I purchased my manual transmission Eiger 4x4 new in 2005. To date the machine has 385mi on it and its in mint / new condition. It came with the 3yr extended warranty and this is the first Suzuki I have purchased. I was primarily a Yamaha man prior and still am, but I figured I'd give a Suzuki machine a whirl. With the exeption of this issue, and mostly the response thus far from Suzuki's Rep, I really like the machine.

ISSUE: 25-35 minutes into a trail ride the N (Neutral) and R (Reverse) indicator lights no longer work. When they malfunction I have to hold the brake even when in neutral in order to start the machine. They do not work until the machine has a sizable amount of time to sit and cool down. Typically back at camp, where they start working again. Heat/vibration caused short somewhere in the wiring basically.

1st trip to dealer: Took the machine into a local Suzuki dealer where a mechanic friend of mine works. He could not re-produce the problem in their shop, but he couldn't exactly take it up in the mountains for test runs either. He felt the problem was the tank mounted shifter switch. Ordered the new part and replaced it under the warranty.

Test run: Same exact issue. No changes in the behavior at all.

2nd trip to dealer: Still could not duplicate problem he said that he ordered a new neutral relay and installed it but before he could do more he needed the approval of the Suzuki rep "Woody". He also said that he didn't feel the neutral relay was the problem, but he tripped it while testing ciruits and installed the new one. I waited a week. The rep showed with his boss.

Now here is the best part. After they were described the issue, they both agreed that the problem was driver error, specifically: The transmission is "in-between" neutral..... Not totally into 'N' and therefore the 'N' and 'R' lights don't work.

He was told to have me come and get the machine and there is nothing wrong with it, I simply am in "in-between" neutral when the machine has the problem.

ISSUE: No amount of rocking, or shifting fron N to 1 and back and forth makes the lights even flicker when they cut out. However, you can leave the machine in 'N' with the light malfunction. Not touch or move the machine, then come back to machine in 1 hour flip the key on and the 'N' Illuminates. 'R' has the same behavior. How is that "inbetween" N when that occurs, let alone the fact that 'R' doesn't work either?

Basically it was class 'A' blow off by Suzuki's local rep "Woody" and his boss. I've ridden machines for 20 years. I'm not exactly a "noob" and can't figure out Reverse and Neutral functionality and or how to "get into" those gears.

PLAN: I will be contacting Suzuki corporate about this in both letter and phone calls. This is a safety issue really, that while rare yes, they also appear to be attempting to wash their hands of it. I will also try to get the machine to the original dealership of purchase since they seem to be more eager to work on it. Unfortunately they are under the influence of the same local rep (Woody) that has blown me off.

Needless to say, I'm not very happy about Suzuki blowing me off and not fixing the issue.

 

I think you're jumping the gun a bit. Can not duplicate problems can be a real b*tch to find and fix. About the only approach is to pick the most likely component and replace it and hope that you were right. Sounds like that's what they did on the first trip, just turned out that this wasn't the problem. Can't really blame them too much for calling driver error on trip #2. Yes, you know what you are doing but from their view point, ALL their customers always think they know what they are doing, even those who really have no clue.

I think it's worth one more trip and a serious sit down with the service people. Probably best if they can take the bike and ride it to duplicate the problem. Lay it on the line that you have a a service contract and they WILL honor it. They may not like it but it could turn out to be cheaper for them to get into some serious part swaping to track down the problem.

Jaybee

 

Got a video camera or a camera on your cellphone? Maybe you could get the problem to replicate on a ride and then record the incident and document the location of the shifter and the status of the lights and everything.

Just a thought.

Suzuki isn't the best company when it comes to service after the sale and there is ample evidence of that. It isn't a dealer necessarily thing it is corporate issue. They're bad enough in that respect that it gives me reservations about buying Suzuki ATVs.

 

Thanks for the feedback. So far there have been updates.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the dealer service and my friend really didn't listen all that well. Even when I picked it up, they had forgot that Reverse does it too.

I left a polite message on the phone that weekend with Suzuki of America. Tuesday morning Matt called from their customer service center. I explained the issue and what happened at the dealer thus far.

What impressed me was the fact that he knew exactly what machine I had, when I purchased it and where before he even called. Now I hadn't even left any of that on the message, just my name and phone number.
He asked why I hadn't taken it back to the original dealer. He told me that where I bought It (Ron Greene) was one of their highest ranked dealers in the state. I asked where Escape was on the list.... "Oh yah, I'd take it back to Ron Green's" He said that the rep is actually very good here and that he was probably not told the whole story.

Sounded great, I rode the machine yesterday... failed between 45min - 1hr / Functioning again when arrived home. Took the machine to Green's today. They were very helpful.

Said, he has never seen an issue like this, but they have seen a weird issue or two.. Took notes on the problem and said. "Whatever it is, we'll fix it" Needless to say, I felt like they beleived me and would do what they could. So far things are going well.

It would be easier if it was something consistent, but thats never a problem. I always get the hard ones.

I searched the internet for quite some time on this problem. Only found one other occurance that was a bad connection just up from the N/R transmission switch. Once the connector was cleaned and crimped a little tighter it was fixed. This was on a '90s 250 quadrunner 4x4... That was the only one I could find.

 

Hmm, We are currently in the market for another manual shifting 4x4. They know that another Eiger or Vinson would be on the list, IF the issue is handled. If I am going to be blown off (wich at this point, I doubt or atleast hope not) then I'd really rather not be supportive of Suzuki...

Are support/service issues common in ATV companies?

Polaris I have had dealings with. My 2 Polaris atv's were always in service. Belts, 4x4, tranmission, drivetrain/hubs, cooling, carb, wiring. Man they worked on everything, they were always broke down in some form or another, but they were always fixed. Polaris would fix the problems no questions asked... They just had to do it a lot.

I have a lot of experience with Yamaha machines. I've never had one go into the shop (Speaks volumes) so I really don't know how Yamaha is when it comes to fixing issues.... Anyone know a solid rep for them....?

If Suzuki does indeed blow me off, (I doubt they will now) I'd probably buy the new Big Bear 400 instead of another Eiger.

 

I am very sorry to hear about your bad experience. It kinda ruins your view of the product when the retailer/dealer doesn't live up to your rightful expectations. Too bad you had a bad experience with the Eiger and the people who are "supposed to be there". It really is a good reliable machine and I couldn't be happier with it. If you get another brand(for which I can't say I blame you, I would be the same) I hope you have a better experience. The other brands are good machines as well even though they all have some little problems. But I think the concensus is that Polaris has more than it's share of problems. Good luck!

 

I still really like the machine. The Eiger itself is great and joy on the trail. It really goes everywhere, virtually effortlessly. Even if they don't fix it, I won't sell it off.

Also, as I said in the last post, things are looking up! Dealer A. I wasn't happy with, but my purchasing dealer, I feel, will go the distance and fix it.