Kawasaki Warranty................What Warranty

[Charlie747]

For those of you who have met me and for those of you whom we have corresponded with, within the frame work of this 1400GTR forum.

It is with regret that I make this post a formal and "without prejudice" one.

I have a GTR first registered in May 2013

I was surprised to find corrosion originating from the weld seams on the fuel tank in the under seat area.

From my trade experience this corrosion is normally due to poor pre paint preparation work during the manufacturing process.  Hence the corrosion is not influenced by external factors but is already sealed under the factory paintwork.

For your information I post the email thread between my supplying dealer and myself regarding this matter.

On 28 June 2014 16:14, Charlie747 <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Jim & Jon

The sun came out the other day so went to play on LK13 YBM ................you know what it's like boys the pipe making sweet music, the joys of summer in the air, balancing the dynamic forces of nature as you follow majestic lines through sweeping bends of the English countryside.
It was as I was on the exit of a fun camber filled roundabout that it happened. Left knee and toe kissing the Tarmac as I balance the throttle induced over steer from a Bridgestone  that is loosing its battle to contain the immense  thrust  of one of KHI's finest... .......PING..............the left foot rest hero peg is ripped from its mount  cracking wide open the foot peg casting.............

Question ............ If I leave enough low mileage use £20 notes in brown envelopes behind the Dutch Lubricant stand ( Putoline) .............would it be covered by warranty ? Lol

Truth is 300kgs + of GTR plus 145kgs + of Charlie falling on it gave it no chance. I'll sort some part no out for you so you can repair at service.

I also lifted the seat the other day and found the fuel tank rusting..............

I'll send pictures for you comments and thoughts.

Hoping you are both enjoying life

Cheers

Charlie

From: Dealer
To: Charlie747 <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, 1 July 2014, 8:41
Subject: Re: FAO Service Dept Team


Hi Charlie.

I've have forward the pictures to Kawasaki for comment.

Will contact you again once I've heard back.

Cheers.

Jim

My reply

Thanks Jim.

For your quick response and action.

It was only the second time I've lifted the seat and was mighty surprised to see the rust !  I hope the rest of the paintwork is better prepared and applied as if not it does not look good for long term ownership.

Cheers

Charlie

On 5 Jul 2014, at 11:40 Dealer wrote:


Hi Charlie.

Kawasaki would like us to see the bike in the flesh.

Potential a fall Kawasaki tell me can result in a crease in the fuel tank / seat area that can result in paint lifting and thus bare metal being exposed and corrosion forming.

So they've asked us to see the bike.

Let me know.

Cheers.

Jim

On 8 July 2014 13:05, Charlie747 <[email protected]> wrote:



Good to see you again Jim

Thanks for the quick service on Saturday.

Trusting we have a positive response.

Charlie

From Dealer 19/07/14


Hi Charlie.

I've heard back from Kawasaki.

The are prepared to do a localised repair to the fuel tank which equates to removing the existing rust / paint and applying rust preventative paint to the effected areas.

This paint will not be the same colour as the fuel tank.

Not what we hoped.

Their reasoning perhaps is that you cannot see the effected areas?


Jim


         
Disappointment does not begin to express my feeling regarding this matter.

At present I'm considering my options.

All I ever ask for is what any fair and reasonable person would expect.

I will keep you all posted.

Charlie

[Foody]

My current GTR is a 2009, which when I bought it off a friend (and it was still under warranty) he told me that a new fuel tank had been ordered for it to be replaced under the warranty due to corrosion.

The corrosion was as you described, along the edge of the fuel tank (nearest to you as you sit on the bike thus hidden by the seat) at the welded seam.

I was told that this was a design fault as the seam had an indentation that collected water.  My tank was replaced complete. Under the warranty.

I was told at the time time that the new tank had been redesigned to take away the indentation.

I hope that helps.

I haven't checked mine for a while.

Good luck with yours.

[Kwikasfuki]

Charlie, phone up Kawasaki Customer Services and complain. They should replace the tank, not patch it up

[Lonewolf]

Foody, when you were told it was a design fault, do you have that in writing? Charlie's GTR is a 2013 model so you may expect his to have the modified tank on it. Both my earlier GTR and my current GTR (2011) collected water under the front of the seat at the point of contact with the tank, I always had to dry this area after a bike wash and then apply some ACF50. Thankfully it kept the rust at bay.

My opinion for what its worth is if a motor vehicle starts to rust when its 14 months old then clearly there's something very wrong and I'd want it sorting under the warranty!!

[Foody]

I had nothing in writing as the process and procedures to change the tank had already started when the bike was sold to me so for me it was just a question of making an appointment for the change.

I do seem to remember them saying (this was a couple of years ago) that the new tank still had the same welded seam but the indentation had had some form of filler or beading added to stop the water collecting.

It doesn't sound good for a new bike!

[Charlie747]

Spoke with Mr A Lunn from Kawasaki this afternoon.

Am still considering my options at this time

[Winston Smith]

Mine was like that almost from day one.  I treated it with some waxoyl or similar and forgot about it.  It's out of site and will take longer than the bikes life to rust through.

(Checked the Beemer - nope, no rust there....)

[virginiajim]

Our members in the US that have complained about this, have had the tank replaced by Kwak Central.  With that being said, one that is loathe to go to a dealer for most anything, I just cleaned the rust off and painted it with some anti-rust seam sealer....I think.   That was some time ago and the memory is somewhat unreliable unless plied with good beer.  I do take the seat off after getting caught in the rain and washing it to dry it off.  As I don't wash the bike very much...probably 7 times since I bought it, it isn't a big deal for me to do that.  However, I do agree it shouldn't rust in the first place and I'd be jolly mad at any Kwakster saying a bit of paint will make it right.....   I just went out and pulled the seat and checked for any moisture as I did run through a shower today on the way home from a ride.  Dry as a bone.  I would think that with your climate, it's a wonder all the tanks haven't rusted away and I dare say that mostly all will have some rust if you pull the foam on the top of the tank where the front of the seat rests.  I removed mine.  Probably why under the seat is dry.  Moisture isn't trapped and held there anymore.

[Zebedee]

As I said to Charlie the other day already being aware of this issue. I always park my bike up with the seat off if I have been out in the rain that day.


Sent from my iPhone by mini Elves.

Zeb

[O.C.]

Mine was like that almost from day one.  I treated it with some waxoyl or similar and forgot about it.  It's out of site and will take longer than the bikes life to rust through.

(Checked the Beemer - nope, no rust there....)

Nice one Chris......hang on a mo I'll just check the S10..............nope, all fine (as expected)    

My first and, to a lessr degree,  second GTR had this problem but ensuring it was correctly dried after a wash and or soaking plus the application of some Scottoil 365 prevented any re occurrence , my third GTR never suffered.

Look after them and they will look after you is what I say    

[Winston Smith]

I have had a couple of warranty claims both with the GTR and latterly the Beast.

I am, however, not a great believer in making, or pursuing, for fairly minor issues as the more claims that are made result in the manufacturers passing these costs on to the cost of the new models. 

Someone (i.e. us) has to pay for the parts supplied under warranty or work done.

Also the work done has to be carried out by dealers who will be given an under estimated time slot by the manufacturer resulting in them having to reclaim the cost of extra labour from - us.

Safety issues are a different matter however, and these I would pursue obviously.

[O.C.]

I have had a couple of warranty claims both with the GTR and latterly the Beast.

I am, however, not a great believer in making, or pursuing, for fairly minor issues as the more claims that are made result in the manufacturers passing these costs on to the cost of the new models. 

Someone (i.e. us) has to pay for the parts supplied under warranty or work done.

Also the work done has to be carried out by dealers who will be given an under estimated time slot by the manufacturer resulting in them having to reclaim the cost of extra labour from - us.

Safety issues are a different matter however, and these I would pursue obviously.

except dealers have a pre arranged warranty reimbursement rate and should therefore ensure that they allocate enough hours to effect a good repair.

All that stuff about repairing but not using correct / matching materials is, frankly, bollox