suspension servicing, end up damaging

[jeffchua]

Had a bad experience with this shop. I thought of going there to service my front and rear suspension for maintanance and thought of going to a suspension specialist. I am here to share and feedback.

 

Recently, i went to a suspension shop M***o. I had my rear Ohlins suspension serviced at $280. I then went to the track happily. After which, I came back and went to the same shop to get my front fork serviced. After servicing my front fork, collected the bike on one of the saturdays, paid $180 and went for a short ride. After 2 days, which is a monday, the front right fork started to leak fork oil out. I then went back to them to check about it. They did a short test on the front fork. At that point of time, there was no loosening of any parts when the test was conducted. Then, they claimed that it was not the fork seal and it is the bushing that caused the oil to leak. They said that there was no stock for the bushing from Hong Leong. So claimed that they can get the aftermarket parts for me if i don't want to wait for months. The price was $200++. They said that they will not charge the worksmanship in the cost. I started to enquire about the bushing thing, and after their explanation, I felt very confused. "Can you explain to me if the bushing can cause the oil to leak, then wat is the fork seal for? I thought the fork seal is suppose to SEAL off the oil from leaking?" Then they gave me a complicated answer which i felt even more confused. Maybe I don't understand some of the terms that was used. Afterwhich we went back to inspect the bike and i was caught in surprise when i tried to turn the bolts as one of them seem to be protuding out more than the rest. The 4 bolts were those that are used to tighten the main axle bolt at the lower part infront of the fork. 3 of the bolts were not tighten and i was able to turn it with my bear fingers! I started to doubt their capablities and told them that i will come back to them. I then proceed to another bike shop which i frequent very often. I told them to check my front fork and change my tyres for me. The next thing that amazed me again. When they tried to jack up the rear tyre, my mechanic found something amiss. So he went to dismantle the fuel tank and show me the thing tat was amiss. The nut that was connecting the rear shock to my main frame was half way unwind! He then further checked the lower link of the suspension and found tat one of the nut at the link connecting the rear shock to my swing arm was missing! If i were to go further, the rear might just collapse and I would have fall just for a mistake not due to me! Aftertat, my mechanic then told me that the bushing of the fork will not spoil so easily, that is y hong leong don wanna order the part. If spoil easily, they would have stock up already. So he went to check the seal and found that there was a scratch at the seal which had caused the leak. They had it replaced for $80 including worksmanship. Then i took the bike out for a ride and wanted to check my number of clicks on my front fork. I started to wind the rebound to its hardest to check. To my surprise, after i turn a few clicks in on my left fork, the rebound became a screw, in other words, i cant feel the click, just plain screw in and out. I was in the verge of condemning my front fork! Called up my mechanic and after checking, he get back to me and told me that the connecting rod in the suspension was not tighten properly, which caused rebound to lose the clicking at the end. Wat do i have to say?! I was just too fed up. I have to go to the track the next day and do not have the time to go and fix the things up. So I went to track but had to hold back.

 

I wonder if there are others who had such servicing or bad experience with them. I had it once and it is more than enough. I kept my cool and took the money that i paid for as a learning experience. I only SMS the person who did my suspension the 'feedback' to him and told him that if this is the way he is going to do a suspension for someone else, the person might crash!

 

Here to really vent my anger and feedback to others... Hope u all don flame me. I had stated the true facts.

[Rsexxyy]

Thanks bro for sharing your experience..thats some shitty thing that happened to u!!

 

For your Ohlins..y dun u send it back to Sporting Motors? Even your front can send there to service too..

 

Anyway..lucky u're still ok..something worse might happen to you..

 

Learning experience..

[jeffchua]

Thanks bro for sharing your experience..thats some shitty thing that happened to u!!

 

For your Ohlins..y dun u send it back to Sporting Motors? Even your front can send there to service too..

 

Anyway..lucky u're still ok..something worse might happen to you..

 

Learning experience..

 

kekee anyway now my R1 is in the bike shop i frequent. Will be changing my valves of my front fork, but the parts yet to arrive. Will have my front fork redone. Hope to get a different feel this time round. Sporting Motors, I nv been there before. Also don wish to go to any other shops. Don wish to try out anymore. Pardon me... Enough of these experience... Paiseh...

[eFzek17]

wah jep.. don angli leh. but if i kena also, i angli..

[Blueblood]

Hi, care to share which bike shop u frequent visit now? i also had my front and rear shock service there and been charge the same price

[jeffchua]

Hi, care to share which bike shop u frequent visit now? i also had my front and rear shock service there and been charge the same price

 

I had it done up at a shop in Tampines. They will take it out and send it to a freelancer who has been doing suspension for years. Then once done, they will then fix it back for me. So far should be ok, yet to try it out at the track. Just got it back not long. trying to get use to the bike now.

[Wen gege]

mind to share which bike shop service ur fork badly?

i cant stay calm if i were u.

further more, e mech endanger ur life.

care to share??

[newcomer]

What I notice in MOST bikeshops or carshops for the matter is that the mechs do not torque the bolts to spec with a torque wrench, which explains why your nuts are popping out from the vibrations.

Last week I took out the fork top bolt you know what I used to take out? A 1.5meter long steel pipe by 2" dia to loosen the bolt. You can't tighten that with a regular c spanner by hand!

[Guapo]

Why didn't u go to ur regular bike shop from the begining to save all the trouble ?

 

Or why not check here with other riders where they prefer to get their suspensions serviced ?

I'm sure most ppl will point u towards BikeLab.

 

I know i will !

[jeffchua]

Why didn't u go to ur regular bike shop from the begining to save all the trouble ?

 

Or why not check here with other riders where they prefer to get their suspensions serviced ?

I'm sure most ppl will point u towards BikeLab.

 

I know i will !

 

Ok, the thing is that my regular shop doesnt specialist in suspension. So thinking that the shop mention is a 'suspension specialist', i wanted to give it a try. It was also recommended by one of my friend who is racing for them.

 

Abt this Bikelab, I had my front fork serviced at Bikelab before. Their servicing was great. But the only thing was that Joshua took out the anti-dive from my front fork. Well, maybe it is more of a personal issue, due to no anti-dive, my front end bottoms out under heavy braking. I went back to them to get the anti dive fixed back. It gave me a better feel after it was fixed back. So after that, I wanted to try another shop. So I went to the shop mentioned above. After that, when my fork is screwed up, i went back to the regular shop. They told me about a freelancer specializing in Racetech suspension. I asked them whether he is reliable anot. So they said yes, and since I have a great trust in them, i agreed to it.

 

Now my R1 is back with no leak, everything is finally back to working condition, if not better, and i had my valves changed. As the spring rate from the original springs fits my weight, i didn't change the springs. Now i am trying to play around with the setup to get a better feel. It felt better under heavy braking without any bottoming out. Will wait for a chance to try out in the track. I think the only thing that will know whether this thing helped will be my lap times when i try out.

 

sorry for the long story.

[Guapo]

sorry for the long story.

 

Not long or short.

U get what u paid for and u happy i happy also.