Adventure Bike Rider

simply put....they dont want to sell bikes.
i phoned up North City Triumph earlier in the week to book a test ride on an 800XC with a view to perhaps purchasing a used one. they invited me for a ride but I would have to ride the non XC and they only had new ones. No problem i said and booked in.

phoned bulldog triumph on a used one. it had gone... so they tried to switch me to a new one. i said i wasnt against buying a new one so emailed the fella my spec and 3 days later havent heard a thing. it said the email had been delivered and read.

phoned hughenden m40, he had 2 used ones but i wanted panniers. he rushed me off the phone and said that he would call me if one came up. not sure why he cant sell me a set of panniers.

phoned north city triumph back and said id be interested in a new one. i told him my spec and he said he would get striaght back to me. that was 2 days ago....

ive been very polite, not even got into the PX details or figures yet

I phoned up triumph uk and was not so polite. i told them they have no chance of competing with other bike companies as they cant even get their domestic market cracked.
such a contrast to BMW who bend over backwards to sell you a bike. i felt stressed and like I was having to chase them to sell me a bike.
Needless to say, a very bad experience. I certainly wont be buying a triumph.

Just had a very similar experience except this was with a BMW dealer on a used F650GS. 2 weeks of unreturned calls etc. After a test ride where due to the shop closing we were not able to finalise prices and trade in I have been the one doing the chasing, and found out today he had sold it to someone else.

dubber68 wrote:


ive got no sympathy for the overall poor state of the bike industry. I was a car salesman for 4 years and would never have been allowed to behave like this.

dubber68 wrote:


what BMW dealer was it?

I bought a Tiger the BMW dealer was unbelieveable even though I had cash on hip must admit the guys I deal with are good lads cheers Spud

the funniest thing was, the guy at triumph uk said that he was surprised id had a bad experience with North city, they were one of the better ones. not sure what that says about the other 2

Well, I've been branded a moaner regarding Triumph so my opinion doesn't mean squat really but just look at the facts.
My Tiger is celebrating its 1st birthday in the bike shop, currently waiting for Triumph (Shirlaws) to fit it into their busy schedule to fit yet another gear indicator switch.

The dealers were the same with me, never return calls, had to chase to get a test ride, lack of interest, and don't get me started on their interest when it all started going wrong.
Triumph themselves were uninterested in my problems and replied to my letter with disdain and basically told me to bugger off, so I am now selling mine in disgust as it would be less hassle than taking it on a trailer to Hinkley and setting fire to it at the gates of their factory as a protest.

I'll either return to Honda or perhaps turn to the dark side! (BMW). The worst thing is,,,,I feckin love the Tiger 800XC, was in the bike shop today and after looking round all the bikes,around 80 of them, my Tiger was the best looking bike there. I'll miss the Tiger with its sweet triple and its slick gearbox but,,,, I'LL NOT MISS TRIUMPH.

This could all be fixed by Triumph assuring me a fix has been found and the electronics on my bike will not let me down,,, again. That and the service recall for my gear selector spring might be carried out at their expense instead of mine? LOL! Nae chance!

Perhaps I've jut been spoiled by Honda all these yrs, but when my 20yr old Africa twin is more reliable than a yr old Triumph???? Speaks volumes! Bring back Honda service, Charlie from Ecosse! LOL!

africajim wrote:


i said to triumph, if this is the start of our biking consumer relationship i hate to think how its going to go if I get a problem. in short i finished by telling them we're not going to have a relationship.

Hi Duncanovas, the annoying thing is the product itself is very well finished, puts a grin on my face every time I take the bike out but the aftersales? For instance, the first I knew of recovery was when the RAC sent me a letter saying it was ending this month! ????? Ending? I never knew I had recovery? Nobody told me!
There are happy customers out there, some Triumph franchise dealers are good, and I wish I was one of their customers! There are people out there with Tigers that love them to bits and have a good relationship with their dealers. Lucky them, if I had that kind of back up I'd stick with Triumph, I love the bike, but lack of interest from the company and its dealers has tainted my experience and after warranty runs out WTF do you do with it when it breaks down? Mine does, every few months! They won't sell you the parts to fix it yourself o you're screwed by the dealers!
Now, where's that number for Honda Ecosse???? LOL!

P.S.
The plus side is there's more and more having gear indicator problems so it's not just me! LOL!

I can't understand why Triumph customer service/relations are so bad?
May be they just think the bikes sell themselves, so why bother keeping customers happy.
May be they all need to atend a customer facing skills course. My wife could help them out here. Courses start at £200 a sound investment for years to come.

I had a great customer experience with Colchester Kawasaki, would certainly go back. They make you feel welcome, even if just having a nose-around.

I went over to BMW, didn't even ackknowledge I was there. Lost interest after 20 minutes.
Triumph weren't a lot better.

aftersales?? i cant even get through presales!

dancanovas wrote:


bike dealers have got A LOT to learn from car dealerships imo. many times ive been ignored and left standing there like a knob when its so obvious you want to talk to a salesman you couldnt be plainer if you went in with a megaphone. like you say some bend over backwards for you and they are the ones that (amazingly!) you go back to over and over. its not rocket science but its beyond some of them, like you are a nuisance coming into their nice clean showroom.
an example was rob willsher suzuki in bursledon, prime ignorers if ever there was such a word, since being taken over by crescent and having a big showroom built i was in there with a friend to look at bikes for her and it took 5 seconds for a guy to come over to see if we wanted help. then spent the next hour moving bikes around for her to try out.

the local triumph in fareham has never been much good either

All I can say is the service both myself and Mrs MC have recived from Pure Triumph in Woburn is nothing less than exemplery.

This is one of the reasons we both switched from BMW to Triumph, she an F800R to a Street Triple and me an F800GS to a Tiger 1050.

I also have nothing but praise for the newly opened Hertfordshire Triumph (aka Palmers Motorcycles) in Hemel Hempstead. I popped in the other weekend just because I was out for a ride in the area and it had just started to rain

Imagine my surprise when they offered me a test ride on an Explorer despite not having my licence on me, just on the basis I leave the keys to my Tiger with them (seemed like a good swap to me ) Oh and it was still peeing down outside. I've known BMW dealers who will only let you take out a demo if it's dry.

Although I will say the dealer I bought my last two Beemers from (SBW Motorrad in Hertford) was happy for me to take both 1200 and 800 GS's green laning whilst on a demo ride

I think that the service is often only as good as the individual salesperson.

And if you really want bad service you should try Lancaster Land Rover in Welwyn Garden City... truly apalling!

kawasakier6f wrote:



Like Mad Cows experience, mine has been the same. My local Triumph dealer is excellent in every way, just can't fault them.

And if you read elsewhere on the forum, Jim's "issues" with triumph are not as black and white as he keeps stating.

rainbow at Rotherham. I stress however that this is only my experience and I have no other reports to base it on.