then" after he heard i had personally been servicing it, he about had a heart attack when i told him i had just put the wheel back on myself (having had it off to rectify the nail problem) got the distinct impression they feel if anyone but an official aprilia dealer does work on an aprilia bike then its blasphemy

have been waiting on them to call me back, apparently they had to call aprilia again to see if they are allowed to fit the new swingarm or not, i guess i have to call them tommorow and see whats going on with it all.

the dealer has been very helpful and friendly in the past, i bought my first ever bike brand new from them when i was 16, it seems alot changes when you get a bike which does not come from them, i have never had this with other dealers but i feel very unwelcome there now and they seem to be putting a very negative spin on everything.

i dont really want to name and shame, they still have my precious bike lol!
but anyways i have heard about people naming and shaming companies and then getting sued by them for defiling their good name or whatever so im not really interested in getting involved in that sort of thing, it is only my experience with them and i am probably half the age of the average mille owner so perhaps they just think im young and dumb

its funny you said about feeling a bit funny when riding spoonz, i was having the same sort of feeling the past few times i have been riding and i'll bet you're right in thinking loss in rigidity is the cause, scares me to think what would of happened if i was going round one of the blind and crappy country lanes and it snapped...
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear you've been having so much stick but I do sympathise. I had a completely different issue that I won't go into here as it's not relevant but I totally know what you mean when you say you don't feel welcome at your local dealer because you didn't buy the bike from them, and like yourself I haven't experienced this before either as I've only had Jap bikes previously. You'd think they'd be greatful that you go to them and pay a small fortune for them to do your servicing but apparently not!

I must say I am a bit disappointed with the dealer network and general service, the bike's great and Aprilia UK have been good too in my experience but the dealers themselves just don't want to know once they get the bike out the door, or indeed don't want to know at all if it didn't come out of their door! They act as if it's genuinely effortful and inconvienient for them to do there job. I agree with Spoonz in that the majority of the dealers don't seem much kop, or at the very least aren't really too bothered about decent customer service. What a shame such a great bike is so poorly represented.

Good luck by the way!
 
Don't start me on Aprilia dealers.

I had this conversation with Fusebox on the phone the other day when we discussed his servicing tour.

The reality is there shouldn't be a market for him to do it should you have decent alternatives stretched around the country in the form of competent dealers.

My own neck of the woods is very poorly served and my nearest dealer i wouldn't trust to service a pram and give it back working.
There is a half decent dealer but they have freely admitted to me that Aprilia's warranty payment system is so drastically poor that unless you purchased the bike from them they would rather not do your warranty work. To the point that this dealer simply said no to a mate that went to them with a warranty issue, refused point blank.

Whilst that's a huge pain for customers I have a little sympathy with that. would you fit a swingarm for what amounts to about £6 per hour when you had a service you could do at £45 an hour. it has a lot to do with why we have a problem and why Aprilia dealers come and go with the wind. It takes a dedicated and loyal brand dealer to step up in that situation and they are few and far between. It's something Aprilia need to address big time if they ever want to break out of the niche market they are in.
Refuse a warranty on a Honda or Bmw as a dealer and kiss your dealership goodbye pronto. Whilst Ducati's might break they don't seem to have a problem getting them sorted generally so it's not solely an Italian thing.
 
Good point Spoonz re the Fusebox tour. I travel to Tamworth to see him every time I want anything doing on my bike. About 160 miles round trip. I just don't feel I can trust anyone else.
When I had a different make of bike my local agent ( a very successful one man business) was persuaded to take on an Aprilia dealership. He kept it for 1 year then sacked 'em! He loved the bikes but not the company. You've quoted one good example as to why - the £6 per hour fee.
 
It's not actually a £6 per hour fee but what they do is allow so many mins or hours per job.

Say 1 hour 20 mins for the swingarm recall. (fictional cos i don't know) but in reality it always takes 3 hours. That means it amounts to £6 per hour.
That's how the dealer explained it to me.
He said Kawasaki which they were also a franchise for allowed double the time for the same job as Aprilia did.

i don't know if it's a deliberate thing on aprilia's part to discourage warranty work or they are just tight or very skint. Actually maybe all 3
 
Guys

i remember some years ago that the european courts overruled a car dealer in favour of the car owner and said that it did NOT have to be serviced by a dealer in order for the warranty to stand. I honestly can't remember if it needed to be by a garage or if the owner could do it (as long as they were competent enough) but whatever it was, it did not have to be the dealer chain.

I will fire up google and see what I can find on this. In the meantime, people who may also know the answer are:

www.avforums.com (the motoring section)
www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk


Now im off to the "How to" link to see if my 2007 Bol'Dor has this issue :confused

edit: cool - im clear.
 
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awww f*ck. I was right but then wrong :(

European courts did rule that ANY competent mechanic could service and keep the warranty, didn't even need to be a garage ... however ....

the dealers stuck back and now its back to an "Approved dealer" and heres why:

Any non-dealer will not get any bulletins/technical updates emailed or posted to them. Since these are copyrighted and the manufacturers enforce copyrights, no one outside of the dealer chain will have the bulletins. Therefore, the important and vital information in these will not be in the hands of the non-approved mechanic and so the work will not be accurate or correctly performed.

So, dealer servicing or no warranty i'm afraid.
 
as long as the engineer uses parts that meet or exceed manufacturers specification then warranties are upheld.

The right to repair from day one

FIGIEFA released it about 3 years ago

I manage an independant motor factors and all our products exceed the spec`s required, we never have a problem with warranty rejections from non oe servicing.

This is cars not bikes though

:thumbup
 
supertedlover said:
....

:thumbup
Click to expand...

how do you get around the bulletin issue? This is something I may currently be suffering from myself - i recenltly had a service by a non-aprilia dealer and it looks like i now have issues due to the dealer not knowing about information released in service updates. Thinking about this, I can totaly see this as a valid reason to only accept approved dealers. Having said that the engine is fuxord though is pushing it.

Im booked at SCross tomorrow to get my issue resolved.
 
Like i said i work with cars so maybe there are more bulletins on bikes, general servicing should not affect warranty, filters, oil, pads can all be replaced by my non oe parts, more serious stuff engine internals, abs sensors would all be dealer parts anyway.

I just know that any parts i supply will not effect the status of the manufacturers warranty, the law was released to stop dealers hogging services for the first 1/3/7 years, ford main dealer is £85 per hour up here :eek:

SC are the boys, what they dont know about apes aint worth knowing
 
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