[Remote 8]

In my shop for the night! After two weeks of waiting for options, 250 mile trip, and some know it all telling me how to secure it to my trailer at the dealer for 20 minutes. Wife sat in it at the dealer and immediately said the dreaded word.....mine. Thanks to all the folks here who helped the process by posting such valuable information!

 

[BigParm]

👍 🍻

 

[ChrisFrusha]

Right on man! I’m sure it will be worth it all! Maybe she’ll let you drive it now and then.

 

[Remote 8]

The good. Got a bit of wheel time in today., about 28 miles around the neighborhood.This KRX is in a different universe compared to our Pioneer. It drives so much better that it is overwhelming to comprehend. This is going to be a very fun learning curve.

The bad.....the factory tire carrier self destructed in the first two miles of riding. An hour or so of cobbing it together back at the shop indicated a poor dealer install. The top pivot carriers were too high and far apart so they barely held into the assembly and a few mild bumps caused the whole thing to twist out of the pivot carriers and trash the plastic around tha latches and spit a pivot bushing to who knows where. Lowering the set up 2" and a ratchet strap have it working for now. Crickets from the dealer.

Whats left of Iris Coloado....a gold mining town about a mile from our residence.

 

[samo]

The OEM tire carrier is actually decent when installed correctly. You will love the KRX.

 

[BigParm]

Take that back to the dealer, it was installed by them and therefore it’s covered under warranty.

 

[Remote 8]

Taking back to the dealer is 250 mile round trip and a lost day to have the same guy that installed it fix it. I'd rather do the install myself at this point. I took a few rear end pictures when I pulled it into the shop Friday evening. You can actually see the exposed brass bushing about ready to fall out in the picture. My interaction with the dealer (pretty much very good and the best sales experience with a power sports sale to date) gave me the feeling that the install department was rushed and under pressure to get this out before months end. If you look at the attached picture you can actually see the right side brass upper pivot bushing barely in the pivot carrier and ready to fall out. I should have caught it as I went over the unit before riding and did a pretty thorough inspection of the lower part of the car for fluid levels, fill caps tight etc. I can't comprehend how a tech could let this out the door and sleep at night. I do a lot of mechanical failure analysis in a different field and this is pretty much off the scale incompetence.

 

[Sandman_73]

Dealers are notorious for throwing the “shop kid” on accessory installs. That’s what you get...

Want it done right install it yourself.

 

[Remote 8]

Dealers are notorious for throwing the “shop kid” on accessory installs. That’s what you get...

Want it done right install it yourself.

Too true. Other than a few known and trusted mechanics (who are usually too busy to even answer their phones) we pretty much do all our own stuff. Breaking out the torque wrench and going front to back this morning as Bozo the wrench has lax standards. If they can't find time to do it correctly the first time, how are they going to find it the second time? When your QC standards are in the toilet, you are going to get $hit on. I've had to deal with this level of fail myself in business. If you don't fix it it it will only get worse.

 

[BigParm]

Well at the very least, have them send you a new rack so you can install yourself.

I agree that QC issues and lack of pride in people are the cause of many a headache for people.

 

[Remote 8]

We will see what happens. Hoping the dealer will take the initiative and contact me Tuesday when they open again.They have accurate fail pictures and written descriptions of what happened. I was on hold on my sat phone yesterday for 10 minutes and gave up. I really try turn this kind of stuff into a learning experience and a win for all sides. But sometimes there is just a failure to communicate. If they don't contact me......well let's just say I kind of do this accountability stuff for a living, in a realm where failure means huge loss or even death. I know how to push corporate buttons. So far the rear DS rear wheel cap is gone and the PS rear wheel had three lugs about 1-1/2 turns loose from spec. not too bad.
Thanks for all the comments. I am loving this machine so far!

 

[ChrisFrusha]

We will see what happens. Hoping the dealer will take the initiative and contact me Tuesday when they open again.They have accurate fail pictures and written descriptions of what happened. I was on hold on my sat phone yesterday for 10 minutes and gave up. I really try turn this kind of stuff into a learning experience and a win for all sides. But sometimes there is just a failure to communicate. If they don't contact me......well let's just say I kind of do this accountability stuff for a living, in a realm where failure means huge loss or even death. I know how to push corporate buttons. So far the rear DS rear wheel cap is gone and the PS rear wheel had three lugs about 1-1/2 turns loose from spec. not too bad.
Thanks for all the comments. I am loving this machine so far!

You are a much more patient man than me. I’d raise 10 kinds of hell with those issues. The important thing is to know where the responsibility lies. With the dealership or with Kawasaki. All of this sounds like dealership problems. I bet you’ll be satisfied if you ever have problems that Kawasaki needs to resolve. There are plenty of posts on this site that prove that. Minor problems will get fixed and in the long run, reliability will be there. Good luck and enjoy your KRX!

 

[BobX2]

If the dealer is unresponsive, a call directly to Kawasaki would be in order. I've read that they will come down on dealers that don't represent them well. Pretty awesome stuff if that is truly the case.

 

[Remote 8]

Just got an email from my sales guy........on Sunday! Never had that happen and impressed with his response. Spent the whole day messing with shock settings, test drives and going over the car (everything seems to be spot on). I am blessed to be able to do this right out of my drive to hundreds of miles of trails. Even with the most likely wrong spring rates I am impressed beyond imagination with the suspension performance. Also got a temp chase radio installed. Now to get outfitted with some more tools so I can drive farther than I want to walk.Thanks again for the words of encouragement.

This thing is a beast!