Today I took my 650 for it's break in service. I was was going to make the compression tool and do the black spring myself, but since I had to get the break-in service done, I decided to let them do it. They just called me back and were very confused and said the black spring wasn't the right size. They said they have a high lifter kit but didn't know what this black spring was for. They said it was different than the spring in the drive clutch. I finally explained where it went and then they asked what it was for and they couldn't understand why I wasn't wanting to install a red or orange primary spring. After I finally convinced them that it was a secondary spring and to just install it, I asked them if they checked the belt deflection like I asked them. They didn't know what I was talking about and I explained that some shims may need to be changed depending on the belt being too loose. He told me that they really don't do any after market modifications and I told them that I didn't think that it was an aftermarket modification, but more of an adjustment thing. But he told me that the other service guy there had a funny look on his face like he had never heard of that either. Keep in mind that this is a very large dealership that sells Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Polaris ATVs, and also has a huge show room full of wave runners and motorcycles.

You were right about getting a dealership to do the servicing and they don't seem to have a clue. I suppose this is the last time they see my 650 unless it's warranty work.

 

That is too bad about your dealer. Did you get that Twilight Zone feeeling in the dealership?

This always happens when one guy, who knows his stuff, is confronted by a bunch of stupid people who should know more, but are just dumber than sticks. That one guy may briefly question his own intelligence for a moment when all these other people present the same dumbness to him.


Ya know, I wish I had a dog trained to attack stupid dealers. Such a dog would have become fierce and ripped your dealer's service guy's throat out when he said that he never heard of adjusting the belt on a 650.

 

You might want make sure they do the rest of the service right. Make sure they put the right fluid in the rear diff. I would find a different dealer. You should at least have a long talk with the owner.

 

I went back to talk to the Service Manager, who I graduated high school with. He knew exactly what I was talking about and said the technician should have. I went to the mechanic and explained and showed the picture of what I was talking about and he understood it. But he said they never change the shims for belt adjustment but always leave them stock. He said the black spring did help to tighten the belt some. The reason they don't remove shims, he said, is because someone may take that ATV to another dealer to be worked on and it will be confusing to that dealer to find shims gone. Actually, that statement confused me and I don't know what he meant by that.

But the thing that really ticked me off was when I told him that I had just modified the intake by using a bigger snorkel and a twin air filter and planned on doing an exhaust modification and asked about getting them to do some rejetting if needed. He told me that any modification I did would void the warranty. Is that true??? Is he saying that if we hop up our machines a little bit that we can forget about a warranty? I can understand about doing things that may hurt the bike, but those mods are common and should not be a warranty issue. It's hard to believe that someone would sell quads to people with the understanding that it had to remain stock if they want a warranty. I believe that would cause people to shop for a different quad at a different dealer.

 

I was told by my dealer that the only way an aftermarket part would void my warranty is if they could directly link the aftermarket part to whatever failure happened. I too told my service guy about exhaust and jetting and he said dont worry about the warranty because they expect most people do change those kinds of things. I think I would look for another dealer to deal with.

 

I think that the service manager at my favorite KAW. dealer has been hinting around about me showing him how to do the belt adjustment. They have NEVER done one....that just blows me away!!!!!! They don't stock shims! I sometimes wonder when I'll get a call from them saying: "Can we borrow a 1.4MM shim?" !!!!!!!