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Cruiser
Posts: 59
Austin Texas Yaaaalll | I know that its always the other guy that I would read about on the internet, the horror stories about a service nightmare, warranty issues or a lemon bike. I always thought "man I am glad that didn't happen to me" Well it finally ended up being me the story was about and the ordeal is coming to an end. I had posted earlier about my problem with a foreign object being introduced into my engine (plastic mylar) and blocking the intake to the oil pump and starving the engine for oil. So at 20K miles the dealer tore down the motor to try and identify ticking noise on start up and found the plastic in the oil pump. I went round and round with the factory and and they came back with "it's not our problem". I must say that the Victory Customer Service Department sucks big time. Not because they denied my claim, but rather that they never called me back when they said they would, very poor communication skills on their part. I wrote letters and made phone calls.....they just blew me off. I am excited to get my bike back after it spending 4 months on the same lift. I went by the dealership to check on progress weekly and there the bike sat for for 4 months....without moving....in a 3 lift service department. I finally had my insurance cover the claim under vandalism. I will give props to Dairyland Insurance as they came thru and processed everything very quickly. The bike should be back together by the end of the week and I will essentially have a new engine. New pistons, cylinders and all new internals that would touch the oil. The crank and cases are all that is left over from the old engine. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1109
| I hate to have to say this but I'm not surprised that Victory didn't do anything to help. The one time I called them was a total waste of time. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 59
Austin Texas Yaaaalll | Here are some pics.
Attachments
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 Gutted (67KB - 115 downloads)
Vic Engine (63KB - 58 downloads)
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Cruiser
Posts: 251
Mechanicsville, VA United States | I feel your pain but if it was vandalism why would Victory be responsible to do anything other then to tell ya "it's not their problem". I'm not taking MaVic's side here just looking at it as if you had called me and said!............I guess you're just venting and I probably would too! I've tried the email thingie with MaVic too and I might as well sent it to the Moon as nothing at all happened other then me watching my email for a return answer, well that was over 4 years ago, I'm now not looking for a answer anymore nor will I waste my time trying that again, so like I said "I FEEL YOUR PAIN" ,so we learn and move on,forget it,let it go........life's to short!
This is why I now only buy used Victory's, the dealership and MaVic is removed from any problem I may have.
Edited by diamonbird 2012-12-04 9:09 AM
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Cruiser
Posts: 59
Austin Texas Yaaaalll | Diamonbird...I agree completely. But as I said that there were earlier threads on this and I did not want to re-hash the whole thing I should have noted that I mentioned this ticking noise at the 5,000 mile service and could not get them to look at until 20K when the head wrench at the dealership changed and agreed it did not sound right. I suspect that either a disgruntled employee along the way did it or it may well have been vandalism. Either way it is getting fixed. I just think the way MaVic handled it was very poor. Some guy named Monte from MaVic called me and spent an hour on the phone with me, promised to get back with me and never did. Thats after I called him back three times and left a message. I have read reports of 30 - 40 percent market growth for Victory over the last few years, I think their growth is outpacing their ability to service the customer correctly. |
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Tourer
Posts: 482
Beer Collins, Colorado (there is no fort) | If I had to take a guess I'd say the seal from the top of an oil bottle that was jammed back with a finger to open it up came loose & slipped into the crankcase. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1365
Central Maryland | ByteN2it - 2012-12-04 6:18 PM
If I had to take a guess I'd say the seal from the top of an oil bottle that was jammed back with a finger to open it up came loose & slipped into the crankcase.
I always worry about that when I change my own oil, and make sure that seal is completely removed. However, this is not applicable in this case. The source of the plastic (Mylar) was from something else. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 251
Mechanicsville, VA United States | Sorry to hear about what you've been through, I've been through it too and I'm glad you're getting it fixed on someone elses dime, mine was on my dime. The dealship where I bought my bike finally went out of business so there was a happy ending after all! They had no business selling bikes anyway......you could ask them a question and if they didn't know the answer they would make stuff up, I saw that more then once there. MaVic keeps tight rains on their dealers to make sure they don't give anything away or help a customer without them knowing the situation in full.
My motor was using oil from the get go, one qt every 1000 miles, you could smell it while it was idling but because I changed my own oil they refused to even look at it...it's a very long story and it cost me a lot of sleepless nights and money but I got through it and learned a ton about the Victory motor, now I can do my own maint. and don't need a dealer at all....nice job MaVic and thanks for the schooling!
Edited by diamonbird 2012-12-04 7:11 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 880
Orlando, FL | There have been enough issues that I have heard of here and there, that make it clear to me that Ma Vic is no different than any other auto or bike maker. Once it's sold they really don't give a Rat's ass. Why? As long as sales continue, especially if rising, who cares? For them it's about making it this month, this quarter this year, just like any company today. So if you're not a repeat customer who cares.
Just my 2 cents. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| Since 1999 every owner has known that you go through your dealer NOT Ma Vic but of course every time something happens the first thing they do is post Ma Vic doing nothing.....
Makes all of us want to put a screen in the funnel we use to fill the oil?
Wouldn't it be nice every time someone put sugar in someones gas tank the manufacturer just stepped up and did all the work for free.... Daydream believer.
Each dealer I have had my Victory bikes at have stepped up to the plate for me. Some better than others.
Do I have this right? You went in huffing and puffing because your bike was messed up to the dealer and Ma Vic and your are disappointed and know you fine out it's nothing to do with the bike? Can't really back up time and start all over. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 59
Austin Texas Yaaaalll | 1.) My first post on this came after the bike being in shop for three months, so the post was not the first thing I did, I worked with the dealer.
2.) This mylar piece of plastic started out as a 5" x 8" piece before it went thru the gears in the tranny and then ended up in the oil pump inlet. If you were to hold your hands together in a cupped fashion it would fill both hands up.
3.) I don't know about the sugar thing of which you speak.
4.) So nice that you have such great dealers to go to batt for you. Sounds as though you have a lot experience with the dealer stepping up for you which would mean you have had more than your fair share of problems.
5.) I didn't go huffing and puffing anywhere (great adjectives BTW) I simply wrote one letter to MaVic, they contacted me and promised to look into it and call me back. All other correspondence was done thru dealer.
6.) Sorry....I do not understand the last half of the last sentence you wrote, spell check may help next time.
Edited by swmckinley54 2012-12-05 12:56 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 161
Albuquerque NM | A 5" x 8" piece of plastic inside your engine? That's just messed up.
I'm glad you were able to get the insurance company to take care of you on this one.
I'm curious did your oil pressure idiot light come on while this damage was being done, or was it just engine noise that gave you the clue? |
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Cruiser
Posts: 59
Austin Texas Yaaaalll | No oil engine light ever came on. Just the ticking noise at start up. Rather loud too. Although in retrospect I remember cruising along in 6th gear at about 2800 RPMs (I believe) and the bike did a violent lurch and continued to do so until I downshifted into 5th gear. This happened 4 times that I remember and I told the dealer about it too. Looking back on it I am sure that this must have been the plastic/mylar .002-.003 thickness going thru the gears before being sucked up by the oil pump and trapped against the oil pump screen. There is an internal oil line that runs from the oil pump to the filter that was caveating due to an oil air mixture in the line. This oil line was caveating against the cases and that was the ticking noise. |
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Tourer
Posts: 562
SC, Bluffton | swmckinley54, thank you for taking the time to write about this situation. You didn't have to,
and I appreciate knowing what you have had to go through. I hope to never be in a similar
situation.
Herb |
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