[bf1983]

I used to read all the negative reports of first Triumph dealers then of the BMW dealers which were very disheartening to read but I thought at least no one seems to have any issues with Kawasaki bikes and lo and behold your horrible experience has now come to light.

I had thought hundred times before buying a Kawasaki bike but I thought Japanese manufacturers pride themselves with quality service. Looks like its all a mirage in the end.

Thankfully I have not had any major issues with service for my Z650 but its not been a bed of roses either. Everyone suggests Anzen but their practices are downright bad. I was called at 10 30 am for the service and it was around 1 pm before they even wheeled my bike inside. And then it was only around 2 pm that they actually started working on my bike. Why ? Because some old customer came on a ZX10r and the entire showroom ignored all the people waiting patiently in their showroom and took his bike in for emergency service. Definitely not a service anyone should be proud off. And to top it all off they said they couldn't wash my bike as they didn't have the time anymore as the bike was sent late for service. I was shocked but by then I was exhausted just waiting around doing nothing and I didn't argue but just paid the bill and left at 4 pm.

Motosaki Vashi did my second service and honestly they did a much better job than Anzen. Will be giving my bike to them in future. They kept their service station open for almost 2 hours beyond their closing time of 6 pm because I had time constraints that week. And even though they were open for 2 hours more they never rushed the service of my bike and I could see the mechanic take lots of care in opening and putting back parts of my bike. Highly recommended.

Hopefully Kawasaki Pune rectifies this issue and you are a happy owner once more. As it is Kawasaki sells so few bikes they really need to ensure customers like you are treated right or we might just see Kawasaki India go the Harley way.

[v12]

This is totally shameful of the Kawasaki dealer and India Kawasaki as well. I am telling you roadside mechanics do a better job than these service centers.

I am just wondering - what is the roll and responsibility of a Service Advisor in any case of servicing. After any service (especially when there are accident jobs or parts replacement) , isn't if the duty of the SA to ensure the job done by the technician is satisfactory. Dont their do a Quality Check on the service done?

what is the point in changing exhorbitant labour charge when the labour is not upto the mark!

This definitely should be taken up with the highest authorities at India Kawasaki. Looking at their past stories, I am sure they will turn a blind eye initially until things heat up on social media.

All the best to you and hope the arrive at a resolution to your satisfaction.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by coriollis

The bikes can't be moved freely, they have to be dragged sideways to be able to fit in the bay. This is un pardonable. It involves high risk of bike damage. Meccanico's bike's paint might have been damaged due to this. I have attached an approximate plan of the workshop below. May be the actual area is a little less too.. IMO this cannot be a workshop work area for a superbike service centre

2. Bike was not pre-washed. Bike was quiet dirty after my long trip. I enquired about the washing setup and was told that they do not wash the bikes as the water available is hard water. No Kawasaki... this is absolutely not acceptable. In my book, a service setup just cannot function without a washing bay. The dirt on my bike or Meccanico's (PK's) bike will cause damage to paint for sure.

3. One of the mechanic tried to clean the bike using a dry soiled cloth. Me watching this, prevented him from touching the bike with that dirty rag.
4. And the next thing I know was that I was showered with cotton waste... hopefully clean from the heavens. The helper boy had casually thrown the rags from the upper floor. This is sheer lack of any operating system or code of conduct.
Now this can happen with the tools too. Tools being thrown in this manner could potentially damage the bikes.

5. Bike was obviously not washed or cleaned post service too.

So my experience of servicing a million rupee motorcycle goes right out of the window.

Otherwise we are starting to look as a bunch of fools who spend a fortune on bikes, and are left at the mercy of these service shacks.
Can Kawasaki ensure a basic minimum SOP for workshops and service stations to start with at least?

Thanks for your detailed description Coriollis! It has truly been an ordeal. It's unnecessary stress and hassle in life to be honest. It's like paying a huge amount of money to someone so they can torture you.

Your description of the service centre is extremely accurate. Bikes being pulled and pivoted on their stands, tools being thrown around, dirty rags used to wipe down dusty bikes. Its enough to give any owner a seizure. The KTM service centre I visit for my Duke 200 is genuinely much better in all aspects.

We cannot even expect bare minimum standards from Kawasaki Pune forget about premium experiences.

[AseemYadav]

Hearing the horror stories I was already charry regarding going for a kawasaki. But this story takes the cake. The only option left is honda I guess. But they are taking their own sweet time launching the cbr650r or the cbr500r.

[xerxxx]

Mod note: Post edited to add Paragraph break, helps with readability. Thanks.


Thanks for the detailed info on what actually goes on with the kawasaki (pune) service. I own a 2018 z900 and I dont have a much different experience of service with them. Honestly speaking I dont have anything against the service guys, venkatesh and swagat, they r sweet guys, but their sweetness doesn't do me any good; it is the lack of basic service SOP that irritates the life outta me.

That's the only reason why when I shipped my bike to the service center, I had one of my office guys keep a watch over them. Similarly I offer the service team a place to work freely with access to all tools and facilities I have only to keep an eye over their callous service process.

Now for the bad part :-

During my 1st service they overtightened the engine cladding plastic part and broke a clip and they posed as if I "may" have done that unintentionally. During the 2nd service, one of the guys drained the engine oil and swagat cranked and fired up the engine. That for me was the nail in the coffin. I kept my cool. Then swagat opened the brake calipers, cleaned them and assembled them back only to realise the brake pads retaining metal clip was upside down, the moment he wanted to take a test ride, both the wheels locked up as the upside clips dug into the rotor petals. That was the 1st time I had to be stern and tell them to work on my bike in daylight and had to stop them from working on my bikelate in the night. Though we had more than adequate lighting, by then I had come to end of my patience. The next day things were sorted out even before they woke up by my local mechanic.

The bike had an error code pop up time and again for which I had to ship the bike to pune and all they did was clean the sensor and send the bike back. After the 3rd instance of the same issue, I wasnt willing to spend almost 15k just to ship the bike everytime just to have a sensor cleaned, error removed and the bike returned to me. Finally I emailed kawasaki india and lodged a complaint about the error as my bike was approaching the end of the warranty period. Finally after 6 months the sensor was changed 2 weeks back. Since the guys were coming all the way just to change my bikes sensor, I coordinated with other kawi owners and almost 8 bikes were serviced. But for me it turned out to be another ordeal. Since the service team was anyways coming I decided to have the bike serviced to. They opened up the engine cladding and this time they showed me the other cladding broken, as if i had done it. Last guys to tighten the cladding were again the service guys in Feb, at their pune service center. Back to the ordeal, they opened the air box and sprayed whatever they use to clean up the throttle body. Then they opened the butterfly intake valves with a finger and pumped in very high air pressure from a commercial air compressor. I had warned them that the pressure was way too high and I've never heard or seen anyone cleaning the intake manifold like that. I kept quiet for the moment. Once the bike was assembled they fired her up and the idling rpm always jumped straight to 4000 rpm and then settled to around 1500 rpm after a min or less. Even when the engine was well warmed up she would fire up straight to 3000 rpm and then settle to 1500 after a while. Very casually they told me to ride it like that until the next service when they would sync the throttle bodies for me. How would a perfectly running bike need throttle body synchronization merely after their professional service. So they screw up things and I'm supposed to pay for rectifying their stupidity. That service with some extra work cost me 11k, but with a perfectly bike ruined with an unstable and high idling and snatchy throttle, I wasn't at peace. Loaded the bike very next day and sent the bike to pune (Slipstream Performance) who within minutes diagnosed the issued and resolved it.

So after a service and some work that cost me 11k, I've spent another 8k to ship the bike 1 way. Now that the work would b done and bike will b ready, either I'll ride it back if I get time or then spend another 8k to shop it back to me, so 16k of transport and I'm yet to know how much I need to spend on the throttle sync work.

So in short, im spending about 3 times the service amount to only to rectify the kawasaki pune service errors. I've only stuck to the kawasaki service because my bike was still under warranty.
My only advice to any superbike owner in pune would be, that if u are in pune, u should get the bike serviced at Slipstream Performance by Kunal. The moment you only see him work on a bike, it is easy to conclude that he knows his work, he knows how to care for other's machines. I've till date never seen tge service guys use a torque wrench, but kunal will use a torque wrench for the most miniscule fitting or tightening too. There lies the difference in basic work processes of kawasaki service and a private workshop.

Last but not the least kawasaki india gave an additional years warranty (3yrs) to liquidate their older models before BS6 came into force. What have we previous owners done wrong to have paid a non-discount price in 2018 & 19 and live with a 2 yr warranty.

Originally Posted by Meccanico

Thanks for your detailed description Coriollis! It has truly been an ordeal. It's unnecessary stress and hassle in life to be honest. It's like paying a huge amount of money to someone so they can torture you.

Your description of the service centre is extremely accurate. Bikes being pulled and pivoted on their stands, tools being thrown around, dirty rags used to wipe down dusty bikes. Its enough to give any owner a seizure. The KTM service centre I visit for my Duke 200 is genuinely much better in all aspects.

We cannot even expect bare minimum standards from Kawasaki Pune forget about premium experiences.

[yd_gli]

This sucks! Reminds me of my experience with Bajaj KTM in Pune back in 2012. I bought a new Duke 200 (one of the first to roll of the line). It rode fine for a few weeks and then I noticed a that the junction of the exhaust with the manifold had M-seal on it (yes, m-seal)!! I followed up with the service center for so many months to get an explanation for it and all they told me was that I had intentionally applied m-seal after a botched exhaust upgrade!! I rode the bike for a year more and sold it off.

Never bought a bike since and never will. In fact I will never buy a low sales volume, high performance machine in India be it a VW GTi, a Harley or even an expensive bicycle. It is impossible to get these repaired and serviced well in India.

Lesson learnt: India is not the country for these machines. The after-sales staff have no value for these machines or the money paid for it. They are not trained for these bikes and treat them like any other 100cc motorbike. Spare parts are never available and the OEMs have very little interest in India as a market.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by r.joshi

It's more that 10 days now, my bike is still in Chandigarh and they still don't have fuel pump in stock.
With this experience of leaving your vehicle in another city because Kawasaki dealers helpless enough to find issue on first day and poor enough to not keep a fuel pump in stock, I'll never consider Kawasaki or similar premium brands again.

I'm so sorry to hear that! Kawasaki seriously do no care about the safety and wellbeing of their customers if such serious issues with the bikes are going unnoticed. Seems like their service is diabolical all across India. I can imagine the stress of leaving your bike at a workshop in another city. About time we come together and share our grievances.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

One other take away from this to keep in mind is to never write a job sheet on a bike unless it's clean. It can be a tough one to stay put on but it's for our own good. Also always take photos and videos before handing it over. I have had similar issues with my car and have been doing that ever since.

Anyways, hope you hear good news from KI soon and do keep us in the loop.

Agreed sir! I've learnt that the hard way. Lesson for life.
Will do!

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Such pathetic service for 10+L bike! That too from a Japanese brand!!

The whole Japanese culture thing only seems to exists in Japan. Their Indian counterparts have nothing but disdain towards their customers. Well, will definitely try and fight India Kawasaki for this.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Unfortunately, this is Kawasaki India 101. To be honest, they really dont care before the sale is made either.

That's actually true. nitrogary and //M and numerous other potential buyers have mentioned it as well. I have been a fanboy of the 6R since years and was hence set on buying the bike. Kawasaki sales had no influence over my decision. (No test ride too). However I still had a great sales experience because I went through the extremely helpful gentleman and rider Happysmiles.

Originally Posted by lionell

(1) They removed my front wheel to take a look at the fork vibrations and put it back the wrong way.
(2) They overtightened my chain so much that Kunal was surprised how it didn't break and cause any harm.
(3) Air filter was outright dirty right after a major service.
(4) Massive vibrations at the levers and foot pegs that were never daignosed.
(5) No idea how to torque the bolts to factory specs (no torque wrench in the service centre)
(6) No idea how to do a throttle body sync.

When I started this thread I had no idea there would be so many nightmare inducing stories from fellow Kawasaki owners. The issues you and xerxxx mentioned are clearly grave and could potentially cause serious harm to the rider and vehicle. I say we come together and take serious action against this.

Originally Posted by Red Liner

These guys are supposedly in charge of dealer management in Kawasaki. This is publicly available information hence i am sharing it here.

If i were you, i would go straight to their corporate office and not leave until i get an appointment with this guy and do a face to face meeting.

Thanks a lot for the leads. Will look into this.

Originally Posted by xerxxx

they posed as if I "may" have done that unintentionally.

Wow. There seems to be no end to Kawasaki Pune Service's dreadful and life-threatening work. Blaming the customer is their USP! There are innumerable instances wherein Mr. Venkatesh Patil has blamed the customers for mistakes the service centre has made. His tone while doing so is extremely off putting too; as if scolding us. When the air duct was broken on my bike for 4 months, the crack naturally grew due to the load of the other parts on it. When I went to get it replaced, Mr. Patil blamed and reprimanded me for the fact that the crack and breakage of the air-duct had increased.

Our patience and politeness is what these miscreants feed on. I have been polite and respectful towards them through all this trauma; but don't think I will be anymore.

I saw your bike at Kunal's workshop a few days ago. I hope all the issues are sorted and that you can enjoy the machine finally.

[xerxxx]

If all Kawasaki owners are truly agreeing to come together and fight this callous attitude of the Pune service team, please count me in. High time we step up and give these guys what they deserve. Whether I own a ninja 400 or a H2, for every customer his ride is his pride and such callous and taken for granted attitude shouldn't be tolerated.

After my 1st post in the morning and discussion with the service team, now they tried to cover up by saying, sir we didn't know you were going to send your bike to slipstream performance for resolving the issue. We were anyways going to come to Aurangabad for the throttle body synchronisation. ����. Had to share a screenshot of my chat with them showing them that on 9th itself I had messaged them that my bike was loaded for Pune b'coz of their screw-up. And now they act ignorant and portray that there was no need for me to send the bike else where for rectification of their mess.

My only take on the whole thing is, as long as a bike is not perfect in every aspect post a service, the service should not close the job card, unless the bike owner says so. These guys really expected me to ride around until the next service on a bike that idles at 3-4k rpm to begin with, has snatchy throttle response and surprisingly hold the rpm for a sec or 2 even when the throttle is released. Imagine me wanting to decelerate and the bike holds the rpm for a second or 2 and then responds to my throttle input. They really though I would ride around like this until they decided it was time to attend to my issue, when they were the ones to create it.

High time we owners come together and take it up with either the dealership owner and/or IKM.

Originally Posted by Meccanico

I'm so sorry to hear that! Kawasaki seriously do no care about the safety and wellbeing of their customers if such serious issues with the bikes are going unnoticed. Seems like their service is diabolical all across India. I can imagine the stress of leaving your bike at a workshop in another city. About time we come together and share our grievances.

...

I saw your bike at Kunal's workshop a few days ago. I hope all the issues are sorted and that you can enjoy the machine finally.

[TrackDay]

Going through the thread I felt very bad, I can only imagine how it must have been for the owner. Most of us take extreme care of our rides. Even a small scratch or ding upsets us terribly, just imagine then for that to be caused by the very folks who are supposed to maintain and service our rides.

Although an entirely different product and situation I recently got a new TV. It was a retail purchase from a neighborhood electronic store. I had recently redone the entire living room and the TV counter in a very expensive original teak wood work format. The guy (from the TV brand) who came to install the television used a minus screw driver to rip open some plastic pouches containing the remote and accessories on the new wooden TV counter top. It was like using a knife on a cutting board. I immediately gave him a mouthful and he was like it is not a big deal. In the end I knew there was no use complaining about it to his team or escalating the issue. The damage was done and I knew I had to live with it. This is sadly the situation everywhere. Some folks are just not careful. It is the way they are brought up.

Coming back to the matter of rides, although I don't have anything expensive, when in warranty I always make sure I clean my rides (basic cleaning) before handing it over to the service center folks. I also make sure the work job card is opened in the morning. I don't accept any last minute / closing time jobs. In my line of work either get the work done properly or don't do it all. These last minute/closing time jobs are always shoddy and questionable.

Anyways don't let these bad experiences dishearten you. I hope you can still enjoy the riding experience and ride safe !

[Hamza123]

This is really heart breaking but not surprising.
I have been part of the Pune Kawasaki Group and ridden many times with them.
My bike was a pre owned bike and was out of warranty so have luckily never had to visit the workshop for anything and have always gone to Slipstream and Unleaded care for service and repair related work. Both great and professional.
When this post flashed on our whatsapp group it opened a can of worms, and all Mr Patil had to say was please call me for any problems and i shall clarify them!
The sales team is no better. I wanted a bag and they kept me hanging for a month. Finally I contacted Kawasaki Kolhapur and they had the bag delivered to me in 3 days. Yes 3 days!

[shan_ned]

Seeing so many Kawaski customers getting affected, I would also suggest to raise #BoycottKawaskiIndia trending on all social media channels like Twitter, Instagram, etc.. Believe me or not, few Triumph owners raised the same against Triumph India during a new motorcycle launch. It worked to some extent that senior Triumph officials called those individual owners to help them out. Not a perfect solution to correct the system, but it is a very good starting point.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by xerxxx

[b] Loaded the bike very next day and sent the bike to pune (Slipstream Performance) who within minutes diagnosed the issued and resolved it.

I believe the only option that Kawasaki India has is to simply hand over their authorised service center to Kunal. I have seen and heard of Kunal's work from pretty much everyone and it is outstanding. He is methodical, process oriented and won't cut corners to short change customers. That's what most SBK owners need.

[xerxxx]

Yes, kolhapur dealer is a biker too, so hopefully he understands a bikers needs. Plus his team is excellent. Even when I wanted to buy the z900, the kolhapur sales team was more proactive. But then I have nothing against the pune sales team too, they were pretty much enthusiastic about my purchase.

Originally Posted by Hamza123

This is really heart breaking but not surprising.
I have been part of the Pune Kawasaki Group and ridden many times with them.
My bike was a pre owned bike and was out of warranty so have luckily never had to visit the workshop for anything and have always gone to Slipstream and Unleaded care for service and repair related work. Both great and professional.
When this post flashed on our whatsapp group it opened a can of worms, and all Mr Patil had to say was please call me for any problems and i shall clarify them!
The sales team is no better. I wanted a bag and they kept me hanging for a month. Finally I contacted Kawasaki Kolhapur and they had the bag delivered to me in 3 days. Yes 3 days!

[Torq]

I feel so sorry to hear you guys' ordeal and what all one has to go through to maintain a "one in a million" bike.
I was in a similar dilemma when I got dominar last year. Having heard a few horror stories from Bajaj service centre, I felt fortunate enough to find a fellow passionate rider and mechanic thru DHP group in Pune. Takes extreme care and precautions of all things bike and I am a happy man!

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

I believe the only option that Kawasaki India has is to simply hand over their authorised service center to Kunal. I have seen and heard of Kunal's work from pretty much everyone and it is outstanding. He is methodical, process oriented and won't cut corners to short change customers. That's what most SBK owners need.

Most of you must already know, Kunal is a Team-bhpian himself, motocamp