Suter's Speed Shop

I need Charles to call me at (608)221-8865 and see if we can work something out over the phone if not he can make an appointment to talk face to face.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and...

find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

I only hope I can save at least one person from paying way too much to destroy their motorcycle at Suter's.. I have a '99 Harley Sportster XL Custom. My first and last experience with Suter's Speed Shop:
TL;DR: So after multiple 'call back and raise the price' tricks, hundreds of dollars in damage to my gas tank paint as a result of work I didn't even ask for and could have done myself, the worst customer service, warranty, or even a sheer lack of respectable business practice, they didn't even do the original job of replacing a simple tire correctly, resulting in hundreds more in towing and additional service to have it done right.
Part 1: I went to Suter's for a simple set of tires, shouldn't be too complicated right? Well after several mix ups with what tires they could put on, and increasing the cost at least 3 times in the process, they finally put the new tires on. When I get the call to inform me it's ready, they noted they cleaned up and added some dielectric grease to my battery terminals as they have been giving me (and them) starting issues. Great right?
Wrong.. When I go to pick it up, there are very large (at least over a 4-5 inch radius area) very deep (down to bare metal) GOUGES in the paint right on the top of the gas tank! The gouges were accented by shiny globs of grease.. so it was clear the tech that applied the grease had not paid attention to where the hose was rubbing as he pulled it to the other side where the battery is, leaving these large scrapes and destroying the paint all over the top of my gas tank.
Part 2: So when I confronted the management about this, they had no response, and claimed no responsibility. I even showed them pictures of the bike shortly before service.. WITHOUT SCRATCHES.. then the bike and pictures of the bike after the damage. None of the management at Suter's claimed responsibility, or even apologized for any of this. After weeks of calls and emails following, they finally gave in slightly saying 'Well the technician can't say for sure if we did the damage, and we don't do paint repair here at Suter's, but the tech HAS A FRIEND THAT CAN DO IT FOR A DISCOUNT IF YOU WOULD LIKE. So basically they did a CYA admission of 'yeah we did it, but legally we wont admit it, so this is the best we can offer, take it or leave it'. This, coming from the management at Suter's.. Thanks guys. So I decided to not trust the 'friend' of the tech that messed it up to begin with, and did some paint repair on my own time and dollar.
Part 3: Oh how I WISH that was the end of my experience.. Fast foward 1.25 years later, I had long since forgotten the joke of a business this place is, only to come out of work to find my front tire completely flat. After calling my roadside assist to come fill up the tire, we found the tire would not hold any air.. it would just seep out through a spoke hole as fast as it went in. There was nothing physically wrong with the tire, no nails, rocks, etc. It was just over a year old, and nothing was wrong with the tire itself. So once we towed it to the nearest shop, they pulled it apart only to find the tube inside had a large hole in it, caused by several large creases in the tube. Creases all over that area of the tube actually, with the hole right in the middle of some of the crease intersections. They proceeded to explain to me these creases and subsequent hole in the tube were caused by improper tube and tire installation the previous time. Either the tube was too large for the tire, or the tube was put in wrong (or hastily) causing creases that overtime gave way to a hole in the tube. The pain this place causes just doesn't end.
My disdain for Suter's Speed Shop can only be described with words that would cause this review to be taken down, so I refrain, in hopes that I can save at least one other person from this horrible embarrassing joke of a "business".

Review: On October 19th I purchased a 2008 Suzuki DRZ 400SM from [redacted]’s Speed Shop located in Madison, WI. The transaction was personally handled with [redacted] (the owner of the shop), who simply signed the title and gave it to me, after receiving the cash. At the time of the transaction, I asked if the fluids in the bike were good since it was coming out of storage. Mr. [redacted] replied, “yes”. During this transaction I was never given a WI Motorcycle Buyers Guide, asked to sign a purchase agreement for the vehicle, or was given a used vehicle disclosure form. The only tag or information displayed on the vehicle was a tag stating “08 Suzuki DR-Z 400SM $4995” (See Picture A1 & A19). I was given verbal confirmation by the owner, Mr. [redacted], that the bike was ready to ride and so I drove it home.

Due to my current living arrangement I chose to store the bike in a garage approximately 45 minutes away from my primary residence. For this reason, I was not able to thoroughly examine the bike and discover the extent of disrepair that it was in until recently. On October 24th I noticed that the bike had produced a lot of backfire from the exhaust (usually a sign of improper carb jetting) and that many of the spokes were loose (a danger to throwing the wheel out of alignment). I notified [redacted] via phone on October 27th at 2:37pm(see picture A2), and asked him if the bike had passed mechanical inspection and had been properly tuned after aftermarket products were added to the motorcycle. Steve personally assured me that the bike had been properly adjusted (jetted) by the previous owner, and had passed an inspection by his shop ([redacted]’s Speed Shop).

On November 6th I thoroughly investigated the bike including the removal all of the plastics and gas tank. I found that the throttle cable had a tendency to remain open and was not closing properly. The front brake reservoir was extremely low (see picture A3 & A4), and the rear break fluid was discolored and needed changing (see picture A5). Next I changed the spark plug (see picture A6) and found that the motorcycle was running very rich and had not been jetted properly contrary to what I had been told on October 27th. Additionally I found an excess amount of engine oil in the bike (1” over the maximum fill line).

Given the combination of low brake fluid, a faulty throttle cable and loose spokes the condition of the bike when purchased from [redacted]’s was not safe to ride. If the brakes were to malfunction and the throttle remain open that could easily cause a deadly crash. The bike was sold to me under the assumption that it had undergone a mechanical inspection and was sold as safe to ride. The information Mr. [redacted] provided about the bike was fictitious and illustrates blatant negligence in allowing the bike to leave his shop in such condition.

I called [redacted]’s Speed Shop on November 7th at 10:23am (see picture A7 and spoke directly with Mr. [redacted]. I notified him of the issues that I had found and asked him whether it had been inspected prior to sale. He confirmed again that it was inspected, and that he was unaware that the bike was low on brake fluid. I asked if it was possible to bring the bike back to the shop to have the fluids replaced and for it to have another inspection ensuring it was safe to operate. He replied “I guess we will give you a good deal on labor”.

I called the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on Monday 11/9/15, and notified them of my situation. They confirmed that [redacted]’s Speed Shop is in fact a licensed dealer (as listed on google search see picture A8 & listed on website A9). Given that they are a licensed dealer and the bike was advertised and sold under the business (see picture A10-A21). [redacted]’s by Wisconsin State Statute 139.04 subsection (6) should have provided a Wisconsin Buyers Guide detailing the inspection of the bike. In addition to the Buyers Guide, [redacted]’s failed to provide a purchase agreement and complete the registration process of the vehicle through the dealership.Desired Settlement: Given the fact that the all of the issues that have been presented should have been found and addressed during a proper inspection of the motorcycle prior to sale, Mr. [redacted] did not follow Wisconsin State Statute 139.04. The statute states, “it is an unfair practice for a dealer to not remedy an item improperly reported on the guide that the dealer could have found using reasonable care”. In light of the failure to provide me with the proper documentation and refusing to remedy the issues brought to light by my notification. I would like to return the bike and receive a full refund and be prorated for taxation incurred through registration of the vehicle totaling $4245.31

Business

Response:

This has been Resolved

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,