[Sojogator]

Rant Update :

Quite some time since I have added anything here. Time to get a quick update going !

Well, I firmly believe, life flows sinusoidally, with clear crests and troughs ! And a trough has been hit. It is like when you are walking along a lovely beach with a crimson sunset and a teal horizon, when suddenly you are struck by a falling coconut and then you lose your sense and fall into a glut of animal faeces, only to shortly realize that a Pelican has decided to do its morning task on you while a red crab decided to break the monotony by cracking a couple of nuts, not the coconut;sadly !

More germane to this forum, about the crest bit of the Roadbuster, which is less than one tenths of the worry of the crest I have talked about !

Roadbuster has done another 1000 odd kilometres since. On the lesser side, one must say. Her life blood, the battery, developed an issue. No one knows how and why ! She refused to crank right in the middle of a, traffic congested, fly over in Bangalore. I had to push start her. I do not know how I managed to gather the power required to do so but I did it !

I immediately reported this to the infamous Khivraj service centre on Kasturba road. The 'guy' came in to my office. Verified, with his multimeter, that the battery, though it showed correct voltage then, had to be replaced with a red led ! The histrionics starts from here.

1. I was asked to drop the battery so that they could charge it and that might solve the issue. They did so for 2 days. Told it was back green and should work fine again.

2. 2 weeks since and I had to push start her again. Luckily, this time it was in my garage and the slope came to my rescue.

3. I take her to the SS in the next weekend. They check some parameters and take photos and tell me that they would send that over to their 'head' in Pune. Once he verifies
the data and sends his approval, I could get the new battery. They promise me it will be done that day, keep me waiting till evening and continue with their baloney.
At around 5, after wasting my entire day, the 'guy' lets me know that Mr 'head' is on vacation and nothing can move till he is back. I controlled my anger and returned.

4. Mr 'head' responds to the testing that the 'guy' did only on next Tuesday. I give a piece of my mind and the 'guy' comes in to check more readings that Mr 'head' had
suggested. They take and leave and tell me that they will let me know once they are ready for replacement ! We are approaching 2 months from the date of conception of
the problem at this point of time.

5. Mr 'Head' takes another week to come up with his next response, to do further testing!!! To verify if the stator coil is fine or no ! This is when I lost my patience and vented
out all the 'good' things I had accumulated, while managing with a semi dead battery, while pushing her to start a grand total of 4 times though all 3 next times happened
in my garage !

6. I talk in detail and decide to book my 2nd servicing as I had crossed 6000 on the ODO a few weeks before the 6 month time frame ! I revisit the SS, a 4th time. More tests
done and, what they call, servicing done, the 'guy' sends his reports to Mr 'head' in Pune once again and awaits response. Nothing. Not picking up either of his phones
either. I was ready chastise these gentleman at this point of time. With other customers around, the 'guy' decided to make a run to his 'GM' and returned after an hour or
so with the news that he would change the battery at that point of time and Mr 'Head' will be tackled later appropriately for his king like behaviour ! I come back with a
serviced and a, once more, fully alive after more than 2 months - Roadbuster !

It is almost unfathomable that there is no person in Bangalore who can approve warranties and one has to depend on 1 person, in Pune, who does not have an iota of sense of how to deal with customers or the bare minimum professional ethics !!! It is just me who knows how mentally tiring those moments were when you were about to crank her up and did not know whether she will start or no, dreaded moments in traffic lights and I conceded to not switching off the engine at lights !

Well, just like the succulent red cherry on the sumptuous cake, I had the first puncture on the rear, while I was on my way to the service centre for the second service, which was plugged in. Around half a dozen other little pins were found that could not do the ultimate damage. And the cream on top of the cherry, while pushing her at the fuel pump with a slight shoulder pain, she fell. This would not happen if a layer of the kevlar grip patch of my right glove did not give way right at that moment, after almost 2 years. Even then, I could have stopped it from falling, had my shoulder been fine but I did not have the strength had to lay her down slowly, on her right. The good fellas at the Shell immediately came to the rescue. No damages luckily. She rested on the number plate, which bent at the edge, which did not allow the exhaust to touch the ground. The frame sliders worked perfect too. Just a bit of garnishing then, the pressure wash at the service centre peeled a little bit of the '800' sticker ! Oh ! the plate for the heavenly cake ! Still to get the bill for the last service that will include the details of the new battery as well. No response yet. 7 days delayed already !

Kudos ! Till later with better things, hopefully !

[sriramv.iyer]

Take care, friend!

Just a case of bad time :-) I am sure they've passed over.

Get back to enjoying the Kawi monster!

[VW2010]

Can you check why the battery died? Just want to make sure there are no electrical issues or leakage happening. Did you modify or add any relay or rectifier? 2 months for a battery change is ridiculous.

They simply should have swapped a battery and let you ride unless the problem reappeared.

The cost of battery is not that high for these loons to delay by 2 months.

And you may be better off not switching of the engine at lights if the delay is not too high. The fans actually cool the biker better than a switched of engine. (I assume the fan is also switched off at this point)

Good luck man. As long as the bike takes you home the problems are like itches, just scratch and move on

[v12]

Very sad to hear about the issues you are facing Sojo. And more sad to know about the indifference of the dealers or the company towards this issue. I mean how many tests did they have to conduct before replacing the battery under warranty. That way the local battery waala are better and more prompt at replacing under warranty. Could you please pm me the name of the person in charge of approving any warranty claims. Will be helpful to pursue my claim for the rear wheel.

Also sad to hear about the fall. I agree with you that the Z is a heavy bike to drag. And it's more risky to try and save it when it's about to fall. You might hurt yourself. But you did the right thing by laying it down rather than letting it free fall.

Don't worry about the stickers and the plates. Can be replaced easily. Check this link out :

http://m.ebay.com/itm/251712838903?_mwBanner=1

[Sojogator]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Can you check why the battery died? Just want to make sure there are no electrical issues or leakage happening. Did you modify or add any relay or rectifier? 2 months for a battery change is ridiculous.

They simply should have swapped a battery and let you ride unless the problem reappeared.

The cost of battery is not that high for these loons to delay by 2 months.

And you may be better off not switching of the engine at lights if the delay is not too high. The fans actually cool the biker better than a switched of engine. (I assume the fan is also switched off at this point)

Good luck man. As long as the bike takes you home the problems are like itches, just scratch and move on

They told they did a full check if anything else was wrong. Nothing was. All worked as expected.

No changes to the electricals as well. Also the bike would work if I was starting it everyday. If I didn't for a day, it would be a 50 50 the next day.

These guys had the audacity to tell me whether I could test it out! I mean being stranded at some unknown place is no concern for them. And they had a battery in Stock since day 1. When I asked why couldn't they just replace . He said if Mr Head doesn't approve we've to pay from our pocket! They should just stick to selling autos imo.

Yeah. I don't switch it off if the fans running or the timer is anything lesser than 90 seconds. But I was talking about 3 to 5 minutes of standing with the engine idling.

Yup. She did take me home, albeit after a mighty push and some embarrassment. At least I can claim that I have push started a super bike a few times

[Shreeniwas]

Woha !! 2 months for a battery is ridiculous !!

You never told me about this earlier. I start my bike once in a week or ten days. Now I am worried about warranty claims. Just for the sake of warranty we get our bike serviced "PER" their service interval even the bike has not covered much kms. To top it, they make us run around ? Fabulous ! Did you send e-mail to the MD of Khivraj ? Any response from her ?

[Shanenanigans]

Originally Posted by Shreeniwas

Woha !! 2 months for a battery is ridiculous !!

You never told me about this earlier. I start my bike once in a week or ten days. Now I am worried about warranty claims. Just for the sake of warranty we get our bike serviced "PER" their service interval even the bike has not covered much kms. To top it, they make us run around ? Fabulous ! Did you send e-mail to the MD of Khivraj ? Any response from her ?

If I'm not mistaken, Sojo rides his bike to work everyday. And every weekend on your half day rides. Which is what makes his situation that ridiculous.

[Shreeniwas]

Originally Posted by Shanenanigans

If I'm not mistaken, Sojo rides his bike to work everyday. And every weekend on your half day rides. Which is what makes his situation that ridiculous.

Could be a possible reason but a fully charged battery going down again in 2 days means the battery cells are not holding up the required amount of power.

If Kawasaki can market and sell the bikes , they better plan well for after sale issues. They need to be well prepared. This chalta hai attitude is the biggest problem our country is facing. They are good until the sale is done, rest "at your own risk".

[Sojogator]

Originally Posted by Shreeniwas

Could be a possible reason but a fully charged battery going down again in 2 days means the battery cells are not holding up the required amount of power.

If Kawasaki can market and sell the bikes , they better plan well for after sale issues. They need to be well prepared. This chalta hai attitude is the biggest problem our country is facing. They are good until the sale is done, rest "at your own risk".

Yep. It is. But there is nothing you can really do. Kawasaki are running the oddest of business model here. They don't have a website. They don't have presence in social media. A simple joke !

The first question he asked was when was the last time I rode before the bike faced the issue and I told 14 hours and he was, like, then it has to be the battery !

The multi meter clearly showed 'replace battery' on day 1 and yet they carried their testings without a thought about the customer.

I have not faced anything since the replacement of the battery in the last 2 weeks so, as we all expected, it was the battery.

The service head of Bangalore, the 'guy', even told that he was certain it is the battery but he cannot exchange it till it has to be approved by the, kingly, Mr Head at Pune !!

Anyways, the worst is hopefully behind. And the useful information that I found out of the fiasco is that the cost of the battery is Rs 8350/-

Also @Shreeniwas with everything else that was not smooth sailing for me, I decided to not waste my time and wreck my, already bad, mood by writing an email to the MD that would have no end product anyways, as I have already come to see !

[loki]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

Rant Update :

It is like when you are walking along a lovely beach with a crimson sunset and a teal horizon, when suddenly you are struck by a falling coconut and then you lose your sense and fall into a glut of animal faeces, only to shortly realize that a Pelican has decided to do its morning task on you while a red crab decided to break the monotony by cracking a couple of nuts, not the coconut;sadly !

@ Sojo - Wow. You are waxing eloquent in the middle of a rant! The bit about the crab was OUCH

Did you consider posting on their FB page? I think Kawasaki Bangalore has one right? The z800 is a great machine and issues like these should be very quickly sorted out. Maybe this is how India works. Hopefully no more issues like these.

[xander]

I think I spotted you on ORR a while back. Roadbuster was looking great

I was on a yellow Pulsar.

[Doc_nikhil]

Sojo,
I was reading this thread right from the the page 1 and I'll have to say, you are doing justice to the bike and the rider within you. But why have you stopped posting updates? Please continue with the updates, it was really a good thread.

[MavericK46]

Originally Posted by Doc_nikhil

Sojo,
I was reading this thread right from the the page 1 and I'll have to say, you are doing justice to the bike and the rider within you. But why have you stopped posting updates? Please continue with the updates, it was really a good thread.

Roadbuster has been sold because Sojogator is becoming a Pardesi...
I'll let him add all the 'spicy' details

Cheers !

Sundar

[Doc_nikhil]

Seriously?? when did this happen? Where has he relocated to? Damn I'd have loved to get his bike if I'd known before..!! Hope he continues riding as he was here, maybe on a bigger set of wheels. Maybe a Z1000?