Good on the shop for owning up to the repair. However; brake pad replacement is a pretty basic job. I would be skittish about bringing any more work to these guys in the future.


Carl

 

I’m going to hold off posting the name of the shop for right now. Once my bike is fixed and back home I’ll post it in this thread.

 

Yeah the more I think about it the more I come to that conclusion.
I’m glad he’s making it right but when you think about he really should be anyway.

The rear brake on this bike is as simple as can be.
I’m a shade tree mechanic and I’ve never touched it before last Friday and I had it apart, found the problem, took pics and put it back together in about 15 minutes.
Anyone who wrenches on bikes for a living should've been able to do it blindfolded.
I’m going to wait and see how everything shakes out before I cast final judgement.

 

Totally with you on this. I can't count the number of brake jobs I've done. Bikes, cars, trucks, ATV's. And I'm not a licensed mechanic! It would have been obvious on the test ride immediately. If not just the short visual you do when you complete a job. I think the owner had his intern, or gopher, or janitor, that wanted to prove himself do it. Epic failure.

 

Most people don't pull a caliper when changing a tire depending on model of the bike. Sometimes it's easier, other bikes not so much.

Edited - I "missed" lines 9 and 10 in post# 13. My bad...

 

All right so here's an update. I called him last Friday hoping he would have the bike ready because we had a great weekend about to happen and I wanted to ride. Unfortunately he had the pads but the shop didn't have a rotor in stock so he had to order one. I told him to call the shop and see how long it was going to take because I have been hearing horror stories of guys waiting weeks or months for parts to show up.

So I wait. In the meantime I am talking to a friend at work who lives near the shop and knows the owner. He said the owner has his dad working in the shop doing small jobs like mine, tire changes, inspections, brakes, oil changes and the like. When I dropped the bike off I did see a 70 something guy in the back so now I assume that was the dad and he did my tire change.
Today my phone rings and its the shop. My bike is done and ready to be picked up. Unfortunately I am at work and I wont be able to get the bike today so I'll probably go pick it up tomorrow after work.

I am still going to hold off naming the shop until I get my bike back and make sure it's right. Then I'll post the name of the shop once it all shakes out.

 

Interesting story but if he stands behind it then that's pretty cool... Good luck.. I've had some experiences that did not go as well.. sort of like"Failure to Launch"...

 

I'm very happy he is owning it. As long as things go smooth, which so far they have, I will use him again.

I am a little disappointed that something so routine as a brake job got screwed up, but I also realize that mistakes happen to all of us and who knows what was going on with the mechanic that day.

I'm anxious to get the bike back today, it's supposed to be 60 degrees and I am cutting out of work at 1:00 to go pick it up and go for a ride.

 

Seriously anything can go through anyone's mind at any time to distract us.. I know for sure when My calls me at work to **** and moan it can pretty much **** up my whole day...

 

I picked the bike up last Friday. I get there and stand around for 4 or 5 minutes and nobody is in the front of the business, so after a while I noticed a little bell. I ring the bell and an older gentleman walks out. I told him I wanted to pick up my bike and he says the owner isn't back from lunch yet. So I told him it was the Harley that they had screwed up the rotor and pads and he says Oh, ok then just take it.

So I go out, start the bike and let it warm up while I put my gear on. I pull out and press the brake pedal to stop and the pedal goes all the way down and no brakes. My first thoughts were now WTF is going on and I felt my blood starting to boil. I thought they had screwed up again. I pulled the bike into a spot and started to go inside then I thought about it and realized they hadn't seated the piston. So I pumped the pedal 3 or 4 times and she snugged up and I had brakes.

I went for a 30-45 minute ride to let the pads match up to the rotor. I ran the bike up to 30 MPH then got on the brakes and slowed to 5 MPH. I did that 5 or 6 times then did the same thing but this time I ran it up to 50 MPH then down to 5. Afterwards I noticed the brakes were squeaking and not just when I applied the brakes, but constantly. It was driving me nuts and I was getting aggravated again so I went home and parked it.

So Saturday I went for another ride and the squeaking was still there so I thought maybe they pads just need to wear down a little so I kept riding. After about another 45 minutes or so I didn't hear the squeaking. I rode the rest of the way home and no squeaks. I am hoping it was just what i thought and the pads had to wear down to the rotor so I will wait and see what the next ride brings.

Have any of you had this happen with new pads and rotors?

Oh and BTW, the shop is BMA Cycles in Bainbridge Pa. As I said all along, the guy has been super nice and cooperative so I don't really want to bash on him for the screw up.