New Aprilia Owner, abused by Suzuki

[jimbo77]

Dear fellow members,

My first post as I am a proud new owner of a new '02 Mille R, color Nero Diablo. I absolutely love the bike, no questions asked, and nothing lacking. But I feel it important to share the story as to how I became a proud Aprilia owner. I was recently a proud owner of a Suzuki SV1000S. Due to some problems, with that bike, and some major problems with my dealer and Suzuki America, I did the switch. I now have a story to tell of Suzuki, but I'll not post it here, but in fact will post links to my issues that spread over nearly 6 weeks, with no motorycle at the time. Please take the time to read these links as they provide the background to my feelings.


Sorry for the first post being of this nature, but it is important, You'll be amazed and alarmed to say the least.

My dealer is a real Wanker (http://www.sv1000.zyns.com/index.php?showtopic=1931)
Big Brother is Watching (http://www.sv1000.zyns.com/index.php?showtopic=2213)

Don't bother checking the links, the SV forum has now blocked access to these two topics....

[Nube]

WOW, what a pain you had with your last bike. you're going to love your new bike. Welcome to the Aprilia forum.

[baddyb94102]

Welcome to the board, dude. I read through most of the posts re what happened with your SV ... total nightmare. Ironically, though, pretty much the same/similar thing happened to me with the 'priller. I had to replace the clutch lever and decided on the $13 after-market one instead of the $70 factory one. Long story short, when the clutch fluid heated up it expanded *just* enough to disengage the clutch pin/actuator. I didn't know this and thought it was air in the hydraulics. Bled my hydraulics on the side of the road three times just to get the bike home.

Luckily, the guys at the Aprilia dealership knew right away what was wrong and had it fixed in 10 minutes ... not 10 days!

[RVZoo]

Welcome Jimbo.

Sorry about your troubles.

Now, enjoy your new ride. :)

[X-CBR MAN]

OMG dude, sorry u had to go through that bs, but guess what, aprilia is a fine motorcycle! And welcome:D

[Tee-Dub]

One of my buddies has an SV1000 and he crashed it this summer. I have heard that they are very prone to "crashing". You will like your Aprilia much better. :cheers:

[ckruzel]

welcome to the forum, all the mfg's look into the forums regularly

[Tee-Dub]

Originally posted by ckruzel
welcome to the forum, all the mfg's look into the forums regularly

This is very true. I questioned the quality of my local dealer and stated what some other people had experienced there. After the post had been up about a week I got a call from the manager of the dealer wanting to confront me about it. Seems someone from Aprilia USA had seen the thread and rang up my dealer. I didn't think it was very professional of the dealership's manager to call me up at my job to tell me how hard they work to help people, etc, etc, etc, but if that floats his boat, then ok.

[Louge]

jimbo77 / baddy,

This link provides some related background with roadside servicing.

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7403

[t3ch]

What a hassle, glad to see you've 'resolved' it ;)

[stinky]

I don't see any big surprise that the mfg's read the forums. They spend a crapload of money developing and sending out surveys that nobody fills out, yet they can come here for free and get tons of feedback (and not just from the one time the survey shows up in the mail or during a dealer visit) along with public discussion. How better could they possibly find out what their consumers think? What a sweet deal!

[baddyb94102]

Install an Evo banjo bolt with bleeder nipple on your clutch.

Thanks Louge, that's some great information ... and exactly what I could have used at the time.

Question: What is an "Evo banjo bolt with bleeder nipple"?

[jimbo77]

Keep following my link guys, it justs gets better. I may have 'resolved' my problem by ridding myself of the Zook, but this story needs to be heard, and carried on.

I apologize for using this fine forum as a soapbox. I will become a better member once I've gotten more time in the Saddle of my Mille R. For now, I'm just gleaning info from all of you who have gone before....

[Louge]

Well baddy its like this ... your Aprilia was born with a modest birth defect. Please indulge me for a moment and sit on your bike.

Notice that your front brake master cylinder has a nipple in the end of it? Now look at your clutch master cylinder. WTF ... no nipple. Difficult to believe but your Aprilia was born with only one nipple.

One can either install an Evoluzione 90040 nipple or lean the bike over at MotoGP angles to purge the bubbles into the resovoir that accumulate directly behind the banjo bolt.

http://www.evoluzione.net/assets/images/90040.jpg

[angrybob]

Jimbo,
Welcome. One of the first things I learned when I convertted from a Jap bike was that the Mille REQUIRES a battery tender when not in use. Leave it off for a few weeks and it won't start regardless of the condition of the battery.

The rest are all bolt-on goodies!

[cman6453]

Welcome Jimbo!!

Over the past few years I've become somewhat of a stickler for customer service. Don't get me wrong. I don't expect to get my a$$ kissed just because I bought a pack of gum but I do expect to get treated fairly as a consumer. Seems like that's the case with you so I can totally see where you're coming from. It's come to the point now that unless I totally trust the retailer, I'd rather go to the trouble myself to do scheduled maintenance/service or any repairs on the product myself. This is regardless of if I know anything about the product or not. Hell, the Internet is a HUGE amalgamation of information!

Prior to buying my 2nd motorcyle, a 2000 Ducati 996S, I'd been re-searching what my next ride would be. I had it narrowed down to the RC51 exclusively. The Duc was just a dream that, I thought, was beyond my reach. One day, I just decided to go into my local dealer, just to "see" the Duc. After dealing with all the "motorcycle mills" and all the vultures that live there, I was completely taken off guard by the Duc dealer, at the time, the only one in my neck of the woods. I walked in there and just admired the Italian beauty, picking up the drool as I looked over every inch of her. I asked the salesman, who happened to be the owner AND one of the mechanics AND an established rider (didn't know this at the time.) why I should buy a Duc. His answer? Not that it was the "mother" of all bikes or that it's beauty just can't be resisted, rather his response was, "Let me just tell you about Ducati and you can make your decision from there." I almost crap in my pants. He went on to tell me about some history and performance information.

So my decision was made based on the way that I was treated by the dealer. The other mills had no frickin' clue about their products other than the $$ signs above my head. Scary to think that the mechanics may also be this way. This dealer is exclusively who I deal with for my exotica.

Sorry to get so long winded. I'm sure you'll get past this and hopefully you'll have a more positive experience with the Ape.

Enjoy!!

[clarkie49]

you might be surprised to know how many oem employees actually log on and use the different forums, they just dont tell you who they are....

big brother isnt just watching, he's playing along