New Bike, Blown Head Gasket, Called Suzuki, Dealer Lied

[annguyen1981]

Ditto on the new bike.  As soon as you start taking things apart on ANYTHING...  It's not gonna be the same anymore.

DEMAND a new bike.

[06GSowner]

Well wednesday is here and the bike is done after 22 days total(i think unless i lost track somewhere).....we will see how things go when I ride it tonight(unless something else comes up and I don't get to go pick it up). Guess I won't be seeing the Suzuki Rep on thursday. All Suzuki has told me is that "It's not their policy to exchange bikes, but they would make sure it got fixed".

[rangerbrown]

its the state law not what they want to do. be sure to tell them that on thurs

i see no reason why you should have had to go with out a bike to ride or even have to pay this months payment for that matter.

i can see how you have been so, well what the word... well cooler than me about this.

[ajaxgs]

stick it to them that amount of time without your ride not good 

[06GSowner]

got the bike back. seems to be running a little better than when I first had it, could be just because i havent been on it in so long though. They said they installed a thicker rubber head gasket because the Suzuki stock one is paper thin. Suzuki paid them a whole $108 parts and labor for the entire repair. Any person paying for that would have had labor charges coming out their ass. Oh well , let's hope the bike runs great for the rest of it's life.

[Mandres]

They said they installed a thicker rubber head gasket because the Suzuki stock one is paper thin.

What?     My advice to you is find another dealership; these guys are either liars or totally incompetent. 

-M

[TheFleshRocket]

Yeah.. a RUBBER head gasket?  That's a new one on me. 

Suzuki paid them $108 for parts and labor?  I bet book time is at least four hours for that kind of job, and Suzuki is obligated to pay the dealer whatever book time is.  I'm pretty sure the dealer wasn't billing labor at $25 per hour with an $8 head gasket.   

[06GSowner]

their computer system showed that suzuki paid 1 hours worth of labor at $66 an hour.   New question, the bike acts like it wants to stall when I first start it(feels like it to me anyways). Even if i put full choke it idles at like 1K. Would a twist of that idle screw fix this problem?

[scratch]

Try holding the throttle open just a crack.  If that clears it up, then adjust the idle screw (probably 1/8th of a turn).

Sorry to hear of all your problems.  Hope they actually fixed it.  That dealer is a crooked one.  What's their name, again?  We want to avoid them.  Get the mechanic's name?  He could get fired and it would be good to know where he goes (so that we can avoid him in the future!).

[06GSowner]

yea if i open the throttle for awhile and start riding it clears up and idles fine. Guess I will try adjusting that screw when the motor cools down. They have me sealing the head gasket by riding it then letting it cool down then riding it and letting it cool down.....is this normal? I'm trying to replace the tach/speedo lights to colored ones while i'm waiting for the bike to cool....not working out real well though  .   BTW Dealerships name is ASK Powersports. 3 locations in central Ohio. Tech who always spoke to me was Austin. Not sure if he was the one who worked on it or not. But he is the only one I ever got to talk to.

[scratch]

Sounds like normal break-in, but that's usually for the cylinders.  But, this maybe to make sure that it wont leak again, by heat-cycling the gasket and mating surface, to make sure it doesn't warp.  Keep an eye on it.  Or, more like an ear and maybe a hand, to listen for a compression leak again, or hover your hand around the compression gasket to feel for air leaking past.

You have an '06, which has the whole fairing covering the engine, which may interfere with your hand being able to feel for air leaks.

[Yankee Punker]

yea if i open the throttle for awhile and start riding it clears up and idles fine. Guess I will try adjusting that screw when the motor cools down. They have me sealing the head gasket by riding it then letting it cool down then riding it and letting it cool down.....is this normal? I'm trying to replace the tach/speedo lights to colored ones while i'm waiting for the bike to cool....not working out real well though  .   BTW Dealerships name is ASK Powersports. 3 locations in central Ohio. Tech who always spoke to me was Austin. Not sure if he was the one who worked on it or not. But he is the only one I ever got to talk to.

It take about five minutes for the GS to get warmed up , then that sputtering and low RPM hesitation goes away. Your GS should already be tuned for running at a normal operating temperature, and I've always found the best results tuning the carbs or adjusting the idle when the engine is warm to hot.

[06GSowner]

well when i first got the bike if i turned the choke full on, it warmed up at like 3 - 4000 rpms. Now with full on choke it stalls out unless i give it a little throttle. Bike was almost outta gas at the dealer apparantly because they started it and it was fine, let it warm up for bout 5 minutes fine, I get to the first red light out of the parking lot, it wanted to stall. I figured they didn't put gas in it so I switched it to reserve and went to the gas station and everything was fine. I rode the bike home from the dealer,about 45 minutes. I let it "cool" for about 2 hours(to heat cycle the new head gasket). I figured the bike is still basically "warmed up" even though it had cooled down to about outside temperature. But when I started her up, she wanted to stall again till I gave some throttle. Maybe this is normal I don't know. It is just doing something different then my first 200 miles on it.    On a side note I got all of my warning stickers off and installed blue lights for the tach and speedo.

[TarzanBoy]

That could be a few different things... fouled plugs, bad carbs, etc.   Call Suzuki and tell them that you want a new bike.  Check the lemon laws in your state.   I would also tell them that you want a new bike from a different dealership.

P.S.  Dealerships are bottom feeders... there is a shop around here that did shitty work on a guys bike and then called the manufacturer and lied to them (telling them that the owner had been stunting the bike) in order to try and void his warranty.

Hook in with a local rider messageboard and try to find honest shops or mechanics in your area.

[06GSowner]

well right now it is cooling down till around 11, then im gonna take it out on one last ride for the night. we will see how it ends up starting and warming up for this ride.

[06GSowner]

Well guys thanks for all the help and support. I believe I finally have my bike running nicely. I adjusted the idle screw a little. I think that the choke not working correctly was my fault not knowing how to use it properly. It has been about 95 degrees here for the past week so I probably don't need much choke right? I think the choke was just thinking the bike was warmed up already therefore I didn't need it so it was stalling the bike. Seems to be ok at the moment. Heres to happy riding to u and I for the rest of my new GS' lifetime. 

[rangerbrown]

yea in the moning here is SC its about 78 or so. i use the choke to start it, and then take it off. by the time i am off my dirt road, its nice and warm