Bad experience buying spares from eBay - avoid this seller

[barmonkey]

I’d like to share my experiences on purchasing spare parts from https://www.bitzforbikes.co.uk/

I own a Suzuki Intruder VS1400 year 1994. I purchased it at 2012. Together we’ve had 35.000 km/s in sun and rain. Recently the bike developed a problem - rear cylinder was not running good. It was either misfiring or running roughly, smelling gas. After ruling out several possible faulties cylinder’s coil appeared to be failed

I purchased a new ignition coil from eBay. Seller was Bitsforbikerz.com. The item arrived within 10 days from order, which is ok.
I opened the parcel and noticed that the coil was some 15-20mm shorter than original. Original bolts that attach the coil to the frame couldn’t be used. “Compatible” means plug-and-play in my vocabulary, apparently the seller has different idea on compatibility. I detached original coil and fitted the spare, connected it and started the bike.

At first idle was ok, then a bit rough, then a lot rough. Rear cylinder start misfiring. Then it died completely. “Oh boy, this is not good!” Turned the bike off. After a while performed spark test on rear cylinder. No spark whatsoever. Front plug was sparking ok. Changing plugs front <> back made no difference.

I noticed that my ICU (ignition control unit) was hot. Turned off the power, detached the ICU and opened it for inspection. Please refer to following pics. Some components of the unit were melted and the smell was awful! An aftermarket replacement for ICU is some 300-350 euros. Saving a few euros on Bitzforbikers’ coil cost me dearly. To say I was angry was an underestimate of the year.
https://s18.postimg.org/llus50kg5/icu_01.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/ip7r4qemd/icu_02.jpg

Then I measured the resistance from both coils. Front cylinder 4.6 ohms, rear (new) 0.06 ohms (!) with a fractured coil-body. Accepted values are 2-6 ohms according to Clymer service manual. Spark plug cap (with an 0.8mm gap) and the plug were brand new, inside the cap there wasn’t any signs of melting etc. HT wire was good. Primary circuit wires were in good condition with new adapters. Further inspection showed that the body of the coil was fractured. How, this I don’t now. The coil was not mishandled, dropped etc in any way prior to installation.
I contacted the seller late Monday 7th via their web page. The seller states that usually they respond within a day. No response some 24 hrs later. “So much for their next-day-reply -policy”, I thought.

[MarJay]

Sorry but consequential damage is not going to be covered by their liability. They can replace the item for free, but I doubt they will do much more than that. They have been pretty good compared to a lot of companies I think.

You also might want to be careful about telling people to avoid the seller... just sayin'.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[kramdra]

I've bought from them before and had a good experience with a return.

It would be easy task to replace the FET and capacitors and make the board work, cost about 10 quid in parts and an hours time. Paying a professional for repair could easily cost 100+ because skilled labour is extremely expensive - you could easily spend more to have an unskilled mechanic do the job properly in the first place.

[bladeblaster]

Lessons learnt here.

1) Don't buy cheap after market parts.

2) Cheap parts are often cheap for a reason.

3) Check parts for damage and function before fitting.

4) No one is going to shell out for consequential damages.

5) Don't go to a forum for sympathy.

[nowhere.elysium]

I'd try to keep the slander to a minimum, if I were you. Firstly, if you receive a coil that's not the same shape as the one that you're replacing, that should have been enough for you to phone them and check what's going on, before potentially nuking a part of your bike. As far as I can see it, this was your own fault, because you still willingly fitted a part without cross-checking it at all. I've had something similar where I ordered a set of coils for my GS, which came through a different size - it wasn't the fault of the company that I bought them from, it was the fault of the coil manufacturer - they'd listed their specifications incorrectly, causing the reseller to despatch the wrong goods.

Always double-check things if you're not sure.

Regarding the repairs to your ECU, all I can see from the photos is a single burnt-out MOSFET, which is a cheap component. I'd be a bit more guarded about paying 100 euros for that than I would be annoyed about the coil, since that's largely your own fault.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Ste]

[Rogerborg]

[DJP]