Great experience at Ottawa-area dealership

Lightcycle

Lightcycle

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We're currently riding some trails around the Ottawa area and Neda's bike's started overheating, probably due to the 40°C temps we've been riding in.

We limped the bike to a motel and called the closest Husky dealership which was in Orleans just east of the city.

When we told them we were from out of town, they told us to drop by immediately and they would work on her bike in between scheduled customers. Seemed like they were quite busy too.

WOW!

We dropped the bike off at 9AM and they had the bike diagnosed (one broken fan out of the two) by lunchtime. The bike would still have been functional with one fan, but not at trail speed and definitely not at 40°C. They bypassed the thermostat and had the one remaining fan working full-time to get us back on the road to Toronto tomorrow. Looks like another scorcher ahead of us. 100+ km/h on the slab should help keep the engine cool. Just gotta source a fan and get a shop to install it for us when we get back.

Anyway, if you find yourself with a mechanical issue while out riding in the Ottawa area, definitely give Wheelsport a call. Really good bunch of guys! They are a multiline dealership selling KTM, Husky, GasGas, CFMoto and Suzuki, but will probably do service work on all makes.

Wheelsport - New & Used Powersports Dealer in Orleans, Ontario, near Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston, and Smiths Falls

Wheelsport is a powersports dealership in Orleans, Ontario, offering ATVS, side-by-sides, motorcycles, snowmobiles, snow blowers, trikes, and power equipment, as well as parts and service. Visit us from nearby Ottawa, Gatineau, Kingston, Montreal, Cornwall and Brockville.
www.wheelsport.ca www.wheelsport.ca

wheelsport-X2.jpg


Super happy to be back on the road!
 
Attach this link to your GP experience from last year along with the recent GP rank from here and send them all to Jerry.

I don't have any beef with GP as they have never done me wrong but many others do .

Your fiasco with them last year was a classic example of "we don't care about you, we just care a out our bottom line"
 
oioioi said:
Attach this link to your GP experience from last year along with the recent GP rank from here and send them all to Jerry.

I don't have any beef with GP as they have never done me wrong but many others do .

Your fiasco with them last year was a classic example of "we don't care about you, we just care a out our bottom line"
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Yeah, I know. Was just thinking the same today. But do I really want to be that petty?

Just shrug and move on. Who needs the stress?

Hopefully I'll live longer that way. Especially since my shiity diet and lack of exercise certainly is not helping any...

Speaking of which, we're still on for pierogis, right? 🤪
 
ToSlow said:
WTF is that big hunk of metal in the front and on the sides of the bike?
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Skid plate.

The KTM 890/Husky 901 platform has the gas tank mounted underneath the engine which lowers the centre of mass so the bike feels a lot lighter on the trails. Agree that it's not the prettiest design, but it's a real gamechanger to mask the weight of these porky ADVs. Newer 1290 Super Adventure Rs also have the same design.

The gas tank itself is made of very thick and robust plastic, but the more trail-centric version of the 890 (Rally) and 901 (Expedition) add more protection in the form of a thick metal skid plate so the tank won't rupture when hopping over boulders and getting high-centred on logs. The Expedition skid plate is 4mm laser-cut aluminum...

Beefy.
 
Lightcycle said:
Skid plate.

The KTM 890/Husky 901 platform has the gas tank mounted underneath the engine which lowers the centre of mass so the bike feels a lot lighter on the trails. Agree that it's not the prettiest design, but it's a real gamechanger to mask the weight of these porky ADVs. Newer 1290 Super Adventure Rs also have the same design.

The gas tank itself is made of very thick and robust plastic, but the more trail-centric version of the 890 (Rally) and 901 (Expedition) add more protection in the form of a thick metal skid plate so the tank won't rupture when hopping over boulders and getting high-centred on logs. The Expedition skid plate is 4mm laser-cut aluminum...

Beefy.
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What’s the weight of the skid plate?

Looks like it would create a lot of drag and buffeting on the hwy
 
Lightcycle said:
Yeah, I know. Was just thinking the same today. But do I really want to be that petty?

Just shrug and move on. Who needs the stress?

Hopefully I'll live longer that way. Especially since my shiity diet and lack of exercise certainly is not helping any...
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If any stress were involved, I would hope it would just be Jerry's.
 
Years ago(1991?) a buddy's Yamaha FJ1100 broke down in Pennsylvania.. Electrical issue.
We're dickin' around with it in a gas station parking lot trying to figure out what the problem is when a local cop stops to see wussup...
He tells us the only motorcycle place for miles is just down the road....
We limp along following the cops directions and come upon a Huuuuuge HD dealership in the middle of this little po-dunk town.... Lol.
We're like... "awww man, we're gonna die."

They took my buddies "jap-crap" bike in right away... Traced the problem to a faulty kill switch... Jerry rigged a temporary fix(they didn't have the part of course) and didn't even charge him...(Buddy slipped the tech $20 for coffees)

We were in and out, back on the road within a very short time...

'Just shows there are some good businesses out there...

Of course... We get to Ft. Lauderdale where we find a multi brand Japanese bike dealership who proceeds to take three days to replace the kill switch and charge him through the nose... Lol.
 
ToSlow said:
What’s the weight of the skid plate?
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Not sure, but it is aluminum. Maybe 10ish lbs? All low, which again helps with the centre of mass.

Fairly easy to remove (like 6 bolts) if you're not doing heavy duty trails and just leave the gas tank to fend for itself. Or if you want to install a thinner, lighter plastic skid plate instead.

ToSlow said:
Looks like it would create a lot of drag and buffeting on the hwy
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Wife hasn't complained any. The bike is more oriented for dirt than slab. If she was looking for aerodynamics, I'm sure she'd be riding a sportbike or sport-tourer, instead of trying to make an Adventure bike work as a street-only machine.
 
Relax said:
If any stress were involved, I would hope it would just be Jerry's.
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I don't think negative reviews are going to impact GP Bikes' business. They're a juggernaut at this point.

If you don't take your bike there for service, there are 10 other riders who will take your spot in line on their two-week waiting list. 🤷‍♂️
 
Lightcycle said:
I don't think negative reviews are going to impact GP Bikes' business. They're a juggernaut at this point.

If you don't take your bike there for service, there are 10 other riders who will take your spot in line on their two-week waiting list. 🤷‍♂️
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I don't know about that. Before I heard of all the bad reviews, I would have happily taken my bike there for something I didn't want to (or couldn't) do myself. Now they're on the blacklist - or rather, they're no longer on the extremely short whitelist.

Surely as more and more negative reviews lowers their overall rating, others will do the same? Then again, I used to see so many people tkae their bikes into Cycle World (East and West) back in the day...
 
Gaoler said:
come upon a Huuuuuge HD dealership in the middle of this little po-dunk town.... Lol.
They took my buddies "jap-crap" bike in right away... Traced the problem to a faulty kill switch... Jerry rigged a temporary fix(they didn't have the part of course) and didn't even charge him...(Buddy slipped the tech $20 for coffees)
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Wow. Super nice of them!

Very different outcome from a lot of stories I've heard about guys trying to bring their non-HD bikes to a Bar-And-Shield store.
 
Relax said:
I don't know about that. Before I heard of all the bad reviews, I would have happily taken my bike there for something I didn't want to (or couldn't) do myself. Now they're on the blacklist - or rather, they're no longer on the extremely short whitelist.

Surely as more and more negative reviews lowers their overall rating, others will do the same? Then again, I used to see so many people tkae their bikes into Cycle World (East and West) back in the day...
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Probably happens over a long period of time. If the business is smart, they'll notice the decline and pivot in time before things get too dire. Sucks that it needs to get to that point of creating such a long list of disgruntled customers.

It's also become a problem that a lot of newer machines require special diagnostics and tools above and beyond an impact wrench and hoist. Computers, firmware updates, clearing codes, tying your warranty to officially certified service centres, etc.

You can't just take it into any generic moto shop anymore. The manufacturers are basically forcing you to service your bike at a brand-specific dealership. And they're smart about positioning each store so they don't compete with one another in their own catchment area. If you own a BMW and live in Pickering, it's way too painful having to bring your bike all the way to Oakville, wait a whole day and then ride back... And if it's a big job, you're taking the GO Train there and back... :(
 
Lightcycle said:
Not sure, but it is aluminum. Maybe 10ish lbs? All low, which again helps with the centre of mass.

Fairly easy to remove (like 6 bolts) if you're not doing heavy duty trails and just leave the gas tank to fend for itself. Or if you want to install a thinner, lighter plastic skid plate instead.



Wife hasn't complained any. The bike is more oriented for dirt than slab. If she was looking for aerodynamics, I'm sure she'd be riding a sportbike or sport-tourer, instead of trying to make an Adventure bike work as a street-only machine.
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I thought you live in the west, do you store bikes in TO or ride from outwest?
 
Lightcycle said:
Ride out mainly. It's become a bit of an annual pilgrimage. We shipped our bikes this time and we're riding back to BC later on in the season.
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Not going to lie, i envy you sometimes around your riding time. seems you have thousands of miles under your seat.
 
shanekingsley said:
I heard they have good ones somewhere up north. Sounds like a good excuse for a ride to investigate.
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I really don't care if they have pierogi or burgers. I just want to go for a ride.
 
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