[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by condor

Ref my post above. I have not seen too many new guys at either place. May be the Wilson Gardens place does have new folks after the movement & expansion, but when it's mostly the same guys working there for a very long time doing the same things, they should have known.

Further, what I had shared is for cars. The slacking has been seen even for cars.

You are absolutely right. The technicians are not new employees involved in the last few incidents. So yes, there is a case for digging deeper to find and fix the root cause. Hope the management picks up the slack on this. Its our job as customers to give unbiased review and feedback on this.

Hoping for a swift and positive resolution.

Luckily for me with cars so far 0 issues.

Cheers
Krishna

[sudeepg]

To be honest, I never understood the fuss about road force balancing and all that which was initially introduced by places like Madhus. I agree this outlet is a good one, but so are a lot of shops that are in and around Bangalore. I never understood why people from faraway places ran to Madhus for wheel alignment and balancing of their car wheels, when they can get the job done just as well at a place somewhere close by. I know several outlets which were able to fix issues that even authorized service centers were not able to fix.

Please note, I have no experience with bikes and am referring solely to car wheel balancing.

I have been going to a local guy for all my wheel balancing and alignment requirements and they are just perfect! Even at testing at very high speeds, there are 0 vibrations on the steering wheel and that is just what is needed. That too, at a price that is reasonable and acceptable!

I wish Madhus the best, if they don't get their house in order, the very T-BHP that drove BHP-ians to their place will become a factor to do just the opposite. A very top leader in my organization said this once - Even if we do not get positive feedback, we must ensure negative feedback, especially in public forums from customers must be addressed or avoided at all costs by delivering great service.

[Sebring]

The steering 'trueing' on my Nexon could only be fixed by Madhus and their patient team, after I visited almost every similar set up in 2018

Originally Posted by sudeepg

To be honest, I never understood the fuss about road force balancing and all that which was initially introduced by places like Madhus

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

To be honest, I never understood the fuss about road force balancing and all that which was initially introduced by places like Madhus. I agree this outlet is a good one, but so are a lot of shops that are in and around Bangalore.

I do not want to justify nor deny the recent events which have happened and I hope they will be dealt with. For me, the fuss about road force balancing or Madhus in general is definitely a good track record on all my vehicles. My dad and me have been visiting them since our 1993 Omni and since then we have had a total of 10 vehicles in our family and visit them on an average of 2 months everytime(Madhus and Tyre Professionals). If I include the extended family and friends it will add upto 10 more cars. Fortunately, every job is done first time right without any drawbacks. The handful of times my vehicles were dealt with similarly reputed chains such as Iyengars Tyre, Vijay Wheel etc as well as the Toyota and Maruti ASCs due to various reasons, the next stop was at Madhus due to something having gone wrong with alignment and balancing. Most recent case is of my Crysta where the alignment would never be done right at the Toyota ASC and went to the point of them asking me to weld the camber adjustment plate so that there wouldnt be any deviations.

When I brought my Ninja in 2017, there was a wobble which the ASC tried everything to fix. They replaced the cone sets and aligned the rear wheels and finally blamed tyres. The wobble remained even after I swapped the tyres after which Nikhil had just then got the bike balancer from Ravaglioli. It was only after balancing the tyres that the wobble was gone and it hasnt come back till now. This was on a brand new bike for which even Kawasaki ASC didnt have a balancer.

It is just this experience due to which I prefer to use their services even now. With so many workers around, I think the issue is in the mid level supervisors who need to groom and regroom the working staff and also for bikes, definitely some skills need to be upgraded on overall handling of the bikes and bike specific procedures. Its not like cars where most of the basic work remains the same but every bike has a different setup of the swingarm, caliper etc which need to be handled in the right way as suggested by the manufacturer.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Sebring

The steering 'trueing' on my Nexon could only be fixed by Madhus and their patient team, after I visited almost every similar set up in 2018

No denying that part. Many years back, the TASS had not been able to fix a left-pull on my new Safari Storme. Mr Gopal at their earlier outlet looked into that, guided the boys and had it fixed in one visit. He came with me on TD's even it meant two rounds of fine-tuning the settings and made sure things were right before I left the place. Getting the alignment fixed took away the annoyment caused by the issue and brought back the fun in driving the Storme.

[Sebring]

Yes the same gentleman at their earlier location fixed it. Maybe 2017/18, not sure

Originally Posted by condor

Mr Gopal at their earlier outlet looked into that, guided the boys and had it fixed in one visit. He came with me on TD's even it meant two rounds of fine-tuning the settings and made sure things were right before I left the place. Getting the alignment fixed took away the annoyment caused by the issue and brought back the fun in driving the Storme.

[Meph1st0]

Originally Posted by Xaos636

I sincerely urge your team to pause motorcycle tire and wheel services, especially for superbikes, until you can find a competent mechanic who knows how to properly remove and reinstall a wheel, at the minimum.

I have my concerns with the tyre shops replacing the motorcycle tyres on high performance bikes. My practice generally has been to get it done though motorcycle-specific garages (eg: x-torque) who specialize in high performance motorcycle.

The biggest challenge I see here is not replacing the tyre on the wheel but the whole process of removing the wheel and putting it back safely. Wheel removal process is a simple and straight forward affair in car but a complicated affair in motorcycle and each bike has its own way. One can easily damage the bike or worse if things are done correctly. This is where the technician skill plays a role and regular technician who manages cars should not do it for a high-end motorcycle unless he has the proper training.

[Chimera]

I feel it ultimately comes down to the general cycle of a store , at the start there is good emphasis on quality of work and attention to detail and once clientele increase and expansion of facilities happen the quality of work goes for a toss. One thing however i do not understand is this cult type behaviour and sense of entitlement most stores of certain repute tend to have, even after charging market or higher than market rates we are made to feel like they have done us a favour.

[TheHelix0202]

While I have generally had good experiences at Madhu’s with the car, I tried their bike wheel balancing service for the first time a couple weeks ago after picking up a used GT 650.

I swapped the stock spoked wheels and CEAT rubber combo with the OEM alloy and Vredestein rubber combo at Top Gear Thumpers and took it to Madhu’s the next day for the balancing.

While the mechanic assigned to me was reasonably cheerful and did his task sufficiently well enough, the overseeing manager kept ushering me indoors to the lounge, so I did that. But I came out in a few minutes to watch the work in progress, and the mechanic required me to sit on the back of the bike and force it to tilt up, hence allowing him to remove the front wheel.

This took some considerable energy and effort on both sides and the end result of wrestling with the bike for a simple front tyre removal that could have been done with a front paddock stand and/or a jack under the belly would have been more professional and less nerve wracking. Leaving the front brake caliper to dangle near the paintwork and engine components isn’t ideal either.

Anyway, after the balancing was done (which took a fair bit longer than expected), it was time to get the wheels back on. The front was put in after some more wrestling with the bike, and the rear took considerably less effort. That’s when the mechanic pointed out that there was excessive grease on the axle bolt, and also, a locking nut on the chain cover was loose and asked who’d previously worked on the bike.

Props to him for spotting these promptly but later, upon being enquired about whether the chain had enough life or not, he said it wasn’t in his expertise! I doubt he knew the right slack adjustment either, and now I’m concerned about this.

After wrapping up the work, he kept hopefully standing near me and I was puzzled. It took me a fair while to realize he was expecting a tip. Bemused, I rode away.

While I had a moderately good experience this time around, I shall be thinking twice before taking any motorcycle back there again. My heart goes out to Xaos who has been through a very excruciating and exhausting ordeal for no fault of his own other than to trust the expertise of a known tyre outlet.

Perhaps the mechanics aren’t being paid enough. Or they’re not trained enough. Or there’s a slack in management. But that’s no excuse for shoddy workmanship.

P.S: A point I’d like to add here is, regardless of whether the service is for your car or bike, please stand with your vehicle and closely monitor the work that’s being done.

[100Kmphormore]

"rayara kudure katte aaytante" - "the lords horse became a donkey" is what is ringing in my ears right now. I have heard of many unfavourable experiences, including one from a BHPian who asked me not to take my 390 there, even when we were just talking tyre prices. It seems all sport and supersport owners have to avoid this place as fastidiously as possible, considering there is not even an acknowledgement from the management and keeps repeating such mistakes.
Would recommend the place below Rideventur Kawasaki on double road, has a competent setup and is reasonable. Have had a good experience with tyre replacement for my 390.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by Xaos636

Long Post Alert

I had another disappointing experience at Madhus Tyre Center, Wilson Garden marking the fourth consecutive incident during my visits.

Thank you!

Personally I had an average experience with my car. Nothing to rave about nothing negative.

However, a rider from our group went there to get the front wheel balanced. The Tech working on the bike used about 140 grams of weight on a bike wheel! This poor guy rode all the way from Yelahanka new town.

Result of using this much weights? The front wheel kept wobbling.
He went back home and removed all the weights.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I will soon need to do a tyre change as well - and Madhus seem to be the only option still. Many of the workshops just remove the tyres and get it done from Madhus or similar.

Given the proximity of the locations in Wilson Garden - my plan is to get the work done at Madhus (watching out for Maybachs parked in the vicinity) and to head over to Gear Gear Motorcycles to cross check the work done.

Cd,

In this context, I would say, get your wheels removed from Gear Gear MC and take them to Madhu's, get them changed, balanced etc. and then get it fitted back by qualified Mechanics at Gear Gear.

This is my MO. I always do this when dealing with Tyres of my bikes - Madhu's or elsewhere - the Tyre techs are primarily trained on that trade and MC wheel removals are becoming more and more complicated these days.


Best Regards & Ride Safe

[ssjr0498]

Asking out of curiosity, was it not fair for the tyre technician to tell you upfront that he is not trained enough to provide his feedback on whether there was life left in your chain and sprocket? IMO, adjusting chain slack has got nothing to do with his inability to answer your question.

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Props to him for spotting these promptly but later, upon being enquired about whether the chain had enough life or not, he said it wasn’t in his expertise! I doubt he knew the right slack adjustment either, and now I’m concerned about this.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by ssjr0498

Asking out of curiosity, was it not fair for the tyre technician to tell you upfront that he is not trained enough to provide his feedback on whether there was life left in your chain and sprocket? IMO, adjusting chain slack has got nothing to do with his inability to answer your question.

While I agree that it’s not directly related to the tyre change, he was zealously talking about the chain and who’d touched it before. It was kind of ironical that he himself didn’t have the required expertise to comment on it after I posed the query.

[Sebring]

Whenever I have offered a tip, they have politely refused. I don't know what has changed now

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

After wrapping up the work, he kept hopefully standing near me and I was puzzled. It took me a fair while to realize he was expecting a tip. Bemused, I rode away.