Best SoCal KTM Dealership Service Department?

fuck california.



im sorry its shitty so far, but im sure it will get better. california does have some perks, and eventually you will find them.


what area are you in?

if you can, just give 3bros a call. there shop is nice and the guys there seem cool and knowledgeable enough. i havent heard any bad stories, so if it were me.. id give them a shot.

Blais Racing Services, Apple Valley Ca.

Chris Blais, owner and master KTM tech. Great guy, perfectionist. My son rides for his race team.

What exactly are they????







Seriously, OP and pulling a trailer in CA...yes the speed limit is 55 and that means semi's too. You didn't see them traveling at 55mph in the right lane? No?

You just happened by a dick-CHP that probly needed to fulfill his ticket quota. If he was in a bad mood he's probly one of the unhappy ones. I've been let off on a 37 over, speeding, on a bike, and he was as friendly as can be. I've been ticketed pulling a trailer as well, you have to know where they patrol for it. Same deal, going about 65 and the semi's were zooming by at 75. WTF :huh I happened to have a patio fireplace thingy in the trailer and the chippy wanted to know what it was. Maybe he thought it was a meth cooker. LOL.

California sucks. Sure, there's some scenery, but there are too many people and most of them are unhappy. The secret is to just get away from the LA Basin.

Good luck with your KTM, hope it works out for you. The rest of us are just glad we didn't buy one of those...
J/K

I know they're KTM experts but my yamaha friends and I brought 3 WR's in at the same time for different issues. They were fast, friendly and got the jobs done at a fair price. There are many closer places but I will return to ILM.

Steve

Lior's Motoride http://liorsmotoride.com/ in Corona
I have owned several bikes in the last 7 years 950 ADV, 950 Super, 690 (which I bought from Lior) KTM 530 and now the 1190R. Lior has worked on all of them for me and has done a superb job every time. Lior is very passionate about what he does and he loves working and riding these machines. I would not hesitate for a min to have him work on my toys! <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Can any of you guys clarify whether or not these shops can do factory warranty work?

Not to be anti-CA but it is a jolt especially after spending a few weeks in CO, UT, ID, WY, and MT... like going from one extreme to the other, culturally at least.

I am in Highland Park 90042... The three dealers that show up as street KTM on the dealer search closest are Berts Mega Mall, Del Amo, and Orange Co. I see a couple of nays for Del Amo, and it may not be accurate but my intuition says it is unlikely to find good KTM specific service from a place that sells jet skis and everything else based on past experience with these type of dealerships. KTM USA customer service has not picked up after repeated calls and are now closed for the day. Will give 3Bro a call.

Good point, and I agree.
My experiences with Malcolm Smith's service department were both very disappointing. I gave them more than one chance, too. To be honest they were about 5 years ago now, so take my experience with a grain of salt.

Lior is a conscientious, professional mechanic and I have used him the last couple of times my Super Enduro needed service. I recommend him without hesitation.

www.liorsmotoride.com

And can we leave the politics out of this thread please? Wrong place for it.

Yeah he was (is?) a miserable human being, and unfortunately he is also a dog of the state that decided to bite me and it is going to cost a lot for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. To contrast that, we got pulled over in ID for doing 88mph on a two lane road and were let off with a warning. 96mph indicated, actual speed 88mph (my GPS correlated with his radar ) on two lane road gets you a warning in ID. In CA doing 62mph indicated (59mph actual on GPS) while towing a trailer on a major highway with 80mph traffic gets you basically a reckless driving charge for excessive speed.

Even with the trouble this is still the best motorcycle I have ever ridden and don't regret the purchase at all. You take the bad with the good, and there is a LOT of good with the 1190R.

yeah. not to put too fine a point on it, but the indie mechanics and such are not really what I am looking for... if I am stuck with the repair bill, I will probably do the engine teardown and rebuild myself. That way I know who to blame next time.

Bike is 3 months old so hoping (if) there are issues it will be covered under warranty, especially since I already addressed the major leak point (gaps between top and bottom of airbox) preemptively and significant amounts of dirt still entered airbox.

1224r can tell you that TO does warranty work, he even left it on the trail for a week after they worked on it....

Wilmar,

Del amo does have(not sure if hes still there) a great ktm and ducati tech on hand. his name is fernando, i believe. Him and i are friendly and have a lot of mutual friends, so i will vouch for him. the problem is EVERYBODY wants him to work on their bikes. so its either impossible to get a slot for your bike or they will have your bike sitting there for a month or more. i wont bad mouth anybody else that works there, because many of them know me... but i wont ever take my bike there. if you can get fernando to do the wprk then id go there. but it is risky.

Zracing/OC ktm has done a lot of warranty work for both my 500 and rc8r. Ive had some good experiences there, but also some mixed results, honestly. Marc knows what hes doing though and works directly with people in ohio.

3bros owner came to ride with my friend donkey a few months back, and i was told they run a stand up business. i also know from other mechanics that the wrenches at 3bros have skillz. ive only ever had a few conversations with them about the rc8's and they seem to be on par about the motor. As you know, the rc8 and adv share the same motor, so that is a plus. give them a call and see what you think.

i cant speak for the san diego area dealers. but i know two good friends that regret dealing with berts mega mall. my friends say they are no better than del amo.

I would take it to 3-Bros in Costa Mesa.

Lior and Inside Line are both great resources for service work but neither can provide warranty coverage.

I drive by Orange County KTM everyday on the way to work. They seem to stay pretty busy.

I would assume All-American can since they sell brand-new KTMs. A phone call will remove any doubt.

Well since Bert's was closest to me I took it there today. The SA was knowledgable and took the time to listen to me explain background and issue in detail. I documented my issue in the '2014 Airbox' thread in Orange Crush, and will send him the link so hopefully I am covered. For now all I asked to be done is leak down test. I delivered bike fully torn down so there should be no issues on the service side that can happen if the tech is sloppy or incompetent (missing or stripped fasteners, poorly reassembled, etc). Not that the techs there are(I have no idea) but just in case.

If leakdown test comes back showing the motor is still good to go, I will happily pay the bill, put that box back together with RTV, and ride it. If not I guess we will see how to proceed from there based on Bert's & KTM USA's stance regarding warranty coverage.

Thanks for all the input all.

You tear down your bike take it to the Mall to have them do a compression test ?

i always dismantle my rc8r before it goes in for warranty work. not to make it easier for them, but because its one less thing for them to fuck up.

I'm still looking for a good place to get parts on a same day basis, service I do myself. Who I do have experience with...

Bought my KTM at 3 Bros, and I think I got a good price. Much better than anywhere else I could find that had a 500 EXC available. They're set up kinda like a dive bar for KTM's. One big room and no delineation between parts, sales, and service. Like hanging out in your buddies garage. Personal somehow. Odd setup but it all kinda klicked in a good way. But they're a long ways from home for me.

I stopped into Z Racing, or OC KTM I think they're now called. Just to pick up some oil and such. Seemed like a pretty young group, but knowledgeable. Still a long way from home in 57 fwy traffic.

Malcolm Smiths is too far for me, but I used to be closer and I was always impressed by them. Watched On Any Sunday as a kid in the theater in 1970 something, and Malcolm Smith left a lasting impression on me. But now I just hate Riverside heat and traffic. Heat I can deal with. Traffic I can deal with. But the 91 on a summer afternoon is about as close to hell as it gets.

Berts is the closest to me, and I used to be near Chapparel. GREAT SELECTION of riding gear and farkles, but typically priced ABOVE RETAIL. I wouldn't buy a bike there due to a past bad experience. But if I gotta have an oil filter today, Berts is where I go and I pay the high price. If the kid behind the counter can figure out how to use the parts look up feature on his computer.