Messages

off a different kind

Daytona do a boot with a 1" lift which may help people who are vertically challenged get both feet flat on the floor when stationary.

Agree totally. My dealer has pushed through two warranty claims with Kawasaki. Having a rapport with your dealer always helps

Did Kawasaki initially refuse to do the repairs under warranty until the dealer fought your corner.

Just to flog a dead horse a little more to make sure it is dead.

The maintenance section of the owners handbooks lists all the checks that are to be carried out on the bike and at what mileage.

None of the checks that are to be done at 3750mls have a "K" against them so that's an official document from Kawasaki that is supplied with the bike that clearly states that the checks carried out at the 3750 service do not have to carried out by an approved Kawaski dealer.

Every check to be done at 3750mls has the word "Inspect" in the description which implies that the 3750mls service is actually an inspection.

So if you have the bike serviced every 7500mls by the dealer and inspect the bike at 3750mls using an independant dealer or by doing it yourself you are not violating the terms of the warranty as laid out in the documentation that is supplied with the bike.

You could easily take a few hi-res pics of the clocks and various parts of the bike to have proof that you inspected the bike at 3750mls to protect yourself.

I'm not looking to run the bike on the cheap but to use 3/4 days leave to have a bike like the GTR serviced in the first year of ownership is to much. Can understand a highly tuned bike like the ZX10 needing to be serviced more frequently but not the GTR.

I had the same problem - was caused by the metal tab on the rear of the seat that locates in the locking mechanism not being perfectly straight/vertical.

Bent it straight with a pair of pliers and its been fine since. It was only very slightly out so the position is very critical.

I had a R1200 as a loaner when my k1300 was serviced and like you I could not see the attraction at all.

The whole bike was shaking at tickover - very embarrasing at traffic lights felt like shouting ITS NOT MINE and when on the move the engine had no low down grunt no mid range and even less top end really glad to give it back.

Shows how important the badge on the tank is when it comes to selling to certain people and yes the k1300 was a mistake more warranty repairs/recalls than everyother bike I have owned put together although it did do what it says on the tin very well when running

Is it normal for this forum to stay on BST or has someone just forgotten to set the time????

I may be mistaken but hasn't somebody on here already asked Kawasaki about this

Personally, and unfortunately, I think there is a big difference between this statement, and the assumption that Kawasaki will warrant a bike that has been DIY serviced.

If something that cost £20 to fix went wrong, chances are Kawasaki may not even bother checking service records.

Take the other extreme, and say the engine ran low on oil, siezed, and spat me off the bike injuring me and writing off the bike in the process. Now talking about £10k worth of bike, £20k worth of compensation etc. I think they will look more closely now, and dispute the warranty claim on the strength that DIY servicing may have contributed. How can I prove I did not underfill the oil?

My only course of action now would be to take Kawasaki to court, which will involve expensive legal teams, independent engineers, proof of my competence in servicing etc. It would cost a lot of money and time to do it.

In reality though, I think the chances of major failure are hugely slim. Speaking personally, I am likely to get my next service (20k) done at the dealer, but DIY from the expensive 24k service onwards. The bike will still have 6 months warranty left at this point.

Martin.

If the engined seized because the oil was low Kawasaki or any other manufacturer would be in within their rights to refuse to repair the bike under warranty as it was not caused by a manufacturing defect unless there was a sudden major oil leak that occured while you where on the bike as every manufacturer states that you have to check oil levels

I agree that unless you have a major warranty claim then who services the bike isn't relevant but if you do have a major warranty claim and Kawasaki claim the failure was due to poor maintenance then they are probably within their rights not to honour the warranty as the problem was caused by you or the dealer who serviced the bike - good luck trying to get the dealer to admit liabilty for a failure that was caused by bad workmanship by their mechanic.

And how do you know this?
The Kawasaki Motorcycle Warranty Terms & Conditions say something different.
But maybe you can enlighten us?

Was very simple even you could do it. I got the opinion of the only people that matter which is Kawasaki UK.

Who are very clear that DIY servicing does not invalidate the warranty.

I have a little sympathy with the dealer here, even though I agree with you mattye and LR that changing the plugs at only 7,500 miles seems excessive to we owners.

The fact is that Kawasaki explicitly state that the plugs need changing at 7,500 miles. The dealer has to respect that statement from Kawasaki, and not encourage you to cut corners that *may* impact on the brand.

Kawasaki, like any manufacturer, knows that whole life costs do factor into our perception of the bikes. They are not specifying a plug change at 7,500 miles purely to line the pockets of their dealer network, they are doing it because their intensive durability testing prior to releasing the bike showed some sort of issue that could arise and that would be a problem later.

Now my beef comes from the fact that every manufacturer sets service intervals based on the most abusive, ham fisted, mechanically unsympathetic possible rider. That is why the 3,750 mile service interval is there (final drive oil, not engine oil) and that is why the plugs need changing at 7,500 miles.

The solution is condition based servicing like most cars seem to have these days. Monitor cold starts, monitor fuel usage, monitor revs used and determine servicing based on that.

Martin.

There is nothing in the handbook to say that the final drive oil has to be replaced at 3750mls its 7500 same as everything else that has to be changed.

I still think the 3750ml interval is an inspection and the actual service interval is 7500mls. Neither off which has to be done by a Kawasaki dealer to maintain the warranty it just has to be serviced/inspected in accordance with their procedures.

So having the bike serviced by a dealer every 3750mls but not changing the plugs at 7500 does invalidate the engine warranty.

Servicing the bike yourself and changing the plugs at 7500mls keeps the warranty valid

Hope everybody signs up to this although not sure it will acheive anything other than prove that our elected representatives can't spell

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/16322

Only had contact with bike plod twice in the UK and on both occasians I was singled out amongst a proccesion of cars.

Once a for a document check and once for doing 70 in a 60 yes i know over the limit but would I have been stopped on either occasion in my family saloon?? I think not.

Did have one nod at me once as he was going the other way quite recently - maybe he was a closet GTR owner

I think from my perspective have a lump of extra torque would be useful.  Think of your current GTR1400 in top gear doing say 60mph.  Imagine just wackibg the throttle open to overtake and have the same oomph as if you were in 4th or 5th?

Similarly, Imagine the same but with your missus on the back and a few tons of her luggage on the bike....

I don't think I  would spend much time wringing its neck in second a third etc - if I wanted to do that I  wouldn't have sold my 'blade for the GTR... I just think a bit more oomph when you want it would be a good thing - its up to you if you use it or not.

Couldn't agree more.

PS

I'm with you GTRPete I'd trade in for a go faster version tomorrow - prefer a go quicker version actually as acceleration more important than top speed

If its in MCN then it must be true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Been reported elsewhere that its ABS+TCS and a few extra HP.

Cant see any mainstream manufacturer putting a supercharger on a 1400cc bike when the 1litres can get close too 200bhp so getting 200 out off a 1400 without making it all top end should be easy enough.