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Victems of your local motorcycle dealer
- lapeerray
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78kz650b2, 2009 kawasaki 25 hp Oturn John Deere with a 62" cut I had to have it. It was green and was powered by KAWI...,78 yamaha golfcar, Gone but not forgoten 82 v65 magna, 89 1200 Vmax, 72 GS380GT mint with 2000m.grandfather baught brand new in 72
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- timebomb33
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1973 z1 2-1974z1-a,2-1975z1-b dragbikes1015cc+1393cc, 1977kz1000,1978kz1000,1981kz1000j, 1997 zx-11, 2000 z12r,1428turbo nitrous pro-mod and a shit load of parts thats all for now leader sask.,CANADA
I THINK MY POWERBAND BROKE
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- RonKZ650
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My dad and I bought the 78 KZ650 new and they mandated a dealer 2000 mile check to maintain warranty. This was really a good running motorcycle and I checked fuel mileage every fill from new and we got right at 60mpg every fill for 2000 miles. Well a few hundred $$$ later and getting it back from the 2000 mile check it didn't run near as good and mileage was now 40mpg. We take it back and they deny fouling it up and laugh at our 60mpg claim. They get it running better, but still not where it was and if I was lucky I could get 45mpg, but around 40 still generally. I did my own tuning trying to get it back where it was but all these years never did. This is the 168,000 mile KZ650. A lot of gas has flowed through those carbs.
Next one was a 82 GPZ1100 I bought new. The motorcycle was under warranty and needed a valve job. I bring it in, get it back and ride 500 miles and check the clearances and find I have none, go to swap shims and see they have all 8 #200 thinnest shims already in there. What a mess.
3rd one I remember was not all that big of deal, but I was 2000 miles away from home and get a flat tire and as luck would have it I'd just passed a Kawasaki dealer. I turn around and ride back and they fix the flat. I ride away and just had a fealing I'd better check the chain. No play. I guess they didn't know 3/4-1" play was needed in a drive chain? It was tightened to zero. No clacking drive chain I guess.
4th and 5th one was a new BMW I bought new. I pick it up from the dealer and the way BMW attaches the windshield to the fairing is push rivets. The outer part of the rivet pushes on, then you have a center pin that presses into the rivet to expand it. These guys did not understand this complication and just cut all the pins off, so the rivets were useless. After I explained it to them they order me some new rivets so no big deal, but then the dreaded checkup. I take it back everything perfect. Pick it up and ride like 20 ft to the first stop and it dies. Well it won't idle after their tune? but I'll give it a few miles. About the same time I notice a clacking from the right cylinder. Quiet on the left, clacking on the right. Time to turn around. I go back and they are all snotty. "which cylinder do you perceive as noisy"??? Well the one THATS CLACKING MAYBE???. They get it idling and redo the valve clearances, then I'm riding home after maybe 5 miles I feel oil on the rear tire, stop and find the drain plug for the rear has fallen off. My gosh.
Also had a car once that needed some welding done on it and I get a call. "We had a little problem. The car cought fire and burned your interior to ashes". "don't worry though. We will fix it". So they fix it eventually but in the mean time I'm driving around with burnt seats and door panels.
Last one I remember was a 1986 Ford F250 that started running real poor and it was idling real rough. You could tell that something was dreadfully wrong. I take it back under warranty and they tell me it's fine. You have to be kidding? Take it to a private mechanic I trusted and he said I had a blown head gasket. Take it back to the dealer and sure enough, blown head gasket. They fix that and a few days later I just got the inkling I'd better check the head bolts. All were at about 2 ft/lb. I can see retorquing a gasket, but I don't know about after 2 or 3 days.
I've had not the best luck and sorry to ramble the boring details, but fond memories.
321,000 miles on KZ's that I can remember. Not going to see any more.
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- trianglelaguna
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- New and improved - extra strength
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1976 KZ900
2003 ZX12R
2007 FZ1000
2004 ninja 250R for wife
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- brianpclarke
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3 months later the crooks went out of business.
-Brian
1977 KZ650C
1976 Kz900 LTD
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- OKC_Kent
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Oklahoma City, OK
78 KZ650 B2 82,000+ miles
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- Jeff.Saunders
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- Vendor
www.z1enterprises.com
Z1 Ent on Facebook,
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- Russ Jackson
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1976 KZ 900 B1 29 smoothbores, Kerker, Lester Mags
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 abs
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- The Gringo
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- ¡Usted no necesita otra motocicleta!
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When I first got my bike I took it in to find out what I had and have the carbs sync'd. He told me that the carbs were not correct for the bike and he would swap the correct ones for $100 dollars. Then I asked questions on this site and was set straight and told I had smoothbores. I never went back to him for anything...Russ
Now that's the definition of big balls. You ought to go back and punch him in the face.
Andy
Akron, Ohio
80 Z-1 Classic-Sold
84 GPZ1100
79 KZ 1000 LTD
78 KZ 1000 A2
77 KZ 1000 LTD-Sold
76 KZ 900 The definition of a barn find
76 KZ 900-Sold gone to Denmark
KZ 750 times 3, KZ 650 times 8 Sold 1 down to 7
KZ 550 times 2 80 440LTD-Sold
81 CSR 305-Sold 81 Yamaha XS650 Special
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- N0NB
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- Blue handles better
Perhaps the margins are so thin that dealerships can't afford to be any other way, but I would think that if the factories really cared they could find someone who would represent them well.
Nate
Nates vintage bike axiom: Riding is the reward for time spent wrenching.
Murphys corollary: Wrenching is the result of time spent riding.
1979 KZ650 (Complete!)
1979 KZ650 SR (Sold!)
1979 KL250 (For sale)
1994 Bayou 400 (four wheel peel )
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- KOOL RYDER
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- KZ 650B2 / KZ 1000E
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Another time I took the bike in to get some work done and they broke my tach cable.
The third time I brought my bike in to get an out of province inspection, my brakes worked fine, after picking it up and riding to the first set of lights i pulled the front break lever and it went all the way to the bar.
When I went back they told me it was like that when they got it. Anyways I made them drop what they were doing and bleed the breaks, after 20 mins we heard the bubble escape and they were back to normal.
I have yet to find a place where I trust that the work I am paying for was completed properly the first time. When you go back to get any problems resolved it is never their fault. It is too bad because if there was a place that did excellent work then I would refer all of my fellow riders to that Shop.
Rockin\' a KZ650B2 since 2007 and a KZ 1000E since 2008
1978 KZ650B
1979 KZ1000ST
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- oldkaws4ever
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- Have no regrets...... You only live once.
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74 Z1a 900 (Apart and making it better than ever)
77 Kz 650b (Threw a rod, going to sandwich in a 900 or 1000 motor)
76 Kz 400d
05 ninja zx-636
81 Kz 750 Ltd
Darien, Illinois
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