Need a Good Workshop

Ok here is a brief run down on my woes, bike serviced by dealer at 4000 km (early due to family reasons 12 months passed before 6000 kms reached), after service the bike started blowing lots of smoke for approx 1min at start up with cold motor, much talk with the dealer and posted video of problem on youtube and chat with Suzuki in Melbourne then bike goes for warrenty work, bike gone for 2 months. Whilst at dealer bike gets damaged and gets resprayed, they didnt tell me i found out by accident, now have bike back, still blowing smoke, not as bad but shouldnt be blowing any at 4300km! Smoke is oil being burnt not fuel. Front guard still scratched and needs to be repainted, carbon craft tank pad refitted so badly you can put coins between it and tank (dealer has agreed to refit), Air filter cover only has 2 screws in it, 1 screw has no nut, screw is just sitting there. Other screw was non genuine and too long and broke through the air box housing in doing so has ripped the nut held captive in air box out and unable to be repaired. Akro exhausted appeared to be twisted when looked at from rear of bike so went to undo clamp and adjust only to find bolts finger tight anyway....Needless to say I have no faith that my bike has been repaired.
Can anyone recommened someone in Sydney, really looking for someone who knows their trade.

Bike was never overfilled with oil was it ? These motors are buttetproof ,very unlikely you got the dud one .When something like this happens
we always think the worst .Its normally something simple . Check Air BOX for signs of oil before start up . This is a common complaint with Aprilias .Too much oil ends up in air box and then get eaten .Good luck .

Oh there are so many questions to ask about this one.

What colour smoke? White/blue is oil black is fuel.
Post the link to youtube
What has Suzuki said about it?
How old is the fuel?
Has the air filter been changed and oil cleaned up if any spilt into the air box when it went down?
Have you launched a claim against the workshop?
How much do you know about bikes so you know when someone is bullshitting you?
There are 2 sides to every story

Some here have no faith in dealers. I do but you have to find a good one and build the relationship.

Get back to us with more details.

If the work was conducted by a suzuki dealer, call suzuki directly and ask to speak to the technical dept.
Also write a letter to suzuki - let them know when you call them that you'll be following with a formal letter of your concerns.
Better still if they are happy to give you an e-mail address to write to, write to them that way.
In the letter ask for a formal response either in writing by letter or an e-mail.
Here is Suzuki's contact details.

I'did this with Suzuki a while back regarding a concern I had with my bandit and the I found it pretty easy and the people at suzuki quite willing to help out where they could.

I brought mine from hills Suzuki in castle hill. A great bunch of guys and always willing to chat and show you what they have done if they are not flat out busy.

That's why I'll do all the work on my bike myself. Why pay good money for someone else to touch your pride & joy. There's a saying; Never trust anyone with your bike, your tools, or your missus. They will all come back rooted.

i had trouble with my dealer as well leaving bolts and radiator clamps loose
but nothing like your problem.i`d be asking for a new bike or take it public.
i use mick dyer in penrith.good mechanic but a bit pricey
good luck

Kaupy1962 wrote:That's why I'll do all the work on my bike myself. Why pay good money for someone else to touch your pride & joy. There's a saying; Never trust anyone with your bike, your tools, or your missus. They will all come back rooted.

Lets see some evidence before slagging all dealers.
The OP has posted twice in 16 months.
Knowing people who work in retail, they tell some outrageous customer stories.

Okay. In all fairness, there are a lot of bloody good workshops out there. But if you know what your doing, why pay someone to do it for you? I would only let someone else work on my bike if there was something that I couldn't do. eg: fit & balance the tyres, shims, electronics. All the rest like, fork seals, engine rebuild, I do myself

Kaupy1962 wrote:Okay. In all fairness, there are a lot of bloody good workshops out there. But if you know what your doing, why pay someone to do it for you? I would only let someone else work on my bike if there was something that I couldn't do. eg: fit & balance the tyres, shims, electronics. All the rest like, fork seals, engine rebuild, I do myself

Fully agree if you have the time, tools and know how. I have all 3 in various quality and quantity

I use Motorcycle weponary in ,a guy buy the name of steve cutting he is not the cheapest out there but a bloody good mechanic i have had all my bikes serviced with him and all my mates uses him as well we all have diffrent brands of bikes from a to z he is great with them all.

Kaupy1962 wrote: something that I couldn't do. eg: fit & balance the tyres, shims, electronics. All the rest like, fork seals, engine rebuild, I do myself

If you can do an engine rebuild you should be able to swap shims.

Its only scary the first time .

It's not the shim swapping. Its the tools to do the job properly. I'm going to start looking around to build up a kit of specialist motorbike tools. I use to make them in the past and them chuck them out.