My letter to Kawasaki regarding my 6 day old Ninja with a blown engine:
On June 13th, 2007, I picked up my brand new ZX6R. I have wanted the “Ninja” since I was 16 years old; Having grown up riding my KX80, my Tecate 4, and eventually graduating to the KX250, I have always had a brand loyalty to Kawasaki because of their awesome combination of style and performance. I picked up the bike late on the 13th of June and rode it only the distance to my home, approximately 15 miles, and immediately garaged it and took my son to a Detroit Tiger’s game. The following morning, I started the engine and as I was strapping my helmet for my very first ride, I noticed a “ticking” sound and thought it sounded a little out of the ordinary. I rode the bike only to the gym and did not take it to work like I had planned due to the sound the engine was making. While on my lunch break I called Nicholson’s and spoke with Mike, my salesperson, and expressed my concern about the “ticking” noise. (the date remember, is June 14th, ONE DAY after receiving the bike) Mike informed me that all sport bikes had a ticking noise and it was nothing to worry about. Being my first sport bike, I believed him and couldn’t wait to get home to ride it and felt silly for not riding to work. I went home and rode my bike all night and took it and showed it off to everyone. For some reason, I still couldn’t believe that this bike was supposed to make such a distracting and annoying noise. On the 16th of June, I was riding with a friend who rides a ZX-9 and he heard the noise and said it is not an ordinary sound, and that I should contact someone to have it looked it. At that point, I noticed while my key was in the on position and the bike was not running, the oil light flashed until the bike was started and then it turned off. I again called Mike and told him of this condition and told him the “ticking” appeared to be louder. He told me the oil light always flashes until the bike is started and as long as it goes off, there is nothing to worry about. I continued to ride, including taking my wife and older son on this bike, which I was about to find out, had not been safe to be operating on public roads. Luckily for everyone involved, the final “pandemonium” (as described by your authorized Kawasaki dealer) occurred while I was alone on the bike so that no innocent people were injured. On the morning of June 20th, 2007, I decided to get another opinion and called Plymouth Motorsports (110 Ann Arbor Rd, Plymouth, Mi 48170) and spoke with Jeff and explained to him the noise I was hearing. He told me it is true that sport bikes have a type of ticking noise, but if it were so loud that it was bothering me, I should bring it in and have a technician look at it. I decided to take it in immediately and started driving to the dealership. While making a sharp left turn, the engine backfired loudly and the bike lost power, almost causing me to lose control while in the middle of my turn. The bike then began to backfire rapidly and making horrible noises. I walked to my house and picked up my truck and my neighbor and loaded the bike into the truck. I took it to the dealership where Jeff Koenig met me and unloaded my bike. He told me the “motorcycle guy” was gone for the day and they would get it in to look at the next day. I couldn’t believe I was going to be without my brand new bike for possibly two days! I called Mike again at Nicholson’s and told him the situation and asked if anyone in their service department could possibly look at it any sooner. He told me he would check, and call me right back. I never received his call and decided reluctantly to leave it for the entire evening at Plymouth Motorsports.
On June 21st, I called your department (female employee, do not recall a name) and expressed my displeasure with having my week old motorcycle in the shop and asked how Kawasaki handled such situations and if there were any provisions that allowed for a loaner bike or some other customer friendly program to assist a consumer of a brand new motorcycle who is left without one. I felt as though I was wasting her time as she informed me there were no such actions to be taken by Kawasaki. I waited until the end of the day on the 21st and called Plymouth, and asked for a status on my bike. Jeff told me the bike had not been torn apart, but it was definitely NOT a sparkplug, as optimistically diagnosed, but rather something internal and the engine was going to have to be completely torn apart! My brand new engine, torn apart! I then called Nicholson’s and told them the bad news and asked what could be done for me. Nothing was ever done, and I never received return calls. At this point, I naively thought it would be better to deal directly with the manufacturer rather than the local dealership. That lead me to my first discussion with Mark. (no last name) Mark was not very sympathetic to my concerns, and spoke rather condescendingly and at one point made a comment to me to the effect of: “If you’re looking for me to snap my fingers and give you a new bike, it isn’t gonna happen!” He also informed me that Kawasaki does not have crate engines and that my week old motorcycle was going to get a rebuilt engine! A little background on me: I work for an aluminum casting supplier (the largest in the world) and work as a Quality Representative in ENGINE ASSEMBLY PLANTS DAILY, and have done so for many years! When you try to tell me that a bike rebuilt in a dealership’s garage with 15 other assorted vehicles around him, by someone who may have been working on a Yamaha watercraft the day before is going to do the same quality of work as the worker in the manufacturer’s assembly plant by someone who specializes in building the motor for my ZX6R, you are absolutely INCORRECT! I am not questioning the service technician’s abilities or that of the dealership, I am simply stating a fact! I do not, and I doubt anyone reading this, would react any differently upon being told their week old motorcycle was going to be rebuilt. I hung up with Mark with more of a feeling that Kawasaki has no sympathy for the fact that I’m in Michigan and my riding season is ticking away. Jeff at Plymouth, the ONLY person in this nightmare giving me information that I did not have to solicit, told me the bike had a failed valve on the 1st cylinder and that they bike was totally apart and they were putting together a list of parts to order to rebuild the bike. Furious still that my bike was being rebuilt, I felt better when he told me they would order the parts, get them in 3-7 days, 2 days labor and I would have it back. I felt the fact that I had to wait was absurd, so I again called customer service and Nathan agreed to have all parts overnighted to the dealership and Kawasaki would pay. This was the FIRST (and last) thing your company did to make me believe for one minute that you cared about me, the consumer. I called Jeff back, told him to get the ball rolling, make sure to overnight them and lets get ready because my birthday was on the 30th of June, and I had plans to go riding with 5 friends for a two day trip. I was also excited because due to the Holiday, the auto plants in Detroit are shutdown for two weeks and I am off of work with nothing to do but ride! My sheer joy once again came crashing down when Dan (service manager at Plymouth) called me to tell me 8 parts were on backorder and had an arrival date of 2-3 WEEKS! Just to catch you up, that would mean I rode my malfunctioning bike for 7 days, and if things go as planned, it would be in the shop for the next 28 days due to a Manufacturer’s defect! I NEVER RODE ONE MILE ON MY BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLE IN WHICH IT PERFORMED IN THE WAY I HAD EXPECTED. How can anyone in their right mind justify me continuing to wait and continuing to pay for this? I have NEVER heard of anything like this in my life. I again called customer service and again was put through to Mark who again showed no sympathy or resolution and again spoke to me not as a consumer, but as though I was a nuisance. After a heated discussion, I asked to speak to his supervisor and he instead sent me to Nathan, his co-worker. (whether deliberate or not, still incompetent) I again called back (long distance) and asked to speak to Rick, the customer supervisor. I left him a message voicing my displeasure and asked for a return call ASAP! The next day, I again called and left yet another message for Rick. He returned my second call around 4pm EST and I again felt as though I wasting my breath to someone who really insisted on trying to convince me (and probably himself) that my situation was being handled properly. I at that point gave up talking to anyone in the consumer relations team and have decided and am completely convinced Kawasaki, it’s dealerships, and it’s employees have no concept of customer satisfaction and what a huge role it plays in referrals, or in this case warnings against going with a certain company. This seems even more delicate of a situation in this age of internet networking and the ability to reach thousands of people in a certain target consumer group. Especially considering the competitiveness of the sport bike market. Preach all you want about Kawasaki’s advantages over it’s competitor’s, but what it really boils down to is brand recognition and allegiance and what people say on the streets. It would have looked very good for Kawasaki to have taken care of this situation quickly, and had me back on the road in days rather than in months! I have turned from a die-hard green supporter to someone who would never recommend buying a Kawasaki, which is a shame, because I absolutely loved everything about the bike in the week I got to ride it. It’s the people that make the difference, and in this case it was HUGE and handled more poorly than anything I have ever heard of.
On June 13th, 2007, I picked up my brand new ZX6R. I have wanted the “Ninja” since I was 16 years old; Having grown up riding my KX80, my Tecate 4, and eventually graduating to the KX250, I have always had a brand loyalty to Kawasaki because of their awesome combination of style and performance. I picked up the bike late on the 13th of June and rode it only the distance to my home, approximately 15 miles, and immediately garaged it and took my son to a Detroit Tiger’s game. The following morning, I started the engine and as I was strapping my helmet for my very first ride, I noticed a “ticking” sound and thought it sounded a little out of the ordinary. I rode the bike only to the gym and did not take it to work like I had planned due to the sound the engine was making. While on my lunch break I called Nicholson’s and spoke with Mike, my salesperson, and expressed my concern about the “ticking” noise. (the date remember, is June 14th, ONE DAY after receiving the bike) Mike informed me that all sport bikes had a ticking noise and it was nothing to worry about. Being my first sport bike, I believed him and couldn’t wait to get home to ride it and felt silly for not riding to work. I went home and rode my bike all night and took it and showed it off to everyone. For some reason, I still couldn’t believe that this bike was supposed to make such a distracting and annoying noise. On the 16th of June, I was riding with a friend who rides a ZX-9 and he heard the noise and said it is not an ordinary sound, and that I should contact someone to have it looked it. At that point, I noticed while my key was in the on position and the bike was not running, the oil light flashed until the bike was started and then it turned off. I again called Mike and told him of this condition and told him the “ticking” appeared to be louder. He told me the oil light always flashes until the bike is started and as long as it goes off, there is nothing to worry about. I continued to ride, including taking my wife and older son on this bike, which I was about to find out, had not been safe to be operating on public roads. Luckily for everyone involved, the final “pandemonium” (as described by your authorized Kawasaki dealer) occurred while I was alone on the bike so that no innocent people were injured. On the morning of June 20th, 2007, I decided to get another opinion and called Plymouth Motorsports (110 Ann Arbor Rd, Plymouth, Mi 48170) and spoke with Jeff and explained to him the noise I was hearing. He told me it is true that sport bikes have a type of ticking noise, but if it were so loud that it was bothering me, I should bring it in and have a technician look at it. I decided to take it in immediately and started driving to the dealership. While making a sharp left turn, the engine backfired loudly and the bike lost power, almost causing me to lose control while in the middle of my turn. The bike then began to backfire rapidly and making horrible noises. I walked to my house and picked up my truck and my neighbor and loaded the bike into the truck. I took it to the dealership where Jeff Koenig met me and unloaded my bike. He told me the “motorcycle guy” was gone for the day and they would get it in to look at the next day. I couldn’t believe I was going to be without my brand new bike for possibly two days! I called Mike again at Nicholson’s and told him the situation and asked if anyone in their service department could possibly look at it any sooner. He told me he would check, and call me right back. I never received his call and decided reluctantly to leave it for the entire evening at Plymouth Motorsports.
On June 21st, I called your department (female employee, do not recall a name) and expressed my displeasure with having my week old motorcycle in the shop and asked how Kawasaki handled such situations and if there were any provisions that allowed for a loaner bike or some other customer friendly program to assist a consumer of a brand new motorcycle who is left without one. I felt as though I was wasting her time as she informed me there were no such actions to be taken by Kawasaki. I waited until the end of the day on the 21st and called Plymouth, and asked for a status on my bike. Jeff told me the bike had not been torn apart, but it was definitely NOT a sparkplug, as optimistically diagnosed, but rather something internal and the engine was going to have to be completely torn apart! My brand new engine, torn apart! I then called Nicholson’s and told them the bad news and asked what could be done for me. Nothing was ever done, and I never received return calls. At this point, I naively thought it would be better to deal directly with the manufacturer rather than the local dealership. That lead me to my first discussion with Mark. (no last name) Mark was not very sympathetic to my concerns, and spoke rather condescendingly and at one point made a comment to me to the effect of: “If you’re looking for me to snap my fingers and give you a new bike, it isn’t gonna happen!” He also informed me that Kawasaki does not have crate engines and that my week old motorcycle was going to get a rebuilt engine! A little background on me: I work for an aluminum casting supplier (the largest in the world) and work as a Quality Representative in ENGINE ASSEMBLY PLANTS DAILY, and have done so for many years! When you try to tell me that a bike rebuilt in a dealership’s garage with 15 other assorted vehicles around him, by someone who may have been working on a Yamaha watercraft the day before is going to do the same quality of work as the worker in the manufacturer’s assembly plant by someone who specializes in building the motor for my ZX6R, you are absolutely INCORRECT! I am not questioning the service technician’s abilities or that of the dealership, I am simply stating a fact! I do not, and I doubt anyone reading this, would react any differently upon being told their week old motorcycle was going to be rebuilt. I hung up with Mark with more of a feeling that Kawasaki has no sympathy for the fact that I’m in Michigan and my riding season is ticking away. Jeff at Plymouth, the ONLY person in this nightmare giving me information that I did not have to solicit, told me the bike had a failed valve on the 1st cylinder and that they bike was totally apart and they were putting together a list of parts to order to rebuild the bike. Furious still that my bike was being rebuilt, I felt better when he told me they would order the parts, get them in 3-7 days, 2 days labor and I would have it back. I felt the fact that I had to wait was absurd, so I again called customer service and Nathan agreed to have all parts overnighted to the dealership and Kawasaki would pay. This was the FIRST (and last) thing your company did to make me believe for one minute that you cared about me, the consumer. I called Jeff back, told him to get the ball rolling, make sure to overnight them and lets get ready because my birthday was on the 30th of June, and I had plans to go riding with 5 friends for a two day trip. I was also excited because due to the Holiday, the auto plants in Detroit are shutdown for two weeks and I am off of work with nothing to do but ride! My sheer joy once again came crashing down when Dan (service manager at Plymouth) called me to tell me 8 parts were on backorder and had an arrival date of 2-3 WEEKS! Just to catch you up, that would mean I rode my malfunctioning bike for 7 days, and if things go as planned, it would be in the shop for the next 28 days due to a Manufacturer’s defect! I NEVER RODE ONE MILE ON MY BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLE IN WHICH IT PERFORMED IN THE WAY I HAD EXPECTED. How can anyone in their right mind justify me continuing to wait and continuing to pay for this? I have NEVER heard of anything like this in my life. I again called customer service and again was put through to Mark who again showed no sympathy or resolution and again spoke to me not as a consumer, but as though I was a nuisance. After a heated discussion, I asked to speak to his supervisor and he instead sent me to Nathan, his co-worker. (whether deliberate or not, still incompetent) I again called back (long distance) and asked to speak to Rick, the customer supervisor. I left him a message voicing my displeasure and asked for a return call ASAP! The next day, I again called and left yet another message for Rick. He returned my second call around 4pm EST and I again felt as though I wasting my breath to someone who really insisted on trying to convince me (and probably himself) that my situation was being handled properly. I at that point gave up talking to anyone in the consumer relations team and have decided and am completely convinced Kawasaki, it’s dealerships, and it’s employees have no concept of customer satisfaction and what a huge role it plays in referrals, or in this case warnings against going with a certain company. This seems even more delicate of a situation in this age of internet networking and the ability to reach thousands of people in a certain target consumer group. Especially considering the competitiveness of the sport bike market. Preach all you want about Kawasaki’s advantages over it’s competitor’s, but what it really boils down to is brand recognition and allegiance and what people say on the streets. It would have looked very good for Kawasaki to have taken care of this situation quickly, and had me back on the road in days rather than in months! I have turned from a die-hard green supporter to someone who would never recommend buying a Kawasaki, which is a shame, because I absolutely loved everything about the bike in the week I got to ride it. It’s the people that make the difference, and in this case it was HUGE and handled more poorly than anything I have ever heard of.
