Motorcycle problems after having it for 1 week - what should i do??

gline

Anyone here dealt with northside motorcycles??Just bought a bike off them and having major trouble with it. Just wondering if anyone else has had dealings with them. Had a bike lesson today and the instructor advised me to bring the bike back and get a refund as i have only had it 1 week. A lot of things wrong with it, basically not safe to drive really. They said they gave me a 3 month guarentee, so does that mean they would HAVE to fix it or give me a refund????
I am having the problems below with it (3 people in toatal have driven it so it is not just me saying this)
- speedometer not working
- doesnt idle at all, cuts out at lights etc even after 2 hours of driving
- choke doesnt work
- brake light stays on and possibly the brake also
- inconsistant throttle, ie the revs just start going up themselves without any throttle (timing problem?????)
- no steering lock
- gear peddle bent inwards (bike has been dropped)

So what should i do??? Would the guarentee cover these, personally i think it does as its not really safe to drive.

Kimbot

is the bike new or second hand???

gline

i know ur gonna say "why the hell did i buy it", thing is i know nothing about bikes and didnt check it properly

yes i kno i am an idiot for not doing this

gline

jonny24ie wrote:

is the bike new or second hand???

2nd hand (1999)

Kimbot

you could ask for a refund but you bought it off them second hand so it was up to you in the first place to make sure you were happy with it before you obught it. Try get a refund and buy from another place but do get a mechanic or bike enthuasiast to look at it first.

gline

jonny24ie wrote:

you could ask for a refund but you bought it off them second hand so it was up to you in the first place to make sure you were happy with it before you obught it. Try get a refund and buy from another place but do get a mechanic or bike enthuasiast to look at it first.

True but it is up to them to sell it roadworthy and safe , no..???

Kimbot

it is but there will always be people willing to take shortcuts to get abit more money for themselves.

gline

il try ask them to repair it 1st, if they will,if not then a refund and if they wont do that then im F***kd

Armadillo

The following site may have some answers:
http://www.consumerassociation.ie/

and this in particular:
http://www.consumerassociation.ie/rights.html

Don't let them away with that. Use the small claims court if you have to.
Also http://www.magireland.org may help.

gline

Armadillo wrote:

The following site may have some answers:
http://www.consumerassociation.ie/

and this in particular:
http://www.consumerassociation.ie/rights.html

Don't let them away with that. Use the small claims court if you have to.
Also http://www.magireland.org may help.

Thanks, my instructor advised me to do that if they refuse to do anything, but i wont jump the gun as i havent spoke to them yet as they were closed, i will ring them monday. It just pi**es me off that they let a bike in that bad condition go out on the road

Chipboard

If it is as bad as you say you have the right to a full refund. I dont think however, that the shop will give you a refund if you bring it back - they will probably offer to rectify the problems with it. Personally if a dealer did that to me I would give them back the bike and ask them for a full refund and then I would never go near them again. If (as I expect) they refuse to give you a refund, you should pursue them legally for it. If you paid more than €1300 for the bike you will have to go thru the courts for it (if you paid less than that you would be able to get compensation yourself thru the small claims court at almost no cost). You should get an independant motorcycle shop to document all the problems with the bike before you bring it back and also take photographs yourself. When you get the photos developed get the name of the person in the photo lab who actually developed them (you need this for the photo's to be accepted as evidence in court). If you go this route you will need to be prepared to pay the solicitors fees should the case not succeed. You really should consult a solicitor for advice on whether you are likely to win the case - usually the first consultation is free. They will sometimes take the case on a no foal no fee basis but they aren't allowed to tell you this, so they will sometimes just tell you that you wont be disappointed with the fee whether you win or lose. If you do win the court will give you a judgement against the shop for the amount of compensation and you may be able to get your legal costs as well. The only danger then is that the shop could be gone out of business by then, but if its still in business you should be ok.

Dont take my word for it though - consult a solicitor.

gline

well i can tell you it was more than double 1300 euros, i would be happy if they did just fix the bike , but in my experience before with garages they just do another crappy job and give it back to you (which i dont want) so i will let them "fix" it up and if it still has the same problems with it then a refund is what i will pursue, is it worth just telling them that i have already been talking to a solicitor and he recommended that i pursue it further if it isnt fixed to just to get them to fix it properly??

Chipboard

Its up to you, but a good rule of thumb when negotiating is to never make a threat you wont follow through on and I dont think you will follow through. I'm guessing that the value of the bike is in the €3 to 4k region and you could probably get the repairs done for less than €1300. If I were you I would get it repaired to perfection (new parts etc) by someone other than the guy you bought it from and then make a claim thru the Small Claims Court for the cost. If you can prove (assessment from other dealer, photographs etc) that you were screwed, you will surely be awarded a good portion if not all of the cost of repair and you will have a bike you can have confidence in. Even if you only win half the cost you will be in a better position than if you let the numskull who screwed you in the first place fix it.

My car was damaged by a garage in Swords 3 years ago. I did exactly as described above and got every penny including the cost of repairing their botch job back. It cost €6.35 to make the claim and took a few months but it was a matter of principal. The only reason I was able to take them on was because I know a bit about cars - I reckon most of these garages absolutely shaft alot of their customers (especially the fairer sex - no offence) with unecessary repairs and botch jobs.

gline

problem is i wouldnt have the cash to get it repaired even if it cost 200 to repair (which it is definitly going to cost way more) as i had to borrow just to get the bike

lomb

moral of the story is dont buy a used bike, they are way overpriced. there was a post here recently about a guy asking whether paying 5 grand for an 8 year old cycle was good value when a brand new one was 7 grand with a warranty.

Turlock

Just throw it back at them and get a refund, you're buying the bike off the seller provided its running right. It's your fault for not checking the gear shifter as that's cosmetic. EVERYTHING else has completely nothing to do with you as I presume you weren't able to test drive it. You bought and he sold the bike along the agreement that it was a fully functioning bike, if he doesn't tell you EVERY detail that could affect your judgement he has broken the law.

If you do get yer refund head over to cbr250.com alot of the lads there know what they're looking at and will gladly check over a few bikes with ye for a slab of their favorite beer

padraigcarroll

Hate to say it, but nothing here is covered under the warranty they will have given u, usually its a 3 month engine and gearbox guarantee, which basically is a polite way of saying haha we're covering nothing.
however they might if u pester them sort it out for u, dont give up easily though, bike shops are a bunch of w@nk£r5 they only care about ur money, after they have it its a big fat adios.
If u dont get ur bike sorted by them, here's a few hints.....

- speedometer not working
->Needs a new speedo cable most likely, otherwise its a proble with the clocks (its always the easier thing though)


- doesnt idle at all, cuts out at lights etc even after 2 hours of driving
->raise the idle speed, the knob is usually in between carb 2 & 3 if u reach up under the tank, u will find the carbs will also most likely need to be ballanced tho.

- choke doesnt work
->cable snapped or seized, oil it or else replace it.

- brake light stays on and possibly the brake also
->brake light switch stuck on, almost definitely the rear brake light switch, get a load of WD40 and free it up.

- inconsistant throttle, ie the revs just start going up themselves without any throttle (timing problem?????)
->most likely an air leak around the carbs, either the diaphragms or maybe where the carbs bolt onto the inlet manifold, u can confirm, by spraying a tiny bit of carb cleaner in and around the caRBS/ inlet area and see if the revs jump then u have found the leak.

- no steering lock
->bike was robbed, or maybe i spose its possible dropped while steering lock was on!

- gear peddle bent inwards (bike has been dropped)
->like u say. just bend it back or replace it.

gline

thanks padraigcarroll, i will check those out, is it possible though that some of these things can be caused by more serious engine faults??? I will talk to them monday and see if they will fix some if not all of these problems, if not i have a mate thats a bike mechanic so he can just check it out . So u guys reckon that the garage will do sweet FA if i try get them to repair it though??? vbmenu_register("postmenu_2510179", true);

padraigcarroll

I spose that the only real potential engine fault is the hunting at tickover (revving up and dropping at idle) but that's almost 100% going to be an air problem.


what type of bike is this anyways, a cbr?

Honestly if i was you, i'd go into the shop and not leave till he agreed to fix the problems, its one thing buying as bike from the buy and sell in that kind of condition, but for a shop to sell it like that is out of order.
go the whole 9 yards, keep calm though and dont leave till he gives you the service u deserve.

If he doesnt want to know get ur mechanic mate to go in next saturday or whenever with ya, and again dont leave till he agrees to sort u out (maybe he will be more than willing who knows!)

personally if it happened to me and he refused, id go down and take somehting of equal or more value and hold it hostage
lol

dont let him away with it tho, it's bad form, and if he sorts those things demand a full service (oil + filter, air filter and plugs) as compensation and an act of goodwill , if he doesnt play ball, after hes given u the bike back with everything else sorted tell him fine ur off to speak with joe duffy and chris barry lol

gline

its a bandit 250. He said he did give it a gud service before he gave it to me, obviously he didnt. it will be hard to keep the cool if he argues, but im gonna type out a list of the problems above and tell him he needs to fix them because its not safe to drive it

Thumper Long

good idea to go with a full list so that you dont leave anything out, personally i would push for a full refund, and if hes having none of tell him you'll camp outside his shop with the bike and a nice big sign warning potential customers of the lousy service, guarantee you that will frighten him, especially when you show up with one or two mates for moral support. if he doesn't play ball you still have the courts to go through. personally you cant beat a good old fashioned confrontation and a march. LOL. seriously take no **** you are in a position of power with these merchant bankers.

newgrange

For the sake of fairness, please ensure that if they deal satisfactorily with you, you report it here.

gline

well i have a mate going with me tomorrow, so il let you know how it goes, i just want the serious stuff on it fixed, i will bring a list and see what they say, cheers guys

seamus

As the lads say, anything cosmetic is really your problem, not theirs. If the gear lever works, then there's not a whole lot you can do. It's really only if there are bits missing that prevent the vehicle from driving correctly/safely that you would have a comeback. Basically, you can come back to them and show the bent gear lever, but pretty much they can say "Well, it was fine when it left here, that's occured in the last week", and you have to prove otherwise.

Running problems like you're having though don't appear after a week if the bike wasn't already a bit shaky. They don't sound like any major problems, but when your machine is all that sits between you and road rash, then any strange noises or general weirdness makes it just unpleasant to be riding.

gline

well i wouldnt mind if they didnt fix the "cosmetic" features, but id expect it to be safe to ride, the brakes are sticking aswell and the other problems mentioned dont make for a safe bike, im not asking for a perfect bike, just one i can drive safely.

seamus

gline wrote:

well i wouldnt mind if they didnt fix the "cosmetic" features, but id expect it to be safe to ride, the brakes are sticking aswell and the other problems mentioned dont make for a safe bike, im not asking for a perfect bike, just one i can drive safely.

Yep, a reasonable request. The sale of goods, and supply of services act still comes into play even when you're talking about motorcycles. "Fit for purpose" and "Of merchantable quality" are the simple rules here. A motorcycle that's not safe to drive breaches both of these.

It's kind of annoying to buy a bike, and afterwards see some cosmetic damage, but when you buy second-hand, it's be hard to find otherwise. It's the little things - like on my current bike I found that the lever for the fuel switch was gone (I don't know how people manage to lose these things on a year-old bike), and few allen bolts were rounded. The bike works fine otherwise, but when you're after shelling out a few grand on a nice machine, you don't want to find faults with it

gline

TBH i wouldnt mind if there was cosmetic damage, like there is a big scratch on the paintwork, but stuff like that doesnt bother me, i just want it working "properly" and safe and not have to service it every few weeks, i think i am entitled to that after payin over 2k, sure if it was lik 1k or less i wouldnt be bothered and id pay for these problems to be fixed but it wasnt cheap, there was nothing wrong with my money when they took it so there shouldnt be anything majorly wrong with the bike when i take it

newgrange

So...what happened?
It's really not fair to publicly name a company and outline a problem with them without also reporting what the outcome to your complaint was.

that guy

BRING IT BACK!!!!

It's not fit for the purpose for which it was sold. Course you can bring it back!

Your not allowed test drive bikes in this country, so it's not as if you were able to drive the bike before buying. They are obliged to sell you a bike in roadworthy condition - don't mind the warranty thing -they're not just selling you an engine and a gearbox! They're selling you a bike.

Bring it back, demand a refund or another bike, and if they won't help you get the law on them

Best of luck

gline

i left it with them yesterday, there was new spark plugs put in when i bought it last week and when he checked them on monday they were black. So they took it in yesterday and il see wether they fix it. Il let you all know

echomadman

Bandit 250 eh, i thought your problems seemed familiar What year is it?


the choke cables on them are garbage, take it off and put a cable tie on the choke body down on the left side under the tank, I never need to use the choke for more than 30 seconds to get the bike running, even on really cold days.
The plug fouling is bad news, hopefully its just running really rich, and not leaking oil into the cylinders. The HT leads and Coils can act up on older bandits too, earthing and not getting enough power to spark the plugs at low rpm, causing ****ty idle.
the surging is a leak around your intake manifold as was already explained.
A carb clean and balance will do it wonders too.

But...

To be quite honest i'd just demand a refund and go elsewhere, any bike that's back in the shop a week after you buy it is a lemon. As was already said if it was bought through a private sale it'd be one thing, but buying from a shop and that happening is a joke.

edit:

newgrange wrote:

So...what happened?
It's really not fair to publicly name a company and outline a problem with them without also reporting what the outcome to your complaint was.

I think its perfectly fair, irrespective of the outcome they sold him a duff bike in the first place

more edit:
If you do keep the bandit head over to the banditalley.com forums, pretty much every problem you're going to have has been brought up there.

MojoMaker

Sounds like all it needs is a good service tbh. They've obviously not done this. Just go back to them with it and ask to see the service record and outline the problems you're having. I doubt it will develop into a bigger issue than this for you. A routine service based on what you describe above will only take them an hour and shouldn't cost you anything.

gline

ok , i got it back today, not half as bad as it was, il keeep an eye on it, but it seems to be ok, as echomadman mentioned i think the chole cables are probably pretty crap, but i didnt need to choke it more than 30 seconds either, just wondering can the choke cable be adjusted so it revs the engine more??? just for really cold mornings, thanks for the help guys. I still do think it was bad letting a bike in that state leaving the garage, especially speedometer not working and brake light always on, thats jsut damn dangerous :mad:

seamus

Get the instructor or another experienced rider to give it 10 or 15 minutes in a deserted car park.

Just to be sure.

gline

thanks for the advise man, i have it covered, getting a group of mates to look at it monday (one is a bike mechanic), so they will be able to tell if it is a heap of sh*t

gline

well surprise surprise, im just home from having to get the bike pushed after i couldnt get it started. What a load of shi*te, im just going to have to bring it back to them tomorrow or friday if i can, that is disgracful for that to happen after 1 month of having a bike, he checked the spark plugs 3 times and they were black, said its just running too rich and adjusted it, obviously something else wrong with it.

echomadman

check that your choke isnt sticking open, that'd leave you running very rich.
Like i said, you're better off removing the choke cable alltogether and putting a cable tie on the little arm under the tank.
If it was laid up for ages the carbs could be filthy, also check your air filter isnt clogged up, as that'd cause rich running too.

I hope you're not paying for these repairs. What year is it? i asked already but didnt see a reply, if its old+high mileage your carb needles may need to be replaced.

With a bike like the b250 you're really lookign at having to tinker with it a lot to keep it running well, particularly if its an older bike. I love mine but it breaks my heart with all the niggly little annoyances it has. I try to do as much of my service/repair work myself, at least that way i know exactly whats been done and not done, and i learn a lot about bike engines in the process. If you plan to keep it i'd advise learnign how to do basic servicing yourself.

I have the service manual for the GSF400, which is pretty much the same bike, PM me for a link to it if you want it

gline

echomadman wrote:

check that your choke isnt sticking open, that'd leave you running very rich.
Like i said, you're better off removing the choke cable alltogether and putting a cable tie on the little arm under the tank.
If it was laid up for ages the carbs could be filthy, also check your air filter isnt clogged up, as that'd cause rich running too.

I hope you're not paying for these repairs. What year is it? i asked already but didnt see a reply, if its old+high mileage your carb needles may need to be replaced.

With a bike like the b250 you're really lookign at having to tinker with it a lot to keep it running well, particularly if its an older bike. I love mine but it breaks my heart with all the niggly little annoyances it has. I try to do as much of my service/repair work myself, at least that way i know exactly whats been done and not done, and i learn a lot about bike engines in the process. If you plan to keep it i'd advise learnign how to do basic servicing yourself.

I have the service manual for the GSF400, which is pretty much the same bike, PM me for a link to it if you want it

Its a 99 model, i didnt think that was too old????all those things you mentioned though should have been done BEFORE i got the bike not now, it will be going back in the next few days and im trying to organise someone to go with me that knows what they are talking about, as i am sick of this, gonna try for a refund. Drove it hom from work just there and it was a bitch to start thought i have to end up pushing it again, il pm u now for d link, cheers

gline

There have been developments, they took the bike back and said they brought it to another garage and fixed it. Bike still has problems, i got a guy i know to have a look at it and he noticed absolutly LOADS wrong with it - among others clutch on its way out, front wheel not purely straight, bolt missing on eingine etc etc etc, i didnt really notice these things as im only leanring and thought it was my crap driving.

He reckons i should get a mechanics report from another garage and show it to a solicitor and go in to northside with the solicitors letter and demand a refund , as a clucth would count as gearbox problem. to be honest i think a refund is my only option, aparently all the repairs would cost 100's to fix and ive only had the bike about 1-2months. What do u guys think, is that the route to go?? Do i have a leg to stand on when approaching a solicitor???

The guy in the garage has been lying through his teeth since i bought the bike and aparently it is dangerous to drive. Can anyone recommend me a good solicitor by pm'ing me. And how much does a mechanics report cost??

seamus

gline wrote:

The guy in the garage has been lying through his teeth since i bought the bike and aparently it is dangerous to drive. Can anyone recommend me a good solicitor by pm'ing me. And how much does a mechanics report cost??

I can't give you much advice on the rest, but explain the situation to the shop you leave it into (if a solicitor advises you), and arrange a deal to buy the new bike from them if they give you the report for nowt

gline

seamus wrote:

I can't give you much advice on the rest, but explain the situation to the shop you leave it into (if a solicitor advises you), and arrange a deal to buy the new bike from them if they give you the report for nowt

Hmm...??? sounds a bit sneaky, id rather not involve another garage into it

echomadman

Holy sh!t, its a 99? all the probs you describe sound like it was a 90/91, sic the lawyers on them, they obviously saw you coming and tried to offload a piece of crap on you, gettingan independant assesment of the bikes condition from another garage isnt sneaky, its the only way you can get a legal leg to stand on.

seamus

gline wrote:

Hmm...??? sounds a bit sneaky, id rather not involve another garage into it

Heh, actually now that I read it, it came out all wrong. I don't mean that you should get them to make the report look worse than it is.

gline

seamus wrote:

Heh, actually now that I read it, it came out all wrong. I don't mean that you should get them to make the report look worse than it is.

Ah i know you didnt mean that, but im not going to tell the garage i go to that it is to get a refund from another garage, gaages will stand up for eachother. Its best not to let them know why im getting a report done as it will be an honest report and not biased.

RicardoSmith

Do the AA check Bikes? They check cars and give an independent report.

This bike sounds like its been all around the world. Stolen, thrown off a cliff, ..twice. Then had the living daylights kicked out of it. :eek:

gline

RicardoSmith wrote:

Do the AA check Bikes? They check cars and give an independent report.

This bike sounds like its been all around the world. Stolen, thrown off a cliff, ..twice. Then had the living daylights kicked out of it. :eek:

yeh it probably has TBH :mad:

Our man in Havana

So have you confronted the garage yet?

gline

Bond-007 wrote:

So have you confronted the garage yet?

It has been back there 3 times in about a month and a half for repairs, i have given them the chance to fix it. They said they took it out for a spin and everything was fine, obviously they hadnt as it is in bits. I think 3 chances is enough.

gline

just so you know, this had to be esculated to a solicitor as they would not refund

RicardoSmith

gline wrote:

just so you know, this had to be esculated to a solicitor as they would not refund

Pity it worked out like that. But thats the right thing to do.

gline

ah its so much hassle though, i would have preferred just an easy refund which i am rightfully due, but it has gone beyond that now, awell.