Don't buy a Triumph in India: Incompetent SC messed up my Daytona 675R

My imported motorcycle has been at the service centre for 13 months & Triumph India's support has been appalling.

BHPian Jaggu recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The following is one of the most shocking ones I have come across from Bangalore Triumph Group.

Respected sir / madam,

From an angry Triumph customer

• Dr Ravinandana Gowda
• 2014 TRIUMPH Daytona 675R
• VIN number SMTTTA14FAE617218
• KA03HU8152

Currently at the authorised service centre Keerthi Triumph Bangalore for 13 months.

DO NOT BUY TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES IN INDIA (How Triumph India messed up my CBU Daytona 675R)

I own a 2014 Triumph Daytona 675R. I got the 3rd bike in India, this was a CBU unit that was unboxed in front of me. The bike was booked in Keerthi Triumph Bangalore before the showroom was even built. The bike was delivered on Feb 14.

I am the stereotypical middle-class guy who saved up for several years to get his dream bike which was a poster on the wall for my entire life. The bike has been treated with love and the respect that she deserves. She has had her niggles from the get-go which were attempted to be addressed at the authorized service center Keerthi Triumph Bangalore. Including and not limited to the engine switching off at low idling (which they could not figure out for several months) Recurrent, starter motor issues, recurrent battery replacement issues, and coolant and oils leaks.

To keep the post as short as possible and less boring, I will stick to the story of the current event where Keerthi Triumph and triumph India destroyed my bike completely. The bike was having an ODO of 28k km in Nov 2021 and these are a series of unfortunate events that followed.

Nov 2021

Recurrent Starter motor issues. Cold starts are good but a warm bike refused to start. And a new sticky clutch issue. The bike was towed to Keerthi (for the umpteenth time as usual). Option of repair of starter motor given. I asked for a replacement starter motor, frustrated with the bike stranding me on the ride in the middle of nowhere and to check the clutch assembly, and change the clutch cable. Starter motor replacement was done, was orally told the clutch is good and they forgot to replace the clutch cable. The bike was released with a 60k bill in Jan 2021.

Jan 2022

Took the bike out for a ride and was barely 100km from the service repair/interval the clutch exploded on the Kolar NH4 highway losing power and nearly getting me killed by a bus behind me. This happened in the night in the middle of nowhere stretch during the covid curfew times. With a lot of difficulties, a flatbed was called and the bike was towed back to Bangalore with cops stopping us at every possible checkpoint, got the bike back home @ 1am on Saturday night. Monday morning the bike was towed to Keerthi from my home (again for the umpteenth time. I think the towing agency was kept afloat by my bike alone).

After the bike's assessment, I was told that the entire clutch assembly had disintegrated and needed to be replaced. As it is a wear and tear component it has nothing to do with the previous issue I had raised and it decided to do a spontaneous Hara Kiri as it was depressed and fed up with its life of abuse by Keerthi Triumph, Triumph India.

In the month of March, parts were received and the clutch assembly was done. They noticed some new mechanical noise which was unnoticed till the time of expected delivery and decided to keep the bike back for further checks. After a week I was told that it is a timing belt issue which needs to be replaced and it was replaced.

April 2022

Bike was ready for delivery and was given to me @ 6.30pm closing time with an empty fuel tank (near full when given) with a bill of 90k. Took the bike hoping that she was sorted out and headed to the nearest bunk. In the 3 km that I did manage to ride, it was unrideable with extremely loud mechanical noises with significant loss of power like she was being strangled and had to stop the bike and get her towed home (as Keerthi had closed) and the next morning (again for infinite time towed back to Keerthi at my cost).

They reassessed the bike and said that they have to open up the top-end head assembly.

May 2022

The head assembly was opened and I was told that the exhaust valves had deformed and the exhaust valve guide in the compression head was deformed and had lost their size dimensions. Was given an estimate of 2 lacs upwards for parts alone which included the head assembly (1.2lac ) and all inlet, outlet valves (30k +) and gaskets (35k) not including labor.

When they were questioned on how this could have happened they had no answers. Some due diligence was done and discussed with outsider subject experts and the issue was attributed to faulty timing belt assembly.

This was raised with Keerthi Triumph and they played it down and I was given the option to attempt to repair the head assembly guide to dimensions by lathe and replace the valves to save a cost of 1.2 lac with a new estimate of 1.2 lac plus for the remaining work.

July 2022

They get the head assembly back from the lathe and say it is up to the standard dimensions and they will re-assemble the bike.

August 2022

The bike was reassembled, but the mechanical noise of March 21 persists. I was told that they need to open the bike again (each tear-down costs me a gasket of 35k for the top end and another 35k if they open the bottom end). Reassessed again and told the top end is fine. They need to check the bottom end. The bottom end is opened and told the crankshaft ball bearings have disintegrated. They need to be replaced. Parts were ordered.

September 2022

Parts were received and the bike was assembled. Told that bike will be taken for a long test drive to make sure there are no more problems and then I will be updated.

This is followed by radio silence.

October goes by with no contact.

November 2022

After multiple calls, they finally respond back saying the mechanical noise persists and they have no clue what the issue is and they will tear the top end and bottom end down again. Not to mention a large number of cosmetic damages including dents, broken plastics, paint chips with repeated builds and tests and poor handling of the bike in general.

Frustrated and distrustful I decided to escalate events to the Triumph India Head. I was put in touch with him who forwarded me to a representative of Triumph India. Multiple conference calls were held with him and the service head representing Triumph Keerthi Bangalore. They took responsibility and assured speedy, thorough and complete work to factory spec by both parties.

Dec 20222

The bike was disassembled again. The top and bottom ends were taken down. I was told that the compression head is completely destroyed, all valves were deformed again, and the piston rings were damaged. And possible crankshaft damage an estimate of nearly 3 lakhs was given.

When questioned on the cause of this huge damage with the bike in 'the safe hands' of Keerthi from the lay one year. Keerthi had no answers other than that the entire engine decided to commit suicide like the clutch plates because they were fed up with their life in the care of Keerthi.

When this was again escalated to Triumph India's representative, they were attributed to natural wear and tear of moving parts of the engine. There were some heated arguments on the initial timing belt insults and subsequent therapeutic misadventure. He sidestepped the issue blaming it on non-authorized center oil change and spark plug change during the peak of the pandemic when everything was shut down including Keerthi Triumph.

When it was pointed out that it is impossible for a routine oil and spark plug change could have caused this issue and that it was caused by Keerthi Triumph's incompetence and they were threatened with a legal notice and consumer court case, Triumph India's representative immediately became hostile saying that you should have replaced the head in May or Jun 22 and should not have repaired it so it is the owner's fault and it has nothing to do with Triumph India. He washed his hands off and went into incognito mode and became unresponsive.

So according to TRIUMPH INDIA, the authorized service center for Triumph KEERTHI TRIUMPH BANGALORE was so good at what they do that the bike spontaneously decided to disintegrate and self-destruct in the service bay, and I should pay the complete ransom for their attempt to fix it and get the bike back.

Feb 23

All parts are received and the bike is assembled. And I get a call back saying that there is some crankshaft imbalance. They will consult Triumph India and get back to me. I get a call back subsequently saying the case was discussed with Triumph India and has been advised to replace the entire crankshaft assembly and they will order those parts. More delays and more escalating costs and bills.

Remedy

• Accept responsibility and accountability for destroying the motorcycle engine because of a faulty timing chain/belt resulting in the engine top-end failure followed by attempted repair of the top end resulting in bottom-end failure.
• To ship the engine to the Triumph India plant to repair and replace all damaged parts.
• To fix all cosmetic injuries the bike has acquired during the stay on the service floor.
• To replace the brand new battery (Nov 21) which has been unused for the last year.
• To bear above all costs and responsibilities.
• To give a 3-year engine warranty for the above work and parts.

Failure to complete the above process and steps to my satisfaction will be followed by these steps:

• Consumer court based on this case.
• With respondents of Triumph India, Keerthi Triumph and Keerthi service head.
• Social media bombing across UK and India.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Triumph makes great bikes. Period. Some of the best bikes I have ever seen or ridden. Then there is Triumph India which has no clue about who or what they are representing and all the management is interested in is their own paychecks with no pride or responsibility for the products that they sell.

Keerthi Triumph is absolutely the most incompetent and unqualified authorized service center and with underpaid, under-trained and constantly migrating service personnel and supervisors sourced from Bajaj or KTM who are looking to jump to their next biggest paycheck and have no clue what they are doing with the motorcycles. The fact is that the ASS has no difference in attitude, no ethics, no accountability, and zero responsibility for their work as long the bills are marked up as high as possible and they are incentivised with labor costs and parts cuts for amounts that are billed.

DO NOT BUY A TRIUMPH IN INDIA AND DO NOT GET ANY WORK DONE AT KEERTHI BANGALORE.

Here's what BHPian Nilesh5417 had to say about the matter:

Absolutely shocking! Not just the incompetence of the Service Center but also the handling of the issue by Triumph. But there are multiple horror stories of varying degrees and this is a new addition to it.

But I really am not sure why the owner didn't want to take an opinion from any of the reputed FNG. There are a few in Bangalore - at least the issue could have been diagnosed properly in one go.

Here's what BHPian whencut86 had to say about the matter:

What is appalling is the way Triumph India handled this episode. They should have owned up and dealt with the dealer sternly but they just left the customer in the lurch and sided with the dealer. Worst thing is the customer would have paid so much that it would be at par with the price of this bike now. What a harrowing experience and still no resolution.

Should never touch Triumph in India with even a bargepole I guess. Should stick to the SBKs from Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha (if at all they launch in India) or stick to the RE 650s and KTMs.

Here's what BHPian .sourov had to say about the matter:

There are numerous such stories related to Keerthi Triumph Bangalore.

My shortlisted middleweights for purchase last year May was Street Triple R and the CBR. The response from the showroom people was excellent (they still keep in touch) and I also liked the Street Triple R a lot.

But could not convince myself after hearing so many horror stories about the service center in Bangalore. Since I was moving to the big bikes for the first time could not afford to take this risk.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.