Back From A 10 Day Tour Of France, Germany & Austria

Just back from a 10 day tour. All went well for the first week, and then..........disaster!



This is my ST3 on the back of A German recovery truck.......

 

Yes, back now (via rental car provided by my insurer) but the bike's still in Germany. We think it was an electrical fault that affected the ECU and stopped the engine. They thought it may have been my Power Commander but as I type this they are still running diagnostics on it.

Was in the outside lane of the Autobahn doing a steady ton when it just lost all power. Similar to running out of petrol but more abrupt.

Luckily got it over three lanes onto the hard shoulder but was hairy for a few moments. Shame really as she ran really well until then. Just got to wait 10 to 14 days to get her back home.



A nice pic at Dover prior to the off. Oh and Salzburg & Vienna were lovely!

 

Yep, you could say that. Fortunately we were heading home at the time, although we still had three overnight stops and I would have much preferred riding than driving an Opel Astra Petrol Automatic. Still, could have been worse. Just like to say thanks to the German 748 rider who having saw the bike came off at the next junction and then back to see if we were ok. Lovely chap with a nice tache and Daytona boots which I commented on as they were the same as mine. If it was you I really appreciated you stopping.

 

I'm not surprised! To be fair I've had the ST3 for 11 years from new, and this is the first issue I've had (well I did loose a fairing fastener in Tuscany once) that has meant I've not been able to complete my trip.

 

Just a quick update. The bike has been fixed at the garage in Germany and is now being shipped back to me. It's due to arrive back next Friday. Apparently it was an electrical fault (more than that I don't know) but I'm going to get it checked over by Louigi Moto just to be sure that whatever was done, was done correctly.

The seat is a Corbin one which I purchased on line from the USA.

 

Yes, in Bristol. Rich did my full service, MOT and fitted new tyres prior to my trip. He's always looked after all my Duke's.

 

Just a quick update. We had a right nightmare with the insurers we used to cover the breakdown (RAC) after 6 weeks of arguments, hassle and stress we've finally had confirmation that the bike is being shipped back to me now. Hopefully I'll see her again in 10 to 14 days.

 

Blimey is an understatement Dave. the fault lies with the garage it was taken too. After having the bike for 3 hours they couldn't diagnose the fault, so the RAC arranged a hire car to get us back to the UK with the proviso the garage didn't do any more work on the bike. I told them to simply put the bike back together and paid them 80 euros for the work they had done, but apparently they ignored this and 3 days later it was fixed. The RAC said they wouldn't bring the bike back as it was now fixed and I could go back to Germany to collect it..I was now now in work so this wasn't possible. 6 weeks later and after numerous calls and e mails plus a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman they have agreed to ship it back if I agreed to pay 50% of the repair costs (£150) which I did yesterday. The garage also had the cheek to add £300 to the bill in storage costs!

 

Quick update, the bike has now arrived home almost 9 weeks after the initial breakdown. The bike is covered in dust and has a nasty scratch on one of the mirror casings that wasn't there before :-(

A thoroughly awful service from RAC. If you have breakdown cover with them I'd seriously consider switching to another provider based on my experience.

 

Last update! Since the bike was returned to me in July it has failed to start, despite being told the garage in Germany had fixed the fault. I initially thought it was a flat battery given it had been standing for 2 months. Anyway, a few days on the Optimate and despite a fully charged battery she still wouldn't fire up. At that point I was feeling quite down about the whole thing, so basically put a cover over the bike and left her in the garage, until I was ready to tackle the problem. Fast forward to last week and Rich at Louigi Moto collected her to take back to his workshop. He called on Monday to say the fault had been fixed and brought the old girl back home last night.

The initial problem which caused the breakdown back in May was the Power Commander failing. I'd had it for 10 years, but apparently they can fail at anytime. Rich doesn't recommend them anymore by the way. So he removed it and installed a new engine map specifically for my bike. I'm off out this afternoon to see how she runs.

The garage in Germany, who apparently had repaired the bike clearly hadn't. Rich noticed their crap workmanship all over the place as he'd serviced it before we left for our trip so new that the tank had been removed and then refitted with the wrong type of clips. He also said they'd replaced the fuel hose using the wrong kind of pipe, which also had 2 splits in it and secured with jubilee clips rather than correct fasteners. He advised me that no way had the bike been repaired..in fact in his opinion it wouldn't ever run in the condition it was in. I had to pay over 300 euros to the garage for their bodging, and have now gone back to RAC asking for a refund.