From: joe@rider.cactus.org (Joe Senner)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: ZX-11 Transmission Update / More Corporate Interaction
Date: 22 Jan 93 02:32:44 GMT
Reply-To: joe@rider.cactus.org (Joe Senner)
Organization: NOT

some of you may remember not too long ago that I posted an article about
my dealings with kawasaki with respect to the 2nd gear failure problem that
has been plauging the early models of the bike. you may also remember that
my view of kawasaki was not a good one to say the least. two rather significant
things have happened since then that I find quite interesting, a personal
phone call from a district level person at Kawasaki, and publication of the
September 93 MotorCyclist.

The Phone Call
===============================================================================
not too long after my post (and some preliminary email) I got a call from
Mr. X at Kawasaki. he had read a faxed copy of my post and wanted to follow
up on my problem so as to help avoid future problems. needless to say I am
impressed that Kawasaki would take the time to medaite between myself and
my local dealer considering that they were well aware that I had gotten rid
of the bike. Mr. X listened to my side of the story, reviewed the computer
records of my phone calls to Kawasaki and also contacted the dealer. Mr. X
informed me that my dealer's service manager appeared to be the problem, and
that that particular manager was no longer there. Mr. X also relayed his
concern of my impression that the person I had originally talked to at
Kawasaki was, shall we say, less than agreeable to discussing my problem,
the computer records apparently portrayed a much more conciliatory position
on the part of the Kawasaki representative. I'm willing to give ground in
this area, such things are open to personal interpretation.

The Magazine
===============================================================================
if you haven't read the article in the reader survey of the ZX-11 in the
latest motorcyclist, you should. with my earlier posting of my nightmare
dealing with kawasaki and it's dealer you will have a fair picture, with
some extra data to back it up. Motorcyclist found a rather bleak picture
of the way Kawasaki has handled its second gear problem from its reader
survey.

From the article, T.S. LaFrance Ph.D. writes:

   "Kawasaki treated me as if I were a bum. Of four owners I know, four
    had the problem of popping out of second gear or not going all the
    way into gear. I had very unsatisfactory dealing with the factory
    because of unprofessional conduct by the dealership."

and Robert Fleishner writes:

   "It is amazing that I personally know four professional people, all
    with ZX-11s, all with second-gear failures, and Kawasaki denies any
    problem and usually blames 'rider abuse'."

the latter quote from the article was my finding exactly. I received a
nice long lecture about how there was really nothing wrong with the bike
and how I needed to change my riding habbits so as not to damage the bike
further. I was lectured as to how my riding had been the root cause of the
problem and how Kawasaki would not cover it.

the article continues to provide other examples of how others ran into the
same sort of denial by Kawasaki and its dealers. the article also points out
other lesser known problems such as camshaft surface failure, which I'm sure
would also be attributed to 'rider abuse'.

My Position
===============================================================================
I now belive my original interpretation of my dealings with Kawasaki, one
of insults and assumptions of my riding style and habbits was correct. I 
still belive that kawasaki has no intention of admitting a problem exists 
and that they will continue to use this tactic of blaming the owner to avoid 
warranty repairs.

while I appreciate that someone at kawasaki who was not responsible for my
problem took the time to contact me, I still belive that kawasaki really 
doesn't care what happens to its customers as long as they don't have to
foot some warranty bill.

kawasaki is lucky I didn't record the phone conversations I had with them 
or my dealer. if I had we'd be in court right now. my only regret is that
I let the pushy, rude Kawasaki representative convince me that I should
not file a complaint against my dealer.

-- 
Joe Senner -- joe@Rider.Cactus.Org