Kawasaki dealer recommendations? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Kawasaki dealer recommendations?

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wikeke

Well-known member
Looking for a reputable Kawasaki dealer....I have a factory recall on my 08 zx6r (valve cover gasket leak)

I've searched around, and it seems the service at Kahuna and Snow City has mixed reviews...

does anyone have any experience with ATC Corral or Motorsport Pickering? (did a search, but didn't find much)


thanks
 
I bought my ninja 250 a couple years ago brand new from motorsports pickering. They were pretty good as far as dealers go... they didn't try to gouge me but I didn't feel like a VIP either. They were however, pretty quick to return phone calls and because they're relatively small its easy to book appointments without having to wait 3 weeks for one.

Hope it helps.
 
wikeke said:
Looking for a reputable Kawasaki dealer....I have a factory recall on my 08 zx6r (valve cover gasket leak)

I've searched around, and it seems the service at Kahuna and Snow City has mixed reviews...

does anyone have any experience with ATC Corral or Motorsport Pickering? (did a search, but didn't find much)

thanks
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love this post!

Dislike Pickering Motorsport
dislike Kahuna
no experience with act corral

Snow city cycle (SNC) - my experience s A+++++++ and was my first time being there for the exact same issue.

I took my 07 zx6r to snow city cycle in April for the leak. The part took awhile to arrive but it did well in advance of the season. It was also around zero for those 2 weeks so it wasn't a problem


I have had a bad experiences with all other dealers in the area. I'll only go to snow city from now on!


Call Kawi Canada to confirm your vin is on their list, I spoke to Laura myself. Also the dealer will not see the recall in the computer - I went to 4 dealers, all 4 couldn't find the FAR campaign, only 1 (guess who) would even entertain the idea of a recall.

Go here

http://www.kawiforums.com/2007-2008-zx-6r/156245-oil-leak-authorized-repair-bulletin-discussion.html

PRINT the FAR Campaign and take it with you


You should confirm before hand with Kawi and provide the FAR campaign number. They ended up calling Kawi Canada to get a auhorization and all went well after.

Bike no longer leaks as it's a redesigned part.

Anyway, I don't have anything bad to say about SNC, I've since ordered a few parts from there and a couple friends purchased bikes after my good experience.

Good luck!
 
thanks Slono for the input and experience...I'll keep in mind that they're a smaller dealer.

also, thanks lostinspace for the detailed response....it's good to have that type of info when calling to get repairs done.

Yeah, I saw that link before...when I first saw the leak, and did a google search...
btw, did you get the 'superceded part' ( part # 11061-0378 -- post #25 on page 3 of that link) or the older part?
then again, I guess it doesn't really which part...as long as there's no more leaking.

BTW, do you know if it's possible to just get the part from Snow City, so that I can have my preferred shop do the repair.
(although, I'm guessing since it's a Factory Authorized Repair, that Kawasaki would want a dealer do the repairs)

Just wondering, because when I called Snow city last week, they advised that service was booked till some time in the middle of June...
so I'm not sure when I can get the repair done, or how long it'd take.

thanks again, cheers.
 
Unsure about getting the part and doing it yourself or taking it elsewhere. I would assume the kit can't be more than $50, but I'm really not sure. As it's a FAR they prob wouldn't give it free or (I assume) the wouldn't help you much if they did give it and it kept leaking.

Unsure which part I got to be honest I think it's the latest revision after so many years. It's not something they would run all the old stock out then give another redesigned version out.

I had it replaced under warranty 1 time and 1 more with the good times protection and when it kept leaking a week after I got it back, I waited another 4 years for this campaign.

Mid June to take it in then, bike needs to be checked to confirm the problem then part order. May be awhile til you get it back! Once it's torn down, it'll sit there til it's complete. If it's just a slow leak, ride until end of season or take it in next year. I mean it's been this long, a few months won't make a difference unless oil is pissing everywhere.
 
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i had my 1000km service and stator recall on my 2011 zx6r done at Edge Performance in Bradford. Its a small place but it felt like a very trustworthy environment.
 
hey lostinspace, thanks again for the response....so, you had to get it done 3 times?....maybe the 'superceded part' does make a difference.
I'll be sure to inquire about the newer part....(btw, I agree... I don't think they'd just give me the part for free)

the leak just started, after I had the spark plugs changed (about a month ago)...
it's not so bad(no oil dripping)...only some 'spattered' oil on the clutch side fairing.
but I'd rather fix it, rather than having it get worse and dripping some oil on the rear tire.

also, thanks j-mark for you input...they're actually not that far away...I'll keep them in mind.


Cheers.
 
+1 for Snow City. But really any dealer can do your recall so I would go with convenience and chose the one that's closest to you. Until you have a personal experience at a dealership take everything you read on the net with a grain of salt. If you ever have a problem complain to Kawasaki direct. There your best allies when getting your bike repaired at a dealer.
 
contact148 said:
so why did you dislike pickering motorsports?? im asking as there the closest dealer to me
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They forced me to get an oil change done when I had the leak replaced twice by them. It does not require an oil change! I will agree that the oil needs to be topped up but that's no more than a quart at most... Similarly they charged me for additional service/work that they took upon themselves to do that I explicitly requested not to be done.

The most frustrating thing wasn't the above items BUT I ride a black bike, they used WHITE lithium grease for my chain. It is quite a piss off to see a black bike with a solid white chain and the effort to remove the grease was not over the top but it was one of those things tat make you go hmm...

Do what you will, at the end of the day they did service it but when you request things not to be done and they do it anyway, it just adds to the frustration.
 
wikeke said:
hey lostinspace, thanks again for the response....so, you had to get it done 3 times?....maybe the 'superceded part' does make a difference.
I'll be sure to inquire about the newer part....(btw, I agree... I don't think they'd just give me the part for free)

the leak just started, after I had the spark plugs changed (about a month ago)...
it's not so bad(no oil dripping)...only some 'spattered' oil on the clutch side fairing.
but I'd rather fix it, rather than having it get worse and dripping some oil on the rear tire.

also, thanks j-mark for you input...they're actually not that far away...I'll keep them in mind.


Cheers.
Click to expand...


Yes 3 times, 2 times before there was a recall - once within factory warranty, once outside of warranty but covered by extended warranty and third time under the recall.

i would suspect that the first two times, it was the original non-redesigned part. Like some would say, third time is a charm (crossing my fingers) :)
 
I have purchased more than one bike from Kahuna including my 2013 ZX-14R, I have a great sales relationship with Rod and Joe the owner but have never used their service department.

Purchased more than one bike from Snow City and Scott the head mechanic is one of the best out there so if he is working on your bike, there will be no issue. Regarding scheduling and turn around time, they are pretty efficient.

I bought my 2011 ZX-10R, 2012 R1 and 2012 FZ8 from them and they have always treated me well especially the service department, so I have no hesitation in directing you there to resolve your recall issue.
 
lostinspace said:
They forced me to get an oil change done when I had the leak replaced twice by them. It does not require an oil change! I will agree that the oil needs to be topped up but that's no more than a quart at most... Similarly they charged me for additional service/work that they took upon themselves to do that I explicitly requested not to be done.

The most frustrating thing wasn't the above items BUT I ride a black bike, they used WHITE lithium grease for my chain. It is quite a piss off to see a black bike with a solid white chain and the effort to remove the grease was not over the top but it was one of those things tat make you go hmm...

Do what you will, at the end of the day they did service it but when you request things not to be done and they do it anyway, it just adds to the frustration.
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In my opinion they wanted to change the oil instead of just top it up because unless you used Kawasaki brand oil and could prove that they did not want to mix your oil with something else, I would not want that in my bike.

Sounds like they also used factory chain lube, which again is not pretty but if you bought your bike new then you will remember that is what came on the bike.

As far as the extra work done that they did, charged for when not requested, please explain.
 
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I've had warranty repair work done at Kahuna. I had no issues. Bike was ready when they said it would be. Service was done as required.
 
I've had Kahuna perform two warranty services for me, without much hassle.

1) Top end re-build after I blew the engine after a ****ed up valve adjustment. The part that sucked was having to wait 2 months in the prime of the season because of all the parts a damn valve was on backorder...Not just backorder, they were actually waiting on the factory in Japan or wherever to manufacture them.

Kahuna mechanic ****ed up a little by missing some bolts and replacing my factory allen head bolts with some random phillips ones which I stripped because they were super tight. They did remove them for me and put in proper bolts when I asked them to.

2) I had my speedo cover replaced because it formed a little crack like you see in some windshields. It was in the middle or the inside of the plastic because it was smooth on the outside. It was tiny, maybe a couple centimeters and the bike had over 60k km but they still replaced it. At first they were going to replace the whole speedo which is over $500, but I insisted they just change the cover because I didn't want all my km's to be back to 0.

The mechanic did a good job this time and I made sure to check everything over. There a few little grease spots but other than that it was fine...My extended warranty just expired about 2 weeks ago but I definitely got my money's worth.

I'd also like to point out despite being a busy time of the season they booked me within the week. Like I said I had to wait a long time for the engine re-build but they did the speed cover in about an hour and half while I waited.
 
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Mega Torque said:
In my opinion they wanted to change the oil instead of just top it up because unless you used Kawasaki brand oil and could prove that they did not want to mix your oil with something else, I would not want that in my bike.

Sounds like they also used factory chain lube, which again is not pretty but if you bought your bike new then you will remember that is what came on the bike.

As far as the extra work done that they did, charged for when not requested, please explain.
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1) I asked them, why it needs a oil change as I literally did it a day before I brought it in. They said all the oil needs to be drained to do the service. Being new at the time I didn't know, so I brought in my own oil that I wanted them to use.

I repeat this recall/service does not require an oil change at all, top up yes, oil change no. I agree about the mixing of oils but with my own oil, they could have topped it up instead of boning me for a few bucks. Let's get real here.

2) I did purchase the bike new however it was purchased from Cycle World, a month or two later they closed down which is how I found out about other Kawi dealers. I guarantee and have pics of my bike being delivered to me in my driveway with 0 (zero) km on the Odo and it does not have white lithium grease on the chain. This is more of a preference thing and anyone with a black bike would just go hmm???? Wondering why on gods green earth you would lube the chain in white grease for a warranty claim that is unrelated.

I haven't been riding for that many years (since 2006) but I've never seen anyone put white lithium grease on their chain.

3) It's a long story and was years ago now, I don't really want to explain or write it on the forums.

This is just my experience, I'm sure tons of others LOVE their place. I'm not saying they did a bad job and they're nice people from what I remember but my experience leads me to do all the work on my bike myself or over to Snow City Cycle (from my latest experiences with them).

Best wishes and safe riding!
 
lostinspace said:
I haven't been riding for that many years (since 2006) but I've never seen anyone put white lithium grease on their chain.
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Never opened a brand new chain before? I had an RK that was coated in white grease straight from the packaging
 
Why persist? I'm saying that was not a warranty item that was being worked on. Don't touch it, plain and simple. No, I haven't opened a new chain before.

Take your bike there I'm not saying they're amazing and I'm not saying they're bad. I'm just offering my experience as that's the feedback that the OP was looking for. You may have other experiences and for all I know you may be the owner or master mechanic there. Either way I don't care as it's years ago but that's the feedback I have.

End of replies for me, good luck OP!
 
hey, thanks for all the input guys...I'm leaning towards Snow City for the recall.....I was told to bring it in the morning, and I can pick it up after work.

thanks again, lostinspace.

Cheers!
 
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