I watched this rather long (2 hours) video on YouTube about concerning levels of support from Triumph in Australia and other places. I hope you guys are not experiencing the same with your bikes. Apologies if this has already been posted.
Same here when my rad sprung a leak. Weeks waiting for it to come from Thailand. Full support from my chosen dealer Bulldog Triumph. Who even in the end loaned me their test bike. In the end i suggested that Triumph removed the rad from a bike they had and repaired mine. Or i was going to reject the bike and buy a Honda. I still feel the same and if i decide to change bikes any time soon i shall consider Honda. Lost total confidence in Triumph now.
That’s a shame Joe. The bikes look great, but you need to have good dealer support with stores full of parts. Waiting weeks or months is not acceptable. After watching that video, I was shocked and stepped into the garage to hug my 2 Suzukis.
Watched this last night, it would seem that Triumph are not learning the lessons that made them go under last time round. Fred was clearly an expert in that field of engineering, and shouldn't have been dismissed and fobbed off to the extent he was. I know that any machine, no matter who it's built by, can have serious problems, but for a manufacturer to basically wash their hands of the problem it not very good, and shows contempt for the paying customer. I love the new Scrambler 400 xt, but I do have my reservations about buying one, as I've heard some horror stories about them too.
Looks like Triumph have bought a job lot of KTM camshaft’s. Fred is an expert engineer and Triumph should’ve listened to him about those issues he was having. To fob him off was just really really bad. And to think I was thinking of adding a small Triumph to my collection. No longer.
In 2013 I got stranded in Scotland with a stone through the rad on my ZZR. After calling the RAC they tried to get hold of a new one, with the intention of changing it at the roadside (impossible) but no joy. After being recovered home I contacted the dealer who, understandably, didn’t have one on the shelf and Kawasaki UK didn’t have one in stock either but they got one in 4 days, despite the bike being a new model! That’s what service is all about. I’ve recently been contacted several times by phone calls, texts and two letters by a local Triumph dealership to book the Scrambler in for annual (2yr) service even though I didn’t buy it from them. I’ve no intention of booking a dealer service and the slightly annoying thing is they’ve got my name wrong. Being reminded (pestered) to book a service is one thing but backup for problems and warranty work is quite another. While it’s true there are dealers with a bad reputation and those with good, they will all rely on Triumph factory backup for warranty work covering manufacturing defects/build problems and if they can’t get that for parts and info there’s not much they can do which is unacceptable form an owner’s perspective and a sh1t attitude from Triumph..
To be fair to Triumph and the other brands here in the Netherlands I’ve never had an ounce of trouble either with reliability or dealer backup/support. My dealer who I’ve bought most of my bikes from used to sell BMW as well as Suzuki, but they lost BMW after they insisted they had to sell their brand only. I bought a new BMW from them (R1200R) which had all sorts of issues which were all sorted out under warranty, but I lost confidence in the bike and brand and sold it to buy a Triumph. Suzukis I’ve bought from them have never given any trouble and my dealer here is excellent and is the reason I keep buying bikes from him. However whilst my Triumphs were all ok, it’s quite a few years back now and it seems that they are not treating customers fairly or consistently across countries and the bikes are not as reliable as they once were. If you’ve watched that video I posted, that worn camshaft is shocking, like it’s made of chocolate. I think had I been Fred, I would have cut my losses, thrown the Triumph in a skip and bought Japanese.
I have noticed a number of people saying that they wouldn’t use Triumph dealerships for a service. This is worrying me because I bought a new ST 900 last year and as far as I understand it I must use an approved service centre to maintain my warranty. The only approved centres near me are Triumph dealerships.
Watched part of the video, so depressed I stopped it. Years ago I purchased a brand new Honda from a local dealer. Within a month from new the electronic ignition failed just as I got to work. I phoned the dealer and the bike was delivered to them by the RAC. Later in the day they phoned back with the diagnosis that it was indeed the electronic ignition module failure. No spares were available within the country but Honda would fly one out asap. I asked how long the repair would take. A chuckle was the reply, the bike will be ready tomorrow. We have stripped the unit from a stock new bike. When I went in to pick the bike up, there in the back of the showroom was a brand new unregistered bike with wires hanging out where they had stripped the module out. That seems above and beyond the expected service. Question, where do you think the next new bike came from.
@BonnieCat I do have an excellent bunch wit Bulldog Triumph. But its not The dealership at fault. Triumph have all their spares in Thailand and thought Triumph and the dealer try to hurry things along Thailand just don't care. And i like Honda's anyway so if i do have another bike it will be Honda.
There are 2 reasons I’m not booking a dealer service. First one is I’ve always done my own maintenance and servicing on all the bikes I’ve owned and secondly, the bike is now 2 yrs old and out of warranty anyway. If I wasn’t so hands on with the spanner’s, personally I’d have no worries taking it to the local dealer for servicing.
