| Author | Message | ||
     Dbenjami |
Well, I don't know if I should feel pissed, lucky, or just plain stupid. Took the bike to my local, and as far as I am concerned very reputable buell dealer for the 5000 mile service. I had their "race bike" technician do all of the work so I know he must be pretty damn familiar with my type of bike. I picked the bike up on Wednesday of this week and didn't really ride it that much up until yesterday. So yesterday I get all geared up, call my riding buddies and we head out on about a 90 mile round trip ride.(I fueled up before I met them) It was a VERY windy day and the riding was relaxed. The bike rode fine and the power was all there, so it seemed that everything was in order. We stopped for a break about 60 miles into the ride and I noticed some gas fumes, but then again we were at a gas station and the fumes were very faint, so I didn't really check anything out. We sit around for about 10 minutes and then start to make our way home, and the bike seems fine, no problems, it was a very windy day, so I was mostly concentrating on keeping the bike where it should be. As we pull back into town the gas light comes on... HMMM, thats odd trip only reads 92miles. I pull up next to one of my buddies and he freaks out, I immediately knew what was wrong, all I could smell was gas. It was dripping off of the bike, from nearly everywhere, and very close to some extremely hot parts(header), the whole swing-arm was nearly covered, due to the fact that we were moving at ~65mph. Just so happened that my dealer was roughly 1/4-mile away, so we pushed the bike there... a couple of the techs came out and we took a few pieces off, but were unable to find the source of the gas... by my calculations roughly a gallon had leaked out in 30 or so miles... I am pretty much speechless at this point, I don't know how the dealer is going to handle this, or what I should expect but it seems pretty obvious that they made some error while doing the service., but I guess I don't really KNOW that.. (Message edited by dbenjami on October 31, 2004) | ||
| Gonen60 |
i would have stayed there watching until the problem was uncovered. Good luck to you. Keep us informed. | ||
| Buelldealer |
Thanks for the post. It is my dealership, H-D Buell of Bloomington, to which you refer. I am sorry you had a problem with your bike, but I can assure you that the issue will be resolved quickly and to your satisfaction. Joe Stines is our Buell race tech and the person who serviced your XB. He is a very well respected technician with excellent skills and many years of experience. I am confident in his abilities and know he will diagnose and correct your XB's problem. Unfortunately, Joe was off on Saturday when you brought your bike in and it was rather late in the afternoon too. Because of the late hour, Rich Hankins and BJ Fesselmeyer, the techs that looked at it, really didn't have the time to adequately examine it. Joe will be in Monday morning and should be able to check it out first thing. My guess is it has something to do with the "fuell" vent. But let me emphasize the word guess, as I am not a tech. Again, I am sorry that you had a problem with your bike, but please rest assured that it will be repaired to your satisfaction. We love Buells at H-D/Buell of Bloomington. We not only ride them, but also race them. Buell motorcycles are an important part of our business and so are our Buell customers. We'll let everyone know what we find.} Regards, Jeff Stevens, Owner H-D/Buell of Bloomington | ||
| Outrider |
Now that is what I consider an excellent response. | ||
| Gonen60 |
sounds like your in good hands | ||
| CJXB |
Excellent post Buelldealer, sometimes things go wrong but I'd take my bike to your dealership just from reading your post !! Not an angry response, just straight up and professional and I believe you guys will resolve the problem !! Cool that you read the post and responded !! CJ  | ||
| Odie |
Wow..........first time for everything I guess. I still have faith after reading the Buelldealer post. | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
Bloomington will fix you up! I met Jeff (nice guy) at the Putnam Park track day back in August. Any plans to sponsor a track day next year? A few Buell gatherings/rides would be cool too. Bloominton will be my servicing dealer should I need it, my bikes are just to darn reliable! Chad | ||
| Dbenjami |
Jeff, No, hard feelings, whatsoever.... I was able to "safely" get it back to you guys and that is really all that matters, and I have heard nothing but good things about Joe, and I know that he does top notch work... Furthermore, I have had nothing but great experiences with your dealership and I plan on continuing to have my bike serviced and purchasing my parts with you. If it was a mistake and not some unrelated mechanical/hardware malfunction, I am confident you will take care of it, otherwise it is my responsibility.. Please do not take my earlier post as a "bash" on your dealership or service technicians, I left the name out for that reason... Oh yea, and keep me updated on any Putnam events/trackdays... you have planned, I would love to attend and ride with some fellow twins instead of all those "other" bikes... Dustin | ||
| Barkandbite |
Jeff: Bravo. Most dealers can't even spell 'www' let alone figure out how to type it in and pull up a web page. You have ventured where few dealers would dare to go and your response is appreciated for so many reasons. Thanks for responding, you're a stand-up guy. Wish there were more of you. CHris | ||
| Tripper |
A Buell Dealer that really cares! I could cry. thank you, thank you, thank you. Wait a minute, that makes twice in one day for me. I happened upon my dealer parts man fueling his M2, and mentioned that I needed to drop a part off for a repair. He escorted me to the shop and opened the door so the part would be secure. I was just going to hide it in the bushes and call them next week. I should buy a lottery ticket. | ||
| Oconnor |
I think we need to clone Mr. Stevens and have him take over every H/D Buell dealership in the states. I second Tripper's: Thank You Thank You Thank You Where is Bloomington. probably too far to interest you into relocating to California.... | ||
| Tucsonxb9s |
 Wow...stand up response from the dealership! Any plans on opening an AZ dealership??  | ||
| Bigdaddy |
Bravo Jeff, bravo. | ||
| Xb9er |
I bet it's something simple. He probably forgot to put the vent hose back onto the fuel tank vent valve. Easy enough to miss when you are in there checking the air filter. Good job Bloomington dealer guy. Mike. | ||
| Darthane |
I doubt the vent valve could burp a gallon of gas. Was there gas on the top of the frame? If not, then it's not the vent. Anyways, sounds like the dealer is standing up and willing to put the effort into fixing it right the first time. Always good to see that, especially since it's exceedingly rare. Thumbs up to them! | ||
| Henrik |
Jeff Buelldealer; most excellent reply. Thank you *so* much for being the one to signal the recovery ... With guys like you owning a dealership, there is still hope for us Buell owners. Thank you Henrik | ||
| Raceautobody |
Wow! | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
Bravo Buelldealer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| Glitch |
Yet another Dealer steps up to the plate. Good on ya Jeff! See there, we don't want to be treated special, we just want to be treated right. Not askin' for much, and when we're treated right everyone knows about it and remembers the Dealer's name and Dealership. Easy Peasy, not hard at all.  Jeff! | ||
| Dbenjami |
Well, talked to Joe(technition) today, and it ends up to be something totally unrelated to the service... For some reason the O-ring that seals the injector to the fuel rail had a flaw in it... really weird - not sure what to think about that.. It also seems as though this is not the first time someone has been working down in that area.. I bought the bike with roughly 550 miles on it... this seems to be a bit disconcerting. This was the first "used" auto/bike purchase I have ever made, anyone else ever get nervous about how the bike/car was treated by the previous owner? Joe and the guys at the dealership are really top notch, instead of making me buy a new injector(the only way to get the high pressure O-ring) he managed to find one in the shop. Dustin | ||
| CJXB |
 | ||
| Henrik |
Good deal. Your dealer is a good one - support him all you can. Henrik | ||
| Budo |
Excellent dealer and service from the dealer. Too bad there are not more of them. | ||
| Ted |
kudos ! | ||
| Buelldealer |
As Dustin recently posted, the spewing fuel problem had nothing to do with the 5000 mile service we recently completed on this XB. The actual problem was the result of someone removing the fuel injectors by prying them out with what apparently was a dull screw driver or a similar object and not properly reinstalling them. The gouge marks found in the metal indicated that little care was taken and apparently the o-ring was nicked in the process. Compounding the problem was the fact that one injector was not properly seated on the fuel rail during re-installation. Evidently Dustin bought this motorcycle used with only 550 miles on it. Even though this bike had low miles on it at purchase it shows obvious signs of . . . shall we say . . . less than professional modifications by the previous owner. Because of the number of components that had to be removed to uncover the problem with the injectors, I am doubtful if we or anyone else would have discovered this issue during a typical basic inspection. All I can say is that when purchasing used, to be very thorough with your pre-purchase inspections and look closely for signs of abuse. I am glad we were able to resolve Dustin’s problem easily and get him back on the road quickly. I am also grateful Dustin, nor his bike, suffered from any more than some leaky fuel. The potential for a nasty gasoline fire was real. Many modifications to a motorcycle can be accomplished by individuals with average abilities. Some, like toying with a relatively complex fuel system, should be left to professionally trained technicians. I don’t have to tell anyone here that motorcycling, in general, is very unforgiving of mistakes. Skeeter_XB (Chad) ask about our track day in his post. We are again co-sponsoring a track day at Putnam Park Road Course in 2005. June 19th is the date and the good folks at Sportbike Track Time will again be instructing and managing the day for us. Putnam Park Road Course (www.putnampark.com) is a motorcycle friendly facility that hosts a number of track days throughout the season and is approximately 45 minutes from our dealership. If you would like to join us for a day of knee dragging please contact me after the first of the year for details. I will also post info on BWB.com after everything is finalized. If and when any of you are in our area please be sure to stop in and visit us. We have some really great, twisty roads in this part of the country and some free route maps too. Jeff Stevens H-D/Buell of Bloomington | ||
| Odie |
I knew I should'a stayed in the Midwest!!!! | ||
| Odie |
From all that I hear, Stone Mountain H-D along with Super DaveS all have great dealerships. I guess they are out there you just have to drive forever to get there. Worth the drive, I'm sure....Odie | ||
| Black_sunshine |
SMHD/BUELL the best. Talk to Cameron for your Buell needs 3%er baby!  | ||
| Dj_rider |
lol...does everyone BElieVE what everyone says? |
