What to do now?
Question:
Talked with the dealership today and asked about engine work or what may have been done with/to the bike. Owner said it was a one owner trade in, they sold the bike new to the guy that traded it in on a new one. Confirmed that there was no motor work done. Now is when it gets questionable; I asked about the Cam Chain Tensioners and was told by the owner (small dealership) that Cam Chain Tensioners are good for 50,000 - 60,000 miles. The 20,000 - 30,000 miles failure that I "read" about are scare tactics. So my question now is...do I get the Cam Tensioners looked at before my ride or just go off of what the owner of the dealership is telling me?
Sorry that this was so much to read.
It IS NOT a scare tactic, Ive seen them fail anywhere between 18000 and 45000 miles. I suggest checking them at 25000 and evaluating from there based on how they look.
Why would the dealer lie to you about something that he's losing money on? After all, if he told you "Hell YEAH! Get those things changed" ... would you have believed him more?
Probably way too late to get a warranty/guarantee from him, but you can always ask for it. I'd also ask about the following:
1. Can I have the contact information for the prior owner? If he says "no" then explain you want to find out about past service and problems. If he still says "no," then go to the DMV and have the title pulled. Then contact the past owner to check on the bike.
2. Can you look at the service records? Assuming he's done all the work, then you can tell just how much problems there have been.
3. Will he show you the warranty work and any recall work done?
4. Will he warranty the part for the next x,xxx miles?
5. If not, will he bet you that you won't have to have the work done before 50,000 miles?
As for the "scare tactics," that's an issue of has reason to scare you? Sure, some aftermarket company may push new tensioners (or even the MoCo), but ultimately there is way too much information about this topic on here and elsewhere for it to be much of a scare tactic. A quick search just on this site has lots of discussion, with opinions all over the place. As noted, some folks had problems under 20k miles while others went well over 60k miles. Which will you be?
Only one sure fire way to know ... have a competent person look at it.



