[mrgawde]

31st of July - Delivery of Bike by Honda Big Wing Mumbai

I bought my first motorcycle, a brand new red CB300R from Honda Big Wing (Worli Showroom, Mumbai). Words cannot describe how excited I was! If I only I knew that this was the start of a long painful journey dealing with Honda Big Wing and their representatives. Within the first 20mins of riding the bike on the very first day the engine cool light had come on, I was a bit surprised as there was no traffic on the streets and it wasn't a particularly hot day. I decided to let some time pass and see if the issue persisted. Since this is my first bike, I never knew what a radiator should sound like so I assumed the bike was functioning normally, since it was a brand new bike.
In the next 4 days I took the motorcycle on quick 5 minute rides across town, the cool engine light would switch on and off occasionally.

4th of August - The Incident

5 days after my purchase of the bike I was travelling on the highway in heavy traffic. I noticed that the engine light was on and for the first time I felt the heat of the engine on my legs. A taxi driver who was passing told me coolant was leaking from my bike. In a state of shock and disbelief, I had to swerve through traffic to get my bike to the side of the road and immediately smoke started billowing from the engine. At this point I was panicking and wasn't sure what to do, the dealer did not even provide me with an RSA number. So my first priority was to shutoff the engine and walk the bike to a secure area. In the midst of this a nearby samaritan told me sometimes the coolant for new bike is toped up extra and that I shouldn't worry. In the next 30 minutes of my efforts to get my motorcycle back safely I had to run it fast through cool air and take regular stops when that wasn't an option. I am very thankful to the taxi driver who pointed out that coolant was leaking. Being a new driver, being in such a startling situation could have led to a much worse accident, thankfully I am alright.

5th August - Visit to service center (First day at service center)

The next day, I took my bike to the Worli service center. Upon investigation they found that the fan in my bike wasn't spinning and looking deeper found a piece of cardboard jammed inside the fan. A BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLE CAME FROM HONDA BIG WING WITH CARDBOARD STUCK INSIDE THE RADIATOR. I was in a state of disbelief. The level of negligence was just too high, and that too for a premium motorcycle. I shudder to think of what could have happened due to their negligence, thankfully I am alright despite Honda Big Wing's best efforts. After coming to terms with the fact that they sold a motorcycle with a piece of cardboard stuck in the radiator I asked on what the process would be to repair their own error. They told me the part isn't available in stock and will need to be ordered and that it could take about 2 weeks. I left the bike at the service centre and went home.

2 weeks later (14 days at service center)

I would be in constant touch with the service head of Honda Big Wing for Mumbai (Frank) and the sales lead of Honda Big Wing Mumbai (Vijay), unfortunately there were no updates.
At one point the service head sent me an invoice for the parts that needed replacement. I was a bit taken aback as the fan had broken due to cardboard that they had forgotten to remove INSIDE the radiator on a 5 day old bike! Deliver a faulty bike and make the customer pay for its repairs?

I maintained contact with the team in hopes that my bike would come back to me.

On the 23rd of August (2 Weeks after the bike was left at the service centre) I was told the parts were still in pending state which means that they have not even shipped the order from Delhi. I was told that the order would take another 10 days. Throughout this painful process the service lead was quite rude and never bothered keeping tabs on my particular case, in fact, I had to call him and remind him each time. This is definitely not the service I expected from a premium 2 wheeler brand.

After another 10 days of waiting (24 days at service center)

The service lead began to stop answering my calls. I was not incessantly, but it seemed that they had not procured the part yet. Finally once they answered, I was told the order was in 'pending' state. It had now taken 24 days to get a fan from Delhi. They refused to escalate the matter or offer any timeline for the repair.

10th of September - The parts finally arrive! Or have they? (36 days at service center)

36 days after I dropped off my bike at the service centre I get a call from the service lead. He informs me that the fan they ordered has arrived broken. I was now beyond annoyed, I asked them for what they could do to fix it, they said they'd order a new fan which would take another 2 weeks!!! The service lead even had the gall to suggest 'glueing' the old fan as an option if I am impatient. What a joke! It seems that Honda Big Wing doesn't care about their customers after a sale. How can a premium line of motorcycle have such terrible support? I didn't have the motorcycle for more than a week and now I am waiting for it for more than a month? If I had known about the terrible attitude that Honda Big Wing would carry and that I would have to wait for a month for my new motorcycle, just for it to feel like a patched up second hand one, I would have rather gone for a KTM Duke 390.

[mrgawde]

Would appreciate some advise from this community. Since I am a new rider I am unsure who to reach out to.

[neil.jericho]

mrgawde, welcome to the forum. Its unfortunate that you have had to suffer at the hands of a callous and indifferent Honda dealership. You certainly have the patience of a saint.

Do you have pictures of the bike, the damaged fan and the piece of cardboard that was stuck in it? If you do, please post them.

First things first, go to the Honda Big Wing website, pull up the email ID or Contact Us box for the page. Explain your predicament. Put a link to this thread. Im sure that it his thread is getting widely circulated in the motorcycling community, both within Bombay and outside it. The last time I used this approach (though Im not a Honda customer), the local Honda Big Wing dealership contacted me within 30 minutes and things began to move very quickly. Its no surprise that they dont want to escalate the matter internally. How are they going to explain to the company and the higher ups at the dealership, that they didnt properly do the PDI on your motorcycle.

Secondly, ask the local dealership to source the part from another Big Wing dealership, if its going to take another 2 weeks. Its surprising to hear your local Honda dealership take such a laid back approach to your problem.

Thirdly, if you are on social media, leverage it to your advantage.

Also, have you asked for a loaner bike? You should.

In this case, there is no reason for you to pay for the fan and / or any other associated parts.

I hope the staff at the Honda dealership finally see some sense and bring this to a speedy conclusion.

[amvj]

It's unfortunate you have to go through all these issues, especially on a brand new bike. I would blame the Honda showroom delivery guys for not properly removing unnecessary bits and pieces from the bike. Please post some photos. Regarding spares, especially for CB300R, it's the Honda head quarters that is causing unnecessary delays and not the dealers.

I would suggest you to send email to Honda customer care along with the link of this Team-bhp thread. If required tag it in Twitter, Instagram etc.

https://www.hondabigwing.in/reach-us/contact-us
customer care: 08:00 am - 09:00 pm
1800 103 3434
customercare@honda2wheelersindia.com


You can also find regional office phone numbers in above link.


Hope this will be resolved soon.
------------

My bike lost an engine bolt and my front mudguard got broken, I ordered the spares a month ago and I am still awaiting for them. I vented out my frustration with the dealer, but they are polite and equally helpless in this matter. They blamed the Honda head quarters for this delay. Someone at Honda spares division is really really lazy to say the least.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5381297 (2022 Honda CB300R Review)

[swiftnfurious]

Well - a very sad way to start the ownership. Having problems in a vehicle is ok - how the issues are resolved is what brings trust in that brand ! After having not so good experience with the service centre or parts availability for my CBR 250, I stopped recommending Honda vehicles to my friend circle.

The product may be super good, but the problem starts when something goes wrong ! What good is a product if the parts are not available when it breaks !

From what I read on the groups, someone has to be extremely lucky for the Honda guys to even provide any support and that's exactly why the dealerships act high handed.

I honestly don't have much of a good advice for you, may be sending the link to this thread to Honda social media might work. Else, the time & effort consuming Customer court proceedings is the only way!

[rajeevsulu]

Honda Big Wing dealers are hopeless in this regard. Customer care email does not evoke any response and there is absolutely no use even if they are tagged on Twitter. The dealer will blame the company. I certainly feel very sad for you.

[nitro.1000bhp]

@mrgawde "and immediately smoke started billowing from the engine."
How bad was it smoking? New bikes sometime emit some smoke from engine due to new paint being baked in engine heat but it will look like a pot that is steaming that's all. But if it "bellowing smoke" then depending on where the smoke was coming out from (engine or exhaust) there may have been some more serious damage caused than just a broken radiator or fan.

How did the engine sound after this episode? have you heard it? I would suggest you do a thorough test ride after they "fix" the bike before you sign any papers. Dont accept the fix if the engine sounds coarse. Take it to consumer court or atleast threatening them to do so will sometimes yield better results.

All the best.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by mrgawde

[h3]........I would have rather gone for a KTM Duke 390.

Bite the bullet!
Sell this, get the 390 and watch your own grin in the mirror every time you ride her.

[shancz]

Welcome to TBHP.

Quite an unfortunate way to start your motorcycling journey.
Honda has to sort this out with the dealer, apologise to the customer and give additional warranty due to the damage caused by a clearly undeserving dealership.

Makes me wonder if this the premium experience they were aiming for and a previous incident with a TopLine member had already indicated a non customer focussed attitude by Honda.

Keep us posted.

[AtheK]

A very sad and sorry state to be in; hope a resolution is found quickly.

I found RE service center so much more responsive in this regard, I had my share of issues with my Interceptor, but they were always available and receptive.

Honda really needs to pull its socks up, they anyway sell their bikes at a premium considering the competition, and if they can not keep even these die hard Honda fans, I don't see much hope in the future for them.

[mrgawde]

On the very first day in a 15 minute ride from the showroom to my home in the lightest of traffic the engine cool light was already acting up


Unfortunately on the day of the accident I was too frazzled and in shock to take pictures I initially thought I was in grave danger and I have never seen a bike leak so much liquid and then followed by smoke from the near the engine. But here is where they had to literally raise the motorcycle on a platform and dig deep to find a piece of cardboard just stuck there


Piece of cardboard, looks so new except for the part that was preventing the fan from spinning.




My initial attempt to get some advice from the bigwing community


Very pissed at the audacity to send me the invoice despite me stating I was not going to pay for any repairs, initially I was understanding but now they have really got on my nerves


I should mention that it was very difficult to communicate with the dealership and the service centre as they would either 'not be in office', not in network coverage, or just simply forget that my case existed


This was just embarrassing on their end, ship broken parts for repair

[mrgawde]

Firstly, Thanks for all the support, I got more support from this community in 2 days then I got from honda in 2 months.

neil.jericho, I have been in contact with customer ser care but it seems they too have not been of much help. At this point the date of first service has passed as a bike that was already faulty and is now facing negligance at this point I just want another motorcycle or a refund. I am not active on social media, but which platform do you feel works the best? In mumbai at the time they only had two of these motorcycle one is mine and the other was a test vehicle as far as I know. Thanks for all the suggestions!

amvj, I can't even be mad the motorcycle is a beauty. But the lack of support from the dealer combined with also the lack of after market part availabilty in my region in a real bummer. From my point of view it seems like noone from down the chain to up the chain really cares, I can only blame the dealer since they are the first point of contact, and considering its a new bike they should be responsible for supporting their customer. Whenever we spoke I was given an assurance of the part coming soon, nevertheless the part never came and the matter was never taken seriously.

swiftnfurious, I was very excited to own my first motorcycle and I chose honda for its 'quality'. I totally feel you when you say the product is good but the support is lackluster

rajeevsulu, my main reason to do this is for spreading awareness, If I had known this was the sorry state of premium honda motorcycles I would not have gone for honda. I too felt that my case was hopeless since it's been 2 months, but getting such support from the community has rekindled my will to fight for what's right

nitro.1000bhp, From the moment I noticed the coolant leak to the smoke to rapid increase in temps I felt near my feet, everything went too fast for me. The smoke certainly came from the vicinity of the engine and didn't stop until I took to motorcycle to the side and shut off the engine. To a newbie like me, this is traumatizing

roy_libran, *weeps in power*

shancz, I already bought their warranty, extended warranty, just to realise i'll be sent an invoice for a broken fan...

AtheK, I too felt the general vibe of a RE was more customer centric, their bikes just felt too heavy for me.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by mrgawde

I already bought their warranty, extended warranty, just to realise i'll be sent an invoice for a broken fan...

As mentioned by others, take it up with Honda as the dealer is useless. My point is as a token gesture for correcting their goof up they should offer something like an AMC package, free of charge since the warranty is already availed.

But all this is secondary, get the bike operational first.
Let's see how Honda/BigWing handles this, will be a learning experience for us going forward.

[Doge]

Did you try sourcing parts from the CBR250R? I suppose if the parts were common they would have the same part number and availability but asking in case you didn’t think of it yet.

[Xaos636]

Sorry to hear the ordeal. I thought only my Fireblade spares took time.
In other news, take your phone, dial out all the non-bigwing dealers out there and enquire about part no. 19020-KVZ-631(Part Name: FAN COMP., COOLING).
CB300R and CBR250R uses same fan with exact same part number. Sorry I missed this thread as was stuck up with work. Hope it helps.