A word of caution about buying a Husky/KTM
Wanted to share my long, frustrating experience with you all as a word of caution about these bikes. I have a 701 Supermoto.
Issues I've had repaired under warranty:
- LCD display lets water in (gets fogged up)
- Headlight glass(plastic) spiderwebbed (replaced under warranty.... twice)
- Rear brake spring snapped (replaced under warranty)
- Turn signal button/relay stopped working (replaced under warranty)
- False neutrals between every gear 3-6th (warranty replaced detent arm/spring..... twice)
- Blown headgasket caused a coolant leak under load. Took months to get them to pull the head off to verify this to be the issue (they did all kinds of things to the coolant system in the meantime. Top end replaced under warranty ($3800 were it not for warranty - New head, piston, rings, etc)
Now, less than a year after the rebuild the bottom end seems to be fubar. The mechanic at my local dealer says the sound is indicative of a serious issue in the bottom end. The 2 local dealers don't want to deal with the bike b/c of its troubled history and low profit on repairs for it. I finally convinced them to do it and the owner suggested I call Husky to see if they'd be willing to help me get into a new one at a discount (even a small one). After speaking to their customer service yesterday, I had a couple of takeaways from the conversation:
- Dealers are only contractors and can refuse to do legitimate warranty work for any reason.
- Husky's stance, if a dealer refuses warranty work (due to profitability of service in my case) is "go to another husky dealer" even if another dealer is hundreds of miles away
- If your bike is a legit lemon, they will NOT help you get into a new one. Per my dealer's suggestion, I asked if they would step in to assist on a new bike. They said, "we don't do that" I then asked what if the bike were in the shop for 6+ months of the first 12 months of ownership. They said "no, you could sell it and purchase another one at retail"
- When asked if they would step in on behalf of the customer if the dealer was fighting/refusing to perform warranty work. They said, "No, that's between you and the dealer"
- I asked if they have any suggestions for how to handle a bike that's spent near a third of its life in the shop for warranty repairs, they said "Just sell it and buy a new one...?"
- I asked the rep if they would want to buy a vehicle from them given our conversation thus far, "My personal opinion has no bearing on this situation".
Of the 3 dealers I've worked with since I purchased the 701 they've all been very nice and helpful. Their disinterest in fixing a lemon is understandable. They all relayed the same message, however: Husky/KTM does not like to support its customers when it comes to warranty repairs. They will fight the dealer, demand that the warrantied parts be sent back to verify damage, and is more keep to save money than to take care of the customers.
I LOVE my 701. It was the most fun on 2 wheels I've had. But it has been a slap in the face to deal with Husky after all this. Yamaha and Suzuki were FAR better and standing behind their brand and supporting me when issues arose.
I know many of you have had positive experiences. But I felt that mine needed to be shared for those of you that might be looking to purchase one and may run into the same situation.
Posted May 10, 2019, 3:52 PM UTC
What a shit experience. What year 701 is it? My 18 is in the shop for a complete new top end due to mftr defect in the cylinder. So far Husky and dealer have been pretty good about covering it.
The European brands really need to get their quality control and customer support figured out. Amazing bikes, but so many issues compared to the Japanese brands.
It's a 16. The ONLY saving grace is that my dealer got husky to cover the parts for this service under warranty. The only reason why is b/c my bike was one of the US press bikes and was totally beat to hell by the Austrian riders they sent out here for an event. When I ordered the bike from the dealer they said it had 800 miles and was in great condition. After driving 600 miles to pick it up, it had 1500 on it and the tires were bald. It was a total shit show. So Husky has been cleaning up the mess since. I was told that if it hadn't been one of those biked, I'd be out of luck since i'm out of warranty...
You bought a press bike? Yikes..Those guys abuse the shit out of bikes. And sometimes those are pre-production models. I'm not surprised it's had a lot of problems. They never should have sold that bike.
They said Husky went over the bikes with a fine-tuned comb to make sure it was good to go BEFORE it got to the dealer. The dealer sold it as new, so I got the full 2 year warranty from the day I bought it. Life lessons I guess. That's why I'm more mad about the manufacturer than the dealers or the bike itself.
All of this is so odd. Everything I've ever read about KTM/Husky has said that they're very reasonable to work with on warranties. Can't say from experience though, as mine hasn't had any issues.
I wonder if it being a press bike means that Husky "tech inspected" the bike before the riders got ahold of it, but never did the proper break in period and roached the thing.
Hope you can get it sorted out.
reading this almost makes me sweat haha... how did the discovery of the defect go down? I just had the decompression recall done and now the bike struggles to start 😒
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Dude bought a pre production press bike.
Exactly what I'd never touch. Like buying a "low mileage" mustang from a rental car company.
My Mom actually did that, '05 Mustang back in 2007 from Hertz. It was actually her most reliable car and she's driven cross country multiple times. The only issue that its developed is the clear coat is starting to come off, but that was after 12 years... No mechanical issues. (And yes this is probably atypical, but good for her, she loves that thing).