so, I take my GS to the shop for service, okay. Well I had spent some time doing some trail riding and it was looking muddy. One of the mechanics looks at my bike and refuses to touch it. He said "Would you go to the doctor with a dirty asshole?". Aren't they supposed to wash it and what does my ass have to do with it, they aren't doctors just dirty grease monkeys anyway.
i got bitched out for bringing in a dirty bike once. it was all plastered with bugs and small animals. the mechanic actually told me that sometimes ants set up shop in bikes covered with ant food. this leads to obvious problems. i said, i don't care. if those fuckers can hold on at 100 mph, they deserve a ride. they did do the service i requested.
If I owned the shop, it would go something like this...... pleasantries exchanged... 1st Option: 'Sir, we can wash/clean the machine for you?, that will be $xx additional to the service cost'. IF customer declines, THEN.... 2nd Option: IF the service time takes longer.....than standard time, due to its condition, you just add the extra time to the service bill. DO NOT turn the customer away, he/she is still a job for the shop, regardless of how clean/dirty the machine is.
I always seem to ride mine in on a tuesday, the service Mgr says "it will be done on thursday" , then I pick up my cycle on a friday when the shop is busy and just finishing up with it, I tell them to skip the "wash it off" part. Maybe your Tech didn't want to wash it off first, get it all oily when working on it, and then wash it off all over again? I say customer is 1st. SGT
You're entrusting this "dirty grease monkey" with your ride. Do them a favor and drop .50 at the local car wash before you bring your bike in for service. And no, for most shops they aren't supposed to wash it for you. Yes, the customer is #1 but that doesn't give you the right to be rude.
about the only time i clean it up a bit is for service,so the can see the drips. they finally quit trying to seal a small leak in the head because it was obvius that i was not to concerned with how it looks. i never bother to clean the wheels.they clean a spot to put the lead. i ride five hours to make first service call,they never implied i should stop at a car wash. i agree with the above too
I went to the doctor with a dirty asshole and he started hitting on the nurse while I was having my exam
Working on a filthy dirt-encrusted bike is a bitch, particularly if you're opening up something that exposes the internal workings to contamination from grit or debris. Sometimes it cant be avoided, like when you're on a roadtrip and have to stop for service. When I worked in the bicycle business, (as the manager of a small independent, high-end shop) I offered the customer the option of washing their bike for them. If they had purchased the bike from us then the wash was free , otherwise it was $5. At the time that was enough to cover the cost of the bike washer/grunt/kids wages. I've seen some really really filthy bikes come into dealerships and independent shops. It's more likely to impact the smaller shops more because they usually don't have staff, facilities or time to do things like wash your bike for you. And the filthier bikes generally aren't the GSs. They are the older airheads that have been left outside, ridden hard and not maintained too well.(or at all). FYI, some of that well aged, caked-on grim is a bitch to remove. Do your mechanic a favor. At least ask the shop where the nearest self serve car wash is before you drop your bike off, ride you and filthy ass & bike there and carefully clean off the bits that you're going to have worked on. You'll make friends and not have to feel like a jerk. Cheers, Jorge