Extended Warranty

[ponch]

Has anyone bought the extended warranty? I just bought one from Freemont Motorsports through eBay. My warranty runs out next month and I figured for $355, how could I go wrong. Of course the wife will see it differently... I had it in for warranty repairs 6 months after I bought it to replace a coolant tube O-Ring. Lately I have been smelling a little antifreeze once in awhile. I figure it's cheap insurance.

[ells]

I'm not one for extended warranties but they do pay off for some. In the case those o-rings, you might note that they are routine maintenance items, which I suspect it would mean the you have to pay to changed every two years in order to have them covered by the warranty if they go out more often.

Same with the drive shaft, swing arm, steering stem and other things a lot of people might not pay to service quite so often if they aren't trying to keep the extended warranty valid. Then again maybe the warranty folks are so finicky about routine service, probably depends on the outfit.

Maybe others with more warranty experience will pipe in here.

[ponch]

THe one thing I know they do not cover are chains, in particular with the nomad, the cam chains. As far as the O-Ring goes, it's not part of the routine maintenance that I can find in the manual and they did cover it under warranty the fist time. It's an O-ring on the coolant tubes that come out of the top of each head. They are kind of a pain to get to without taking the tank off and in the case of one of them, the throttle body. I normally don't buy into extended warranties too, but the Nomad can be expensive to fix.

Originally Posted by Ells

I'm not one for extended warranties but they do pay off for some. In the case those o-rings, you might note that they are routine maintenance items, which I suspect it would mean the you have to pay to changed every two years in order to have them covered by the warranty if they go out more often.

Same with the drive shaft, swing arm, steering stem and other things a lot of people might not pay to service quite so often if they aren't trying to keep the extended warranty valid. Then again maybe the warranty folks are so finicky about routine service, probably depends on the outfit.

Maybe others with more warranty experience will pipe in here.

[borto1990]

I just bought my 08 new.. and damn skippy I'm gettin a warranty.. from the same place.. you never know what can happen six years from now... at that price.. if just one thing goes out that they fix, I'm pretty sure you'd recoup the expense.. I hope I never have to use it. but it's gonna be in the file cabinet just in case.

[caper]

Me ... a good product dosen't need an extended warranty.. so what I have bought I have NEVER gotten the ex warranty and it has not let me down yet . Far as I am concerned these guys just make alot of money off of extened warranties!!

[ponch]

It's an insurance policy. Just like anything else, if you do not use it, it seems like money wasted. For me, the price was a big factor. Normally, dealers around here charge double. I would have balked at that. It also can be a plus when if you sell the bike. I have been bitten by a warranty on a computer once. It would have paid for itself and then some had I gotten it, and it was a good product. Just the way it goes.

Originally Posted by caper

Me ... a good product dosen't need an extended warranty.. so what I have bought I have NEVER gotten the ex warranty and it has not let me down yet . Far as I am concerned these guys just make alot of money off of extened warranties!!

[jamiep24]

I'll definitely get the extended warranty. But the good thing is I have 2 years before I have to worry about it.. You can get an extra 4 years for $750. Not bad.

[caddman11]

I bought one off ebay when I got my bike a year ago. I think it's worth it just because I feel better with it. At $355, that ends up about $90 a year and gives me a total of 6 years. If I don't have to use it, great, if I do, it's there.

If I decide to sell the bike after 5 years which seems to be the norm with me, I can use it as a selling perk because it's transferable to the next buyer. I know if I was looking at two, 5 year old bikes, same condition and mileage, and they were about the same price, I'd take the one that gave me a year warranty, that would make it a no brainer.

[ells]

Regarding the radiator hose o-rings. The Kaw service manual has a periodic maintenance table on pages 2-3 through 2-5 where it states the the radiator hoses and o-rings need to be changed every three years or 24K mi. Specific instructions are on page 2-47. Now whether or not those things have to be done to keep the extended warranty valid is another issue.

[ponch]

I paid $355.

Originally Posted by jamiep24

I'll definitely get the extended warranty. But the good thing is I have 2 years before I have to worry about it.. You can get an extra 4 years for $750. Not bad.

[ponch]

I supposed then it depends on when they go? I guess they expected mine to last more than 6 months. Considering the labor involved, I would say this is a poor design and shouldn't be part of regular maintenance. 3 years, 24K miles? For once I'd like to see bikes require no more maintenance than cars.

Originally Posted by Ells

Regarding the radiator hose o-rings. The Kaw service manual has a periodic maintenance table on pages 2-3 through 2-5 where it states the the radiator hoses and o-rings need to be changed every three years or 24K mi. Specific instructions are on page 2-47. Now whether or not those things have to be done to keep the extended warranty valid is another issue.

[ells]

From what I understand, those o-rings are a flawed design, that is why they require periodic replacement but no one I've heard of has had a catastrophic failure with them, just slow leaks, hard to see but easy to smell and expensive to service or fix. Why or why didn't they just use a gasketed manifold like just about every other water cooled engine?

BTW, $355 does sound like a good price for the insurance for the things that it could cover.

Originally Posted by ponch

I supposed then it depends on when they go? I guess they expected mine to last more than 6 months. Considering the labor involved, I would say this is a poor design and shouldn't be part of regular maintenance. 3 years, 24K miles? For once I'd like to see bikes require no more maintenance than cars.

[dantama]

I've used warranty or extended warranty on my various Nomads for a starter, drive shaft boot, leaky cam plugs, engine pulled twice, full clutch replacement, and some various other things.

I can't imagine what the price on one of the engine pulls would cost out of my pocket.

The extended warranty is one of the reasons I buy a Nomad. I can handle the $11,000 up front price, but I hate a few hundred unexpected bills.

[Top Cat]

I got a question, I know this is probably common sense but in the pic below the numbers inbetween the red lines 1-6-12-18-24-etc mean km times 1000 right?
The other numbers are miles times 1000 right?
I know it's blurry but that's the best I could do with my $25 camera :-[

[ponch]

The top numbers are kilometers, the bottom are miles. 1km=.6 miles.

Originally Posted by Top Cat (TC)

I got a question, I know this is probably common sense but in the pic below the numbers inbetween the red lines 1-6-12-18-24-etc mean km times 1000 right?
The other numbers are miles times 1000 right?
I know it's blurry but that's the best I could do with my $25 camera :-[