I've often wondered why old timers had so little faith in Royal Enfield after taking delivery of their bikes, today I got to learn it the hard way. Since I was told to come in for service today by the CSM, I arrived at 8:30 and unfortunately got the same SA as I got last time. For some reason he just isnt able to get what I say, though I speak to him in English, which means I need to explain things 3 times at least and he has scant regard for a customer’s time which is one thing that really gets my goat. I told him that the front brake needed bleeding, showed him the engine oil leak on the right side, complained about the vibes and asked him to perform the tire swap. I also told him to change the front fork oil (
supposed to be done at 9K / 9 month service but they said they will do it now) which strangely he was reluctant to do but finally agreed. I said I will wait in the customer lounge and was given a delivery time of between 12 and 1 PM which was in line with my previous visits.
Unfortunately after waiting for 1 1/2 hours, I was in for an unpleasant surprise when I was told that the bike will only be ready by 17:30 since the fork oil change would take quite some time. Im not sure why the SA didnt tell me that in the first place! I was annoyed at having lost half my morning for no reason whatsoever and handed over the engine oil and told the floor manager about the tire situation. The senior gentleman who I was talking to for the last 6 weeks wasnt available so I called him up and he said he will get back to me. I didnt hear from him for the rest of the day. Later in the day, I called up the CSM to confirm about the tire but he didnt pick up or return my call.
I received a call from the floor manager in the afternoon telling me that front disc pads needed changing and asked me to come in at 17:30 which I duly did but was surprised to find that the bike was still not ready. To my amazement, I was finally told that they didnt have the tire in stock and that they will need another week to get it! Needless to say, I was quite furious but resigned myself to my fate and waited.
And waited. And waited. To make matters worse, the SA wasnt able to even explain what work was done on the bike despite repeated requests from my side. Finally the mechanic himself listed out all the things he took care of and I paid the bill of
Rs 3,995 (
bear in mind this doesnt include engine oil charges). The break up of the bill is below
Labour Costs (including 14% service tax)
General Service 570
Miscellaneous Labour 114
Disc Pad check and change 114
Fork Overhauling 285
Total Rs 1083
Part Costs (including 14.5% VAT)
Oil Filter 93
Disc Pad Kit Front Caliper 2100
Breather Pipe 119
Total Rs 2312
In addition to this the front fork oil came to
Rs 600 though it was only on a handwritten piece of paper with the stamp of one BTM automobiles and no mention of any tax. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on here.
Despite repeatedly following up with my SA, he really didnt do anything towards speeding up delivery of my bike. Washing as always took time and I finally got the bike at around 19:00 (
far cry from the 13:00 commitment in the morning). Thoroughly irritated with unnecessarily having lost the whole day, I left for the Ceat showroom hoping to fit a new front tire before they closed but a few minutes later, the bike rather disconcertingly started sputtering in heavy traffic and went off.
I was able to start it a couple of times but eventually it just gave up the ghost and refused to start though all the electricals were working fine. There was enough fuel in the bike but just to be safe I pushed it to the nearby pump and put in 100 rupees worth of petrol though it didnt change anything. I called up the SVC guys and told them where I was and waited for half an hour before the same mechanic arrived. By then the bike had started and they quickly identified the root cause as the pressure wash which had left water everywhere and they dried out a couple of rubber hoses and the spark plug. The mechanic was very helpful and gave me his number and promised to come again if I needed help tonight. The delay meant that it was too late to get the tire fixed and I will miss out on a planned ride tomorrow. If I was Bruce Banner I wouldve turned into the Hulk multiple times during the day.
On this incredibly frustrating day, I can sum up the few positives below
- The actual work done by the mechanic seems to be good, the bike is running quite smoothly now. It was really coarse before the service.
- Most folks in the SVC are dedicated. The floor manager promised he will personally look into the delivery of the tire. At the pace at which RE is going about trying to source it, half of their Bangalore staff will soon be looking into my case.
- The security guard at the SVC deserves special mention as he is actually the most interesting person there. I ended up having a very interesting discussion with him on communism and what it means in the world today.
While waiting for the mechanics to come diagnose the problem with my bike, I was sitting on the footpath, watching the world go by as I reflected on what a wasted day it turned out to be. Despite being given a commitment that the tire would be there and things would be taken care of, nothing materialized. So many people passing by were dressed in their weekend finest and threw a glance or two at the fetching Continental GT little realizing the actual heartache involved in owning such a fine piece of machinery.
Road side reflections
The worst part is that while there are alternatives in the same size for the front tire, I haven’t seen anything yet in the same specifications for the rear. I don’t even want to start worrying about what will happen when the rear tire needs replacing. I have strongly recommended the Continental GT to many people, on this forum and outside, based on my excellent experience with the bike and after sales service. With Royal Enfield’s supply chain turning out to be its Achilles heel, I will have to sing a different tune.
If there is anyone from Royal Enfield reading this, here’s a wake-up call. You have a great product in the Continental GT. You have some really dedicated, hard working people on your rolls. But if you cant source a single tire in 6 weeks, then there are some serious supply chain problems in your system. Will every Continental GT owner have to wait for months altogether to source a tire? Why does the development team select tires from a manufacturer that isn’t even willing to import them for the open market? Doesn’t Royal Enfield have a single PSD in its plants in Madras that can be dispatched to a city that is just 4 hours away? Most worryingly, how can so many RE employees not know where an item is so long after it has been ordered?
If this is the state of affairs when it comes to sourcing a bike tire for the premium product in its lineup which has been on sale for some time, what lies in store for potential Himalayan owners who will have to contend with sourcing 21 inch tires that aren’t even available in the market?