Triumph TF450 transmission updates.

11/12/2025 12:08pm Edited Date/Time 11/12/2025 12:36pm

Some of you in here think its the dealerships fault for a failing part. They just sell the bike dude, they don't make it. The "beef" would be with corporate Triumph. You don't go to the Chevrolet dealership and demand THEY pay for the recalled 6.2L engine. That would be on GM. Get educated guys, understand what a "middle man" is.

6
16
Zycki11
Posts
7787
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Edwardsville, IL US
11/12/2025 12:16pm
OFalk280 wrote:
There’s a new service bulletin to update the shift star and clutch hub to the 2026 MY spec. Triumph clearly recognized the issues and were working...

There’s a new service bulletin to update the shift star and clutch hub to the 2026 MY spec. Triumph clearly recognized the issues and were working on a fix…sure seems like the “warranty claim rejections” were the work of shoddy dealers rather than Triumph corporate.


Pick a good dealer that’s willing to actually work for your business and you may have a better experience🤔

Zycki11 wrote:
Educate yourself more on how the system works before placing blame 🤔.  Dealerships are notified immediately when a OEM roles out a recall or safety recall...

Educate yourself more on how the system works before placing blame 🤔.  Dealerships are notified immediately when a OEM roles out a recall or safety recall.  Parts/Service coordinate with the manufacturer to supply the recall parts and schedule times to get it replaced.  Go one star review some delivery driver 

OFalk280 wrote:
I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.Educate yourself more...

I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.


Educate yourself more on the context of this thread…

Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting you made a idiotic comment, and got called out on it.  In this instance, parts that were replaced before warranty are not going to be covered by OEM.  If the part has not been replaced they will replace the part for no charge.  Denied claims can be reviewed again by risk management team. 

3
9
OFalk280
Posts
318
Joined
6/27/2012
Location
Elwood, IL US
11/12/2025 12:18pm
HonDawg17 wrote:
Some of you in here think its the dealerships fault for a failing part. They just sell the bike dude, they don't make it. The "beef"...

Some of you in here think its the dealerships fault for a failing part. They just sell the bike dude, they don't make it. The "beef" would be with corporate Triumph. You don't go to the Chevrolet dealership and demand THEY pay for the recalled 6.2L engine. That would be on GM. Get educated guys, understand what a "middle man" is.

You’re correct. But when you have an item fail that’s not part of a recall (yet), you utilize the dealership first to be the middleman for communication with the manufacturer. They’re supposed to pursue all avenues with the manufacturer to get the repair (labor and parts) covered by the manufacturer. If the dealership drops the ball on that, and they only pursue one avenue and give up there then it’s on the dealership.

As I’ve stated previously here, there’s been dozens and dozens of “goodwill” repairs that Triumph corporate has approved when the dealership understands that they have more than one avenue to pursue for repair coverage. My bike is one of those dozens, a 2024 TF250-X (super early serial number, brought home mid-May 2024) that developed a small oil leak where the case halves meet. Over 1 year from purchase Triumph covered my dealer to split the cases and re-seal the case halves to stop the leak. Nothing catastrophic, no parts failures. But because my dealer has great customer service they didn’t give up when the auto deny said no since it was beyond the 30 day warranty…

1
OFalk280
Posts
318
Joined
6/27/2012
Location
Elwood, IL US
11/12/2025 12:21pm Edited Date/Time 11/12/2025 12:22pm
Zycki11 wrote:
Educate yourself more on how the system works before placing blame 🤔.  Dealerships are notified immediately when a OEM roles out a recall or safety recall...

Educate yourself more on how the system works before placing blame 🤔.  Dealerships are notified immediately when a OEM roles out a recall or safety recall.  Parts/Service coordinate with the manufacturer to supply the recall parts and schedule times to get it replaced.  Go one star review some delivery driver 

OFalk280 wrote:
I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.Educate yourself more...

I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.


Educate yourself more on the context of this thread…

Zycki11 wrote:
Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting...

Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting you made a idiotic comment, and got called out on it.  In this instance, parts that were replaced before warranty are not going to be covered by OEM.  If the part has not been replaced they will replace the part for no charge.  Denied claims can be reviewed again by risk management team. 

Congratulations for working at Ford, I have experience directly with Triumph on this matter with how they handle things in their organization because my bike was repaired under their goodwill repair (beyond warranty) program. And do you know how mine got covered? My dealership didn’t accept the “no” when corporate said it can’t be repaired under warranty due to the warranty being expired. My bike was fixed more than 1 year beyond purchase (warranty is 30 days). Those denied claims being reviewed you’re talking about is exactly what I’m referring to when I say the dealership is responsible to push the issue rather than just say “well they said no so tough luck.”


But I’m sure glad you understand how Ford does things. Sure seems useful when referring to Triumph.

12
3

The Shop

Zycki11
Posts
7787
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Edwardsville, IL US
11/12/2025 1:30pm Edited Date/Time 11/12/2025 1:32pm
OFalk280 wrote:
I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.Educate yourself more...

I’m referring to the claims of denied warranty service. That’s what this entire thread started on, as well as my original posts referred to.


Educate yourself more on the context of this thread…

Zycki11 wrote:
Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting...

Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting you made a idiotic comment, and got called out on it.  In this instance, parts that were replaced before warranty are not going to be covered by OEM.  If the part has not been replaced they will replace the part for no charge.  Denied claims can be reviewed again by risk management team. 

OFalk280 wrote:
Congratulations for working at Ford, I have experience directly with Triumph on this matter with how they handle things in their organization because my bike was...

Congratulations for working at Ford, I have experience directly with Triumph on this matter with how they handle things in their organization because my bike was repaired under their goodwill repair (beyond warranty) program. And do you know how mine got covered? My dealership didn’t accept the “no” when corporate said it can’t be repaired under warranty due to the warranty being expired. My bike was fixed more than 1 year beyond purchase (warranty is 30 days). Those denied claims being reviewed you’re talking about is exactly what I’m referring to when I say the dealership is responsible to push the issue rather than just say “well they said no so tough luck.”


But I’m sure glad you understand how Ford does things. Sure seems useful when referring to Triumph.

In other words, it went as a normal process....SOP

Also to note, your dealership if they got "approval" and didn't eat the repair themselves has a regional rep who has to sign off on it as well. Write a letter and thank them. 

2
11
OFalk280
Posts
318
Joined
6/27/2012
Location
Elwood, IL US
11/12/2025 2:21pm
Zycki11 wrote:
Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting...

Well considering I was a service Manager for Ford I have a bit of a clue on this issue.  Keep looking foolish instead of just admitting you made a idiotic comment, and got called out on it.  In this instance, parts that were replaced before warranty are not going to be covered by OEM.  If the part has not been replaced they will replace the part for no charge.  Denied claims can be reviewed again by risk management team. 

OFalk280 wrote:
Congratulations for working at Ford, I have experience directly with Triumph on this matter with how they handle things in their organization because my bike was...

Congratulations for working at Ford, I have experience directly with Triumph on this matter with how they handle things in their organization because my bike was repaired under their goodwill repair (beyond warranty) program. And do you know how mine got covered? My dealership didn’t accept the “no” when corporate said it can’t be repaired under warranty due to the warranty being expired. My bike was fixed more than 1 year beyond purchase (warranty is 30 days). Those denied claims being reviewed you’re talking about is exactly what I’m referring to when I say the dealership is responsible to push the issue rather than just say “well they said no so tough luck.”


But I’m sure glad you understand how Ford does things. Sure seems useful when referring to Triumph.

Zycki11 wrote:
In other words, it went as a normal process....SOPAlso to note, your dealership if they got "approval" and didn't eat the repair themselves has a regional...

In other words, it went as a normal process....SOP

Also to note, your dealership if they got "approval" and didn't eat the repair themselves has a regional rep who has to sign off on it as well. Write a letter and thank them. 

As I’ve also previously stated in this thread, triumph does not seem to have auto review for denied warranty claims. Hence why warranty claim denied, dealer says they’re SOL and if they don’t push beyond standard warranty, again something a good dealer should do for their customer, then the customer just thinks that Triumph is outright denying it. Whereas good dealerships (again, there’s dozens of examples with Triumph regarding off-road), push the issue beyond standard warranty claim and get the repair covered. I can link you to the owners group on Facebook with countless examples of this if you’d like?


Nope you’re incorrect, they dealt directly with Triumph corporate in Georgia, as well as Hinkley Triumph (UK).

5
Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/12/2025 4:18pm

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

3
Tyler D
Posts
2257
Joined
12/5/2022
Location
La, CA US
11/13/2025 2:35pm
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

One persons saga with a street bike:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/

Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the issues and blatantly lied about an inspection, so about a month ago, I filed a complaint and attached a pretty good bit of documentation and it’s been silent since. I know things take time, but I’m getting kind of impatient. I generally don’t like to pester people and call/email non-stop because it usually doesn’t speed up the process. Has anyone been through this process, and if so, how long did it take for an outcome to be reached?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph400/comments/1njx5oy/well_it_finally_died/

Like the title says, something in the transmission finally gave. Pop, bang, pooka pooka pow, a cracked case, and oil everywhere. I can push the bike in gear without engaging the clutch, lots of grinding and knocking. I seriously want to push the damn thing through the dealership’s window. Tried calling Triumph again today and I got the same “He’s at lunch, he will call you back”

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1onzgpe/finally_a_response_from_triumph_usa/

As the title says, I finally received a response from Triumph, and all I can say is piss on this company and the product they sell. I provided them with more than enough documentation, including contradicting electronic messages from the dealership itself, all Triumph USA had to do was read those two documents to clearly see the general manager of The Motorcycle Shop in Anchorage Ak blatantly LIED! I was going to let this go, cut my losses and take this experience as a lesson learned to never buy another Triumph, but after I received the bullshit response from Georgia, I’m pissed. In hindsight, I should have bought a CFMoto, I would probably still have a running bike.

 

1
5
11/15/2025 5:35am

Can you please explain what you mean? Swap detemt arm and spring?  What year fits?

OldTech wrote:
I was responding to a poster who was so desperate to ride his new bike, he was putting KTM oil pump parts in it. Are you...

I was responding to a poster who was so desperate to ride his new bike, he was putting KTM oil pump parts in it. Are you saying Triumph still doesn't have you sorted out yet?

Did not ask about me, but what detent arm and spring he was refering too. 

 

1
11/15/2025 5:37am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

Tyler D wrote:
One persons saga with a street bike: https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the...

One persons saga with a street bike:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/

Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the issues and blatantly lied about an inspection, so about a month ago, I filed a complaint and attached a pretty good bit of documentation and it’s been silent since. I know things take time, but I’m getting kind of impatient. I generally don’t like to pester people and call/email non-stop because it usually doesn’t speed up the process. Has anyone been through this process, and if so, how long did it take for an outcome to be reached?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph400/comments/1njx5oy/well_it_finally_died/

Like the title says, something in the transmission finally gave. Pop, bang, pooka pooka pow, a cracked case, and oil everywhere. I can push the bike in gear without engaging the clutch, lots of grinding and knocking. I seriously want to push the damn thing through the dealership’s window. Tried calling Triumph again today and I got the same “He’s at lunch, he will call you back”

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1onzgpe/finally_a_response_from_triumph_usa/

As the title says, I finally received a response from Triumph, and all I can say is piss on this company and the product they sell. I provided them with more than enough documentation, including contradicting electronic messages from the dealership itself, all Triumph USA had to do was read those two documents to clearly see the general manager of The Motorcycle Shop in Anchorage Ak blatantly LIED! I was going to let this go, cut my losses and take this experience as a lesson learned to never buy another Triumph, but after I received the bullshit response from Georgia, I’m pissed. In hindsight, I should have bought a CFMoto, I would probably still have a running bike.

 

One persons saga is one persons personlly opinion. There is always more sides to a story than 1. 

Triumpf customer service is far better than any other brand I have ever had. So there is different opinions. 

1
woodsryder
Posts
264
Joined
12/15/2012
Location
AS US
11/15/2025 6:05am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

6
5
Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/15/2025 10:23am
SHIFTING GEARS.jpg?VersionId=BhNrdJ2axGIZ9uQ3hBY

Oh the irony 😂

Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/15/2025 10:26am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

Tyler D wrote:
One persons saga with a street bike: https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the...

One persons saga with a street bike:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/

Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the issues and blatantly lied about an inspection, so about a month ago, I filed a complaint and attached a pretty good bit of documentation and it’s been silent since. I know things take time, but I’m getting kind of impatient. I generally don’t like to pester people and call/email non-stop because it usually doesn’t speed up the process. Has anyone been through this process, and if so, how long did it take for an outcome to be reached?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph400/comments/1njx5oy/well_it_finally_died/

Like the title says, something in the transmission finally gave. Pop, bang, pooka pooka pow, a cracked case, and oil everywhere. I can push the bike in gear without engaging the clutch, lots of grinding and knocking. I seriously want to push the damn thing through the dealership’s window. Tried calling Triumph again today and I got the same “He’s at lunch, he will call you back”

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1onzgpe/finally_a_response_from_triumph_usa/

As the title says, I finally received a response from Triumph, and all I can say is piss on this company and the product they sell. I provided them with more than enough documentation, including contradicting electronic messages from the dealership itself, all Triumph USA had to do was read those two documents to clearly see the general manager of The Motorcycle Shop in Anchorage Ak blatantly LIED! I was going to let this go, cut my losses and take this experience as a lesson learned to never buy another Triumph, but after I received the bullshit response from Georgia, I’m pissed. In hindsight, I should have bought a CFMoto, I would probably still have a running bike.

 

Posting reddit threads as a viable source is a crazy angle 

5
1
Tyler D
Posts
2257
Joined
12/5/2022
Location
La, CA US
11/15/2025 10:50am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

Tyler D wrote:
One persons saga with a street bike: https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the...

One persons saga with a street bike:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1ncpprk/triumph_after_sales/

Long story short, bought a new bike that is having some transmission/drivetrain issues, dealership refuses to acknowledge the issues and blatantly lied about an inspection, so about a month ago, I filed a complaint and attached a pretty good bit of documentation and it’s been silent since. I know things take time, but I’m getting kind of impatient. I generally don’t like to pester people and call/email non-stop because it usually doesn’t speed up the process. Has anyone been through this process, and if so, how long did it take for an outcome to be reached?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph400/comments/1njx5oy/well_it_finally_died/

Like the title says, something in the transmission finally gave. Pop, bang, pooka pooka pow, a cracked case, and oil everywhere. I can push the bike in gear without engaging the clutch, lots of grinding and knocking. I seriously want to push the damn thing through the dealership’s window. Tried calling Triumph again today and I got the same “He’s at lunch, he will call you back”

https://www.reddit.com/r/Triumph/comments/1onzgpe/finally_a_response_from_triumph_usa/

As the title says, I finally received a response from Triumph, and all I can say is piss on this company and the product they sell. I provided them with more than enough documentation, including contradicting electronic messages from the dealership itself, all Triumph USA had to do was read those two documents to clearly see the general manager of The Motorcycle Shop in Anchorage Ak blatantly LIED! I was going to let this go, cut my losses and take this experience as a lesson learned to never buy another Triumph, but after I received the bullshit response from Georgia, I’m pissed. In hindsight, I should have bought a CFMoto, I would probably still have a running bike.

 

Posting reddit threads as a viable source is a crazy angle 

Yeah, well, I also prefer forums but they're dying and that's where most people congregate now. Or worse, face groups. 

4
Tyler D
Posts
2257
Joined
12/5/2022
Location
La, CA US
11/15/2025 10:55am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues onto consumers under guise of inflated fees.  Most dealers effectively charge 6 hours labor for a porter or entry level tech to de crate a bike and do a cursory once over after they hook up the battery. 

 

Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? 

3
10
Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/15/2025 11:50am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

Tyler D wrote:
Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues...

Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues onto consumers under guise of inflated fees.  Most dealers effectively charge 6 hours labor for a porter or entry level tech to de crate a bike and do a cursory once over after they hook up the battery. 

 

Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? 

I have never heard of 6hrs worth of pdi charge, where did you find this number? You pay freight on everything you buy but most places just bake it into the price I'm not sure what the issue is in showing you all of this info. 

"Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? " - Yes to all of this, besides bedding tires. 

"dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins" - I'm not sure if that's really plausible, you play too much hardball and you end up with a semi out front to pick all of that said OEM's bikes up and take their signs back.

2
2
mxaniac
Posts
571
Joined
9/9/2019
Location
Airway Heights, WA US
11/15/2025 12:00pm

Good dealers have a check list with things like checked oil, added fuel, set idle, tire pressure and coolant checked etc. that is signed by the tech and maybe even the shop manager. Unfortunately I've purchased bikes with this form filled out and signed when in reality it's clear they never started it or did any of these things. Point being they should be doing an inspection after uncrating and perform any outstanding TSBs.

3
1
OldTech
Posts
1259
Joined
1/13/2024
Location
Decatur , AL US
11/15/2025 4:05pm

Technically set up and pre delivery inspection are two different things. The dealer may hire an entry level guy to assemble it from the crate, but a Tech is supposed to go over the bike really good before the customer got it, even oiled the air filter. But the battery should not have been activated and no fuel before PDI.

4
yak651
Posts
8668
Joined
8/26/2006
Location
Appleton, WI US
Fantasy
11/15/2025 6:11pm Edited Date/Time 11/15/2025 6:13pm
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t make the sale on the bike but fixed it for him right away so he could go to the race he wanted to? Yeah pretty sure I would take into consideration the ability of a dealer to service me in a timely manner when deciding on my next purchase.

16
4
Zzips
Posts
71
Joined
3/3/2024
Location
South Side, IL US
11/16/2025 5:25am

There’s a big difference between a dealer and a race shop. Problem is race shop type dealers are getting hard to find.

6
1
BobPA
Posts
8329
Joined
10/31/2013
Location
PA US
11/16/2025 9:32am Edited Date/Time 11/16/2025 6:33pm
Zzips wrote:

There’s a big difference between a dealer and a race shop. Problem is race shop type dealers are getting hard to find.

Because racers think they are entitled to the world for running 6th place in their local C-class. Racers want everything for free and at a moments notice. Race shops cannot survive because racers are not profitable. The general public is (usually) much nicer to deal with.

I help people as much as I can when they are in a time crunch, but sometimes it is just not possible to fit people in. 

13
3
mxaniac
Posts
571
Joined
9/9/2019
Location
Airway Heights, WA US
11/16/2025 3:47pm
Zzips wrote:

There’s a big difference between a dealer and a race shop. Problem is race shop type dealers are getting hard to find.

I guess the only thing I ever saw that was a race shop was the Maico dealer back in the day. Everyone else is happy just selling you generators and snow plows.

1
1
Zerofear66
Posts
1080
Joined
4/27/2017
Location
Anaheim, CA US
11/16/2025 6:47pm

There goes their resale value. 😆

2
woodsryder
Posts
264
Joined
12/15/2012
Location
AS US
11/18/2025 7:27am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

yak651 wrote:
So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t...

So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t make the sale on the bike but fixed it for him right away so he could go to the race he wanted to? Yeah pretty sure I would take into consideration the ability of a dealer to service me in a timely manner when deciding on my next purchase.

So the dealer is supposed to just shit on the customers that actually have appointments in favor of someone else just because they have a race?

4
4
woodsryder
Posts
264
Joined
12/15/2012
Location
AS US
11/18/2025 7:36am
There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if...

There is no way dealers are telling customers to "fuck off" 

I'm sure its customers not agreeing to sign for diag time that Triumph will cover if there is a defect that makes sure the tech isn't eating shit on tear down time if triumph says no warranty. Eating a motor tear down in labor alone is not something most shops are willing to do on a bike they made $500 bucks on.  

woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

Tyler D wrote:
Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues...

Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues onto consumers under guise of inflated fees.  Most dealers effectively charge 6 hours labor for a porter or entry level tech to de crate a bike and do a cursory once over after they hook up the battery. 

 

Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? 

Sorry, but you really have no idea. Are some units easier than others to assemble? Absolutely. Some UTV's are actually easier than dirt bikes, and some UTV's can take all day. Most units range in setup fee from 2-4 hours. That setup fee includes uncrating, assembling, cleaning before the unit hits the floor, and then PDI of the unit after it has been sold. It isn't a simple process like you think.

4
3
yak651
Posts
8668
Joined
8/26/2006
Location
Appleton, WI US
Fantasy
11/18/2025 7:59am
woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

yak651 wrote:
So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t...

So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t make the sale on the bike but fixed it for him right away so he could go to the race he wanted to? Yeah pretty sure I would take into consideration the ability of a dealer to service me in a timely manner when deciding on my next purchase.

woodsryder wrote:

So the dealer is supposed to just shit on the customers that actually have appointments in favor of someone else just because they have a race?

No, of course not. If your water heater goes out are you going to wait for 2-4 weeks for a plumber or will you find someone that can help you now? If they are going to grow their business to take on multiple brands they need to hire additional service workers to service their expanded customer base. If they don’t they risk losing customers to dealers that can provide the service the customer requires.

4
3
Richy
Posts
3093
Joined
7/18/2020
Location
UK GB
11/18/2025 10:14am Edited Date/Time 11/18/2025 10:20am
1000021764

That's funny and I'm not arguing 😂 We do build the best, and worst, motorsport parts in this country... 😂

But when it comes to mass produced cars or bikes (or anything), we do generally suck... HARD 🤦

I think these Triumphs are made in Asia for whatever that's worth though.

It seems weird that Triumph would cheap out on a part (or assembly of parts) that is so critical to the bike being any good and customers being at all happy with their purchase, but here we are I guess.

Not standing by it when it's clearly a widespread defect is entirely unacceptable given the price of modern motocross bikes though.

1
Tyler D
Posts
2257
Joined
12/5/2022
Location
La, CA US
11/18/2025 2:40pm Edited Date/Time 11/18/2025 2:57pm
woodsryder wrote:
Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked...

Bingo. There is just no pleasing some customers. We have 9 franchise lines at our dealership, so of course that means our service department stays booked out 4-6 weeks. A few years ago. we sold a customer a KTM 350. After he had owned the bike a few months, he had a wiring harness issue right before a race. We told him we would be glad to look at it, but we were booked solid a few weeks. He took that as we didn't want to help him, so he took it 200 miles away to another KTM dealer that only sells KTM and nothing else. Of course they were able to look at it sooner. Now the customer won't even come in because we didn't drop every other job immediately and fix his problem.

 

Had another customer just this week that has bought several bikes in the past without a hitch come in. He wanted to buy a Yamaha kids ATV. When a youth ATV is sold at MSRP, dealer's make about $500 profit after freight and prep. It's peak season for youth ATVs, so they are being sold at MSRP, just about no exceptions. Since this was a repeat customer, we were going to help him on price. After all of the negotiations, we were going to make $340 on the unit. Customer then brings up that the KTM 65 he bought 2 years ago didn't run correctly when he got home with it. We asked him why he didn't let us know before now, he said he just hasn't had time to get it back up here. ( He lives 20 minutes away from the dealership). Instead of arguing and losing the sale, we agreed to compensate him for half of the setup fee on the KTM 65, which was $200. Now we are down to making $140 profit on the Yamaha ATV. Customer doesn't feel that is adequate. Customer and GM go back and forth for a bit and customer decides that he just wants the $200 back, because he has already put a deposit on a Yamaha ATV at another dealer. Like what? You just spent 3 of negotiations where we were basically making zero profit on the ATV and wasted your time, our salesman's, sales manager's and GM's time just for all that?

Tyler D wrote:
Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues...

Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues onto consumers under guise of inflated fees.  Most dealers effectively charge 6 hours labor for a porter or entry level tech to de crate a bike and do a cursory once over after they hook up the battery. 

 

Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? 

woodsryder wrote:
Sorry, but you really have no idea. Are some units easier than others to assemble? Absolutely. Some UTV's are actually easier than dirt bikes, and some...

Sorry, but you really have no idea. Are some units easier than others to assemble? Absolutely. Some UTV's are actually easier than dirt bikes, and some UTV's can take all day. Most units range in setup fee from 2-4 hours. That setup fee includes uncrating, assembling, cleaning before the unit hits the floor, and then PDI of the unit after it has been sold. It isn't a simple process like you think.

I do have an idea. I worked at a multiline shop for years and charged people through the nose. Ive sold hundreds and hundreds of units, I know how long a PDI takes. I know what they do and what they don't do. This was before the GFC when banks were printing money. Our LTV numbers were insane. I still feel bad about it.

 

Dealers out here want $795 to uncrate this bad boy.

1000111530

 

1
6
Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/18/2025 4:12pm
Tyler D wrote:
Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues...

Setup fees are a scam and dealer groups should do better at effectively applying pressure on OEMs to right size margins, not push their profitability issues onto consumers under guise of inflated fees.  Most dealers effectively charge 6 hours labor for a porter or entry level tech to de crate a bike and do a cursory once over after they hook up the battery. 

 

Do you bed brakes and tires and set sag for customers? Do you break in/heat cycle motors? Do you fully charge batteries? Do you use only premium fuel? 

woodsryder wrote:
Sorry, but you really have no idea. Are some units easier than others to assemble? Absolutely. Some UTV's are actually easier than dirt bikes, and some...

Sorry, but you really have no idea. Are some units easier than others to assemble? Absolutely. Some UTV's are actually easier than dirt bikes, and some UTV's can take all day. Most units range in setup fee from 2-4 hours. That setup fee includes uncrating, assembling, cleaning before the unit hits the floor, and then PDI of the unit after it has been sold. It isn't a simple process like you think.

Tyler D wrote:
I do have an idea. I worked at a multiline shop for years and charged people through the nose. Ive sold hundreds and hundreds of units...

I do have an idea. I worked at a multiline shop for years and charged people through the nose. Ive sold hundreds and hundreds of units, I know how long a PDI takes. I know what they do and what they don't do. This was before the GFC when banks were printing money. Our LTV numbers were insane. I still feel bad about it.

 

Dealers out here want $795 to uncrate this bad boy.

1000111530

 

So you worked for a shop that gives shops a bad name by using dishonest and scummy pricing tactics and want to be upset at me about it??

2
5
Heavyhitter
Posts
341
Joined
3/20/2023
Location
Machias, WA US
11/18/2025 4:23pm
yak651 wrote:
So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t...

So you were disappointed a customer didn’t let his bike sit at your shop for 2-3 weeks and instead took it to another dealer that didn’t make the sale on the bike but fixed it for him right away so he could go to the race he wanted to? Yeah pretty sure I would take into consideration the ability of a dealer to service me in a timely manner when deciding on my next purchase.

woodsryder wrote:

So the dealer is supposed to just shit on the customers that actually have appointments in favor of someone else just because they have a race?

yak651 wrote:
No, of course not. If your water heater goes out are you going to wait for 2-4 weeks for a plumber or will you find someone...

No, of course not. If your water heater goes out are you going to wait for 2-4 weeks for a plumber or will you find someone that can help you now? If they are going to grow their business to take on multiple brands they need to hire additional service workers to service their expanded customer base. If they don’t they risk losing customers to dealers that can provide the service the customer requires.

I mean that logic would work if there was as many local plumbers as bike shops, and if making the local race was as detrimental as having running water in your house. 

2
5

Post a reply to: Triumph TF450 transmission updates.

The Latest