ROLLING THUNDER CYCLES I recently went to ROLLING THUNDER CYCLES in hempstead for some work. I did some work to my bike that needed to be checked out and i wanted them to install an s&s carb......WHAT A F N MISTAKE!!!!! gerard the service manager and owner of the **** shop talked me out of doing the s&s......said they could rebuild my carb to run like an s&s and it would be alot cheaper. I told jerkard to go for it. they were also going to look into a whine i was getting from a chrome cam cover that I installed when i was going to replace my cam......i said WAS cause there was already one in there.....lol. the idiots over there said that the cover i had was no good so i had jerkard order me a new one. a little over a week later i got a call that the bike was done. They also said my pushrods that i installed needed to be readjusted....the cover still had a whine.....a little less but it was still there. i figured i could deal with that. the bike was filthy....covered in greasy hand prints all over the place. i figured i could deal with that also. when i was riding home about a 1/2 mile from the shop she started backfiring through the carb and ehaust. i'm not a mechanic so i just thought it would go away cause why would a shop that just charged me 1150.00 to work on my bike let it leave if it was not running right. that night i almost wrecked when i had to crack the throttle to avoid a car carelessly merging on the expressway and my bike just let out a LOUD pop out of the pipes and i lost some speed. i rode it home with the bike getting worse by the minute. i called jerkard the first thing mon. morning and he told ME to check my battery connection and it had nothing to do with the carb......do you believe he told me to do it when i just gave him over a 1000 dolllars......jerkoff. anyway, i checked it and it was good. i tried to start the bike to ride it back to him and all i did was kill the battery cause she would not start. i left her on a tender over night and just barely got it started...i threw on my helmet and was on my way. i made it to him by the skin of my teeth......sputtering and stalling all the way....left the bike there and he called me one week later and said nothing was wrong with it.....they took the carb apart and checked everything and all was good. i took the bike for a ride and within 15 mins i had to turn around to go back again.....sputtering and popping. i left my baby with those assh&^%$ again. another week goes by and he tells me they narrowed it down to either my ignition or a possible crack in the carb body...he said " I WOULD NOT GO OUT AND BUY A NEW CARB....JUST FIND A BUDDY WHO UPGRADED TO AN S&S AND GET HIS STOCK ONE AN I WILL SWITCH THE PARTS OVER FOR FREE"......What a guy huh? he f'ed with my carb and now he wants ME to get another one. he said he would call when they knew. the next day i get a call for jerkard saying it was not the carb it was the ignition pickup and i would be better off changing the stock ignition to a dyna 2000i and the cost would be around 600.00......i told him forget it i will keep IT IN the garage this summer cause my bike ran fine when i took it to him and now it runs like a bag of sh*&. i said i would pick it up with my trailer and skip the ignition. he said the had to finish putting the bike back together and he would call when it was done. i picked up my trailer and was all ready to go. he called later on that day and said it was done and i didn't need my trailer cause it was more of a temp. problem with the ignition and i would probably make it through the season till around august when it is real hot out. i decide to leave the trailer at home and brought a friend along to drive my truck home. i get there and he charged me another 72.00 dollars fror a part in the carb that they did not change the first two times....i knew it was B.S but i wanted to get my bike the hell away from them so i paid. he also gave me a ziplock bag with a fuse in it and said it they took it out of my L.E.D lights.....that the batt in the remote must be dead cause the lights wont shut off........why the hell were they on????......anyway my bike was the dirtiest i have ever seen her....you would think a quick wash for my troubles would not be asking too much. i start her up.....let her run for a few and go to leave. i got about 15 feet through the lot and my kick stand fell....i stopped and tried to put it up again and it fell again........no friggin spring!!! that was my boiling point....i went back in and told him that there was no spring on my kick....he came out and said " HEY, THESE THINGS HAPPEN....IT'S NOT OUR FAULT" he went inside came back out with a spring and took about 10 mins to put it on. He also mentioned that when he was road testing her my gas tank bolt in the front fell out and he lost it.....which i found funny cause the first time i got the bike from them and i had to check my battery the back tank bolt had both washers on one side and the acorn nut was barely threaded on so i tightened it myself. when i looked to see the bolt they put on i noticed they put a chrome bolt with a nylock nut.....it is suppose to be an acorn nut but i guess that was asking for too much....the bolt stuck out about a half inch past the nut.........and here is the kicker.....the paint all around the bolt on both sides was gone.....these friggin jerkoffs tightened the nut and bolt so tight that it chipped off the paint on the tank tabs where it mounts to the bike......i showed jerkard and guess what....he shad " it's not our fault....the bolt fell out when he was test riding my Fuc&6ng bike and he did me a favor by putting a new one in. the paint chipped because when the bike was painted the guy did not let the paint cure enough" do you f n believe this guy. i got out of there before bad things happened and guess what .......my bike stalled out on the corner. i got her started and went on my way sputtering and popping again.....so much for august...lol i took bike to work the next day and broke down 3 blocks away. i brought the bike to another shop and gave them the play by play.....so far the reason for the bike running like crap is a combo of wrong jetting and improper installation of parts in the carb. also push rods needed to be re-adjusted cause a valve was not closing when the bike heated up. 3 wires were pinched ....two behind the electrical box and one behind the battery bracket(they also put in a new battery) and thats why my L.E.D's dont work cause they fried the friggin receiver for the kit......3 wires grounded against the frame kept the lights on....so thats why the pulled the fuse........UN-BE-FRIGGIN-LEVABLE!!!!!

THE REASON I AM WRITING THIS IS TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THE TYPE OF WORK THAT GOES ON AT ROLLING THUNDER CYCLES IN HEMPSTAED PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN BRINGING YOU PRIDE AND JOY TO THIS CIRCUS OF A BIKE SHOP...THEY F YOUR BIKE UP AND BLAME YOU....NOT A WAY TO RUN A BUSINESS.

 

Sounds like a bad one....

 

you have no idea.......and i hope you never do. sorry my story was so long.....just needed to do some venting.....keeps me out of trouble....hehe

 

Sorry to hear about all your problems , that really is bullshit. I used to go there when i first started riding back in the 80's they were very heplful, but i was just buying lots of parts and doing work myself. I do know of a few people who have had work done only to bring the bikes back because they were not fixed properly. They never worked on my bikes over the years ....i guess i should be happy for that. I try to do most basic repairs my self because i dont trust most places , if you want i can steer you to a couple of mechanics i trust on L.I. In over 20 yrs i only had 3 differnt set of hands working on my 1990 softail besides mine. It sucks that any shop would treat you and your bike that way

 

sorry to hear all this, gerard used to be a stand up guy and they did decent work, again that was back in the 90's, I haven't had dealings with them since, the guys who did my jugs and heads seem like a good clean shop, hell bent cycles in deer park, I only found them because they moved in around the block from my work.

 

thanks for the heads up,,good luck hope all works out,i live in westbury and heard about that place,

 

sorry man i feel your pain. and people wonder why people go around shooting other people! FTW

 

I heard thru friends of mine that North Shore Cycles in LI is a great indy shop. I have been to their shop once and looks like a top flight shop but I never used them myself.

 

I only ever bought parts from them 11 years ago. I read a lot of posts about indi's vs. dealers and never had them do any work even though they offered to take my business... just didn't get a good vibe about it. I do my own work, no QC better than your own.

 

i am the same as you when it comes to trusting anyone with my bike.....my big problem is that i dont f with carbs....AT ALL....lol never had a good run in with a carb and came out a winner. i thought i was doing the tight thing by bringing it to the "PROS" i thought they would be good cause they have been around since 1981....but now, i wouldn't let their mechanics put air in my tires...they should be fired and the shop should be shut down. who does your work on L.I?