Bike Shops - Rate em 'n' slate em!!

Right i thought it was about time we had a section for reviews on bike/scooter shops you have visited.

please let everyone know about your good experiences and bad experiences with these places.

note: realistic reasons why a bike shop is "Shit" will be needed to back up the claim and also reasons why its good will also be needed to backup your claims.

hopefully (if this doesn't get spammed into orbit) this should help people decide the shops to go to and the shops to avoid (if it works, maybe even sticky?!?)

 

Jack Machins motorcycles - Lincoln ,
once took a bike for MOT there, he failed it on 2 points (which were fair enough, it had a broken indicator stay and worn front suspension bushes) so i took it, repaired it then brought it back and it failed on 3 other items (even though it had only travelled about 50 yards). so i took it away, fixed it then brought it back and he passed it but commented on the brake plate arm being fitted the wrong way.

Webbs of lincoln - Lincoln ,
Slightly overpriced when i've been there for parts, but they stock most parts you will need (variator nuts, drive belts, gaskets etc...), all in all if you are in a rush to get a part, at webs you can probably get it the same day (albeit a little expensive)

DK motorcycles - Stoke (newcastle-under-lyme) ,
what can i say, for anyone who has ever been there they will know, the place is awesome, wherever you look there are bikes crammed in, weather you are after a superbike, trilals, muscle, scooter supermoto, minimoto, quad.... they have it.
personally i don't rate their workshop department (didn't know the difference between a bandit 400 engine from an early bandit and one from a late bandit) but for a good look round and a great spares catalogue go here! you can get lost in the endless bikes for ages (and there's even more in their goods in department, brand new, still crated R1s and R6s, mitos, bennellis...)

 

ok MIDLANDS SCOOTERS IS SHIT!!!!.... i have many reasons... to many to list them all...

1. ok had a service by them.... they said everything was fine.... engine wise and the bike was mint... yet they didnt notice my engine mounts was fucked....garath and ben can both back me up sayin they was about as fucked as you could get half the engine was to the side... they said it was my frame twisted.... :rtfm: WHAT TWATS!! i payed them for a service and they didnt even notice the fuckin engine mounts was gone!!!

2.had a new crank/carb/piston and shit put in by them.... apart from ripping my mum of loads the mechanic fitted somthing wrong and a few days down the line it fucked up BAD!! it was a crank baring or somthing.... then another day the plug went.... they set the carb up shit!!! i took it back they said they fixed the problem.... few days later the plug fuckes up again and im stranded on a sunday night with no phone... TWATS! sent it back to them they saidf it was me not reving the bike enough as it needs to be worn in and the plug is gettin more oil!! :w00t: what muppets... i was wearing a crank and piston in.. im not goin to go full wack am i.... so in the end i had to use a br8es a hotter burning plug to sort this problem out.... i know they set the carb up shit cause after psn set it up it ran sweet as with a br9es plug.... so basicly i payed them over £600!!!! to fit a crank wrong.... fit my carb.. set up wrong!! and fit the piston which was the only thing that ran fine.... ohh what tops the cherry on this is.... my whole bike fucked up a year later because as wobbly says midlands used somthing to seal the crank up and it slowly got into my old and was starving the bike off oil and then caused the crank to fuck up!!! TWATS!!!

people i can go on and on...
people there do NOT know what they are talking about!! quotes from midlands....
you cant fit a 180cc variator to a 125 runner cause its for 180cc
you can get a 125 2 stroke piaggio zip we sell them...they is one over there.... i point out its a 4 stroke arc:
clutch springs and dynos dnt make a difference...
malossi forks make you go faster..
:w00t: this made me laugh as he was telling this to this twat who knew nothing and was goin to buy them for £500 :msn1:
all these quotes was from the same dumb fucker!!!
the manager is just as much of a twat!!
tryed to sell some guy a peugeot 50cc bike... some shit make... he said after 2 years this will not even loose value... PMSL and they go a genuine 50mph...
runner was with me on that one... and gazell has been with me on half the other ones....
only decent guy that works there is a guy called lee.... ohh and the amount of times ive asked for somthing and they have gave me the wrong thing.... eg...
runner speedo drive... gave me the wrong one!!
typhoon speedo cable... wrong one!!
even hardy of this forum went there for a jet he said what jet they said this will work perfect made his bike bog to fuck!!!!

Ive had to many bad experience with this SHIT BIKE SHOP!!! STAY AWAY THEY RIP YOU OF ON PARTS AND LABOUR!!!!

 

wow....im never going there

 

Have you ever looked in there 'workshop' ? the people working on bikes looked about 16 LOL

 

in addition to ant's post, the cases were sealed with excess silicone (personally i prefer to use hylamar anyway), which found it's way onto the big-end and caused a lack of oil and locked the big-end (i still have the crank somwhere if anyone is interested)

 

im 16

 

i know what ben means though, you'd expect some knowledge and expertise behind it. not some teeenagers. i was working on bikes in a bike shop from 15, everything i did was checked though. been working on bikes and cars since i was able to walk though (well "helping"). when i was 8 i rebuilt my first engine (suffolk colt motor) but most people these days just take a college course and expect to know everything.

 

monsta moto - newport shropshire :msn1:

took my bike away to 'check it and mot it' were friendly enuff but told me it would fail on bent bars, pitted forks and no speedo, and charged me £30 for the privilege, mot'd it with these pitted forks, bent bars and no speedo arc:

just annoys me that i mot'ed it just after ordering parts as i was gonna use the free retest when i got the parts but wanted to check for owt else wrong

wylie and holland :msn1:

bought a new tyre off them as i was desperate not to be off the road for easter, asked the guy what tyre it would be and got the reply 'well a scooter tyre, its black and round' arc: ended up with a really shit budget tyre what was bollocks in the wet, really was scary to ride at times, for £35,

also he told me he would fit it, and said well yeah can book you in in like 5 days :wtf: so had to buy the tyre n pay another place £10 to fit it :emb:

could have got a pilot sport fitted for that and a subway club sandwich with medium coke :rtfm:

 

aint had much experience with many but i rang up taffspeed to ask for some rollers and the guy on the phone said 'theres only 1 size of rollers' wtf !! and that i must have the size wrong.

 

VE-UK!!!

Ordered a rear funzy sports tyre...and was sent a planet commuter tyre!!
E-mailed them to sort the problem out, And they couldnt be bothered to
even Reply!!

In the end I had to contact Chiselspeed who i chose as the distributor,
And while i was on ordered a funzy front sports tyre...sorry out of stock,
but was told they would take 3 working days to come in!! i placed the order
and sent the planet tyre back...And waited...And waited...after 7 working days i got in contact again and they said sorry and sent my tyres out over night delivery!!! (They had obviously forgot)

In total it took 2 weeks and 4 E-mails and a trip to the post office to send a wrong tyre back to get my tyres...Not good!!!

A few weeks later i ordered a front outer pulley off the VE-Uk site...

placed my order...paid by Debit card everything ok...received a confirmation E-mail...4 Days later i received an E mail saying sorry out of stock...And we dont know if or when we will receive any....I swear to God i will never buy anything from VE again

 

Scootech London- what an excellent place, helpful staff and they know what there are doing unlike some places. £38 a hour for labour which I dont think is too bad and had a service on my dna and now it runs lovely.

 

i'm not charging enough

nice to hear a positive remark about a bike shop though.

 

£38 an hour!!!!

im one of those people who does all my own work....have done since i was 16yrs old....I must of saved a fortune

I hate garages touching my vehicles...you should see me at M.O.T time,
paceing up and down like an expectant dad....

Mind you its sailed through the last 2 times

 

Cos you aint a bike shop

 

nope, i'm much better working on i though

 

your not charging enough.....hmm, fancy doing a bit of work for me when i get my new bike

 

Taffspeed not really fussed on them you ring up nowadays and want something it has to be ordered, you book your bike in for 10 or what ever it you ring up at abt 3.00 ready to collect it isnt ready yet its booked in for 10 :rofl:

 

the motorbike shop i work in which is me and my boss we charge £40 a hour labour but obv i do all my work myself in a full fitted workshop for free lol

 

Normandy motorcycles (my local bike shop)

they will do ANY work that i need doing without mugging me off.. for example.. they wont over charge me.. or say other things need replacing when there is nothing rong with it..

they quoted me £45 to fit a crank into a partially stripped engine

and.. they will even pass a wheelbarrow through the M.O.T .. but if their is any thing rong with my ped through the M.O.T they will tell me but pass it anyways

and they are experianced mechanics who actually know what they are doing.

donotlink-Pedstop

rite.. alot of people slag it off.. yeh the prices may be slightly higher ... but the delivery is VERY good.. ordered my pipe and it came next day.. as the same with my forks

u may pay the extra pound or 2.. but the delivery makes up for it

ben.