2003 Mean Streak - First Ride Home

[800AJAY]

Picked up the MS today after work. Some dealers are really bad. I started the engine. Seemed to run a little rough. Couldn't keep it going. Would idle a while then fade out. It would restart, run a little and then fade out. I was really ticked off. I had about a 40 mile ride home and it was getting dark and cold. They had started the engine the week before for me when I was first looking at the bike and it seemed to run OK. I had started it up 2 to 3 times with no problem, started every time, kept running. Went for a ride down the street a little ways, as the dealer suggested, I guess so the engine would cure itself of whatever problem there was by getting a few miles on it. Quarter mile away the engined died. Couldn't restart. The low fuel light was on but the dealer said it had plenty of gas-it "had a lot of gas" was the quote. I had moved the bike side to side to see if I could hear gas sloushing around. Couldn't hear anything. I was fortunate enough to get a ride back to the dealer quickly. Got back to the dealer and we picked up some gas, at my suggestion, and went back to the bike, which I had to leave in the driveway of the guy who gave me a lift back to the dealer. Turned out to be no gas (or not enough) gas in the tank. Bike started right up and kept running. Went immediately to a gas station and filled the tank. It only took another 2.7 gallons. With the 1 gallon we put in to get it started, that's a total of 3.7 gals. Tank is supposed to be a 4.5 gallon tank. There should have been enough gas. So I'm still not sure if it was really out of gas. I asked the dealer if all the fluids had been checked. Of course they had he said. When I got home, I checked the final drive oil level-couldn't see any oil. Suppose to be up to the bottom threads of the oil fill opening. Opened the drain plug of the final drive. Thank God there was oil running out. Right now my guess is that it's a quarter to a half full, maybe. I will check tomorrow morning by daining it all out and refilling. But now I'm really ticked off. I could feel oil on the gears so it was picking up some oil as they turned. But riding home for the first time with low oil. What damage has been done, is the question in my mind now? What does anyone out there think about that? Any damage? You just can't trust anybody. I thought about checking it at the dealer but after asking again about the fluid levels they assured me they had been checked. Also, the bike was dirty. They said they would wash the bike and get it all cleaned up. They didn't. It still looked like it had been sitting on the floor for a couple years. The bike was a 2003 left over (1500 cc version) that I got for $7750 after a $600 rebate that Kawasaki was offering on the bike. A great price, no doubt. But just because I got it for a good price doesn't mean I should get this kind of service. Anyway, that's the first ride story. What a pain.

[dslater35]

Considering your initial experiences I think you are really on the right track to check out everything that you can regarding the bike's initial prep. It would be a great opportunity to learn everything you can about your new MS and at the same time be comfortable with what was or wasn't done.

Along those lines double/triple check the oil level. I bought a new Kawasaki Voyager XII a little over ten years ago that had been filled with oil...twice!!!

I don't know your relationship with this dealer or if you have plans of having your warranty/service work done there but I believe that if I was going to have any further dealings with them I'd be calling to have a discussion with the owner/manager. Hopefully he/she wasn't the one who sold you the bike and then delivered it in such a state!!!

Good news is that you picked up a great bike at a great price!!!

Enjoy the ride!!!

Ride safe and often,

Don

[RicksV2k]

So now will you be known as 1500JAY.....lol

[800AJAY]

DS, Obviously I won't be getting any work done there. I was never intending on taking it there for service anyway. They are about 40 miles away and there's another dealer I've done a lot of business with only 5 miles away. It's just that they had the good deal I got. Where I bought it is just a dinky small place I think that just sell's units although they say they are an authourized dealer, sign and everything. They guy (kid really, very young) who preps the bikes is the owner's son. That explains a lot. And he wasn't even there when I took delivery on the bike, which irritated me, especially given the problems I had. I was going to check the final drive oil level no matter what they said but when I had the other problem and the time pressure of getting it home before dark, I passed that step up. I don't think there is any permanent problem. There was lubrications getting to the gears. OIl and coolant were OK. You can see those quickly.

[2WheelFun]

800AJAY....Congrats on your new bike!

As for the final drive oil....don't sweat it too much. I'm sure there was enough oil in there to keep things lubed well enough as not to cause any damage. Since you now have the bike just check things over and do what you feel is appropiate to service it and then go enjoy riding it. As for future service needs...get a manual and do what you can yourself. That way you'll know it's being done correctly and you'll gain valuable experience knowing how to maintain your own bike.

Be sure to show us some pics when you have time.

[brian]

Jay, That is a great bike and a great deal. Too bad the prep was so bad, but it sounds like you will get all the levels where they should be and won't go back.

[Mangler]

Congrats on the sweet new ride.So are ya due for a name change now too?

[rwrighter]

Congrats on the Meanie Jay! Sounds like you got a Great deal on it, even tho the prep job was pitiful. have you sold the 800, or did you trade it in? How does the Mean Streak feel to you after riding the 800?

Ride Safe!

[ppark]

Originally Posted by 800AJAY

Went immediately to a gas station and filled the tank. It only took another 2.7 gallons. With the 1 gallon we put in to get it started, that's a total of 3.7 gals. Tank is supposed to be a 4.5 gallon tank. There should have been enough gas. So I'm still not sure if it was really out of gas.

It doesn't sound right. I filled up over 3.6 gallons and prior to filling up I didn't have any issue with the engine quiting. You might want to check the vent line under the tanks. Last year I stopped to help a fellow biker stranded on the side of freeway. He had a similar problem of engine quiting after just a few miles. I supected it was the fuel vent line. After taking the gas tank off, we found out that the vent line was folded in half. After this was fixed, his bike was running great.

It is possible that when you open the gas tank to fill the initial 1 galon of gas, you got rid of the vacuum in then tank so the bike was running OK.

[Scotty Luv]

Jay, Congrats on the new ride.

Too bad about the dealer hassles. Hope everything is OK and you can get past the initial problems.

Good luck,
Scott

[trikebubble]

Congrats 1500AJAY, It's too bad about your initial experience but sometimes you have tp put up with some rain to get to the sun. Good thing you have a dealer you trust to take her to from now on. Good thing also, that Kawy's are bulletproof and can handle a bit of incompitence.
you are going to love that ride.

[Kenny]

time for some chrome goodies now!!!!!!

[800AJAY]

RW, I still own the 800A. The dealer I bought the MS from let me put it on his floor to sell-no time limit. That was one good thing about him. I don't have room for or want two bikes in my garage. I could sell it to a broker but his price was only $4K, ouch! I could take the bike back to stock and sell the pipes, air kit, forwards and seat on ebay and between the two get maybe $5K. I put a price of $5,900 on the bike at the dealer. We'll see what happens. I know I'm taking a hit on this bike, but getting such a good price on the MS softens that a little. Park, as far as whether or not I ran out of gas, I'm not sure. Maybe I could have squeezed another .8 gallons into the tank. I didn't try. After I ran out of gas, I moved the bike side to side and could not hear any sloshing of gas. When I put the gallon in, the bike started immediately and was fine after that. I rode 45 miles home and had no problem. I started it up this morning and it ran fine for 10 minutes. RW, the first difference between the 800A and the MS of course is the weight. Then the seating position is probably second-you lean a little more forward. Power of course, but of course I wasn't pushing it on the ride home. I need a question answered from you MS guys and maybe this is a question about shaft drive bikes in general. Should the bike feel harder to push when in neutral with the engine off then a chain drive bike? I noticed it immediately when I was first looking at the bike. When I asked, his immediate response was "it's shaft drive, that's why". Does that make sense to anyone? There were two other MS's at the dealer and I know I pushed one of the other ones around and it felt the same as mine. One of the problems was that the tires only had about 15 pounds of air in them (another one of the good prep moves from the dealer). That would make it hard to push for sure. Got them up to 35 pounds each and it helped but was still harder to push compared to chain drive. As far as 800AJAY goes, I don't know. A change is probably due but don't we all have to remember our roots? 1500AJAY doesn't have the same ring. I'm open to suggestions.

[jnk]

Man Sorry To Hear There Are Such Crooked Dealers Out There My Dealer Seems To Be Very Good My Gas Tank Was Full When I Picked My Bike Up And They Went Through Every Thing With Me Now I Really Feel Blessed

I Think I Would Call Kawasaki On That One
John

[Spok]

Hey Jay..good job on the meanie and too bad you had such trouble. While your checking everything out, it occured to me that you might want to take off the right side cover and check the coolent level too...just a thought.

I know your gonna love that meanie, as for you name..how bout MeanJay

[800AJAY]

Spok, the coolant leve is OK. I can see the level on the right side. I'm more concerned with how the bike rolls when in neutral and the engine off ( or on for that matter). As I said in my previous post, I noticed it was hard to move the bike on the showroom floor and when I asked the dealer about that he immediately said "that's the shaft drive, that's why". I talked to my regular dealer about it and they didn't say yeh, shaft drives are that way. He said maybe just a little. He knew I had the 800A and said compared to that the MS will seem heavier to push because of the weight difference and the fact that the tires are wider on the MS than the 800A. I told him I sat on the a Honda 1300VTX they had in the showroom and that moved just like the 800A. The dealer said the Honda's do seem to roll easy like that. I had a 1500 Vulcan Classic once and vaquely remember that it was difficult to push around. I appreciate any help with this question guys. Thanks.

[grandpawmoses]

Now that you mention it, my MS is harder to roll than my last chain drive bike. It's also about 300 pounds heavier too. I did a test drive of a Honda 1800 VTX at the dealership & it didn't roll any easier.
I believe you're justified in feeling paranoid about your new ride & would like to offer this advice if I may. Take it to another dealer you trust for a total checkover. It probably won't cost much and the peace of mind will be worth it.
Congrats on the selection.
David

[pitchinguy]

Sorry to hear about your poor service Jay.

I believe I would go to the contact Kaw on the warrenty page of the Kaw website and fire them an email. If you tell them about your experience and how afraid you are that your new bike may be ruined because of poor vehicle prep service and and about how afraid you are that the a$$end is going to fall off or the engine is going to blow up at 20-30K miles and start talking about them getting you a new properly serviced one......they just might let you get it checkd out by YOUR friendly dealer FREE and maybe even offer up some kind of extended warrenty at a good price, just to calm your fears. Free would be really cool. If you're afraid and persistant enough. no telling what you might walk away with.

Any way, put a read receipt on your email & even follow it with a hard copy in the mail, JUST SO IT'S DOCUMENTED. It's amazing what "DOCUMENTED" will get you sometimes! Not documented will get you nothing but "sorry"! Squeeky wheel gets the grease ya know!

If you do something like thisit needs to be immediate, cause you're scared to death! Right? I would really push that extended warrenty thing, only if it were me of course.

Good luck friend & keep us posted

[oldodge]

Jay congrats on the new bike. Don't underestimate the difference extra weight makes when pushing the new bike around. Could also be new brake pads dragging on the rotors a little. After a little riding they will seat themselves and drag will be reduced. It isn't a problem unless they drag too much and you would smell them if they did.

[Scotty Luv]

Originally Posted by spok

I know your gonna love that meanie, as for you name..how bout MeanJay

...or how about MeanJayGreen.

Scott