Dealer almost killed me today. Literally!

[ckenwright]

So, thursday night I dropped the Kat off at the dealership so they can do a full service on the bike. They don't get it done on friday so I had to wait to pick it up until today (saturday) at around 2. I stop and get groceries with the family (they were in the truck following me)and hang back to fill up the bike after getting groceries. When I get into the neighborhood I go to make a slow turn onto my street and get a real bad drift effect through the whole corner and have to use the curb to straighten the bike with out highsiding it. At first I thought I had a blow out, but then everytime I would gently let the clutch out the bike would just try to spin out from under me. I pull into the driveway and smell burning oil, look down and see a puddle of oil forming under the bike. I immediately shut off the bike and pushed it into the garage. I tried to call the dealer, but they were already closed for the day. Thank god this didn't happen while I was on the highway. I would have been toast. Now the big question. Did I do any damage to the engine before I realized what was going on and and was able to shut the engine down? It only has 30,000 miles and was running great. Should I have them break the engine down to make sure there is no internal damage? Or would that be putting more at risk? Should I settle for a compression check? I use this bike as my daily driver. Hence the 30,000 miles in less than 3 years. I got it in 07.

[jetmerritt]

Glad you didn't crash, there's the number one reason I don't let ANYONE work on my stuff. If the oil light didn't come on, chances are good you engine is fine. Hope it goes well, chew them out! They could have killed you!

[ckenwright]

Thanks JETMERRITT.

[Fault]

Glad to hear your safe man. Ive had problems with auto repair guys in the past. Make sure you go in strong. Dont back down. This is their fault from what it seems like, and let them know that

[willbdish]

did the plug fall out or just a leak? What do you want them to do. give you an oil change or new underware

[suzukiray]

Where is the oil coming from? Put the bike in the back of your truck & be sitting at their dood whenever they open again!!! Ray.

[46robbie46]

Maybe they installed the oil filter incorrectly? My Dad had a similar problem on one of his old bikes where the dealer installed 2 O-ring seals rather than one, causing the filter to not screw on tight enough.

I would also say that if the oil light didn't come on, your engine should be okay.

Sounds like you're very lucky though!

[scottynoface]

Where is the oil coming from? Put the bike in the back of your truck & be sitting at their dood whenever they open again!!! Ray.

This.

This story is EXACTLY why I never take my bike to a dealer.

[zuma]

Glad you didn't slide down; your bike is probably okay. I was at a dealership this summer checking out a used 09 Hayabusa they had just done an oil change on. I lost interest when I noticed a puddle of oil beneath it. I don't understand the incompetent work behind the scene.

[Mojoe]

you failed to mention where the oil was coming from. only that it was a full service. so what was it...oil drain plug? loose valve cover from a valve adjustment? loose filter? loose oil cooler line?

[rexazz2]

An arse chewing is due for sure if it is their fault

center stand the bike and see where the oil level is in the sight glass

In the spring Gord was running Batgirls bike on a maiden voyage
During very hard acceleration the oil filter blew off and blew pretty much all the oil out (the light did come on )

Fortunatley I was not following in the same tire track

Gord skated the bike around pretty much using the entire lane
I would guess the engine was near redline when the filter blew off and he shut it down with the kill switch
It took us nearly 2 hrs to go back with his truck to pick up the bike and the oil was still dripping out from under the tail
There seems to be no damage

[IdahoKoolKat]

Close call man! I'm glad you didn't wreck. Good luck fighting with the dealership.

[ckenwright]

The oil plug fell out. When I was walking around to find where the trail started and to take pics I found it on the side of the road. That's why I had such problems keeping the bike up. Oil was dumping out of the engine and totally soaking the rear tire. It is now sitting on the gas filler waiting to be picked up with the bike. When I was a kid, I would see movies that a certain car trying to get away would dump oil on the road to get away from others, and I never believed it would have that great of an effect. I think it would work. It was worse than when I rode my bicycle on ice as a kid.

[adalgiso]

I had an incident where I tipped my bike over and it just perfectly hit the stator cover right on the curb, and cracked the case really finely. I didn't notice until later that day I had to drive around campus, and when I got to where I was going I noticed my desert tan boot on my right foot was completely black. My thought process went something like this:

"What the fu...
Oh ****...
You're kidding me...
omg you're not kidding me, effing oil leak."

A generous Katrider sent me a replacement for shipping cost only.

[scottynoface]

Hopefully they didnt overtighten the drain plug and strip out the oil pan.