[aaggoswami]

Updates.

1) Today ar around 11:00 am got call from Suzuki dealer. I was in government office for some work, so did not respond to it.

2) After around 20 mins, Mr. Gurumeet called me. He patiently listened to my problem list. I was on my way to Suzuki dealership, so I told him I will see him in 30 mins.

Mr. Gurumeet was in service center only. He again was presented by me with my list of problems.
A few things from his side :

-> Give me one more opportunity to repair the bike and leave the bike for one more day. I agreed with that. He was ready to give me a replacement vehicle. If the bike is not done tomorrow, I will have to take the vehicle.

-> He clearly told me that even they are finding it tough to sort out the problem. Mr. Gurumeet told me that he has sold many Zeus bikes, but none of them are having problems, mine is first such complex case. This further affirms my belief that indeed I am with a lemon.

-> He had received email that I had sent to the email id mentioned by abhinav.s. Clearly he mentioned that he is not having any problems with me going to head office. I was firm here that if dealer and owner are not getting solution, head office have to step in.

-> One fact he repeatedly told me was that contacting head office is not of much use as they will divert the problem to him. I was crystal clear that my reason for dissatisfaction was unsolved and recurring problem.

-> He did bring in the topic of fuel, but I was clear that 3 O-rings gone, sticking slider means something else. Sometimes the bike works, sometimes it doesn't. I informed him that I have tried many stations, so fuel is not culprit.

-> Pointing at person working on my bike, Mr. Gurumeet said he was senior mechanic with 10+ years of experience. I told Mr. Gurumeet that the same mechanic had worked on my bike earlier replacing O-ring in carb twice.

-> I did mention about front fork being serviced early in bike's life, but my reactions were not there as its an understandable thing that suspension is stressed quite a bit. ( BTW, the front forks needed working early in their life which again is not normal ).

-> Mr. Gurumeet promised me that expense will be 0 for me even if they replace the carb.

Had a talk with 15-20 minutes with him.

My take on this :

-> Dealer is trying to solve the case, but it is proving to be too complex even for his senior mechanics with 10 years of experience. There is something wrong with product.

-> Most probably the carb is the reason for unstable idling/idling problems in general. Also the starting problem is associated with carb. The engine is not giving out smoke or showing loss of power indicating that engine is in good shape.

-> Just as I mention earlier, my email was transferred to dealer. Why Suzuki themselves do even a single assessment ? Cant the company engineers come over for such a complex case.

-> Quality of my bike is not upto the mark, now I am sure about it. The trust factor is now Zero.

I will love to see my carb being taken to some automotive museum and displayed in the name of negative wonder created by Suzuki. Look at stats, 4th O-ring, unstable idling, starting problem and a slider replacement at 12.5K!

Dealer is currently trying his best, but I am sure that there is problem with product that Suzuki has to check into. This is just wastage of my time, dealer's time.

[Chipz]

Well it seem you have got a good dealer here, but what can he do with a lemon. As he had said give him the bike for one last service. As you are planing to sell this one and get a new one, why dont you give it back to the dealer and buy something else. At least he will give a good price for that...

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Well it seem you have got a good dealer here, but what can he do with a lemon. As he had said give him the bike for one last service. As you are planing to sell this one and get a new one, why dont you give it back to the dealer and buy something else. At least he will give a good price for that...

Correct about the dealer. Even though Mr. Gurumeet realized that I had tried to get in touch with head office, he was cool and good listener. And he frankly told me that this job is challenging for them too. This definitely seems to be true as most of the Zeus owners I have met and talked with are mostly getting good FE and most of my carb/engine related problems are not present in their bikes.

About what can he do with a lemon, I would like to say what can I do then. If this is case of a defective product, then atleast I am not at fault. If the dealer is not at fault too then I think Suzuki should intervene, look into the matter and give out a solution.

I dont have trust on Suzuki brand any more. Buying another bike from Suzuki is not a mistake I will commit. Dealer experience might go up, but I am not sure about products.
Now I know why TSK1979 was not asking for replacement of vehicle. TSK1979 was not sure about the QC, so he was " replace defective parts ".

[Mpower]

Seems like its a lot simpler to throw away the carb and fit a new one!

[aaggoswami]

The bike is still in service today. Since Saturday evening the bike is not with me. I wonder what they are working on it. Yesterday when I visited the service center my bike was opened up and work was going on. Right now the work is going on. Had a talk with Mr. Hiren ( the service manager ) right now. He will be giving me a call today at 4 PM. If today the bike is not delivered to me, I will ask for replacement vehicle for a few days.

Incidently when I called the workshop at 2:20 PM today, a lady told me that the bike is nowhere visible in the workshop. Looks like they are extensively testing the bike which is not wrong.

Originally Posted by Mpower

Seems like its a lot simpler to throw away the carb and fit a new one!

Just now Mr. Hiren informed that they have not replaced a single part. Dont know what will be the end result and how my bike would perform after I get it back.

[devarshi84]

I would second Mpower and if the bike doesnt perform normally, go back and ask them for a carb replacement.

Make sure you makit this point heard to Mr. Gurumeet. Make the conversation about the carb so visible that the next time you point to the conversation, the dealer service guys have no way to get away from it.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Seems like its a lot simpler to throw away the carb and fit a new one!

Carburetor replaced!

1) Today I got in touch with Mr. Hiren ( service manager ), he informed that the bike is ready but you will have to talk with Mr. Gurumeet for delivery.
As Mr. gurumeet had given me his number on 09-Aug, I instantly called him. He informed that the carburetor was replaced. Also he told me that they have test the FE in city driving conditions and its 65 kmpl.

2) Went in for delivery at around 5 pm and I was offered a city FE test. I was passenger with a bottle holding 100ml of fuel. The bike travelled 6.7 kms with 100ml fuel = 67 kmpl with rider and pillon. Nice I would say.

3) There are a couple of issues that are now up, but they are way minor. The speedo is now indicating around 5-10 kmph less and oscillating. Regarding the oversteer and understeer problems, they have worked to solve it too, but its entirely gone. Neither I am hell bent on getting that solved.

Overall, after visiting Kiran motors ( the recently launched Alto k10 was main reason ) on return journey the fun of biking was back. The engine was back to its original lively nature. That clean pull from 2K rpm is back along with higher idling stability.

@mods : Can you please update the thread topic and add " Dealer replaces Carburetor free of cost".

EDIT : This was all done free of cost! I did not pay a single rupee for anything. So we can conclude that the Carb was replaced without any charge.

A big thanks to TBHP!

[Chipz]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

The speedo is now indicating around 5-10 kmph less and oscillating.

What do you mean by that..if you are traveling at 60km/h then it is showing 55 or 50 ?

Did the dealer play with the speedo to increase the KM. Is there something fishy.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Chipz

What do you mean by that..if you are traveling at 60km/h then it is showing 55 or 50 ?

Did the dealer play with the speedo to increase the KM. Is there something fishy.

Zeus would do 12.8 kmph/1000 rpm in 5th gear. Earlier when I was at 4000 rpm, the speedo would be around 51-52. Right now the speedo needle oscillates between 42-47 kmph. This increases with speed.

About the fishy part, I will figure that out tomorrow while going to college. Earlier measurement on the same bike was 12 kms., let me see what is the reading tomorrow.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Zeus would do 12.8 kmph/1000 rpm in 5th gear.

DON'T DO THAT.

One of the best ways to mess up an engine is riding in high gears at very low engine rpm.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by bblost

DON'T DO THAT.

One of the best ways to mess up an engine is riding in high gears at very low engine rpm.

Err.. I was just mentioning the numbers I remember from ACI road test. In real world at 3K rpm in5th the speedo is just a notch below 40 kmph mark indicating that the numbers given out by ACI are applicable for my bike ( means clutch is OK ).

My normal riding is :
Shifting from 1st to 2nd : 1000-1500 rpm.
Shifting from 2nd to 3rd : 2000-2500 rpm.
Shifting from 3rd to 4th : 2500-3000 rpm.
Shifting from 4th to 5th : 2500-3000 rpm.

Shifting from 5th to 4th when tacho hits 2500 rpm in 5th.
Shifting from 4th to 3rd when tacho hit 2000 rpm in 4th.
Shifting from 3rd to 2nd when tacho hits 2000 rpm in 3rd.
Shifting from 2nd to 1st when speeds get dead slow.

All these are general appoximate reading and I dont follow it to a T. But I dont ride at 1K rpm in 5th. Yes, when I first got the bike I was a miser riding at as low as 1.5K rpm in 5th, but quickly realized to keep the engine in between 2-5K rpm range, specially in 4th and 5th.

[indianvirus]

Hey aag, my best sympathies to you. I am just about to buy the GS150R, but your thread has scared me. I am really confused now.
Btw I visited dealer for exchanging my P150 and I suspect the dealer is trying to cheat me in the exchange deal. I am doing the some fact finding on the same right now, I will update the findings.
Regards.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by indianvirus

Hey aag, my best sympathies to you. I am just about to buy the GS150R, but your thread has scared me. I am really confused now.
Btw I visited dealer for exchanging my P150 and I suspect the dealer is trying to cheat me in the exchange deal. I am doing the some fact finding on the same right now, I will update the findings.
Regards.

I got the best deal from Suzuki dealer for my Caliber. But things might be different now, and Caliber was or rather is a very reputed bike with a niche. Pulsar has seen many iterations.

The dealers depend on some brokers for selling the bike. Generally the price quoted by those brokers is very less. Want to know the value of my Zeus with less than 16K on odo ? Rs. 15K. I have spend 5K on maintenance alone. I have 90% of receipts with me, insurance papers, all docs in order. The price quoted to me was without any inquiry about engine condition, FE, etc. Its better to stand in some mela ( there are some sort of mela for selling 2 wheelers ).

I honestly suggest you to think again before setting your eyes on Suzuki two wheeler products. My point from this thread is clear that certain quality issues are not supposed to crop up, but still they did that too early in life. Although my carb is replaced and I am happy as of now, I am not happy by the damage faulty clutch has done. More than 80 times, the engine would be on 100% throttle for more than 5 mins in crawling traffic. I would be riding the bike by clutch. Other parts like engine and clutch would have suffered higher than normal wear, specially clutch.

Resale value is very low for Suzuki bikes. My friends 2005 Passion is fetching him 25K as compared to 15K what I am getting for a disc brake less kms. done bike.

Although the quality seems good, its later on one realizes how durable is product over period of time. GS150R is relatively new in market and not entirely free from problems. Rust issues in tank were reported from early bikes. This is not acceptable as the volumes are much less from Suzuki. HH sells more splendors per month than what Suzuki ( all models combined ) sells in month. Caliber was not known to have any issues from day one, similarly TVS Victor was one bike that did not face any quality problem. Why GS150R ? At the end of the day product does matter apart from dealer experience.

Do update on what you find out, will be eagerly waiting to read that, specially after what I have faced.

[splitsecond]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

The speedo is now indicating around 5-10 kmph less and oscillating.

I would like to know what the reason for this, because exactly same thing happened to my bike(yamaha g5) after coming from servicing last week. Speedometer needle starts to oscillate when nearing 50km and the speed shown is 15km less , i checked with gps.
But the speedometer error only comes after crossing 40km/hr.

Earlier everything was perfect but now speedometer reading is wrong after 40km/hr.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by indianvirus

Hey aag, my best sympathies to you. I am just about to buy the GS150R, but your thread has scared me. I am really confused now.
Btw I visited dealer for exchanging my P150 and I suspect the dealer is trying to cheat me in the exchange deal. I am doing the some fact finding on the same right now, I will update the findings.
Regards.

Aggoswami was a victim to a lemon. He has mentioned before that other zeus owners have not faced the same issue. Remember even Hero honda's churn out lemons. More so than other manufacturers.

And yes, dealers are there to earn profit and your motorcycle value might be estimated lesser than what you get in the market. But as Aggoswami mentioned the dealer is not the culprit as they depend on some brokers. Go for GS150R. Do make sure you check your bike before taking delivery and you wont have any problems.