How good is Triumph's warranty on major repairs?

[Tallerman]

I am looking for advice on dealing with Triumph for a serious warranty issue. (This is my first post with this user name--I used to post as "Tallman" but that account went wonky and I could never get it back so I switched to Tallerman.)



Here's the situation. I was peacefully riding yesterday morming just north of the Massachusetts border on 119 at a moderate pace, accelerated to pass a slow car, rolled the throttle to slow down and felt/heard something give in the Tiger (an 05 Silver, 1600 miles, proper break-in, 500 mile service, 3 months on the road, never revved to redline). pulled to the side of the road, slowed down and then crashed when the transmission seized. Wiped out some of the right side of the bike, broke my kneecap in half. ATGATT saved the rest.



I am not a great triage mechanic, but it seemed as if something went wrong in the engine and it took out the tranny too.



So I think the Tiger is not easily salvageable, but will take it to the dealer when I am ambulatory (it's parked in front of someone's garage for now near the crash site.)



My question is how to deal with Triumph and their warranty folks. The bike clearly should not have broken down and I am only a few months into the 2 year warranty. Any advice from others who know Triumph well or have had similar major problems?



One complication: the dealer that sold the Tiger to me has given up on Triumph and has gone Suzuki (Nault's in Manchester NH) The Triumph franchise went to Second Wind BMW in Merrimac (I met a guy at our NH Tiger Pack ride who works there--he seemed OK)



Any advice or ideas? Cautions?



I won't be riding for a long time to come so I have time to get my bike back into top shape.

[JRO]

I have had no major problems with my '06.  One minor one, that the dealer took care of.



I am interested in the failure of your bike, and what Triumph will do about it.  Please keep us advised.

[Tri2Fly]

Ouch!  Sorry for the bad luck.



I had an issue a couple of years ago with a 3000 mile Thunderbird.  Triumph replaced the middle cylinder and piston and the head with no drama.  Other than having to wait a long time on the parts, I was pleased with the Triumph response.  I also had an electrical issue with a Speed Four.  Again, Triumph stepped up and replaced the entire wiring harness, tip to tail.



I hope they treat you right and that your kneebone heals quick.

[Tallerman]

I will keep you posted on the progress. I took photos with my new cellphone camera but don't have any idea how to load them onto this site. Will give loading them a try in the next few days. My favorite is the 300 yards of solid oil slick leading to the back of my Tiger.



That's good news about Triumph taking care of your problems thoroughly, if not quickly. I can only hope for the same.

[Wrangler]

Just remember one important point.  Triumph owns the warranty.  The dealer may do warranty work but they charge it back to Triumph corporate.



You can take your bike to any dealer for a warranty claim.  I know because I did this successfully.  Dealer I bought from was screwing me over.  Found another awesome dealer (plug for Inglis Cycle, London, Ontario Canada) who fixed problem No Charge.



best of luck, heal quickly!

[Wrangler]

Sorry but this one has me going.  Triumph should be pulling out all the stops.  When a product fails so catastrophically that earlier on they should be darned interested in what went wrong.  That is how they/we all improve.



I manage a Quality and Tech Support group for a global automation company and failures like this catch our attention

[TigerTrax]

The prudent dealer will contact Triumph at once and get a rep or service tech to look at the bike and determine what happened.  Once they do ... I think you'll be treated quite well ....



PS.. You might use a cane when you visit the dealer ....

[Tallerman]

Cane?, Hell No. I've got crutches and the knee immobilizer to hobble about. I only wish it were for show. Damned thing is painful. Not like the broken collarbone and cracked ribs I got on a mountain bike some years ago, but a broken kneecap is no laughing matter. Can't walk, can't bend the leg, can't drive my cage, can't sleep. Can work, though, so can pay for the medical bills.



I will try to get some help to go back to the accident site and load the poor Tiger for tansport to the dealer. I will spend some time looking at the bike when the adrenaline isn't flowing to see if I can spot any sign of what failed so dramatically.



Thanks for your encouragement and ideas.

[TigerTrax]

Have the dealer pick it up....

At this point I think you should not have it in your posession.



OK.... crutches it is .... any headwrap or arm slings?



I think you'll find that Triumph will want to know exactly what went wrong.

[Patrick the Scot]

300 yards of oil slick? As we say at the 1/4 mile strip, it sounds like you had an "oil down event."  Do you think this caused the engine to lock up? And from where did the oil make its' dramatic exit?

[tigerhund]

Triumph replaced the entire FI system on my 2004 Tiger under warranty earlier this year.  I bought the bike used with 1,700 miles on it from a dealer in the western US in August, 2005, and rode it home to Central Florida.   The bike was hard to start from the time I bought it, but ran fine once it started.  At about 6,000 miles, it developed the annoying habit of revving to about 2000 rpm for about ten seconds when I started it while the engine was hot.   I took it to my dealer (Palm Beach Triumph) and they idenitified that the FI system had been mauled by some attempted warranty work completed by the dealer I bought the bike from.    Triumph replaced all components of the FI system and the bike runs beautifully now, although it is still hard to start.  



Palm Beach Triumph have done a great job of servicing both my 2004 and my wife's 1999 Tigers.

[Tallerman]

The concensus seems to be that Triumph is pretty good at following up with warranty coverage. I feel reassured.



My original dealer went Suzuki about a month ago, transferring their Triumph inventory and service to a nearby BMW dealer, Second Wind BMW of Merrimac, NH. I spoke to the GM, Mike, earlier today. He has a crew picking up the Tiger this afternoon and will get back to me later today.  So far, he seems exactly the kind of dealer I am hoping he'll be.  I am a bit leery about a new dealer whose mechanics won't go to the Triumph school until next week in Atlanta, but he might see my Tiger as an opportunity to figure out the Triumph system and give his staff some practice. I am in no immediate hurry to get my Tiger back so let him take his time. Either I will get great attention and fine results, or they won't know what they are doing and I will be given the royal runaround for months until I finally take them all to court (I am saving all my paperwork). For now, I am taking the high road and expecting the very best from all involved.



I will be talking to the Triumph rep later this week.



Not that it's important, but at the hospital today I saw, on X-ray, a perfectly straight vertical break in my kneecap--apparently the very best kind. Six weeks recovery, therapy, then back to normal activity.



Until I get the Tiger straightened out, I will get my old G/S back into shape and ride that for a while.



Thank you for all the good coments and ideas.

[jmoonx14]

Tallerman, best of luck and please do keep the thread updated. I am very interested in what shakes out here.



This has shed light on two important issues for me.



#1...I have always thought about an event like this causing a total seize like you had. How would I get through it? Sounds as if you lived that nightmare. Glad you are in one piece (though the kneecap isn't).



#2...A damn fine reminder for us all to wear protective gear! What exactly where you wearing/not wearing when this happened? Do you have a real world protective gear report to share with us?



Good luck with the bike repairs. Heal up fast and get back out there.

[Tallerman]

I was wearing FirstGear Kilamanjaro armored jacket and FirstGear overtrousers also with armor. I had on summertime padded gloves and Oxtar boots. Helmet of course.



In retrospect, I wish I had installed harder armor in the knees. The high density foam didn't do much to protect my knee from a direct blow--though I doubt it was ever meant to do so.



No road rash at all. Some minor pain in both thumbs from catching myself with my hands but no other damage. Oh, one minor ding on the side of my helmet--no memory of hitting my head, though.



In the old days I would have been wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket and Air Force pilot gloves. Probably more damage would have resulted then, but who knows--I was physically stonger and quicker 25 years ago so maybe I would have dodged the pavement altogether.