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Ktm ownership

Bmw after sales service is much better imho.... If I owned the KTM dealership I would at least offer to cover the labour...I have experience BMW breakdown services come to storms river, take the bike to George get them to open the dealership on a public holiday and replace the fuel pump. I've been riding and racing bikes all my life and have never had a rear shock failure...front fork seal yes but never rear shocks. When I bought my first new BMW I was told that any major failures on the bike that were not rider abuse or wear and tear that occurred out of warranty, that BMW would cover up to half the cost of the repair.... Unfortunately (as much as I love them) KTM is short for Kak To Maintain...

That's my issue. I've also never heard or seen a rear shock just pop all it's juices out until this incident. Front fork leaks, I've had before.
Hopefully it's not too expensive, After all my complaining and all that I have sort of calmed down and will most likely end up keeping it because I love the fckn thing too much.

I have never ridden a bike like the KTM before I owned it, even the Bking which can compete on power, cannot compete on the nimbleness and technology side of things.
Powerful V-twins are dying out slowly. SV1000- dead,Tuono 1000R -dead, new streetfighter - V4... the monster 1200 is still a V-twin but that's the only other "powerful" V-twin motorcycle out there still.

Before the motorcycling world moves over to electric and instant acceleration will be a common thing, I would like to have one of the last "beast" twins that ever existed. And I'll most likely end up keeping the thing forever.
 
Soo yea...

F#CK KTM RACEWORX!!

First of all, they tell me my bike is ready and that the total comes up to R3500, Really? Cool.
Go to pick it up. They didn't add labour yet or tax. Okay, So it ramps up to R4800. Okay, I expected as much.
Ask about the rear shock failure and how much that's going to cost, They say it was fixed under warranty. Awesome.
Get home, fck around a bit then wonder what could have costed soo much, was it the oil?. Look at the invoice and see something called "ADAPTOR CPL D=46 H=28 07". Soo I google and behold its a rear shock component for my bike which they obviously charged me for but yet it was fixed under warranty?.
I'm a little more than pissed off now, 4 weeks with no motorcycle, shit communication. They didn't sort out my front brake leaver nor did they sort out the brake reservoir and from what I can tell the fuel filler cap problem I was experiencing and they fckn charged me for it all.
I don't mind the cost, I was expecting to cost that much but fck their customer service,communication and transparency is bloody pathetic, buy a R200K+ motorcycle from them and they won't even try provide a good service.

Soo fuck them and their shitty orange horse they rode on, After the fight I'm going to have with them tomorrow I'll give it one last try with KTM Trax? (pretoria?). If they turn out to be shit as well then well... I'll say screw KTM.
 
Soo yea...

F#CK KTM RACEWORX!!

First of all, they tell me my bike is ready and that the total comes up to R3500, Really? Cool.
Go to pick it up. They didn't add labour yet or tax. Okay, So it ramps up to R4800. Okay, I expected as much.
Ask about the rear shock failure and how much that's going to cost, They say it was fixed under warranty. Awesome.
Get home, fck around a bit then wonder what could have costed soo much, was it the oil?. Look at the invoice and see something called "ADAPTOR CPL D=46 H=28 07". Soo I google and behold its a rear shock component for my bike which they obviously charged me for but yet it was fixed under warranty?.
I'm a little more than pissed off now, 4 weeks with no motorcycle, shit communication. They didn't sort out my front brake leaver nor did they sort out the brake reservoir and from what I can tell the fuel filler cap problem I was experiencing and they fckn charged me for it all.
I don't mind the cost, I was expecting to cost that much but fck their customer service,communication and transparency is bloody pathetic, buy a R200K+ motorcycle from them and they won't even try provide a good service.

Soo fuck them and their shitty orange horse they rode on, After the fight I'm going to have with them tomorrow I'll give it one last try with KTM Trax? (pretoria?). If they turn out to be shit as well then well... I'll say screw KTM.
The team at Traxx is solid! I know Riaan from the Husaberg days.

Hope you come right dude. Good luck.
 
Both my 2018 Honda Africa Twin rims were replaced after the spokes had a bit of rust. So I'm happy with Honda. :)
 
Heyo

After a small fight they are going to refund me the part that was supposed to be covered under warranty, though they claim that spongyness on my front brake lever is normal and that's how it's supposed to be.
The leaking reservoir is normal as well and it's called "sweating".

I took it to a little bike shop that has recently relocated up the road from me. My bike was taken to him on Sat and both issues were sorted in 30 minutes because the diaphram/seal was not properly seated and it was bent. he put it the correct way and closed the lid correctly(apparently it wasn't done right either). Didn't charge me anything and said to consider it a favour.

Going to let him look after my bike and see how it goes. Screw Raceworx.

On the plus side, it's good to finally have my bike back. It feels good to ride and the brakes are back to the awesome state they were when I first got the bike, no leaking... Feels good.
 
Glad you came right!

Most dealer after service is shit and that goes for the majority of brands, first hand experience.
Kawasaki (Triumph support back then) and Harley are of the best i have experienced (even long term).
 
I see this is quite an old thread, and thought I'd share my experience with KTM.

I've had horrible warranty experience with Centurion KTM, but fantastic with Raceworx regarding my 350sx-f.

With my 990 adventure R, KTM quoted me R6800 for a 30K service, which is a big one for the V-twin engines..but still, R6800 for one service was a bit unreal. I then got pointed to Offroad Cycle's in PTA North, where i've only heard good reviews, they quoted me R3200 for the same service. The owner still said yep, KTM double charge their services.

I took the bike there, they are KTM approved so they can stamp your service book. They even gave me a loan bike as the 990 is my daily commuter. So i honestly will recommend them for any service,for any brand bike.

Then not too long after that my rear shock collapsed one morning. I luckily met the owner of Blue Note suspension (Leon) the previous week, spoke to him and he said I should bring the bike that same day. I was scared for the price because I know a rear shock rebuild is pricey! But Leon quoted me R2000 for the rear shock, complete rebuild and set-up, on which I then asked he does the same for the forks, which was R4000 in total.

Leon gave me his person vespa as a loan bike, and I had my 990 back within a couple of days. Suspension rebuilt and completely day and night difference! I could not believe the improvement over the stock suspension. I love taking offroad tracks to and from work, and thenew blue note suspension made the 990 feel like a 450, simply amazing!
 
Yep KTM services are not cheap, and heard many stories of crappy service from a few different stores.

Glad you hapy with Leon's work, had him setup my Husqvarna but I just wasn't happy so went with Justin at Shock Logic who did Dal Soggio it's a huge improvement.

Those 990s are excellent bikes!
 
Yeah suspension setup is such a delicate and personal thing, but it's good to have options of good specialists out there (y) I've alsoheard good reviews from Shock Logic, glad you have a happy result!

And for sure, that 990 is just a beauty to ride, I love watching the KTM Rallye videos on YouTube, day dreaming to one day take the 990 out for a few days.
 
It's not just KTM. I have a BMW R1200GS and as most know that bike had a recall due to the front forks randomly falling apart. To fix this issue BMW put a metal cap over the affected side of the fork and I assume they use some kind of press to get it on because it can't be removed by anyone but a BMW dealership.

So my bike started leaking small amounts of oil out of the forks just weeks after this recall fix was done and after much fighting and swearing on my part they refused to fix it because the fork seals are a service item and it cost me R2000 to fix it. So I have a very bitter attitude towards BMW now but after reading your story I think it's again just typical South African bad customer service.
 
It's not just KTM. I have a BMW R1200GS and as most know that bike had a recall due to the front forks randomly falling apart. To fix this issue BMW put a metal cap over the affected side of the fork and I assume they use some kind of press to get it on because it can't be removed by anyone but a BMW dealership.

So my bike started leaking small amounts of oil out of the forks just weeks after this recall fix was done and after much fighting and swearing on my part they refused to fix it because the fork seals are a service item and it cost me R2000 to fix it. So I have a very bitter attitude towards BMW now but after reading your story I think it's again just typical South African bad customer service.

Was your R1200GS still under warranty?

I wouldn't be able to complain about the warranty on the rear shock if it was out of warranty(obviously) but it still had 6+ months left. It wasn't just a leaking shock, it was complete shock failure, It's juices were all over my rear tyre and back of the engine.

I've since traded it in for a BMW S1000R. I've had the S1000R for going onto my third week now.
I'm a little bit bitter about my decision though, the KTM is a much better bike. It really is. The build quality is better, the fueling is amazing and obviously the power and usability of the power, It had traction control,wheelie control and all that. It still let you have a little bit of fun. Would lift the front wheel slightly before dropping it and though you could feel the traction control cutting power to the engine it isn't nearly as bad as the S1000R. This S1000R is poop in it's current state, ABS cuts in way too early(KTM's brakes are beastly), Traction control feels as if it turns off the power completely and then on.. then off and then on, a really jerky experience.

I have read online and quite a few owners went through "Teething" problems on 2017-Current BMW S1000Rs. The initial break in period apparently makes the bike feel kak. After that they enable Dynamic pro and thats where you fix all the problems yourself. Configure the level of ABS, traction control,wheelie control, suspension, throttle response and then it's apparently just as good as the KTM if not better. which I'll do.
A few things I like about the BMW is the gearing is a bit longer in the first few gears. I can set it in 2nd and if I don't hit any red lights I don't ever need to change. The KTM's first few gears are soo short that you usually sit in 3rd and have to change down to 2nd if you slow down too much.
The styling looks more like a streetfighter since it is based on the S1000RR I suppose it would look meaner. I still like the crazy look of the KTM though but the BMW does look good, especially in person.
I don't miss the orange wheels of the KTM. They got dirty way too easily, after 3 days they looked shit.
KTM did sound and feel better at idle, You know it's got a 120kw engine while it just idles. the BMW on the other hand.... yea. sounds very unimpressive at idle and if you were not looking at it you wouldn't know its got a 120kw engine.
BMW crackles on downshifts, which sounds good and obviously at higher RPM the BMW sounds better than the KTM. But at commuting speeds and just plodding around the KTM takes the cake in the sound department with it's deep thump thump.
Just imagine sitting in your Civic Type R and you feel your car start shaking, then a Lumina SS stops besides you. That's what the KTM does.

Anywho, I'm going to miss the KTM. I may buy one again in the future but I doubt it.
 
It's not just KTM. I have a BMW R1200GS and as most know that bike had a recall due to the front forks randomly falling apart. To fix this issue BMW put a metal cap over the affected side of the fork and I assume they use some kind of press to get it on because it can't be removed by anyone but a BMW dealership.

So my bike started leaking small amounts of oil out of the forks just weeks after this recall fix was done and after much fighting and swearing on my part they refused to fix it because the fork seals are a service item and it cost me R2000 to fix it. So I have a very bitter attitude towards BMW now but after reading your story I think it's again just typical South African bad customer service.

I disagree, there are some that let the rest down but SA is pretty good! these brands follow their brands international terms and you will find that most of the time these our local guys are bound by these rules which ultimately make them look bad.
 
I still think bike dealerships in SA are taking the piss. My bike's service costs more than my wife's big ass diesel SUV and find that hard to swallow. I mean for crying out load it a freaking bike. Everything is less and easy to access. Should cost way less. And to answer the previous question yes my bike was still under warranty and that is what the fight was about but ultimately I just paid and got it fixed and my next bike will probably be a different brand.
 
Hectic, I did not expect that level of service from a BMW, to just seal a fork like that and not fix it..just plain lazy..

I full on believe if you have found someone who can service your bike like a boss, stick with him, even if it is further than the dealership. Even with my Audi, I take it to Darkartz Performance to get it's normal services, same with offroad Cycles, will not take my bike to a different place, not even a KTM dealership

@D3TTOL Making the switch after that 1290 must have been difficult 😄 I've ridden the 790 duke and 1290 duke GT, and my goodness..the 1290 is like you said, when you sit on it and it idles...you just know there is a beast underneath you!

I am happy to hear you are enjoying the BMW though, at the end of the day, does not matter which bike we ride, as long as we can ride we will get a smile (y)
 

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