[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by xerxxx

My only advice to any superbike owner in pune would be, that if u are in pune, u should get the bike serviced at Slipstream Performance by Kunal.

Is this the same Kunal who used to run a Royal Enfield garage in Viman Nagar? If it is, then you are in good hands. I used to live at the Oakwood apartment, which was right across his garage. My flat mate used to maintain his cast iron Enfield with him. Did a brilliant job every time.

[autohead666]

Hi Meccanico,
Any update from Kawasaki on this?

[IP_Man]

OEM rubber bushings were replaced with random broken pieces of foam

Horrible! Even good roadside mechanic won't do it. Why this juggad? Are they short of spare parts?

Hats off to your patience on this matter. There is no point in arguing with fools. Hope you find good work shop for the future services and repair.

[Amey Kulkarni]

While this thread is initiated by a good friend; I would also like to take the opportunity to embark on the nightmare I've had on one of the deals with one of the Kawasaki dealerships. I would not like to disclose the exact details of which dealership and names as the bike has been sold to a customer as understood from social media posts and he / she shouldn't be traumatized if they come across this thread.

This was a deal in discussion virtually with a Kawasaki dealership for the last ZX-6R BS IV they had.

The Sales Manager sends me pictures of the bike on whatsapp and she looked spanking new. As this was during the initial phase of the stringent lock-downs I was not able to step out and do an Intercity travel to see the bike. Therefore, requested my relatives and a friend to visit the showroom and look the bike locally. Simultaneously, I had also asked the dealership to share the documents of the bike.

The Sales Manager cleverly had shared the pictures of the new showroom condition bike and the actual bike standing there was different.

The odo read at 31Kms (Not disclosing the pic) which actually got me inclined to the deal. I was even able to negotiate the price to the market price with the showroom being second owner.

However, the disaster started when my friend visited the showroom next day and video called me from there.

Both the tyres were gone. Front S22 Battalax was worn out, rear tyre was altogether different (Pirelli Rosso II) also had chips off which meant; the bike could not be even ridden home from the showroom. Overseeing all this; I had made up my mind to cancel the deal. No financial transaction was processed thankfully.

However, being restless about the deal digged out information from the dealer and understood that it was a Media bike and the odo had been back turned by the dealership. They were also not clear and being transparent on how much the odo was when they had received the bike.



With the state of the radiator as you see, you can imagine the bike's condition.

I was overall in a major SHOCK!!! How can a dealership temper and perform such illegal acts. With this horrendous experience I actually took a break off from viewing deals during the initial phase of Lockdown especially on Japanese bikes; Kawasaki to be specific. You never know what's out there in the market.

If an odo can be back turned with few hundreds of Rupees; pre-owned deals can be scary to look at especially Japanese.

This was a major eye opener and thank god for getting me out of it scratchless.

Cheers,
Amey

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Is this the same Kunal who used to run a Royal Enfield garage in Viman Nagar? If it is, then you are in good hands. I used to live at the Oakwood apartment, which was right across his garage. My flat mate used to maintain his cast iron Enfield with him. Did a brilliant job every time.

Yes, he's the same. Now also he works on Enfields but is kept busy with big bikes most of the time!

[Hamza123]

Was at the temple for superbike owners 😀
Was getting some post ride checks and niggles sorted. Brilliant as always.
Also say Xerxxxs z900. Looked sorted and ready to go home

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

While this thread is initiated by a good friend; I would also like to take the opportunity to embark on the nightmare I've had on one of the deals with one of the Kawasaki dealerships. I would not like to disclose the exact details of which dealership and names as the bike has been sold to a customer as understood from social media posts and he / she shouldn't be traumatized if they come across this thread.

I honestly thought that I had seen the worst that Kawasaki dealers could stoop to but your personal experience takes the cake.

Amey, you really must share the details of the dealership name and the pictures as well. The only way to bring Kawasaki to take any attention in India, is to make them and their customers aware of what sort of rampant malpractices are going on in company dealerships. Had your experienced happened with a typical shady superbike dealer, we would have chalked it up to a lesson learnt and moved on. But a company dealership indulging in such fraud is unheard of.

I understand that an unsuspecting customer has become the bakra, but I feel that he / she will be glad to get to know about this as well.

[//M]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

While this thread is initiated by a good friend; I would also like to take the opportunity to embark on the nightmare I've had on one of the deals with one of the Kawasaki dealerships.

I do recall our discussions on that particular motorcycle before your friend even saw the ZX6R in flesh.

I guess we all smelled something fishy as something felt too good to be true. Glad that you didn't go ahead with that deal and had someone actually inspect the motorcycle despite unfavorable situations due to the pandemic.

Like Neil has mentioned, I think you should actually expose the dealership. They might have eventually found a buyer for that ZX6R, who would in most likelihood may not be technically sound and might have plonked a million bucks just to fulfil a dream. But their intentions in selling the motorcycle was ethically wrong and they do deserve a mention. That way maybe atleast a small section of potential customers would be wary before being taken for a ride.

It's sad to see Indian Kawasaki dealerships (specially the Pune dealership, despite changing ownership) always in the news for wrong reasons. The manufacturer certainly makes some fabulous motorcycles, even prices them quite well in most cases. Kawasaki has also been proactive in bringing almost their entire portfolio to our shores. It's disheartening to see that a bunch of unethical dealers are bringing bad press for the manufacturer.

That said, Kawasaki should definitely step in and resolve such issues before the experience turns out to be nasty for customers !

[Sandy Damodaran]

A noob here, and would think that the Pune Kawasaki Service center cannot be more incompetent even if they tried. I have a Ninja 1000 (older version 2016/7), a friend has a Versys 650 and yet another one has a Ninja 300.

These guys messed up my Steering Cone set by randomly torqueing it, messed up my friends Versys 650 by running diagnostics incompletely and hence leaving the bike firing on a single cylinder, and messed up the Ninja 300 by fitting a headlight improperly.

I had a Ninja 650(2013) version earlier and was extremely happy with the service provided then(by whoever was running it from the same location, under one Rohan) and also Sai Kawasaki in Wagholi. Based on which I went for a Kawasaki again. But for Kunal, I would be repenting the bike.

Infact I had asked my friends explicitly to tell the service center people to not touch anything other than Oil change to keep the warranty intact on the Versys 650 during it's first service at 1000KM, irrespective of the standing instructions, they ran the diagnostics incompletely, resulting in the bike running on a single cylinder for around 14 kM, from service center to Kunal's workshop.

If anyone is thinking of buying a Kawasaki in Pune, please verify how far your residence is from Viman Nagar as you would end up getting the bike serviced there. Kawasaki seems to be Teflon coated though, there has been no repercussion on it's image due to the Mumbai dealer running away with money or the current Pune service station being run by people I wouldn't leave my kids cycle with for repairing.

[narula123]

I think the problem starts top down. I remember how the earlier top management of IKM (circa 2013-15) would connect with us Ninja 650 owners on several forums. They would participate in our G2Gs and would hold exclusive Rider Clinics and trackdays for Kawasaki owners. These events became opportunity for owners to sample other Kawasaki bikes as well as connect directly with the management with their feedback. Somewhere with the change of management all this stopped.
I dont expect the IKM bosses to call every customer but atleast have the right forums to have a connect. Whatever happened to the most basic of business principles - keep the customer at the centre of everything you do.

It is horrible to read these shoddy service stories as it can happen to any of us. I am just blessed that both Bangalore and Mumbai experiences have been good for me. I thought Kawasaki would have learnt a lesson or two with the whole scandal involving the previous Pune dealership which gave them a properly bad PR and forced their hand into stepping into the issue to resolve it.

Wonder why we still dont have any lemon laws in this country. Not that we are charging any less tax for automobile ownership.

[xerxxx]

I should actually thank Kawasaki Pune service that they gave me a reason to send my bike to Kunal's Slipstream Performance workshop in Pune.
That guy is someone I would trust my bike with. Seeing him work only reassured me that he knew exactly what he was doing, unlike the hit-n-miss experiments the Kawasaki service team does. After the throttle body synchronisation, throttle and idling issues sorted, Kunal also bled the brakes as Kawasaki hadn't touched them until date with 17k on the odo. Took my bike out to Lonavala for a spin and boy I'm glad at how she rides.

Been going through Slipstream Performance Pune's Instagram handle, I came across a post with pics if Kawasaki India, Kawasaki Japan and their local service head Sumeet Bhalla visiting Kunal's workshop to see "why" he had been working on so many Kawasaki bikes. With a wee bit of common sense it should have been obvious to Kawasaki india and Kawasaki Japan that something is amiss with their service setup, that bike owners are trusting a private service provider as a better option. But like someone in the thread mentioned, the Japanese work culture ends at their borders, in India its chalta hai or else as the service guys always told me "running mein set ho jayega" ����.

Prathamesh from Pune is in touch with me and let's see if all of us can get together to do something about this issue.

Cheers brothers.

Originally Posted by Meccanico

I saw your bike at Kunal's workshop a few days ago. I hope all the issues are sorted and that you can enjoy the machine finally.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by Hamza123

When this post flashed on our whatsapp group it opened a can of worms, and all Mr Patil had to say was please call me for any problems and i shall clarify them!

That is how sure they are about India Kawasaki not acting against them. My experience or complaint is clearly not the first. India Kawasaki simply ignores individual complaints; irrespective of how serious the issues are.

Originally Posted by autohead666

Hi Meccanico,
Any update from Kawasaki on this?

Nothing as of yet. Will update the thread once I hear something.

Originally Posted by IP_Man

Are they short of spare parts?

I don't know about that, but that question is irrelevant in my case. The bike was not even 6 months old when this incident occurred. All the parts were in place and in perfect working condition. They just did not put them all back.

Originally Posted by Sandy Damodaran

A noob here, and would think that the Pune Kawasaki Service center cannot be more incompetent even if they tried. I have a Ninja 1000 (older version 2016/7), a friend has a Versys 650 and yet another one has a Ninja 300.

These guys messed up my Steering Cone set by randomly torqueing it, messed up my friends Versys 650 by running diagnostics incompletely and hence leaving the bike firing on a single cylinder, and messed up the Ninja 300 by fitting a headlight improperly.

I had a Ninja 650(2013) version earlier and was extremely happy with the service provided then(by whoever was running it from the same location, under one Rohan) and also Sai Kawasaki in Wagholi. Based on which I went for a Kawasaki again. But for Kunal, I would be repenting the bike.

We really need to take strict, collaborative action against them.

Originally Posted by xerxxx

Prathamesh from Pune is in touch with me and let's see if all of us can get together to do something about this issue.
Cheers brothers.

Yes, we really need to.
Cheers

[krishnaprasadgg]

OP, any updates on the matter?

Can't imagine not having any sort of contact from Kawasaki's side to help you out in this situation.

Cheers
Krishna

[Meccanico]

Update


I was finally contacted by the Kawasaki Pune Service Centre in the first week of December. I was told they had been trying to contact me but I was the one who did not receive their calls.

Anyway, they asked me to bring the bike in for inspection. Mr. Prasad was really helpful in this matter and organised a group call between himself, me and Mr. Patil; so that the next steps were clear for both parties. Mr. Patil agreed to get the paintwork fixed and replace all of the missing bushes and washers.

It was made very clear that I would only accept the said resolution if the paintwork was restored to the factory spec, else I wanted the fairings replaced. I would also not accept anything but OEM bushings and washers. I also refused to leave the bike unsupervised even for a moment owing to my past experiences. I offered to ride the bike home and bring it back if necessary.

I was relieved considering the step forward after all these agonising months. I was busy during the week so I booked an appointment for the 8th of December and reached the workshop at 10:30. They had brought in buffing-polishing equipment, products and micro-fibre cloths. This time I had gotten the bike pre-washed before going to the workshop. They removed the fairings on the left side first. It was not very easy for the trained technician to do so, as he couldn't remember the order and locations of the parts to be removed. I was standing right in front of the bike.

At one point he was trying to disconnect wires by pulling on them hard without unlocking the locks of the connecting sockets. I showed him how to unlock the pins to which he angrily replied " Sir aap baith jao, mujhe karne do, ya aap karo" Ego problems much.

Thankfully it was smooth sailing from here on. Mr. Venkatesh Patil personally worked on the fairings. It took the entire day just to get the left side fixed. I inspected the paint closely and agreed that the work was upto the mark. Thank the gods I thought. I was just happy to get the paint sorted.

While putting the fairings back, the technician once again tried to convince me that pieces of tape were sufficient and "just like" OEM bushings. I insisted on the proper parts which they did have in their inventory. The fairings were then put back with these OEM parts and a much better fit was achieved.

It was now 16:00 and I had also had to be somewhere else, so we decided to complete the rest of the work the next day. I went in at 10:30 again the next day and the right side was fixed too upto my satisfaction as well. I had mentioned to Mr. Patil several times that I did not expect them to do any additional work whatsoever apart from repairing the damages caused by them. But in the quest to redeem themselves they did detailing work on the entire bike. The work was done by the end of day.

To be honest I had lost hopes that the scratches could be mended, but thankfully they were gone. The ceramic coating did it's job I guess. I closely inspected the paintwork and the fairings looked good as new, which they already were. They clicked a photo of me with the bike and Mr. Venkatesh to confirm that the job had been finally attended to.

As with every organisation, they lamented for a while about how the complaints and the negative publicity was unnecessary. They could have had just avoided all this if they took proper care in the first place. Well, all's well that ends well. The bike is completely sorted.

Have been really busy the past weeks so will click and post photos of the bike soon. My sincere thanks and gratitude to all BHPians who helped, guided and supported during this ordeal. Your support is what kept me going. Cheers!

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

At one point he was trying to disconnect wires by pulling on them hard without unlocking the locks of the connecting sockets. I showed him how to unlock the pins to which he angrily replied " Sir aap baith jao, mujhe karne do, ya aap karo" Ego problems much.

While putting the fairings back, the technician once again tried to convince me that pieces of tape were sufficient and "just like" OEM bushings. I insisted on the proper parts which they did have in their inventory. The fairings were then put back with these OEM parts and a much better fit was achieved

Good that this issue is sorted

But again, every time if the above is repeated, then it's very difficult to trust them! If this is the attitude with the owner standing in front of their bike then only God knows what will happen behind them.

Kawasaki please up the game here!

Enjoy your ride buddy, see you zoom past me on the road.

/surjaonwheelz