As any regular reader to this site knows, we have a used 1989 Kawasaki Voyager 1200, which we acquired last summer in Ontario. Recently, Rick noticed that one of the front forks was leaking so he took it to a “reputed” Kawasaki dealer (for 20 years??) in Yucca Valley, Hutchins Motorsports Inc. to have them install new seals. The reason Rick chose Hutchins to do the work is because on an earlier visit, he had discovered their shop and showroom to be in a well organized fashion and their hospitality was very professional. What he learned is that initial appearances can be very deceiving and not everyone is as honest as he is.

First, they assured him that they could do the job and that it would be completed by the next day, so on April 20th he took the forks, along with new seals to Hutchins to have the job done. He had purchased the seals from another Kawasaki dealer in Indio that he found to be disorganized and probably not able to do the job. Initially he also thought that he and the resident maintenance man here could do the job themselves however neither Rick nor Randy had the proper tools, hence the decision to employ Hutchins. (Randy, the maintenance man, is also a longtime motorcycle owner and mechanic.) The forks weren’t ready until late Tuesday afternoon, four days later than promised. When Rick went to collect them, the service manager put them in the trunk of the car while Rick paid the bill therefore it wasn’t until the next morning that Rick discovered the “new” rattle in the one fork. When he returned to the shop with rattling fork in hand, the service manager quickly offered a full refund which Rick was satisfied with not knowing what he was yet to find out.

Since then he has discovered that there is a large nick in the rattling tube, evidence of a hammer mark made when the mechanic evidently attempted to take it apart. (One thing you need to know is that my husband is meticulous about his vehicles and knew without question that the tube was taken to Hutchins comletely unscarred and that the leak was coming from a worn out seal.) They told Rick AFTER the fact that they didn’t have the proper tools to take the forks apart but that there is no way that THEY did the damage. According to them, even though they couldn’t take the forks apart properly, they DID definitely replace the seal and that the nick MUST have been on the tube when Rick took it to them. (Then why would they replace the seal, knowing that the nick would have prevented it from sealing anyway?) When Rick called them about it, the maintenance manager basically said, gee, that’s too bad and good luck getting it repaired. NICE attitude!

Typically, I wouldn’t link to a place where we have had such appalling service but I think the general public should be forewarned about this place, their attitude and their shoddy workmanship. Evidently, Hutchins doesn’t care if they get repeat business and they don’t take ownership for their mistakes. Thanks for nothing Hutchins!