Vaquero dead - no electrical?

[haygrrr]

took 120 mile ride (mostly Turnpike at 75 mph) and when I returned home, left bike in street while I opened the garage and hasn't started since. Showed "Low Voltage" on dash but haven't seen anything since. Pulled battery and was fine but kept it on low charge for kicks but reinstalled and nothing.

What is going on???? No giving me confidence for the long rides.

Only owned 3 months and 1300 miles so at dealer but this shouldn't be happening!

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Check fuses. Connections could be loose. Make sure everything is tight.

[Loafer]

If it's at the dealer, let them sweat over it. Keep all your paper
work for future reference.

[haygrrr]

Dealer first told me it was the battery. Now they are telling me the speedometer is the issue. Is that even possible? How much draw could that be? They are now in contact with Kawasaki out in California which is good.

[redjay]

I am guessing a computer code is telling them the speedo is the issue ?

[haygrrr]

Kawasaki agreed speedo ($1,000!) is bad and they are shipping to the dealer. new battery now too. we'll see what happens...

[haygrrr]

Speedo is not the problem as the draw is just as bad. Now they're pulling my wiring and checking everything out. Wish I didn't trade the yamaha in. Their killing my fall riding here...

[smokey]

wouldn't be surprised if you have a faulty alternator or rectifier, electrical are the hardest to diagnose, at least it is still under warranty and Kawasaki's dime.

[Loafer]

Ask for a demo bike.

[haygrrr]

So they are 1/2 way through the Vaquero wiring and now feel the radio is the issue. Another customer had his in the shop and they put his radio in my bike and draw was gone. I should have asked for a loaner bike. Does anyone do that? Bike has been out of commission since Sept 22nd. Warranty or not this sucks....

[haygrrr]

Vaquero has been in shop over a month for this electrical issue. Supposedly the dealership ordered the new $1,500 radio yesterday that will solve the problem. Although I heard that back on 10/24 too....

What are my options here? How do I get kawasaki involved? Should I trailer it to a different dealer???? Complete nightmare...

[Jared]

Wow, what a mess! With 3 month old bike spending over a month at the dealership for repairs, I'd start looking into lemon laws in your state.

[Jared]

Vaquero has been in shop over a month for this electrical issue. Supposedly the dealership ordered the new $1,500 radio yesterday that will solve the problem. Although I heard that back on 10/24 too....

What are my options here? How do I get kawasaki involved? Should I trailer it to a different dealer???? Complete nightmare...


Here's the Massachusetts Lemon Laws.
http://www.dmv.org/ma-massachusetts/automotive-law/lemon-law.php

Basically, the new car Lemon Law is there to protect the consumer who buys a new or used car and finds that it has problems that seriously impair the use of the vehicle and cannot be resolved after a number of attempts to fix it.

Any new car, motorcycle, van or truck bought in Massachusetts from a new-car dealer is covered for one year or 15,000 miles of use, whichever comes first. The law also covers vehicles that are resold during the one year or 15,000-mile term of protection.

If your car meets these qualifications, you can either ask for a replacement or refund and the dealer is legally required to give it to you.

There's a specific process that anyone considering using the Massachusetts Lemon Law must follow:

You need to bring the car in for repair of the same problem at least three times or for a total of 15 business days.
You need to officially notify the manufacturer of one final attempt to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer has seven days to comply.
If the manufacturer tries to repair it and fails, you have the right to ask for a refund or replacement. If the manufacturer does not respond to your final request, you need to ask for a mediation or arbitration hearing.

[BudMan]

Can't they take a radio out of a bike on the floor?

[jestephens]

My dad had some issues with his '08 Nomad when he bought it, it ended up in the shop for 3 months.

The dealer gave him a discount on some accessories, and Kawasaki gave him some free accessories and free scheduled maintenance for a long time (however, I don't recall how long). - They didn't just OFFER these things though, you have to demand it.

[haygrrr]

Budman, they determined the radio was the problem after pulling radio out of another customers bike and putting it in mine. Kind of risky move but whatever. They told me they won't stock vaqueros anymore as there is no market here for them so they don't have one to spare.

Utah, thanks for the lemon law links. I'll have to print this all out and get something out to Kawasaki Monday. Probably try calling Kawasaki too. Don't know how they would replace a 2011 but let's see if it even gets to that point.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let you all know how it goes.

[billmac]

Thousand dollar speedometer, Fifteen hundred dollar radio, 5 weeks in the shop, using customer's bikes for test parts, sounds crazy to me. Like you, I'd worry my bike is being used for test parts.

I suffered through something similar with my new RV a few years back. I ended up going back to the same dealer over and over. Wish now I would have found a different dealer for my rv.

[haygrrr]

I;ve got a great mechanic I use when there is NO warranty. Until then I suffer...

Kawasaki had a response from dealer in less than 5 minutes and said the parts are on order and everything will be resolved. They offered to extend my warranty for the time it;s been in the shop. I told them lets see if its really fixed and go from there.

More importantly, I got a street address to send the my Lemon Law letter.

[haygrrr]

Got the bike back today!!!!!! Seems to work. Will do a couple hundred miles Sunday and see how it goes....

[Jared]

Got the bike back today!!!!!! Seems to work. Will do a couple hundred miles Sunday and see how it goes....

How was the ride yesterday? Are all the problems resolved?

[cnc]

Hope they Ok'd it with the other customer first, I would be real pissed if they started borrowing parts off my bike to try and diagnose problems on someone Else's bike.

[haygrrr]

Only got 170 miles in but seems to be fine. Ran iPod and GPS entire time just for extra draw and still started after 5-6 stops. Guess it really was the radio. Kawasaki NA was very responsive even after they received Lemon Law certified mail from me. That should help if I run into similiar issues in the spring. So at the dealers 42 days and didn't run for 49 so Kawasaki gave me an additional year of extended warranty which I thought was fair. Drove to storage for the winter the other night - only 37 degrees and has been in 20's the last few mornings. I'll pull it out in the spring and see how it goes. Thanks everyone for the input and advice along the way here!

[haygrrr]

Dealer wired my GPS for me no charge as well sincethey had it apart but ran it straight to battery rather than an available circuit! Guess it doesn't matter since I'd never leave it on the bike but sort of half assed if you ask me.... Again a good CYA thing though since if I had wired it as I planned to, electrical issues would have been blamed on me.

It was grreat to get out and ride!!!!

[crazygene49]

Glad to hear it's working out for you. Sounds like Kawasaki and the dealer tried to make it right and keep your business. Hopefully next year will be better for you.