Wasted 5 hours - Ferracci

[speedcraft]

I am not one to complain, but if this saves someone time......

I do all my own work...but do not have an Axone. Since I am going on a 2000 mile trip this week I did a full maintenance....all fluids, filters, adjusted the valves, my bike is stock but for a Mistral can and a K&N filter.

Checked the throttle bodies and they are just a tad off....but I have no way to reset the TPS. So I call Ferracci (the closest service center) told them I needed a TPS reset and wanted the grs-03 fuel map.

Got an appointment for over a week out (today) and was told to show up at opening time. So an hour ride to the shop and I was there a half hour early.

Watched Eraldo mess with a custom map on a Hyabusa for 3 1/2 hours (from a distance).

So now it is noon.....and the service manager comes out to say:

1). I talked to the piagio rep and there is no map for the Griso only the breva.....even if we could put it on your bike we won't -- it would fry your ECU. Yes I explained the exact steps to check for the Map and I verified that they had updated the Axone.....but no way.

2). We will not reset your TPS unless we do a full service.....What full service? I ask. The 12500 with all fluids replaced (which I just did) and the Valves set (which I had just done)-----even after explaining, he said we don't know what you have done and will replace all the fluids anyway. Don't even ask how much they wanted for the "full service".

So an hour ride home with nothing done....I expected more from a high end Italian only shop like ferracci.

Sigh

rdl

 

[draidt]

So where are you going on your trip, perhaps we can steer you to a friendlier dealer. Stop by the VA rally this weekend and someone will be able to reset your TPS with a VDTS

Note to self FBF will not get any of my business.

 

[GuzziMoto]

Sorry to hear of your FBF experiences. I can't say I am surprised.
There is a shop on the south side of Harrisburg Pa that is excellent in my experience. And they are a vintage Porsche restoration shop as their primary business. Well worth the trip for a gear head. They do not stock much of the motorcycle accessories (none really) but the service quality I received from them was excellent and the vintage exotica is worth seeing.
Europa Macchina is the name of the shop. Dennis and Lauri seem like good folk. Art is their Guzzi mechanic.

 

[guzzi jon]

Kind of strange, Pete loaded the 1103 new griso map in my griso from his Navigator, been out for awhile. He will be at the national if you see him, he will sort you. I like the new map, seems to fuel better on the bottom, I have an open airbox and a mistal pipe, so I was really running lean. But soon I will Todds PCV and AT setup, and it will be dialed in

 

[speedcraft]

I am headed to Ohio.....but I am doing several vintage car events and skipping the AMA vintage days this year. Not sure if I can get a dealer to do a driveby tuneup....they all seem to be in northern Ohio.

I will keep Harrisburg in mind......but that is not on my way this trip.

I am still shocked about FBF...because I have met Eraldo and Larry before, but I never had to do business with them. There was another mechanic and his helper sitting around doing nothing all morning, because they where waiting for parts. I even offered to show them the update on the Axone....but only Eraldo is allowed to use the tool. No respect for the customer....to have me sit there for 3 1/2 hours before deciding that $85 was not worth pushing a couple of buttons on the Axone.

rdl

 

[vivo]

Not to offer defense for FBF but I am not so surprised... They are into Ducati's, tuning, lots and lots of bikes waiting to be worked on. The service manager might as well be Mr Potato Head...he is just a go between and my experience has been he's not worth speaking with. You won't get call backs, you won't get the parts guy to find you Guzzi accessories, the service manager doesn't know anything about Moto Guzzi and wouldn't be able to get you a lost key if his life depended on it....

Eraldo was tuning that Hayabusa for 3 1/2 hours? Must have been something important to him then... If you have two hands that do the important stuff how do you expect everything can get done? I know how this is...I do my own work and am in business for myself and as much as you try to make everyone happy you simply can't and some work gets done while other work doesn't. It's their busy season... if you really wanted the guy to work on your bike you would have had to do it on their terms, valve adjustment and oil change isn't so much a big deal and whatever the service manager told you I would ignore. Only one man speaks over there... but I know you didn't deserve to be blown off either and it's not cool...

It is what it is...

vivo

 

[Gordon]

Sorry but I have some sympathy with the FBF folks so let me put cat amongst the pigeons.
At our workshop we jut had a Griso 8V in that was running like a dog after being serviced by someone that had left throttle bodies unbalanced, TPS questionable, valve clearances on one cylinder at zero, maybe less than zero, and the other cylinder way out too.
So even though you might be excellent at what you do a quality service workshop can't just rely on what you say you have done was actually done correctly; they have to do the basics. If thy didn't check all this stuff first then frankly they'd be wasting time and money by working on your bike.
Gordon

 

[Will]

As far as FBF or any other workshop is concerned I would be well pissed off if I had to stand around waiting that long before they told me they would only do a full service, especially if I'd phoned in advance & asked for just the TPS & new map to be done. I know lots of places are reluctant to take over where someone else left off, and can quite understand why, but they should say so up front.

 

[GuzziMoto]

Sorry but I have some sympathy with the FBF folks so let me put cat amongst the pigeons.
At our workshop we jut had a Griso 8V in that was running like a dog after being serviced by someone that had left throttle bodies unbalanced, TPS questionable, valve clearances on one cylinder at zero, maybe less than zero, and the other cylinder way out too.
So even though you might be excellent at what you do a quality service workshop can't just rely on what you say you have done was actually done correctly; they have to do the basics. If thy didn't check all this stuff first then frankly they'd be wasting time and money by working on your bike.
Gordon

He made an appointment to have them load the map and reset the TPS.
Then after making him wait for 3 and a 1/2 hours they tell him that they can only do it as part of a full service.
That is blowing off the customer and bad business practice any which way you slice it. He should bill them for the time he wasted bringing the bike to them so they could tell him they won't do the work (after they already said they would).
The sad part is that this is not unusual for FBF. I know better then most that the old man is great at making motorcycles go fast. But FBF has a habit of treating customers poorly and this is just one more example.

 

[Gordon]

My comment was purely in the defence of the position of if you are going to load a new map then you'd better be sure that the other things are also good and just because someone says they are does not exclude checking.
Having just seen the state of the Griso 8V where claims were made for all the other things being correct then you can understand the need to verify.
The 3.5 hrs hanging about was not the best way to keep a customer happy.
Gordon

 

[john zibell]

My comment was purely in the defense of the position of if you are going to load a new map then you'd better be sure that the other things are also good and just because someone says they are does not exclude checking.
Having just seen the state of the Griso 8V where claims were made for all the other things being correct then you can understand the need to verify.
The 3.5 hrs hanging about was not the best way to keep a customer happy.
Gordon

There was a great little BMW shop in Vinemont Alabama. The owner had two rules posted above the counter. Rule 1, Serve the customer. Rule 2 Follow rule 1. If BMW Corporate wasn't such an ass, they would still be there as their customer loyalty was very high.

 

[GuzziMoto]

My comment was purely in the defence of the position of if you are going to load a new map then you'd better be sure that the other things are also good and just because someone says they are does not exclude checking.
Having just seen the state of the Griso 8V where claims were made for all the other things being correct then you can understand the need to verify.
The 3.5 hrs hanging about was not the best way to keep a customer happy.
Gordon

I understand what you are saying about all other things need to be correct for a map upgrade to work properly. But the time to bring that up with the customer would have been when he called to make the appointment, not 3 1/2 hours after he had shown up for the appointment. And personally, as long as you point out the need for everything else to be correct I see no issue with a customer paying you to load a new map and reset the throttlebodies with out doing a complete service. Just as I see no issue with adjusting the valves and not sync'ing the TB's as long as you point out that one effects the other. You gotta draw the line somewhere. A motorcycle is a large collection of intertwined assemblies. But sometimes you just gotta let it go.
I have a lot of respect for the old mans abilities to make motorcycles go fast. I used to race Ducati's against a guy on a bike that practically lived at FBF's. It was fast, and hard to beat. But their rep for customer service is much more hit and miss. They clearly bend over backwards for some people (the guy with the Kawi for example) but for others sometimes the fall way short. This is nothing new and I am not surprised.