I come to you all for a bit of advice. I'm glad to say that HD is not the company that I'm having a problem with, this has to do with my wife's Triumph. I'm sure that Triumph, and HD have differant warranty stances, but any experience will help me out here....

Bike sat in garage for three weeks without being started, wife took bike out, and it stalled on here after a mile and a half. We got the bike back to the house, and I started to evaluate it. I assumed it was a carbuerator problem, and couldn't get the bike to start. After a couple of days the bike started fine, ran for a bit, and I shut if off. I then tried to restart it, and nothing but a click from the starter, no turning over, just a click. I thought perhaps battery was dead, so I put in a new battery. The bike then cranked over, but would not start, and then I noticed gas comming out of the air intake!

So we took the bike to Dealer (term used loosely) and they said they would call before doing any work. They did not call until last night to inform us that the bike was fixed, and ready at a cost to us of $500. The bike is only Six months old!!! WELL under warranty. The shop says that they will not warranty it as "bad gas" caused the float to stick, and spray gas that leaked into the air cleaner. The only part that they replaced was the air cleaner, and the rest of the charges are just for cleaning out the carb!

I know.. should have made her buy a HD, but she like the Bonneville Black edition...Am Icrazy for expecting this to be covered under warranty? Can I put any screws to them to get them to cover this especially since they are into it for labor hours only?

Thanks in advance....

 

I say that's crazy....you're supposed to carry some sort of gasoline quality-testing unit, or what? I've heard of gas-related issues during long storage periods, but as long as you were running the recommended octane level Triumph could not reasonably expect a consumer to know if purchased gas was "bad" or not.

 

How old was the gas in the tank?
Did it have any fuel stabilizer in it?
Does it run fine now that they cleaned the carb?
Does the owner's manual have any recommendations for short/long term storage?

On the surface, it sounds like the problem was solved by cleaning the carb after running bad/dirty gas. If so, is will not be covered under warranty. The factory didn't put the bad gas into the tank so they are not liable. If the bikeis still running poorly after they fixed it there may be awarrantyissue with the carb not being adjusted properly or the float/needle valve not working properly.

Now to the "call me before you fix it" issue. Most states require a signature by the owner authorizing work, or requesting a call before proceeding past the troubleshooting stages. If they fixed it anyway without a call, bad on them. However, if the work theyperformed was appropriate for the problem thenI'm not sure you can do anything about it. This process was established to keep shops from replacing thingsnot related to the problem just to run up a bill (i.e. replacing your tires to fix the carb).

Any chances you flooded the bike in the start attempts?

Good luck and keep us posted...

Edmo

 

I agree . Who authorized the repair ?
Why would they spend your money without asking 1st ?

But I know from working At Ford dealers for over 30 + years . Bad gas has nuthing to do with A defect from the
manufacture !
I know that suks [:@]

Jack

 

Its easy to pin it on "bad gas". They probably came up with that conclusion right after they dumped it out and got rid of the "evidence".

 

When I worked as a mechanic for a lawnmower shop in Tampa and a mower came in with bad/dirty gas as the problem I would put the gas in a container to show to the customer.
If it was in under warrantry I would call them and let them know it wasnt a warrantry coverd problem before I fixed it.
Was the gas full of trash?
Did they show it to you?
And did they empty and clean out the tank? Because if they didnt your in for trouble again if the gas has trash in it.

 

Bad gas, not unless it sat for about a year or there was water in the gas...I wouldn't pay $500 to un-stick carb floats!

 

I agree, Hell any good mechanicwould present the evidence and the options to the customer, especially a supposed 500 dollars worth of repairs. I would take this up with the manager or higher to the triumph folks. This is just plane gouging BS.

 

It is very well possible the gas could have been bad due to old/contaminated gas from gas station,or from storage.When gas does go bad from long term storage it will gum up everything and could cuase damage to some of the parts in the fuel system.I have seen a couple cases where it was easier to replace the jets,float needle assy ,etc-. because of the crust that was built up on the parts.
What was the break down for the $500 service(parts,labor).Did they give you any parts back?
I could see were the warranty would not cover a fuel problem,so I think the main issue is that the service writer was to contact you before work was to begin.Is this writen on the estimate paper??
I certainly would have made a big issue at the dealerwhen picking up the bike.
I would try talking to the owner,maybe he will do something.

 

$500 is rediculous though and is waaaaaay too high just for that. Hell, I can buy a new S&S carburetor for less than that! I understand that bad gas is not warranty related......but $500[:@]

I would be in contact with customer service and tell them you are not pleased about the whole thing.