Asking for Advice and/or Opinions

[ROCKET415]

Gentlemen,

Monday night I went to my local tunesmith/bike mechanic to get a new rear tire put on my 2012 R3 roadster (still in as good or better than new condition). As always, he rushed the bike right in, had two of his guys swap the tire out, charged me a very low price and sent me on my way. When I got home, I cleaned the brake dust and spray lube off the wheel and to my horror, realized my rear wheel had been ruined. Once the vommiting subsided, I assessed the damage in its entirety and took some photos. After 3 sleepless nights, and 3 days filled with all sorts of emotions, I took the bike back and pointed out the carnage. I expressed to him how I can't live with the bike like that and how its been eating me up thinking about it. So he says to me, "Yaaaaaa, thats common. You'll see that. We'll buff dem out."

So you might be wondering, why didnt I explode right then and there and demand a new wheel? Well, over the past 5 years or so, my dad, my two brothers and myself have been going to this guy and we have developed a close friendship. He is a phenominal tuner and has always treated us very well.

So my dilemma is, I dont want a wheel that is anything other than perfect, in new condition. As you can see from the photos, you can not buff out these marks. They are deep into the aluminum. Furthermore, even if he were to buff out the dig marks, there would be no blending those spots with the factory milling marks (also seen in the photos). Also, this is only one spot you are seeing. These marks are consistent all the way around the right side and a few spots on the left side of the wheel.

As I see it, my options are:

1) Live with it (not an option)
2) Buy a new wheel at $1200 then pay to have it installed
3) Remove both front and rear wheels and completely polish the unpainted aluminum on both
4) Small claims court (last resort)

Am I overreacting? What would you guys do? I don't want to ruin a friendship and loose the use of one of the best tuners around, but I just can't have the wheel like that.

 

[HansO]

My tyre guy is a car tyre dealer and he went to the trouble of getting nylon rim protectors to avoid just that sort of problem but if he did not respect my bike He would be paying to have the rim sorted, I don't care how good he is at tunning he must know how much you cherish your bike if he is a true biker himself, So I say let him fix it From the pictures I would say that unless the scratches are very deep careful rubbing with wet n dry will fix a lot of it, followed by a few hours of solid polishing will probably fix it butit may not be exactly the same as new finish but you have to let him try and fix it before you start looking at taking it legal, JMHO

 

[Watcher]

For what it is worth I was at the shop 2 days ago and they where changing out a rear tire
(on a HD) and it got 3 nics in it now I have went to this shop for about 4 years it is all the longer they have been open but they the owners have worked at a dealer for about 20 they came out told they guy what had happened and told him we will get you a new one or repair this one it is your choice and I know that this has happened before and they have all ways done the same but that is at this shop and they try to make sure they take care of those that come there often and those that dont so that they will come back I think he should do what ever it takes to make it right I would expect my guy to if he messed it up

 

[mully95]

This week I switched over from a car tire back to a motorcycle tire. I dropped the wheel/tire off by the dealership and the next day they called me to ask if I was wanting to save the car tire. Knowing that they are a ***** to get off I told them "no". He told me that they was going to have to cut the car tire off the wheel in which I said "Ok just be careful with my wheel". I got it back without one scratch on the wheel. Now I said all that to say this. If the guys scratched your wheel taking a motorcycle tire off I would hate to see what they would have done with a car tire. So it sounds like the tire changer is not a very smart person and shouldn't have gotten within 10 feet of your tire.
They definitely scratched it and sounds like they are trying to avoid buying you a new wheel. One thing that you might not be aware is that most car tire service centers have a sign that states "Not responsible for damaged wheels". This covers their arse so that they aren't responsible. If this motorcycle shop has this statement wrote on the invoice or a sign then the fix will come out of your pocket.

You're concerned about a loosing a friendship.... to me if he was a friend he would offer to do whatever to make you happy.... if not he isn't to much of a friend...anyways in business the customer is always right. Good luck getting situated out.

 

[69birdflu]

I'd let them buff it out. But, we each have a different level of tolerance. To me, it's not like they scratched the tank. I wouldn't worry as dirty as my rims get, but you have to live with it.
To me: Don't pet the sweaty things.

 

[Bubz]

F$@ck it mate. The position of those marks tells me the guy who changed out your tyre just didn't give a s h I t .
Friendship or not the guy took your money to do a job and did not do it with "care"
I personally would not accept it.
The scratches and nicks look deep and I'm pretty sure buffing is not going to totally remove them.
The all care and no responsibitly is just a cop out.

As for " don't sweat the petty things"
What the hell is petty about it ?

 

[DRMD421]

I've got to say that I've got more scratches on my wheels than I can count, mostly done by me. They really aren't a big deal to me personally. The problem I have with your situation is that you got home and noticed it yourself, rather than having them tell you about it when it happened. I probably would have been a little irritated when they told me about it, but probably would have just blown it off. This is different. I would still let them do what they can do to try to fix it, but would let them know that if the shoe was on the other foot, that you would replace their wheel and would have told them about it in the first place.

 

[69birdflu]

Working in the automotive field for 25 years I've seen worse situations. And it sucks when a technician does not let you know he f*cked something up, and you hear it from the customer.

If you like the service, see what they will do to make you happy. You may want to talk with the service manager. As for my experience with alloy wheels, scratches and scrapes can be removed easily.

My advise, be calm, reasonable and diplomatic. Remember what Mom said; You'll attract more flies with honey then vinegar.

And speaking of Moms wish them a happy mother's day!

 

[ponters]

My advise, be calm, reasonable and diplomatic. Remember what Mom said; You'll attract more flies with honey then vinegar.

Each to their own i guess.

My issue is you attract wasps with honey as well, in this case I'd tell them to repair it at their choice but if you are not 100% happy that it will need to be replaced.

 

[CanberraR3]

I'm with Ponters. No need to be nasty but you need to be firm. Tell him how disappointed you are and that you hope he understands that you expect to have it 'fixed'. Up to him if wants to have a go at repairing it first but either way you are entitled to leave there with a wheel in the same condition you took it in. If the friendship is valuable it will be as important to him as it is to you. If he won't do the right thing then who needs him as friend anyway.