Aprilia

[moonym20]

Hello again

just a minor rant about the aforementioned Bike manufacturer

unfortunately for the little SR50 DITCH that we have owned for 6 years it has gone and eaten its air injector seals again, not a problem, however getting the O-Rings could prove more of a saga.

my rant may be premature as i am only entering week 1 for my order of 2 O-rings, however my last order for a tiny air compressor took over a Month.

so it leads me to ask....

How is it that Aprilia actually get away with making its customers wait an utterly appalling time for their silly parts??
I have owned Honda's and Yamaha's and needed to order various parts and the longest i have had to wait was two weeks, but Aprilia just take the cake for parts. even two dealers i talk to on a regular basis just burst into laughter when you bring up the subject 'so if the part(s) didn't come with this order, when are they likely to arrive?'

I know they have recently been bought out and 'everything is improving' but i have had that SR50 for 6 years and i cringe everytime i have had to order a part from them some taking several months to arrive. Frankly my experience with the SR50 has put me off ever buying Aprilia, even though they make nice looking machines most of which are well built and put together their after care is simply appalling.
I also feel sorry for the poor sods who take your money and order the parts, loads of the poor guys get flack when parts don't show have have lead times quoted in weeks rather than days.

- Rant Over - feel better now
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[crazymotorbik...]

Hey,

My brother owns a 50cc Derbi Senda. It took 6 months to get a new kick start spring, a 60p part.

Takes me about 3 working days to get bits for any of my Kawasakis.

Cheers,
Shaun.

[Kickstart]

Hi

To be honest, part of it is down to what the dealers are expected to carry. A few years back in Italy Charlotte bought a bike. The dealer (small one, nothing major) had spare bodywork stacked up on the shelves. Basically they kept a hell of a lot of stuff in stock so they only needed to go to the maker to restock their supplies or for really unusual things.

All the best

Keith
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[moonym20]

spoke to the dealership earlier on and there is still no sign of these O-Rings and no clue at all when they will arrive 'they will arrive when they do, we can't say when that may be'

I do know that some poor sod (in Switzerland??) now sits at a phone all day long and gets nothing but angry calls from folks who have long over due parts, aparently you have to make waves before some itillian bloke pulls the thumb out his arse and picks your order... last time when week three arrived i sent them an e-mail stating my concerns and fustraction and as if my magic the part appered two days later next day delivery with the dealer....

one thing is for sure, my experiance with them on a low end machine has totally put me off using them in the near future, and even further more from anything that has an ECU calling the shots
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[Aikman666]

Yep Aprillia are no doubt the worst supplier of parts. I spent over 3 MONTHS waiting for a speedo drive for the aprilia RX50. They had no idea if or when it was coming. At first i was told it was coming in the next few days, eventually they just told me to check in every few days which turned into weeks, and months, the guys knew my face and what i was looking for every time i walked in Though ive got no gripes with the dealer it wasnt thier fault, however i think aprillia really need to get thier shit together, the buyover by piaggo was AGES ago now, and they used the same 'moving warehouse' excuse with me. Honestly though, how long does it take to move a few feckin boxes?!

And yes its also put me off buying another aprillia, ive went with Honda for my next bike and even though its now 16 years old, i bet i can get parts easier for that than my 05 plate aprillia! Oh yeah i wouldent bother sending any emails to thier customer service either, ive sent 3 in the past and never had a single reply.
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[Ariel Badger]

Draganfly motorcycles in Surrey generaly supply me with parts for my pre-war Ariels in two or three days. They do not charge pre-war prices though.
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[TheDonUK]

You dont buy an aprilla and expect the availability of parts a honda or suzuki has. Or at least i wouldent...

[moonym20]

unfortunatly it is just the industry standard set by the other competitors, those of us lucky enough to own other brands of bikes aren't usually lumbered with a several month wait.
according to the dealer when Aprilia was bought out there was bitterness amongst the ranks. apparently all the parts were simply chucked into a box which was chucked into a crate which was in turn shoved into a container add to this the fact that their entire ordering and parts system is being overhauled everything is getting a new reference number, so some parts are floating around with no ident on them and they won't be uncovered untill some one can be arsed to open all the boxes and see what goodies lay in wait to be stock checked

its the same opinion from most i talk to when Aprilia's name come into it. 'they build sexy bikes but they are useless with parts when you need them'
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A scientist crossed a skunk with an owl. He's got a bird that smells but doesn't give a hoot

[Ariel Badger]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Aprilia used to be fine for parts. Certainly no problems when I first bought one in 1989.

Also had no problems with my old local dealer who got bits well within a week directly from the spares depot (and that was for suspension bushes for a 15 year old bike).

Have a bit of a suspicion that some of the dealers just order through one of the larger ones, who then take their time.

All the best

Keith
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[TheDonUK]

[budlight]

aprilia is a joke stay with the big 4 jap

[irving]

>>

[feef]

unless the seals are unusual shapes, specific to a job, then it's quite likely you'll be able to get something identical from an o-ring supplier..

same as wheel bearings.. if you know the sizes, you don't need to buy 'bike' parts.

a
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[irving]

>>

[moonym20]

I will bear that in mind,
the Lower O-Ring has since arrived but the special Tefflon O-Ring (which represents a collar better) is still MIA.

The dealership is a large one and they order their bits from Aprilia direct, the new online system they have esablished is handy but it still is not yet up to speed even they are still waiting for a shed load of parts to arrive from them. Their (aprilia) customer help seems to be slightly innefective, I have quoted the part numbers and order number however they insist on having the VIN number and Reg Number as well??

It isn't going to help their customer base as i don't have any intention of getting another Aprilia simply for their after sales support
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[5v3d3b0]

My friend has been waiting for a crank for that bike for almost half a year now...

[moonym20]

well its been over 2 weeks since the order was placed and the Tefflon O-Ring is still MIA

However the dealership has been great in trying to help and have done everything they can to chase the matter up so a big thanks to them

I even called Aprilia direct and was less fruitless although the women i spoke to was very polite..
however the outcome of my conversation with Aprilia was this:

me: 'Do you have any Tefflon O-Rings in stock at this time?'

Aprilia: 'We are unsure if we have any Tefflong O-Rings in stock at this time, if we do have them we currently don't know where they are, there may be some in England but I honestly just don't know, I will send a query off the to the (backdate?) department and they will tell me when they may be avilable'

so that was fruitless, i called again today as told however the relevant department has not yet got back in touch to say if there are any Tefflon O-Rings in stock, where they are, if any are due and when i can expect to get one. lol

at least one of the main Aprlia chaps in the UK is now on the case with a VOR report the dealership is giving them hastle and im doing my little bit too

its still a discraceful performance on Aprilia's part

I was told that aparently they do very very little in house, nearly everything from O-Rings to panels for bikes are all bought in and done by third party

oh well.... the saga continues...
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A scientist crossed a skunk with an owl. He's got a bird that smells but doesn't give a hoot

[scoota bk]

[moonym20]

I FOUND A PART!
no help to Aprilia though i mentioned the missing part to a mate how happned to phone another mate etc who located the part in their inventory so my Tefflong O-Ring is now on its way to me.

funnily enough before he rang me i jsut got off the phone with Aprilia (again ) and what a funny conversation that was!

i was told to check with my dealer, said i was told to use the number i called on, waited, was told yet another request was placed for my part' best bit is

Me>> thanks for putting the request in again, but this is the third one and they have not yet bothered to resond to it.

Aprilia>> I know, all we can do is wait for them to respond to your request for information

Me>> okay, is it possible for you or me to contact them direct to find out where the part is as the bike has now been off the road for 3 weeks and its urgent

Aprilia>> oh no sir we can't do that

Me>> why not?

Aprilia>> because the Parts Department and the Customer Services Dept. dont communicate direct with each other, they will probably send the part out to you direct without even telling us, so really you will know when it arrives with you, I am unable to give you any more information at the moment.

Me>> thanks

so thats it pretty descraceful, duno hwo you can have an organisation that doesn't communicate with its self??
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A scientist crossed a skunk with an owl. He's got a bird that smells but doesn't give a hoot

[phk6]

well for my cb the longest ive had to wait for parts to come is three days brill i think i can put up with that lol.
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