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Montana travelers beware

Taking someone's word for something that went on is hear-say. The OP hasn't been back to the thread in 4 days. Passing judgment on what may or may not have gone on without all the information and participation of both parties is unfair.

I suspect that the OP is pissed more at himself for not doing due diligence and is trying to punish a dealer to alleviate his anger. It's too bad the other side of the story can't be heard so a fair opinion can really be reached before the lynch mob "rides" on the dealership.

OM

It is very likely that the original poster has not been back due to the many critical responses to his situation. I’ve been caught once on a trip in a similar tire situation and although I never posted, I understand his frustration and felt much the same as he did.

I thought there would be more understanding similar to Rainman’s.
 
It is very likely that the original poster has not been back due to the many critical responses to his situation. I’ve been caught once on a trip in a similar tire situation and although I never posted, I understand his frustration and felt much the same as he did.

I thought there would be more understanding similar to Rainman’s.

There is plenty of understanding. The OP relayed a story about an experience at a particular dealership that now lives on the internet and as many suggested, it could have been avoided with better planning.
Again, it is only one side of the story. The dealership in question has had no voice in this therefore it is "pile-on" hearsay which is akin to anecdotal gossip.
On of these days a dealership Will catch wind of a bunch of guys with no real knowledge pretending they are in complete knowledge of the facts and take action.
Seems like even in a Witch Hunt, not everybody was a Witch.

OM
 
Just another aspect of owning a BMW with it’s minimal dealership support throughout many of our regions. Nothing really surprising here.
 
OM - you are on your own witch hunt and as a mod it is just as unacceptable as what you are railing against IMHO.
 
OM - you are on your own witch hunt and as a mod it is just as unacceptable as what you are railing against IMHO.

Railing against fairness and the truth?
The entire justice system, as wobbly as it currently operates, is about 2 parties having a disagreement and working it out. So far we have only heard from 1 party in this.
Hopefully, when someone brings this to this particular dealership’s attention, they will just ignore it…….or prove the OP’s point.
Maybe you can call the dealership and get to the bottom of this?
And, BTW, being a moderator doesn’t preclude me from looking for the fairness and the truth.

OM
 
Give and Take

I see both pro dealer and negative dealer posts here. I see posts ripping the original poster as well as the dealer. Funny but to me it looks like back and forth. I have seen no abusive language, or threats nothing but a difference of opinion to draw the ire of one moderator. Am I missing something?

How many of you members want this forum to become only a cheerleading base for BMW? How many want it to be a place to write about the positive of BMW as well as the negative? You can't do both. St.
 
I have been to this dealership under its previous ownership when it was a small BMW dealership. I always got good service and fair prices. I understand that it is now a large multi-brand shop where BMW is likely a small part of the overall operation. I find it sad that this is happening to so many BMW shops: Austin, TX and Iowa City, IA come to mind too.

I have also bought tires while on the road. Omak, WA; Calgary, Alberta; Durango, CO; Grand Junction, CO; Clarkston, WA; Essex Junction, VT; and at more than one BMW MOA rally. All were on trips. A few were due to punctures. Some seemed really expensive. Some seemed very reasonable. I usually took wheels off the bike in the parking lot and carried the wheels in.

In May I had tires mounted on carry-in wheels - $45 a tire for mounting. An extra half hour or so of shop rate to remove and replace the wheels from the bike does not seem absurd. But, the retail price of the tires does seem high but I have no idea what MSRP really is.
 
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If he'd gotten a quote for the work beforehand, it wouldn't have changed what funds were going to fly from his wallet one damned bit. It may have made the invoice total less shocking, but the invoice would still need to be paid.

I ride Montana, SD and Wyoming and Utah nearly every summer. The dealers are few and far between unlike here at home where there's 3 dealers within 40-50 miles of me, and several more to the north and one or two to the south toward the border.

1 in Utah
0 in Wy.
2 in SD
1 in Montana
5 in Az.

If you're in western wyoming, you're a long way from a bmw dealer. It's always a concern when traveling through large sq mile states with nary a dealer within hundreds of miles. Such is the nature of owning a bmw in lieu of a say, a Honda.

Honda dealers number

14 in Utah
9 in Wy.
13 in SD
12 in Montana
11 here in my own state of Az.

I ride a few beemers presently, by choice. Of course, the lack of sufficient dealers in many of the states is a concern should one be traveling far from home and need mechanical work performed. I don't leave on these summer excursions before MY own mechanic services the bike. Every year, I start on new tires, fresh fluids and filters and this year I had a new batt installed and the fork oil changed along with the 36K service.

Service cost me 1600.00 this season. I asked the mechanic to shim the valve to perfect this time around, because he's not going to get back into those cases again as long as I own the bike [ unless something is amiss ]. From everything I've gathered, once my motor hits 35-40K, the valves are rarely found of spec on these bikes. Fluids and filters from here on out.
 
You’re assuming he didn’t have a choice. We really don’t know if he did or not.
We don’t know if he left on his trip with marginal tires.

Another consideration…. One of those 12 Honda dealers may have had tires too.
 
Another consideration…. One of those 12 Honda dealers may have had tires too.

Often other brand shops can't balance BMW bolt-on rear wheels. Thus when traveling I now carry the bolt-on balancing hub that fits our K75s, R1100RS and (now sold) R1150R.
 
Often other brand shops can't balance BMW bolt-on rear wheels. Thus when traveling I now carry the bolt-on balancing hub that fits our K75s, R1100RS and (now sold) R1150R.

An excellent idea. Could you direct me to a bolt on balancing hub for 2011 RT and an 07 GT? I'd be very interested in carrying one when in the states I travel that are sparsely populated by bmw dealers.
 
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