Need answers to fight the dealer

sublime · October 20, 2003, 09:10:45 PM

Here the story goes.
Not sure if anyone remembers, but, I was complaining of dropping my nice shiny new 02' GS.
First day out on the bike i was trying to get going at a light, the enging seemed to be dying out then all the sudden the rpm's revved up, long story short.....i popped a wheelie and dropped the bike.
Well after waiting 3 weeks for a rotor and few other parts to come in. the bike shop finally dropped off my bike. Well i started it up and tested the throttle ... what do you know... same response,, right around 2500 the rpm would just shoot up. Well i listened closely and the engine sounded like a 1 cylinder and right when it revved was when it sounded like the 2nd would kick in. Pulled out one of the plugs and sure enough it was wet with fuel. then i check the spark plug with the cable hooked up,, it had good spark. another long story shortened... I called the dealer they came and picked up the pick. after another 4 days they finally dropped it back off at my place finally running right. (both cylinders) and they said it was a lose wire on my "ECM" and thought it must have been from the crash.
I bought the back with 450 miles on it and dropped it at 462 and the whole 12 miles i road it is felt crappy.
What i am trying to prove is the dealer sold it to me like that and its was the reason for the crash.
any help would be much appreciated .
thanks
sublime

Jonathan · October 20, 2003, 09:17:54 PM

Quote from: sublimeHere the story goes.
Not sure if anyone remembers, but, I was complaining of dropping my nice shiny new 02' GS.
First day out on the bike i was trying to get going at a light, the enging seemed to be dying out then all the sudden the rpm's revved up, long story short.....i popped a wheelie and dropped the bike.
Well after waiting 3 weeks for a rotor and few other parts to come in. the bike shop finally dropped off my bike. Well i started it up and tested the throttle ... what do you know... same response,, right around 2500 the rpm would just shoot up. Well i listened closely and the engine sounded like a 1 cylinder and right when it revved was when it sounded like the 2nd would kick in. Pulled out one of the plugs and sure enough it was wet with fuel. then i check the spark plug with the cable hooked up,, it had good spark. another long story shortened... I called the dealer they came and picked up the pick. after another 4 days they finally dropped it back off at my place finally running right. (both cylinders) and they said it was a lose wire on my "ECM" and thought it must have been from the crash.
I bought the back with 450 miles on it and dropped it at 462 and the whole 12 miles i road it is felt crappy.
What i am trying to prove is the dealer sold it to me like that and its was the reason for the crash.
any help would be much appreciated .
thanks
sublime

I don't know man. From my point of view, you have dropped the bike and damaged it. It'll be too easy for the dealer to claim that anything wrong with the bike NOW is due to your accident. And that he gave it to you in peak condition. If not, why didn't you talk to him about it? Why were you riding it on city streets if you knew something was wrong

I'm not even sure I understand your question... You crashed it once, bought it back, then crashed it again?

sublime · October 20, 2003, 09:24:03 PM

Hey
I only crashed the bike once, that was the first day I had it,, what was happening was the bike was running off the one cylinder and eventually the second would fire and the rpm's would raise quick....
I had the bike fixed by the dealer and they dropped it off after supposedly fixing it, and it was still running on the one cylinder. they picked it back up and dropped it off 4 days later, the bike was running much better. what they said it was , was a lose wire on the "ECM", the problem is I am saying the bike has been messed up since they sold it to me and they are saying its from the crash.

asung · October 20, 2003, 09:34:43 PM

Is the ECM the computer module for controlling the fuel injection? There is NO fuel injection in the GS!

sublime · October 20, 2003, 09:36:41 PM

This is true . my next step i am going to take is ride down to the dealer and have them point out exactly what they fixed. and prove that is was from the crash.

asung · October 20, 2003, 10:21:10 PM

Hey,
This is going to be a tough case to proof. Just before you dropped your bike, did u let it warmed up sufficiently? These things are extremely cold blooded, and the throttle will stick when the engine is cold. With mine, when i rev it when cold start, it will hang at ~1500-2000 rpm, then suddenly it will unstick and rev normally. If you release the clutch at this moment, the bike will jump. not sure if this could be a reason.

JohNLA · October 20, 2003, 10:40:04 PM

I would get another mechanic or dealer to check it out.

matteo34 · October 21, 2003, 08:07:30 AM

Im no expert but it sounds like it was cold to me. My aprillia rs50 used to do exactly the same thing to me in the winter mornings, except it wasnt powerful enough to pop a wheely (5hp wow)

TheGoodGuy · October 21, 2003, 08:29:30 AM

contact american suzuki, write them a letter, and tell them teh dealers name and then hope that helps.

i had suzuki come in and fix my bike after it would die for all kind of weird reasons.

The Buddha · October 21, 2003, 08:31:01 AM

Can you say "Pull the wool"... Loose ECM wire ... hah...
The bike must have had one float set high... too high... till the rpm came up and float level droppped a little due to the mass of fuel being pulled in. They probably opened the carbs and cleaned and set floats and ... and then noticed they had to write something in the check sheet... so they wrote some crap... I'd say you have a decent shot with a lawyer... Lemme ask you guys.. are bike delaers in CA subject to the same anti fraud laws as car dealers are... if so you have a good shot...
Cool.
Srinath.

JBix · October 21, 2003, 05:47:55 PM

There is also a thing called an "as is" policy, whereas, any motor vehicle you purchase, you purchase "as is." According to this, even if the crash was caused by the engine fault, it isn't the fault of the dealer. In order to fight them, assuming you mean by court, you'd have to prove the dealer knew about said condition and didn't notify you. If you just feel jipped by them :guns: and want them to fix it, follow the advice about having another mech look at it. And that crap about ECM is just that, CRAP.

That's just my two pennies.

sublime · October 21, 2003, 05:52:58 PM

Thanks for all the advice,, I am out to sea with the Navy right now, once i get home i am going straight to the dealer to discuss the "ecm" problem and have them point out exactly what they fixed and how it was caused by the crash.

JBix · October 21, 2003, 05:59:31 PM

Quote from: sublimeThanks for all the advice,, I am out to sea with the Navy right now, once i get home i am going straight to the dealer to discuss the "ecm" problem and have them point out exactly what they fixed and how it was caused by the crash.

Where at sea are you? I'm in northern Iraq w/ Army right now.

Blueknyt · October 21, 2003, 07:16:04 PM

ECM, isnt just for FI, FORD, and Chevy both had ECM's with carbs. how ever, the "IGNITER"box on the bike is basicly the same thing. problem is, you gonna spenc the mega $ to get another just to prove them wrong?

Baker · October 21, 2003, 07:59:05 PM

Quote from: JBixThere is also a thing called an "as is" policy, whereas, any motor vehicle you purchase, you purchase "as is." According to this, even if the crash was caused by the engine fault, it isn't the fault of the dealer. In order to fight them, assuming you mean by court, you'd have to prove the dealer knew about said condition and didn't notify you. If you just feel jipped by them :guns: and want them to fix it, follow the advice about having another mech look at it. And that crap about ECM is just that, CRAP.

That's just my two pennies.

That doesn't matter, you have 3 days to back out of any contract. Even if you purchase a used car and it breaks the first day they have to fix it or take it back. It happened to my car when the clutch died the day after i bought it. I took it back got in a fight with them told them i was backing out of the contract and gave them the car back.

Blueknyt · October 21, 2003, 10:29:22 PM

there is also full disclosure and lemon laws

tkm433 · October 21, 2003, 11:51:51 PM

First off you bought a used bike with no known history for its 450 miles that were already on the bike.

Had it been crashed and fixed before you got it?

We do not know if this is your first bike or how much time you have been riding motorcycles?

You state that it rode like crap when you got it and you had it only for 12 miles when you crashed it?

Did you test ride it before you bought it? Since it already had some mileage on it I would guess the dealer allowed you to test ride it?

If it rode like crap then why did you buy it?

The only way I could ever get the front end to come off the ground on my GS500 was to dump the clutch. In my view there is no way to do a wheelie on a GS500 unless you use the clutch. The GS500 will not do a wheelie by just turning the throttle on due to its low power output.

It sounds like you crashed the bike hard enough to destroy the right side cover and the rotor and that could of done more damage than you and the dealer might of seen.

Its is a hard call since you did crashed the bike in the first place and you bought the bike as you stated and it road crappy before the crash. Why did you wait until after you crashed to point out that it felt crappy?

Just a question to think about: How much fuel was in the tank when it crashed? If you were close to the point where you would need to change to the reserve tank that could cause the bike to want to stall and then when the fuel moved in the fuel tank it could fill the carbs fuel bowls up agian and the bike would gain power agian and this would act like a electrical or fuel/carb issue and in the end could of been the cause of your crash. Just a point to think about? If this was the cause then you could blame it on the dealer after the fact since they blamed it om an electrical issue and you could take blame for lack of experience with the GS500 and its fuel control switch.

sublime · October 31, 2003, 06:11:50 PM

:guns:

Thanks for all the advice,
After they fixed my bike, and I got back from underway I went to talk to the manager to find out what was the go. They are saying it was a loose wire from when they fixed the bike after the accident,, so there is no way for me to prove that it was messed up before the accident,,,, I got tired of going back and forth and just gave up.

News:

Need answers to fight the dealer