Garage left my bike in dangerous condition

Just like to share a story with my fellow bikers and warn them from going to a garage that I used who left my bike in a potentially lethal condition.

I took my bike to a garage in Harrogate (North Yorkshire) called Staiano Motor Cycles Ltd for a full service on Wed 9th May 2007.

After about three miles or so of slow moving traffic after getting my bike back I was exiting a roundabout and opened the bike up to about 50-60mph going round a left bend, when to my horror the back wheel slid out to the right, then to the left like a fishtail effect.

As you can imagine my arse was nipping to say the least! By sheer luck I managed to stay upright on my beloved Suzuki and get it under control to make a safe stop.

How I didn’t come off I will never know. When I looked over the bike I couldn’t believe what I saw. Oil was pouring out from the engine and the wind had taken it on to my back wheel, causing it to skid out of control.

I rang the garage straight away and a mechanic came out and rode my bike back. The owner of the shop Mike didn’t even seem sorry, he just carried on talking with somebody and then casually came over to me and said “come on then let’s go see what the problem is”.

If it had been me I would have been a little more concerned and sorry to say the least.

After some arguing and talking he said he’d sort out some compensation, but he never once said sorry which would have made a big difference.

After about 30 mins I sat down with Mike again and he offered me £40 and a free M.O.T next year – like I’m going to go there for any more work on my bike again! At the end he eventually said he was sorry, about time!

The whole experience has left me shaken and I have lost a lot of confidence on the bike. I wouldn’t feel so angry about the whole thing if the garage had shown a bit more sympathy.

The reason the oil had been leaking was because the clever mechanic hadn’t sealed the cam correctly and left a kink in the rubber seal which meant oil could escape.

Anyhow, as you can guess, based on my epxerience I’d advise anyone to avoid this garage!