Bad news....I told the dealer to check my belt when I took it in for tires. I picked it up, and he checked the belt all right....to the tune of $206. $98 for the belt, and $108 to put it on. I complained, but the owner was not in, so I paid and will take it up with him tomorrow. He replaced it on a bike with 40 hours and 340 miles...said that was normal????? The $108 for labor kills me. I had mine off when I did the spring job in like ten minutes. Two hours of labor they charged me!

I will be sure and share the name of the dealer here in Houston when this matter is resolved. I will recommend them if they step up to the plate, and share my complaint if they don't.

I am buying two more bikes for Christmas, so I hope he can see the forest thru the trees....

Oh, and did I mention the $30 per tire to take 'em off and put new ones on? Another issue to resolve...

Chucky

 

Thats bad.

 

$108 bux labor to put on a belt?!! Using my non-professional mechanical ability as a baseline, your dealer must charge roughly $150 per hour. Most guys running 650's have a belt that is below factory specs for width; we just remove clutch shims to get the deflection back in spec and keep on rockin'! You were seriously gouged by this dealer !! Considering the poor quality of the 650 belts, you would think that Kawasaki would bend over backwards to help the owners of these $7000 machines when they have belt problems. Print off this thread and take it to the dealer when you go back.

 

Chucky:

Sorry to hear about your issues with your dealer. I think you will find that MOST of us here have similar problems. I think I am the only person to raise holy hell at my dealer for ridiculous charges. The best thing you can do is LEARN as much as you can about your 650 and do the work yourself. It will save you much $$ and you'll have less headaches.

For one thing, go back to the dealer and see if they removed any shims. Demand them to give you back any shims that they took out, and purchase any that you don't have. I did this with my dealer, he told me the 650 came with 0.6 mm and 1.0 mm shims from the factory. He didn't want to cough them up when I had my belt adjusted there UNTIL I asked him what he did with the used shims off others bikes. When he couldn't answer that simple question, I accused him of reusing customers shims in other customers bikes. He then immediately 'found' my shims that he couldn't find 1 minute before. One was 1 mm and the other was 1.4 mm, he told me stock was 0.6 and 1.0 mm...long story short, they are bullsh*t artists. Do the work yourself...you'll get self-satisfaction.

There are three shims 0.6 mm, 1.0 mm and 1.4 mm. Keep them. It's ok if two of them or one of them is on your quad, as long as YOU have them. Also, WITHOUT A DOUBT IN MY MIND, I'd go back and ask to have your old belt. If they can't find it, tell them that your not gonna pay or pull the plug on your loyalty to them or something. I would take the new belt off, rough the edges of the old belt up a bit with sandpaper and put the old belt back on, measure the deflection and add/remove shims to get the deflection close. Most likely it will be with no shims, so start with no shims. Your belt should last you another 500 miles with it adjusted. It may not grab perfectly, but you still have your new belt to replace it when it starts slipping worse.

I have been bent over by my dealer each and every time I've gone to them since we bought 2 650's at the same time, and also had 4 of my friends all go back and buy 650's from them within 5 months of ours. Hmmm...thats about $42,000 worth of sales business, not to mention the servicing....you'd think that they would want to take care of their customers. All I've gotten out of the deal, was I went back to get a screw to hold the plastic on that I lost. They charged me $4.10 for one screw, I told them that it was BS and all the business I brought them...so they threw another screw in for free. yippie....never, ever, EVER....again.

 

There is a (new) 4th shim out there now. A .8 mm one.

 

if you only told him to "CHECK" the belt, then he had no business replacing it. This is a common case of the dealerships doing more than they are supposed to just to jack up your bill. Since he did not do "ONLY" what he was told, you should be entitled to your labor fees back. Just my $.02.

 

Just watch the movie "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas then immediatly proceed to your dealer to drop the hammer.

Let us know how you make out and if you need any back-up

 

I asked for rear diff fluid for my P650 and the dealer handed me a quart of standard gear oil. They didn't even have a clue as to what oil goes in the rear diff.