Ended up going to the Honda dealer today and they were completely unable to help me at all. They haven't even started tearing the bike down and can't tell me when they'll start or how long it'll take to get the frame welded and put back together. They're saying 4 weeks is a possibility but that 12 weeks still is, too.
I called Honda customer support and they're apparently going to send a roaming expert to inspect my bike and see if it really needs the tear-down to weld/reinforce the frame. I'm not optimistic. The guy I talked to at the dealership immediately knew which bike I was talking about because the tech apparently called everyone over to check out the worst frame cracking he'd seen on a Wing.
The Honda customer support guy either didn't get or was ignoring my main point: I simply do not want the bike back. "Good as new" or not. To me, if every piece is taken off the frame, the broken frame welds are rewelded, and the bike is reassembled by some Boogerville mechanic, "good as new" goes right out the window.
I told him that the length of time it'll be down is a factor, but not as big a factor as my not wanting to continue owning the bike because with this damage, it's the equivalent of a wrecked car that's had the frame straightened. I don't feel it's right for me to have to keep and pay for this bike, repaired or not, under these circumstances. And who knows whether this repair will make it capable of dealing with the rough road I live on.
They said they'd call me today or Monday. I'm not holding my breath.
So, whether they make this right for me or not, let's run down the situation and why prospective Gold Wing owners should look elsewhere for a luxo-tourer.
1. When I took it in for the mandatory and very expensive first service (I was told it had to go to the dealership for this or the warranty would be voided), a "cooling system recall" was performed on it.
2. When I got it back from the dealership, it smelled of coolant for a long time (weeks). I have no idea if the smell of coolant finally stopped because it was spilled onto the engine (seemed to linger too long for that) or if it'd gotten low enough to quit leaking. Problem is, after the other problems surfaced, I ceased to care and it can bloody well cook itself for all I care anymore.
3. The doo-hicky at the end of the throttle grip fell off at some point.
4. The rubber pad on the left passenger floorboard fell off. My daughter skinned her leg pretty good when she didn't notice this and slipped off the floorboard while getting on the bike.
5. A bolt in the rear trunk was missing from day one. It wasn't replaced when the initial service was done. Maybe they'll get around to it this time.
6. You have to slam the saddlebags shut or the display will tell you they're not shut. This is the case on every 2001+ Wing I've ever seen.
7. One of the recall services being performed on it right now has something to do with the brake system. Something about the sub-system that applies a little bit of front brake when you use the rear brake (it sucks that they felt that was a necessary feature) having the potential to leak and leave you with no brakes at all. Nice.
8. The other recall is for possibly faulty frame welds on 2003 and later models. Apparently mine has more than the possibility of frame problems. Kinda suspected something was up when the bike suddenly started handling like it had a hinge in the middle of it.
9. Occasionally when you put it in reverse and hit the starter, all that happens is a really nasty grinding noise. Usually if you take it out of reverse and put it back in, it starts working again.
Personally, I think that since the bike has only 3k miles on it yet has had all this trouble, they should simply buy it back from me for what I paid for it and use it for parts. Beats the hell out of getting it repaired then trading it in and some other poor sap being saddled with this POS.
I'll post here when/if they contact me. I'm sure what's going to happen is that they'll insist on getting the bike fixed in a month or so (I think it's been there two weeks already) and giving it back to me, and I'll just have to go trade it in somewhere and never buy another Honda product again.
And to think I opted out of the cooling system class action lawsuit because I thought it was unduly punishing a company with good products and doing nothing but enriching a law firm.
Matt, I certainly hope you're having better luck with yours. Isn't yours a 2004? The dealership told me the 2003 frame recall was an inspection and a repair if necessary but that the 2004 is a mandatory reweld.
BTW, they finally got their act together and backlit the handlebar controls on the 2005. Lotta fun fumbling around for all of those controls in the dark.
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