Kahuna powersports - never again.

[Sushii]

I can just about promise that Kawasaki Canada would advise 100% against lowering any of their products.....whether a professional mechanic or the buyer, they wouldn't care.

I am very short, and very short legged, even compared to otthers my height.
I have owned nothing but sportbikes for 20 yrs now, some very big ones too (600+ lbs of 1988 Hurricane 1000 when I was 21.)
My ZX7 was a tippy toe on one foot affair, but I never wanted to mess with the geometry that someone with way more smarts than me, engineered for safety and performance.
I am now riding a KTM with a34.5" seat height. Tippy toeone foot, the other dangling in the air,LOL

Tippy toeing makes me want to quit riding or just live with a cruiser :/

Anyways, back on topic.

They took 2 months to get the parts and repair my right fairing, handle bars and front brakes.... JUNE AND JULY!!! When i picked it up, the exhaust still wasn't fixed... seems like they forgot all about it....

Total bill? $5k

 

[omnivore]

Tippy toeing makes me want to quit riding or just live with a cruiser :/

Anyways, back on topic.

They took 2 months to get the parts and repair my right fairing, handle bars and front brakes.... JUNE AND JULY!!! When i picked it up, the exhaust still wasn't fixed... seems like they forgot all about it....

Total bill? $5k

Before resorting to buying a cruiser, I'd walk.....I have calf muscles that look like potatoes under my skin.....I've been tippy toeing my whole life,LOL. I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to ride a sportbike, then I was gonna have to get used to it. I am unwilling to sacrifice cornering clearnace by lowering the bike.

 

[lastemperor7]

Damn...I feel terrible for you guys..if I had to make return trips to get paper work corrected because of their mistakes, I'd have been raising hell and demanding a LOT in return! One time (last week) I went to Ikea to go pick up a bed that the website said was in stock, but it wasn't, so I asked to speak to manager, and got a $20 gift card out of it (applied it to the bed of course ).

When I was shopping for gear and a used bike a couple months ago, I went to Kahuna and was treated really well. I don't mean to rain on the bad-review parade, but just wanted to give an honest opinion. I even asked one of the sales guys about the price I had on the table from a private sale, and he went into his office and pulled out his Kelley Blue Book and double checked the price for me, and told me that it was fair. He didn't have to do that at all, so I appreciated it. He also gave me some good advice about looking at used bikes after already knowing that I would probably go with the used sale (I did). He was a tall, skinny, older gentlemen with greying hair, and I think a moustache and glasses.

And then the accessories department upstairs was very helpful too. James helped me try on a whole bunch of helmets, none of which I ended up buying. I appreciated it so much that I did go back to try to offer them a pricematch sale, but they said they just couldn't compete with the price I was getting online.

So all in all, I've had two very positive experiences at Kahuna, so I'm miffed as to what happened with everyone else who's gone there. Although, I can say that I didn't buy anything, so, maybe them not having my cash in their hands yet is what led to the good service. When were your experiences? Mine was in February of 2011...maybe there's been some employee turn over since then? Anyway, thanks for the shared experiences for the future though, guys. I'm sure it'll help many more people choose wisely.

 

[alaywa]

Damn...I feel terrible for you guys..if I had to make return trips to get paper work corrected because of their mistakes, I'd have been raising hell and demanding a LOT in return! One time (last week) I went to Ikea to go pick up a bed that the website said was in stock, but it wasn't, so I asked to speak to manager, and got a $20 gift card out of it (applied it to the bed of course ).

When I was shopping for gear and a used bike a couple months ago, I went to Kahuna and was treated really well. I don't mean to rain on the bad-review parade, but just wanted to give an honest opinion. I even asked one of the sales guys about the price I had on the table from a private sale, and he went into his office and pulled out his Kelley Blue Book and double checked the price for me, and told me that it was fair. He didn't have to do that at all, so I appreciated it. He also gave me some good advice about looking at used bikes after already knowing that I would probably go with the used sale (I did). He was a tall, skinny, older gentlemen with greying hair, and I think a moustache and glasses.

And then the accessories department upstairs was very helpful too. James helped me try on a whole bunch of helmets, none of which I ended up buying. I appreciated it so much that I did go back to try to offer them a pricematch sale, but they said they just couldn't compete with the price I was getting online.

So all in all, I've had two very positive experiences at Kahuna, so I'm miffed as to what happened with everyone else who's gone there. Although, I can say that I didn't buy anything, so, maybe them not having my cash in their hands yet is what led to the good service. When were your experiences? Mine was in February of 2011...maybe there's been some employee turn over since then? Anyway, thanks for the shared experiences for the future though, guys. I'm sure it'll help many more people choose wisely.

If it's the tall skinny guy I'm thinking of, he used to work at Cycle World in Etobicoke and he was a rude snob to me once, waaaaaay back when I was looking to buy my first bike. I was asking him about the differences between the then ZX6R, R6, etc. I think I got 3 questions in and he told me flat out "Are you going to be buying today? No? Come back when you're going to buy something".

Rest assured I never bought anything from Cycle World again, and when I saw him in Kahuna 10 years later, it only reinforced my opinion of those guys.

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Wow draco, I feel you on that man

I brought my bike in for a safety check and told me i needed a new handle bar and break lever. Cool , ill let you guys get the parts and install it for me. Told me the handle bar was on backorder for a week.

I brought the bike in on April 1st. Its now April 14th and i still havent gotten **** done to it at all!!

On top of that , they said it would be around 2 hours of labor to fix my bike. HELL no it wont! Anyone could tell u a brake lever could be replaced in 2 mins and it DOESNT take 1 hour and 58 minutes to install a new handle bar!

Im a new rider and thought this place could be reliable.
I still havent gotten my bike back, but when i do, they just lost a whole circle of customers forever.

What a scam these guys are!!

You really had to bump a year old thread...really?

So, you realize it's the beginning of the riding season, and your bike isn't the only bike in the shop...right? FYI, between my brother-in-law, and a few friends, we have six bikes in their shop ahead of yours...and everyone else getting their bikes ready for the season. So, patience cupcake, you may need to invest in some.

Next point of yours - implying they're scammers. Last I looked this was a capitalist society, and all "stealerships" are in it to make money. If you feel that their labour rates and their labour aren't worth your hard earned cash, then do the job yourself (from your post, you seem to imply an inherent knowledge on how long the job should take).

Finally, are you 100% certain the time they quoted you doesn't include the safety they need to perform?...

 

[dr_sarcasm]

Rest assured I never bought anything from Cycle World again, and when I saw him in Kahuna 10 years later, it only reinforced my opinion of those guys.

...so, you think that the guy hasn't changed in 10 years? Judging from lastemperor7, skinny dude seems to have turned over a new leaf and is now the loveable salesperson you've always wanted...

All joking aside, you're not really holding a grudge against a salesguy for 10+ years, are you? :scratch:

 

[torontoZX6R]

He was a tall, skinny, older gentlemen with greying hair, and I think a moustache and glasses.

.

I believe his name is Norm. Nice guy, helpful, very knowledgable, and always has time to answer my questions without being pushy

Everyone can have a bad experience. But I think Kahuna rocks.

 

[HorizonXP]

I've had nothing but great experiences whenever I'm at Kahuna. I usually am in there buying either parts or accessories, and sitting on their bikes. All of the staff are great people, and super friendly and helpful. I've flat out told them that I'm not looking to buy until at least a year, and it doesn't change their demeanour at all. Honestly, if I decide I want to get a ZX6R instead of a 675, I'll head there and see what they can offer. While I know they'll be more expensive than the US, if they can come decently close, I'll go for it just because I know they'll treat me well.

 

[rich6969]

Wow. I can't believe you had to pay the full $500. I would've kept my $500 taken the bike, thrown in through their front store window and called insurance to claim the bike stolen... used that $500 for my deductible. lol.

Seriously though, it must be the full responsiblity of the seller to inform the buyer of any possible remefications. If I hire a builder to build me a house and I ask "Can we" or "Should we" do something that is against the builders code, guess what, it's unsafe and he shouldn't do it. That's why you hire an expert. If I ask him to do something and he does it and the house collapses, who do you think is liable for the damage? The shop should have chewed up the full cost of this mistake and be thankful that nobody was harmed.

Kahuna has lost my business.

lmao i love this...OP glad you are ok and thats just wrong business practice in my eyes......

 

[gcrouse]

This is why I do all my own work. Hey I can screw up as good as the mechanics LOL

 

[alaywa]

...so, you think that the guy hasn't changed in 10 years? Judging from lastemperor7, skinny dude seems to have turned over a new leaf and is now the loveable salesperson you've always wanted...

All joking aside, you're not really holding a grudge against a salesguy for 10+ years, are you? :scratch:

All joking aside I didn't hold a grudge for 10 years. I left the country for 8 years and when I came back Cycle World was closed. I started fresh with Kahuna and noticed Norm was there. I kept going with Kahuna through all their crap until they presented me with an ultimatum, to which I presented my own. I walked. I'm not saying Norm is the cause of Kahuna's issues, but from my experiences with the lot of them, they (seem) to be of the same breed.

If Norm has changed and softened up, good for him, and good for anyone who deals with him. Maybe he learned how to better relate to people, or maybe it was just a bad day at the office all them years back, but in a competitive world, when I have options where to spend my very hard earned money, which will go as a premium for a service....yes I'll hold a grudge if I need to.

I have dealt with sarcastic condescending dealers before, and I can tolerate it, if they provide me with value for money...but Kahuna simply did not even do that for me, on top of having quite a few bad attitudes across the bunch.

But...the readers of this thread deserve to know at the very least with Kahuna it is hit or miss as evidenced by the good and bad reviews. Personally when I am (already) riding a relatively unstable risky vehicle....I don't want to deal with further hit or miss or poor consistency issues.

 

[250R-ICE]

I'll give credit where credit is due. I bought my bike from Kahuna 2 years agos, and Norm was very helpfull, patient and offered good advice for new rider like myself. He was very upfront with any delays in delivery and even stood by the original price he quoted me on my bike. While the price of the bike went up before I paid for it. Plus I think Norm came from McBride Cycle (not 100% sure).

 

[niagara_ridder]

Me and my dad purchased 2 bikes from Norm at Kahuna. No issues bikes were ready for pickup on time. Gave us a deal on some equipment and reminded us that new tires are slippery. I would buy a bike from Norm again.

 

[Mistero2009]

I think gray-haired sales rep who came over from Cycle World is Greg (i believe)

 

[Gryphon]

Guys,
Norm was at Cycle World West for almost 35 years, where he was Sales Manager.
(He sold me my brand-new 1980 CBX in March 1980.)
Greg was at Cycle World West as well.
Rod was at McBrides for something like 20 years.
Between them they have ~80 years motorcycle experience!

They are always very busy doing many things at once.
While they love to talk with you, they don't always have the luxury of time to speak at great length.
They have to be business-like. Imagine if you were the next guy waiting for him and he was chat-chat-chitty-chatting with someone who had no intention of buying something anyway, you'd be frustrated right?
So sometimes they've gotta go.
They will say something like "I've gotta go, but come back if you want to buy something".
It's what they do (and it's the truth!) so, sorry if you've been feeling miffed for ~10 years now, grudge-guy.
We're all adults and sometimes it's better to be straight-up. Things cannot always be sugar-coated...
It's life. Tick-tock, busy busy busy.
So Norm is still all about the satisfaction of his customers, who will vouch for him.
He's very serious (almost dour) and not what you'd ever call flamboyant, heheh...
But trust me, a young person could do a lot worse with a sales guy than him - he's one of the very top guys in the country.
He was recruited by BMW Motorrad Canada to work for them when Cycle World shut down in 2007, as he drives their cars and knows those guys.
But he likes his ZX-14s too! So you can find him up at Kahuna on Steeles West.

 

[monkeydonkey]

Guys,
Norm was at Cycle World West for almost 35 years, where he was Sales Manager.
(He sold me my brand-new 1980 CBX in March 1980.)
Greg was at Cycle World West as well.
Rod was at McBrides for something like 20 years.
Between them they have ~80 years motorcycle experience!

They are always very busy doing many things at once.
While they love to talk with you, they don't always have the luxury of time to speak at great length.
They have to be business-like. Imagine if you were the next guy waiting for him and he was chat-chat-chitty-chatting with someone who had no intention of buying something anyway, you'd be frustrated right?
So sometimes they've gotta go.
They will say something like "I've gotta go, but come back if you want to buy something".
It's what they do (and it's the truth!) so, sorry if you've been feeling miffed for ~10 years now, grudge-guy.
We're all adults and sometimes it's better to be straight-up. Things cannot always be sugar-coated...
It's life. Tick-tock, busy busy busy.
So Norm is still all about the satisfaction of his customers, who will vouch for him.
He's very serious (almost dour) and not what you'd ever call flamboyant, heheh...
But trust me, a young person could do a lot worse with a sales guy than him - he's one of the very top guys in the country.
He was recruited by BMW Motorrad Canada to work for them when Cycle World shut down in 2007, as he drives their cars and knows those guys.
But he likes his ZX-14s too! So you can find him up at Kahuna on Steeles West.

"Brand new 1980 CBX" i envy you for that. :headbang:

 

[dr_sarcasm]

But...the readers of this thread deserve to know at the very least with Kahuna it is hit or miss as evidenced by the good and bad reviews.

Fair enough, I think anyone reading this can respect that point of view (even if we disagree with it) - it's no different from any other big ticket transaction: sometimes you luck out, sometimes they will PIITB on you.

 

[EXE.exe]

I bought my bike from Norm too and he was very good. He gave me a discount on some gear as well. I never had to deal with the service department, but the folks in Parts/Accessories are great. I ordered some stands from them, when I opened the packaging at home, the stands looked like they were made in a back alley. I took them back, and with no questions asked I was able to trade them with different ones from their display. Literally, the rep said, "well then let's get you something that you want". Then I bought a front rim and got a discount on it without even asking. No complaints from me.

 

[vic_himself]

Kahuna does suck, I have a 250 also long story short friend dropped it while turning a corner. I took it to kahuna and they returned it to me with bolts loose on the suspension the thing that ****** me off the most was the only thing they wanted to offer me for my life was an oil change. Shops for the most part are just a bunch of bull I personally am a HVAC mechanic so I know how it works, when people are busy service drops in order to get the job done sometimes. My advice buy some tools and a repair manual.

 

[suprPHREAK]

This is why a friend and I fabricated custom lowering gear for a friend's 250. We looked at how low the wheel could go, and not scrape the fender. What we did, was while in stock configuration, sat 2 of us (almost 400lbs) and maxed out the stock travel, then measured how much room was left. If memory serves, this amounted to 1.5-1.75". Knowing the intended rider was about 100lbs, we knew that this would provide plenty of space when she rides. Using a high-strength steel we made the lowering dog bones, and brought the bike down the measured distance. We also drilled a 2nd set of holes to allow a full 2" drop should she choose do do it, but warned her of the possibility of scraping. We spray painted it with a Krylon for metal (self bonding and hard) so it wouldn't rust. Sure it wasn't as pretty as some aftermarket items, but nobody can see them usually anyway. They are perfectly safe and functional.