[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ey ya’ll, after owning my own shop for 20 years I thought I had solved almost every problem there is to solve… Well, I was wrong. Every Saturday and Sunday we get around 1,000 bikes that pass through our doors. They come hang out at my 2.5-acre compound and they drink a little beer, eat some great food, listen to live music, watch the pretty gals and generally just hangout enjoying the scene with all their biker buddies. We also work on bikes on a “first come, first serve” basis throughout the weekend. We try to be very accommodating to our customers.

The other day we were doing a simple oil change on a V-Rod while the customer was hanging out in the courtyard. My tech has performed literally thousands of oil changes. But this time something went wrong, VERY WRONG! After the oil change we always road test the bike for 4 miles or so. Sometime during the test ride my tech noticed that the oil pressure light was on. He didn’t see when the light first came on, so he doesn’t know how long it was on before he noticed it. Once he did he immediately stopped the bike and called for the shop truck and trailer to come pick him up.

When the bike gets back to our service department it’s covered with oil. As my tech is inspecting the bike he notices that the rubber seal on the top of the oil filter is now sticking outside the oil filter, not good. So, he cleans the bike up, replaces the oil filter gasket back into place to reseal it and replaces the oil. The bike fires up just fine, and according to my tech, it’s not making any unusual sounds. So he takes the bike for another test ride.

Oh yeah, I failed to mention that the customer sees the bike come back on the trailer, covered in oil and my staff has to assure the guy that everything is fine, just a minor mishap.

So during the second test ride everything seems to be going well, that is until the engine dies. He calls the driver to come pick the bike up… again. When they return to the shop they pull the oil pan and notice metal in the oil. After further testing our worst fears are confirmed, the motor is seized up. About the time we figure out that the motor is a total loss, the customer walks up. My service manager apprises the customer of the situation and the customer is obviously not happy – to put it mildly. The service manager tells the customer that we will assess the situation and call him with options.

At this point, the service manager finally tells me what the heck is going on. So after listening to the service manager’s story, I went to look at the bike and question the service technician, and brother, I had many questions! Questions like:

1. Did you use the proper oil filter for a V-Rod?
2. Did you put some oil in the oil filter before you installed it?
3. Did you seal the rubber gasket with a smear of oil around the top?
4. Did you get the oil filter tightened to the proper tightness?
5. Why didn’t you notice the oil pressure light when it first came on?
6. Did you pull over the second you noticed the light?      

I asked those and many, many more, and I ain’t kidding when I say that I asked these questions in an extremely loud and agitated tone of voice. No, I wasn’t happy, and no, I couldn’t or didn’t even try to hide my “pissed-off-ness.”

A few hours later, while I was still steaming I get a text from a friend showing that the customer has posted his experience on a Facebook page for Dallas/Fort Worth H-D riders. This just made me even madder, but I couldn’t blame the customer. So I called him directly to apologize to him personally and obviously let him “vent” to me. I don’t blame the guy, I mean he brings the bike in for a routine oil change on his motorcycle and now his motor is locked up. But, was it our fault? I’m not sure exactly what went wrong, but whatever happened, happened on my watch.

I sent the bike to my son-in-law who – along with his dad, own Horny Toad H-D in Temple, Texas. He confirmed what we already knew, that the motor was trashed. We could have bought and installed the new V-Rod motor here at Strokers Dallas, but I thought that the customer deserved the new motor to come from and be installed by an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer, which can provide him with a warranty. So, it worked out great for the customer and he is more than happy with me.

I didn’t like spending more than $8,000 to replace his motor, but the way I was raised gave me no choice. I sent the oil filter out for testing and I am waiting for the results.

We will also disassemble and diagnose the lunched motor when we get a chance. But whatever happened, happened on my watch, so I stood up like a man and wrote the check! What else could I do? My pride and reputation are important to me, so I really had no choice! What would you have done?