If you're looking for dealership feedback for mechanical work ..

I dropped my bike off at a Charlotte area dealership for the tranny warranty on my 1999 80,000 mile (trouble free per the previous 76,000 mile owner) RS Friday, I will let ya'll know more details and how they do.

The service manager is young, but he seems intelligent enough to make sure things go right. He also discussed mathematics and some light philosophy comfortably so that's a plus too.
I had some casual conversation with one of the wrenches while he ate lunch, he was also young but seemed competent in questioning without me prying to rudeness.

I was very happy with Rick, the sales guy who stood patiently and quietly, answering questions and making a few helpfull suggestions, with a straight face, while I showed my 4'10" 100 lb wife several bikes, starting with a V-Star 650 Classic Midnight Silverado, in hopes of finding one she could touch her toes to the floor on.

She thought the Rebel was best, I still want her to get a 650 Classic (so she can carry half the crap on camping trips) because of reliability, stability and comfort on long rides and of course the aforementioned 'additional load capacity'. I finally got down to that she was worried about busting up all the 'fancy stuff' on it, so after we discussed stripping down and removing all the 'non-essentials' from the 'Big Bike' for her 'learning/break-in period' I think we have agreed to see things my way .. :c)




Max

Max, in case it helps...
My wife is only a little taller and we bought her a VStar 650 Classic a few months ago. I found that there is an easy mod to drop the rear of the bike 4" (which I did). JULIO SLAM
She has actually ridden it with only that mod but I'm also going to have a local guy redo the seat to drop it some and push her forward. She should be just about right then.

After the 4" drop....

BigBoyinMS wrote:
Max, in case it helps...
My wife is only a little taller and we bought her a VStar 650 Classic a few months ago. I found that there is an easy mod to drop the rear of the bike 4" (which I did). JULIO SLAM
She has actually ridden it with only that mod but I'm also going to have a local guy redo the seat to drop it some and push her forward. She should be just about right then.

MAN DANG!!!!! Wish I had seen that when I had my old V-star, might have been able to get the GF talked into riding that way, instead let it go, I miss that bike nothing like my R* but it was fun to ride..

Max, in case it helps...

Yes that is a really damned good article.

So how much did the seat height go down?

Most of my wifes problem is the seat width so a seat that moved her forward a bit and that was the bare minimum width would also make a difference. The seat mod shouldn't be to hard as long as Yammy hasn't dinked around and done something absurd to the standard pan, stuffing and cover arrangement.

Thanks for the link to the tech article man.




Max

I figure the 4" rear drop put the seat height down about 2". And I figure redoing the seat may give her another 1-2".

And yeah, CPO... As big as I am I've ridden it some and was totally surprised at how well it pulled my big butt around even up to highway speeds!

Max, make sure you let us know how that dealership works out. I live in Charlotte and would love to know a good dealership to take my RS to, if needed. So far no need but you never know.
Thanks!

I sure will, I'll post back with the immediate when I pick it up and gimme a week or so to do a 'thousand mile' feedback.

I plan to do my local (Virginia and the Carolinas) Christmas Card delivery run on the first clear weekend following Thanksgiving, that should be at least a thousand miles.




I haven't let a dealership work on one of my bikes since Charlotte Harley replaced the oil pump under warranty on my used 76 Superglide back around 83-85 .. and I haven't slept worth a crap since Saturday, I was up 5 times with weird nightmares last night, god I hope my bike comes home soon.



Max

Can't wait to hear either. Both Charlotte dealerships are now under the same management, and I'm not particularly impressed with them. (Other that I ride with just love them, though.)




BD

Well, I picked my Star up from Ridenow Powersports in Concord,NC Saturday.
http://www.ridenow.com/locations/default.aspx?store=NC01

I only got 120 miles in before dark and it's been raining since, but it pulls my butt cheeks up under my knees and runs like a big noisy sewin machine. No new noises and no new vibrations, on account of the rain I haven't had a chance to ride in the dry and look for wet.

I did see something on the right Tranny cover as I was covering it, but I haven't had a chance to determine if it was oil from a steady leak or just something that came from a crevice or needed to finish seating.

I did think 440 bucks was pretty steep for a pair of ME880's, a KN303-C, filter, 1 new tube and tire install labor though, especially considering I had brought it there for the warranty work.
I'll definately stick to mounting my own tires on this one too from now on.

Jeshua, the service manager seemed intelligent and competent, although I think he has the blood of a salesman coursing his veins.
One thing he told me is sticking and I haven't found an answer yet. I don't have experience with ceramic lined cylinder walls and I didn't think they get machined at the factory after coating, which makes his remark that, "The tech said your hash marks still showed nicely on the cylinder walls." is puzzling me. Is a ceramic plated cylinder wall going to have honing marks from the factory like steel does?

Rick Bailey, the sales guy that helped me show my diminutive wife some bikes was polite, helpful, quick to respond and did not buzzard us like so many high pressure sales types do. I trusted him enough after 20 minutes to leave my wife alone with him to fill out papers for purchasing a V-Star 650 Classic Midnight Silverado while I went and got my Star from service. My wife was also very happy with how she was treated and since it was Saturday, not all his finance resources where available so she is looking forward to finding out what the 'best finance deal he can get' will turn up on Tuesday.


So, I'm still not done with the initial checking over the bike and can't go beyond what I have said so far about the service, but if you want to take a friend or family member to see a motorcycle of just about any brand***, take them to Rick, you will have fun and be glad you met him.



Max

***Ridenow Concord carries; Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Polaris, Suzuki, Victory and they had several very nice looking used everything including a half dozen or so stock and custom Harleys.