[Odeen12]

Meccanico

I feel horrible for you. No one should go through this. I don't understand why is it so difficult for top manufacturers to hire better. The absolute apathy shown by the dealer, service guys and eventually Kawasaki India is disgusting.

I can't say anything good either about Suzuki with scratch marks on my chassis. Which were not even pointed out to me. So it seems all of these guys who are so called superbike dealers / with showrooms are in truth scams with a penchant for "thook patti" ka kaam.

From personal experience and horrid experiences, it's good decision to take the bike to Kunal and have it looked after. Yes, he is expensive but it's totally worth it. I keep saying this and will say this again, wish i lived in Pune.

The catch i feel you'd be in is your warranty. Kawasaki India will hold you to that if not serviced under their umbrella of dealers. Guess you can continue to get the bike serviced without them touching anything else and the rest of the work can happen through Slipstream performance.

Hope you find a solve to your problems soon and enjoy this beauty as you should.

[iamahunter]

WOW!

BMW, then Triumph and now Kawasaki.

Each of the manufacturer charges heavily for their services. Is this experience what we pay for?

I dream to own a middleweight tourer and knowing such experiences are just pushing me away from getting one.

Its high time that the authorities take a look into this.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

Their workshop is smaller than a tea stall, call it a premium brand superbike workshop. The technicians not sure on what basis and qualifications are being appointed.

Honestly! They are only good enough for the standard routine service. They've also got carelessness to top their incompetence!

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

This is certainly a poor state of affairs at Kawasaki Pune. If you're not at peace with your prized possession at the OEM SVC then where will you be?

A poor state would be an understatement.
I had never envisioned such a horrible experience. The manufacturers nearly threaten buyers to only go to authorised SVC's or they do not co-operate for warranty issues. But this is the state of the SVC's.

Originally Posted by quickfox11

The treatment to your bike looks more like a revenge. May be for writing to Kawasaki and following up with them. Sheer impudence! They deliberately kept your bike on hold to keep it overnight and inflict the damage. Do not let them go.

Thanks a lot for the support sir, really need it. I'm glad you were saved from a disgraceful experience. It does look like it doesn't it? Although I'm not sure what I did to deserve that. I don't think they'll co-operate at all with the CCTV footage thing looking at their attitude.

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

And to make matters worse, Kawasaki India has their plant right in Pune. It should be least expected of them that their nearest After-Sales Service Centre has adequately trained & skilled service persons. To add to that, Customer Service and responses are expected to be professionally adept.

Yup! The entire after-sales service ecosystem is non-existent. No communication, ill-equipped SVC, untrained and unprofessional service staff.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Reinfroces my belief to hand over a clean bike to workshop and if needed take pics of the bike or even shoot a video and keep as evidence.

Yes sir! Lesson learnt for life the hard way. Hoping that they replace or repaint the parts.

Originally Posted by rb2399

There are people like Kunal from slipstream who are very meticulous but you don't have Kunals everywhere and that's the sad part.

Yeah Kunal is great. Knows his stuff in and out and very particular too.

Originally Posted by StepUP!

There is an alternative to keep your warranty intact. HD Amanora guys do service Kawasaki bikes as they have Kawasaki dealership at Kolhapur. I can give you service advisor's reference there. He is very genuine and helpful guy.

That would be great sir, thank you so much!

Originally Posted by //M

There are multiple such foul experiences shared by many customers / prospective buyers from Kawasaki Pune both in sales and service areas.

Cheers Dada! I got my second service done from Anzen. Might do so in the future too. The sales experience was actually good for me. (I did not get a test drive too though). The diabolical after-sales was what ruined everything.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Got it serviced at independent garage, and it was so much peaceful and neatly done. You should continue to fight your case with Kawasaki, and get replacement fairing panels, nothing else is acceptable.

The only reason most people go to authorised SVC's is because of warranty worries. There is no other incentive.
Yeah I'm planning for the same, hopefully it works out.

Originally Posted by aargee

If the washers, rubber bushes & cotter pins are there, it's for a reason;

No sir, I don't think so! The technicians from Pune know better. They threw away the rubber parts to save even more weight.

[sujay bhandare]

Very sad to see such a bike being screwed by the Kawasaki service team itself. Such a behaviour is totally unacceptable from these premium brands. I too had similar experiences with my old gen N650, I guess I had shared with you my horror story too. From that day never went to that kawasaki dealer. Their attitude towards these premium bikes is what annoys me, lot of overconfidence and their monopoly of being the only service centre. Also I am surprised to see the part unavailability for an ongoing model. I hope Kawasaki responds positively to your ordeal and your bike is brought to its former glory.

[neil.jericho]

Meccanico, I am absolutely flabbergasted to read of the problems that you have faced with the Kawasaki Pune dealership. Your thread has been spreading like wildfire on so many of the motorcycling whatsapp groups that I am on. Many big bike dealers and companies still think that they can continue to do what they want and that we customers should be happy with the poor service that they dole out. The way they behave is like they are in the early 1990s but they dont realize that it is 2020. I dont know when they will wake up.

I hope Kawasaki realizes how much damage their Pune dealership has already done in your case and how their lack of a response shows they they havent changed from the days of the Kawasaki Mumbai dealership closing down era. I hope Kawasaki does the right thing, comes to its senses and gets your bike fixed at the earliest.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

No sir, I don't think so! The technicians from Pune know better. They threw away the rubber parts to save even more weight.

If this is what the ASC thinks, then it's time either to reskill or retire!!

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Your thread has been spreading like wildfire on so many of the motorcycling whatsapp groups that I am on. Many big bike dealers and companies still think that they can continue to do what they want and that we customers should be happy with the poor service that they dole out. The way they behave is like they are in the early 1990s but they dont realize that it is 2020. I dont know when they will wake up

If I were an ASC, I would be terrified at the above statement; instead of knocking off saying I lose 1 customer, I get business from plenty others. That simply won't work in long run

[logicalidiot]

It is indeed sad and painful to see ASC messing up someone's prized possession. I can certainly understand what you must be going through but getting the work done by such miscreants would be a tedious task. Even if they agree to it, who knows they will do it right this time.

Did you try reaching out to their toll-free contact number on their website? Try speaking to their customer support and demand that you need to speak to someone of higher authority.

[quickfox11]

I don't think they'll co-operate at all with the CCTV footage thing looking at their attitude.

Don’t give up Mate! Tell Kawasaki (not Pune Kawasaki) that you believe that your bike was manhandled or dropped while in the service station. Either they come clean by proving you wrong or fix up the bike. Like Neil mentioned, the conversation is already gaining traction, you can share this thread on social media as well.

[r.joshi]

Thanks for starting this thread, I was looking for an appropriate one to share my recent horror story after reading the recent threads on BMW and Triumph.

I've a 2014 Ninja 650 which has only been ridden for 16k km in last 6years. I got my bike serviced at Kawasaki Delhi on 17th Oct and rode it till Manali on 24th Oct. During my ride till Chandigarh I noticed rev limits at 5k rpm. I didn't bother because because at 6th gear and 5k rpm you can cruise at 120-140kmph. So, I rode bike like this for next 6 days because no Kawasaki in Manli.

Real problem started when I was riding back to Delhi on 31st Oct, the bike wasn't able to climb hills in Mandi and the maximum speed which I was getting was 30kmph(uphill). So I decided to take halt at Chandigarh and get bike fixed.

I gave the bike to Kawasaki Chandigarh and by evening they gave back the bike to me with a bill of ₹9855 (chain clean and lube included).



So, service centre tells me that there's rust in my tank and it has to cleaned and the labour charges would be ₹3500. I was ok with that, later upon inspection they tell me that fuel pump filter is clogged and almost dead(which it was) and it need a replacement and it cost ₹4500. Not sure who is ripped me off with such an expensive mesh to filter fuel - Kawasaki or the dealership.

I was still fine with it until bike started showing same problem again after 2-3 hours. Next morning I went to Kawasaki Chandigarh and this time they tells me that my fuel pump is giving problems, and tank rust is also clogging the fuel filter(which they claim to have cleaned previous day) and they will try to fix it, few hours later, they tell me that fuel pump is busted and I have to leave my bike there. Replacement fuel pump cost 26k - for which they have told me that they will try their level best to save me from this massive hole in the pocket.

It's more that 10 days now, my bike is still in Chandigarh and they still don't have fuel pump in stock.

So here's my ownership experience with Kawasaki after 6 years:
- It still miss Kawasaki-Bajaj JV. Back in those days every KTM service centre was a Kawasaki service centre.
- Spares are crazy expensive and availability is an issue even in cities like Chandigarh - I can only imagine the situation other states like MP/Rajasthan/Assam. Drop your bike once and you'll have to take insurance claim.
- Non-existent Kawasaki service network.

With this experience of leaving your vehicle in another city because Kawasaki dealers helpless enough to find issue on first day and poor enough to not keep a fuel pump in stock, I'll never consider Kawasaki or similar premium brands again. I was this close to get a Z900/F900XR on this Diwali - not now.

Also, my bike is listed on OLX now and it got a lots on potential buyers. Hoping get it back soon and find a new ride.

[theredliner]

The pathetic after sales service of Kawasaki ASCs and the non existent support from Kawasaki India is well known, so what's actually shocking to me is the root cause of this misery. Such a critical body part failing at such an early stage for no reason is absolutely unacceptable. If this had happened with any Euro/local brand, we'd have rightly thrashed them to pulp by now. This issue is against the most important USP of the Japanese. They seem to be losing interest in their strict QC processes these days.

So sorry to read what you had to go through. After reading the experiences with Triumph and BMW just a few days back and now this, I wonder if it's even worth working so hard, saving for so many years and buying an over taxed big bike in India if it's going to give more pain than pleasure.

Hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction soon.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

Anzen Kawasaki had organised an event at the Amby Valley airstrip on the 8th November. Before this I decided to get my coolant flushed and remove the mirrors for which I took the bike to Slipstream Performance in Pune.

Don't do a coolant flush unless the manual specifically says so. It seems too early an interval to carry out a maintenance activity like this.

Sorry to hear of your ordeal. Other than getting an oil change done and for that dealer stamp, for evidence that you carried out routine maintenance, don't ever give your bike to them for any work.

It looks like there isn't a single premium motorcycle manufacturer in India that stands by its customers. Sad state of affairs.

[GTO]

Gosh, my heart goes out to big bike owners in India. Why on earth can't they get their act together? Is it disinterest from the company, or that they picked rotten dealers? In the car world, brands like Mercedes / BMW / Lexus pamper the heck out of us. Audi dealers are a hit or miss though.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by GTO

Is it disinterest from the company, or that they picked rotten dealers?

My judgement says that the sales volumes don't justify their presence. Harley's conscious decision is a good example. Harley led sales numbers in big bikes and continued to dominate. The rest of the pack aren't even close. Atleast going by this wonderful thread (2018 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imports) that Crazy Driver had compiled.

If someone with a 42% market share in 2018 couldn't sustain to run operations, I can only imagine what the rest of the pack does. Discounts are normal. Some bikes in the BS4 transition shed off 25% of retail on-road prices.

Their only opportunity to recover costs is in service which they falter on severely. The results are for us to see.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

It looks like there isn't a single premium motorcycle manufacturer in India that stands by its customers. Sad state of affairs.

I have one word for you.

Honda.

[rakesh_r]

This is one of the reason i have distanced myself from plonking in my hard earned money on a SBK, I just don't have the courage to do so, for the sole reason- bad support from ASS. The warranty period itself is more than enough to screw up a perfectly running motorcycle. We have not overcome the BMW (bhpian moralfibre) and Triumph (NeilJericho) fisco and now this. I have the African Twin on my radar, but such incidents play spoil sport.
I have had the Ninja 650 for a very brief period, beautiful motorcycle. Sad to see the name being let down.
Wish RE came out with a high capacity, twin cylinder (650-750) Himalayan, that would keep me happy, at least for now.
PS- I am no RE fanboy but appreciate them bringing out an affordable Twin.