Part Two of the Saga.... Saturday:
Back to the saga... I ride my VTX to GBM at 8:30 and tell the Service clerk my story. I'm supposed to be on my way to Lake George by now, and am unhappy. 5 minutes later Ollie, a Service Mgr, points to a lift in the left bay and says as soon as my GL shows up it'll go on that lift and be looked at right away. My sales guy (Ken) checks with me to make sure everything is OK and I hang around, obviously in the way but no says anything. I fact everyone is friendly and several guys (GBM & customers) spend time looking at the VTX. I'm trying to be cranky & mad but everyone seems to have my best interests in mind.
9:15 Thom calls my cell and says he's on his way and will be there in 15 minutes. As an aside Gary is now there getting an inspection sticker and like a true NERd, hangs around with me, keeping me company, until the bike is there and everything looks under control. Thanks Gary!!!
9:30, Thom arrives, parks around the corner, and opens the trailer. The GL has leaked more coolant on the deck and Thom explains he needs to wipe it up before we can move the bike. "You don't want to get that stuff on the tires." Nice!
He wheels it down the ramp and I grab the handlebars and start pushing it up to the service bay. I know Gary & Thom both offered to help but to be honest I have no idea who did; I just wanted to get the thing to Ollie's lift! If it didn't roll I'd've carried it!!
The bike is outside the bay for a couple of minutes while Thom gets some information from me. When he is done, Rob, the Sales Manager of GBM, comes out to look at the bike. He assures me he's going to get it inside right away. He cautions me that he cannot guarantee that he can get it fixed today and already knows I'm supposed to be going to Americade. I tell him that's the wrong answer and I need that bike today! If it's a parts issue, tear down a show room model and fix it!
Rob takes this in stride and says he does not have a GL1800 to tear down but is already calling partner shops to find one. If he can get his hands on a GL today, he'll do it "No Problem." He also says if he cannot fix my bike, he'll make a 2002 BMW K1200LT demo unit he has available to me to bring to Americade for the week, at no cost to me. This is an amazing offer, and crushing to me because Heidi is not comfortable on long rides on the K1200, which is why I got the GL. Rob says he understands and he'll do everything he can. He goes back inside and I turn around and my GL is in on the lift.
Another 30 or so minutes passes, maybe more, and Rob waves me over and asks me to follow him into the General Manager's Office. He breaks the bad news first "The GL is not going with you to Americade." My brain slips a cog and I start to go into immediate overdrive. Rob continues, "But I have a solution I think you'll like." I decide to calm down while he explains. "We have a 2002 GL1800 Demo at Parkway Cycles for you to take to Americade. I'll go get it myself, have my Service Guys go over it for safety, and you can have it in a couple of hours. I’m sorry that it is yellow, but at least you and your wife can get to New York" I’m totally stunned at this level of service. It's one thing to demand that a company who's just taken $20k out of your pocket should step up to the plate at a time like this, it's quite another when they offer to do so by handing you a second $20k motorcycle as a loaner to take to New York for a week! He then introduces Bob, the General Manager of GBM, and says Bob has already started to find a new, crated GL1800 that he was going to have prepped and made available to me if there was no demo available!
This level of service is just beyond belief! I am now beyond stunned with the level of commitment and effort these guys are going through so I can go on vacation despite a Honda factory defect that they had no control over!
Rob then says two more things: He knows what the problem is and will have his lead technician explain it to me in detail, and then he asks me to take my VTX for a ride and come back in an hour or so and everything will be ready. “I have to tell you Mr. Adams, this is going to be a lot easier for us to do without you standing around staring at us.” I have to admit I was not helping matters standing around just waiting for something to screw up.
So we go to the lift, where customers are not supposed to go, and the tech shows me a black rubber collar about 3” in diameter and 4 “ long, with one end torn to smithereens. He says this goes over the driveshaft where it connects to the transmission. Evidently mine got wrapped around the shaft, pulled free of the tranny, and flailed around inside the bike. During which time it grabbed the engine coolant line, tearing it in half, and what some other 1” rubber hose which he said was very important. Even if he had the new parts, he has to take the back of the bike completely apart to get it over the drive shaft.”
Giving up on the bike, and accepting that I’m going to be taking a “School Bus” to Americade, I hop on my VTX and go home.
Continued on Third Post... Told you it's a long story....
Edited 6/1/2003 1:07:42 PM ET by Wes (WES_VTX) | 
