...their determination was the clutch basket springs are loose and worn flat in the basket....It will be interesting to see if we have the same problem, I'm only at 43,000 miles on my '10. Mine (knock) does sound "rotational" (I think) and it's there all the time in all gears and speeds. (Strange how we both got the problem at STAR. How come I didn't see you there Joel? Did you go to Cortez too?) I didn't continue to ride it but rather took it to the local Fayetteville dealer and left it with them for a week. My B-I-L is in Fayetteville and he lent me his DR650 to get home on. When the dealer called and said that he thought it was in the transmission I said I'd come get it. I didn't want the cases split so far from home. I towed my B-I-L's DR back to him and then loaded the C14 up and towed it back home to the dealer where I bought it. Still waiting to hear something this coming week. Initially my local dealer's service manager said he didn't agree that it was in the transmission because it shifts fine...but he did have a puzzled expression on his face when there was no change in the noise when the clutch was activated.
......so the warranty could be useless splitting the case ?? not feeling great about this.
Isn't there a Kawasaki USA site where you can contact Kawasaki?
If the dealer doesn't help you, go there and post a complaint.
If your a member of COG, mention COG....
Ride safe, Ted
https://kpp.kawasaki.com/Terms-And-Conditions
that states what is and isnt covered.
Repair or replacement required as a result of (i) accident or collision; (ii) misuse, abuse or neglect; (iii) lack of reasonable and proper maintenance; (iv) repairs improperly performed or replacement parts improperly installed by an entity other than an authorized Kawasaki dealer; (v) use of replacement parts or accessories not conforming to Kawasaki specifications which adversely affect performance and/or durability; (vi) alterations or modifications not recommended or approved in writing by Kawasaki; or (vii) wear and deterioration (including loss of engine compression) occasioned by the use of the Product.
the dealer mentioned ware and deterioration for the clutch basket. ??
so frustrated, should have had it fixed on my trip or left it there. i had no clue what a huge pita this would become.
EXCLUSIONS FROM COVERAGE
1. Failures which are not due to a defect in material or factory workmanship.
that was also mentioned that if the part was bad it would have failed in the first few hundred or thousand miles.
hell, i thought about dragging it back to Arkansas to have that dealer fix the clutch issue. sounds foolish going 1400 miles, but these kawasaki dealers are a huge pita to deal with. i know with them down there it would be handled and fixed with them on my side.
Here is what I know and a little of what I think...
Dealers in MN are not used to seeing bikes with 85000+ miles and have the same brain dead mentality that bikes are all worn out by 30,000 miles (unless it is on their sales floor and they are selling it)---and this dealer already indicated as much numerous times
The MN dealers (6 of them who were presented with this) all had the mentality of greed........you aren't our customer, so they had no reason to put in any effort, regardless of whether they are bound by law or not (being an authorized kaw dealer).........would you want someone to work on your bike who doesn't want to?--I wouldn't !!!---none of them said they wouldn't look at it, they just said it would be weeks and weeks and that it probably wasn't covered---even without seeing the bike.......... which tells me they would not have presented it to Ma Kaw in any manner other than one to guarantee denial!
The dealer makes no money on parts via warranty work and labor hourly $ is usually about 1/2 what they charge retail customers---so there is a huge financial incentive for the dealers to deny (that is right....dealer deny) warranty work
Ma Kaw- relies on the dealers report and recommendation on warranty work---if a dealer presents something something as "worn out" or "abused" or in any way gives Ma Kaw an out to say no......ma kaw takes it--------- so while it is ma kaw that has their name on the warranty it ultimately is the dealer who will either get it approved or not ( Ma Kaw is not sending out agents to inspect warranty claims, they 99% rely solely on what the dealer represents.......so which dealer and how greedy they are, how educated they are, and how much they want to help you is the battle--- I have done this go round with a few of my customers in the past and ultimately it comes down to convincing someone (dealership staff) to present the case in a manner ma kaw says yes---and if you can't get the dealer to do, then you need to go direct (which is far harder and far less likely to succeed......it is the same with all the oems, ....so don't bash Kaw, it is bash the greedy idiots at the dealerships!!)
The dealership in AR never got Ma Kaw approval (I think) so they just told Joel the issue and that it should be covered....Joel opted to bring it back to MN to be covered rather than leave the bike 700 miles from home --- hindsight, that would have been the best option---(opinion)
The AR dealers experience with seeing bikes with "high mileage" and their lack of greed would have been the deciding factor and ma kaw would have rubber stamped covered the repair based on the dealers recommendation (opinion based on past facts and experience with oem warranty coverage)
I do think at this point the MN dealer is a lost cause and no matter what is not going to do anything more to try and cover the repair (no financial incentive for them)... they would rather make a couple hundred profit on selling the OP the part and another couple hundred on the labor and never see him again, and possibly if there is tranny issues the could stand to make thousands off the OP if left there to fix.......as apposed to making possibly $75 total on labor (to install said clutch basket under warranty) and possibly see him in the future, he is 80 miles away-they have little reason to believe he is coming back for routine services to make a "winfall" later....(opinion)... which goes to their financial greed....sure they have overhead, so do I and so do you- so we can't "lose" money but we also don't need to steal the damn money either........which is what I feel they are doing
Finally, the warranty contracts are settled via binding arbitration, which costs money and lots of time and you are highly likely to lose your case without getting an authorized dealer to attend and go to bat for you (which is what one needs originally to get it covered), so short of just paying out of pocket to fix it all then going after ma kaw and trying to recoup all expenses and having the AR dealer come and fight (for zero compensation and likely possibly some retaliation) this is a lose lose situation...
My thought, short of towing back to AR and have that huge expense ( more than the cost of a new basket and install) for a few trips and a few weeks (as the clutch basket is not even in stock in the USA) is to pick it up from current dealer...... buy the new basket new at a discount from someone who isn't hosing retail + 20% and have it installed or install it yourself and see if that fixes everything (or just pay Planeview the $650 or so and have them do it)....... if all the noise came from only the basket, eat the expense and move along with your life and don't **** away all summer fighting...... if once that is done and the noise is still there or the tranny is **** or whatever they "think" in Planeview..... then haul to AR with all the old parts in hand and see if they can re-imburse you for the basket that was/is clearly covered (IMO) and get the rest of the work needed as covered as resultant damage or whatever....
It is still a ton of expense hauling the bike 700 miles- come home and weeks later go back and haul it home, but..... it may be the only option- short of eating all the expenses yourself
I have zero relationship with Planeview Kaw, so it isn't like the local dealers I can bully around into covering stuff they don't want to. But I have given you as many of the needed skills to present the case over the past couple weeks, but I do think Planeview is a lost cause at this point regardless of if jesus himself came down from heaven and told them the facts.... So it surely isn't worth my time and effort to go down their and try and fight them on it.....perhaps on drop off day or pull the basket out day it would have been???( seems they have uneducated stupid techs and service manager to me)--but at this point- they firmly have their head shoved deep up their own ass and are not going to budge....I bet they never talked to ma kaw a second or third time either like they told you either(opinion)
I can try calling ma kaw direct for you.........but I haven't even seen the part, and the fact I am not a Kawasaki authorized dealer, not like I can do the work for them...to ma kaw (on this certainly) I am just some schmo trying to get into their pocket... At this point they are going to have to hear from a dealer who has the opinion and push to stand up to the denied claim and state it needs to be covered for xyz reasons.......and that sounds like the AR dealer---surely there are others, but you know they already feel this way and will work for you!!!
It is always about the dealer, always. How good the staff is and their values....really goes for anything in life, it comes down to individuals to do the right thing, and unfortunately all too often it is tough to find those individuals...
While parts do wear (not ware) out..... 85k on a clutch basket on a C14.... come on, I see goldwings who tow trailers, Ventures who do the same with 200k without clutch basket issues, I see sportbikes with over 80k that see 10k rpm plus routinely without clutch basket issues (I own one of those)--it came down to the dealers inexperience and inability.......period---that is why it got the rubber stamp of denial. the dealer didn't do anything to get it approved, hell as stated they have a huge financial incentive for it not to get approved
You probably should have had a few more then.....
There is not one fact in my post that isn't true and happening.
I have dealt with far more warranty issues with all the oems than any one person should have to.........
whether you think you know more than I do or not----you have your opinion and I have mine......
I can site atleast a dozen warranty claims in the past 3 years I have had to step in and help the customer out of, and all them follow what I have laid out......
and your initial dribble- you clearly didn't read or comprehend what I said about their financial incentive to not have it covered......... or did not care to know or have it be shared??
Kaw states 1.3 hours to replace the clutch basket, kaw pays the dealer under warranty $45 or maybe it is $48/hr now, dealer only gets the parts for free (as does the consumer....no profits for anyone there).....so dealer makes at best 1.3 x $48 for said repairs
now joe schmo customer comes in for same repairs and is a "retail paying customer" and that 1.3 will often be 2.0 or even 2.5 and at $95/hr or whatever the posted shop rate is.......that $480 retail clutch basket has a 48% margin so another $230ish of parts profit for the dealer....
so option A---warranty--dealer makes $62.40 (and if they pad and get approved to double...woohoo they get $124.80)
option B---consumer retail customer---dealer makes roughly $400-$500 in their pocket
gee easy math to see why the dealer is more interested in seeing retail repair instead of warranty
Now go ahead and drink a few more, maybe it will help you understand