Yep so I had my 7500 mile tune up done at a local Kawi dealer. It wasn't the one I purchased my bike at but My brother bought a Kawi Mean Streak there so I figured why not.

They did the work and the bike was running pretty good but after maybe 100 miles or so I noticed the bike was not running so good. Kinda had a squeaky sound like the oil was low or off. I checked the oil level and thought the sight glass was super dirty because I couldn't see anything. Put the bike on its kickstand and the oil drained out. Yep Full to the TOP and beyond! I drained the oil out w/o changing the filter and got 1.4 lt of oil out of it! I added 0.9 Lt of oil to get to the right level after re-installing the drain plug. It was over filled by 0.5 lt.

While doing this work I saw the chain had a light coat of rust. Nice they didn't lube the chain. Oh and the best was they routed the hoses so the choke won't stay on. So I had to disassemble that and re-route the hoses correctly. At this point I hate to think about the valve adjust they did.

I left them a voice mail today so we will see what they do to "Fix" this. I'll post the results and who they are after talking to them.

On a side note what damage could result from running this bike over filled with oil for 50-100 miles?

Cheers,

J

 

I hate to be the one to break the news, but service departments at Asian bike dealers are, with a few exceptions, crap.

Had you taken a Hardly or a Bimmer to a dealer for service the techs who worked on your bike would have most likely actually cared about your machine. It's not that Kawasaki, etc. techs are bad people. It's the franchise culture they work in. The cultural divide between the manufacturer and a distant distributorship all too often produces an attitude of indifference.

Valve adjustments? Brush some clear lacquer or nail polish across the seam between the crankcase and valve cover. When you go to pick up your bike look to see if it's broken and if it's not confront the service manager.

Warranty work aside I don't let the dealer touch my bike. I've found a couple of reputable independent shops in my city to do any work I'm not comfortable taking on.

 

I had issues with Kawasaki "mechanics" at dealers. I actually spoke to Kawasaki directly on the phone. I even asked " what if the guys that work at the Kawasaki dealership are idiots" "nothing i can do about that, all work has to be done by the Kawasaki dealer" Great, i took my bike to a different dealer. The incompetence of the idiot mechanic cost kawasaki alot of money...

 

Just another reason to *NEVER EVER EVER EVER* bring your bike to a mechanic. They're easy enough to work on with basic hand tools. There's no reason to go to a dealer or mechanic unless the work is free... ANd even then it's still scary to do.

Lesson learned. Get a shop manual, and do the work yourself. Save money, learn about your bike, and *KNOW* that the work is done correctly.. Not done by a hack-job making $10 an hour.

 

When i saw the same exact shop manual i have sitting on the workbench at the shop i knew i was in trouble.... thats all they do. The same thing i would. LOOK IN THE BOOK!

 

No such thing as "free maintenance" from a dealership. I learned a LONG TIME AGO that the "free" always ends up costing me more than if I had done it myself....because they invariably screw something up or don't do the valve adjustments, etc. I used simple scotch tape across the valve cover to show the manager they didn't adjust the valves. First he denied it could have ever happened, and that I put the tape on there after it came out of their service department. Then, I showed him how there was dirt over the surface of the engine and tape, and it was clean under the tape. Then he acted like he was going to fire the mechanic. The entire time, I bet he directs the mechanics not to do the first valve check on that bike (this was a Honda VFR back in the 1990's).

I simply don't use the dealerships for any work. I've learned to do it all myself.

 

Poor service isn't limited to only asian bikes as I bought a new Harley in 07 and between the crappy bike and the rotten dealership I'll never own another one.

 

MOST MC mechanics aren't mechanics at all. I suck and I trust my work 95% more than any MC mechanic.

 

To answer your ?...No big deal on the over-fill of oil....I think everyone that owns a bike has a dealer story...My Harley has had three bad times at the Harley shop....here is a 20k bike and they treat it like a goodwill bicycle...scratched pipes..low to no oil....ahhhhh

 

LOL i agree with that!