Help! Cash Reward Offered!!

[Greg Jones]

I bought a '96 Standard a couple of months ago...my first ST...and, as it turns out, its engine is currently completely apart, sitting on the service dept bench of my local Honda shop...where it has been for a month...

they are waiting for one more part, a bearing, to be able to put the engine back together, and it is apparently on INFINITE BACKORDER from Honda....!!!!!!!

I will gladly pay a $50 finder's fee to the first person to find me the bearing that we need...there MUST be one sitting around SOMEWHERE...

it is the plain bearing that apparently goes around the crankshaft, part #

#13317-MT3-000

the dealer is just passively waiting for the part to arrive...it has been a month, and they have NO indication from Honda that it is even on its way...

Please try to resist writing me, to simply ask why the heck we're overhauling an ST that only showed 60,000 miles on the odometer...I'll tell ya later, if you really want to know...BUT, if you know where I can find the missing part, PLEASE write me, before the summer is over!!

Thanks-
Greg Jones
Prescott, AZ

[eddiemack]

go to http://www.servicehonda.com and search for your part.
I did a quick search there and it came up with: BRG E Crankshaft Bearing $9.22
for the part # 13317-MT3-000
Telephone # 1-800-828-5498
Keep your money... just tell us what happened!

[Dketchum]

Service Honda keeps very Little inventory..they order from Honda and send it on to you. If they don't have this part (which I doubt) The best thing we can do to help him would be to canvass our local dealers and see if there is a chance one of them has this part. The Honda dealers around me are pretty worthless, but I will try and see if any of them have (or know where to get) this part number.

[dond]

Greg, call 805-371-3000 (9a-6p pdst) ask for Tom or Jeff and tell them Don Huntley suggested you try them and what the circumSTances are. This is Thousand Oaks Honda HRC in T.O. CA. Being an HRC dealership they often have success.

Good luck

[GRN]

Greg,

Just checked my local dealer, no luck. You might also try getting exact specifications of the bearing and look to some manufacturers for a alt. match. Sounds like your service manager should have his bike taken away for a while for a little perspective... ****ty deal - good luck man :)

[Jeff F]

Greg,

Found a bearing for you at Honda Canada. They have 4 at the Montreal warehouse.

To order call Hully Gully in London Ont (519) 685-8045 Roy Ext 122, Price $11.75 + 2.99 ship to London (Cdn $) ...

... Or call any Cdn Honda dealer who should give you the same answer, or better yet - your dealer should be able to have one shipped direct, you'd think.

If you run into problems I can order and re-ship to you. I could have one by Thursday.

Let me know

Jeff

PS: Just to be sure, I checked with a 2nd Honda dealer who told me bascially the same thing.

PPS: No need for reward $$ but you could send a few bucks to support this site.

[Killtimer]

Honda sources their bearings from major suppliers. The parts book should show the manufacturer's number or bearing dimension next to the description in the parts book. Or, get the old bearing and note the manufacturers part # stamped in the side. It should be available from any bearing supply house.

[Jeff F]

Good point - several lifetimes ago I worked at a farm and industrial dealership. We were forever cross referencing bearing mfg numbers to find something that would work to keep machinery rolling. This was mostly for sealed ball bearings tho - not so much for crank bearings (bushing style) which I assume this to be. Should be no different ...

[Killtimer]

:oops: I missed the "crank" part of the second post...... Bad me.. sorry

[Greg Jones]

Thanks Eddie-
I called, 'em, and they did not have the part in stock...but Thank You for the quick response! I will keep looking!
Greg

[Greg Jones]

Thanks Dave-I appreciate your response...that it kindof what I'm trying to do...see if I can find one of these bearings sitting on some dealership's shelf...I will certainly announce it, once I find one!
Greg

[Greg Jones]

Thanks Don-
I'll call them tomorrow...I appreciate the tip!
Greg

[Greg Jones]

Jeff:
WOW!!!! As it turns out, in the two months that I have owned this bike, I have ridden it a total of around 5 hours, and your note is DEFINITELY the high point of my ownership experience!!! ...sad, perhaps, but TRUE:).....Thank you very much!! I will call them tomorrow, and have the part shipped express to my not-working-very-hard service manager....and I'll be sending that $50 in, to support this site, which may have just saved my summer's riding!

OK: here's what happened: I was the FIRST to call on the ad in the Cycle Trader...7am tuesday morning...the bike looked good in the picture, and the ad claimed that it was the "...cleanest in the U.S...." ok: this has got to be the one I'm looking for...even tho' it's got 60k miles on it...it WAS (IS?..) super clean...even had new tires...I drove down to Phoenix after work the next day, after the owner said he would hold it for me...when I got there, I was very impressed...(I was READY to be impressed, having looked a couple of real beat-up ST's...) I rode it, and it pulled beautifully...strong and immediate...put a few miles on it, went back to his house, and laid some earnest money on him...told him that I would contact my credit union to set a date...I was already pre-approved...he was happy, and we stood around the bike talking for awhile...(here comes Warning sign #1...) he raved about the bike, and seemed to be genuinely sad to be selling it...marital problems, you know...gotta raise some money...as we looked over the controls, he pointed to the choke button, and said "...that's the advance lever for the fuel injection...the fuel injection is partly why it runs so well...." I had already watched a couple of sets of ST carbs sell on eBay...but didn't know quite what to say...(I guess it IS possible that he just doesn't know what the heck he's talking about...he says he's only had the bike for a year...no use embarassing him...), so I just let it go...then he starts talking about how the previous owner had brought the bike into a dealer for a compression test right before he bought it from him, and the numbers had been fantastic...but why wouldn't they be...he was the original owner, and had always used synthetic oil...(Wow! sythentic oil! this has GOT to be the one!...) a little while later, (and we were NOT drinking...) he slaps his forehead and says that he just remembers, he's got the previous owner's phone number in his daytimer at work...If I want to follow him over there, he'll give it to me...just in case I want to ask him any questions...(GREAT! now I can find out the total history of the bike! this is the way it is SUPPOSED to happen!...)
...I got the number from him, (here comes warning sign #2...)and call the previous owner that night...who is a friendly guy, still lives in Phoenix, and has nothing but good to say about the bike...he had decided to buy an '02, and sell the '96, because he loved the 1100 so much, and wasn't sure how the 1300's would work out...(reasonable...I'd do the same thing if I had a little more money...but hey, this '96 is looking very good...who cares if it has 60k on it? that's NUTHIN to a bike like this...)...then, when I ask him about the compression test at the dealer, and....he says "what?...I've never done that...", and then I ask what kind of oil he's used, and he says "...Honda 10-40, changed it every 3000 miles...", although he doesn't have ANY service records of any kind....I'm getting this bad feeling, like maybe something bad is about to happen to a real gullible guy here...but, what can I say? what should I do? this guy has no reason to lie...he already has sold (gotten rid of???) this bike...so I thank him for the info and hang up... So: it's clear that the current owner of the bike is lying to me, and really making it look easy, too...but what do I do? bail? tell him to keep the bike and my deposit and #$!# himself?.....But it runs real well, and the bodywork is spotless........so I bought it... (this is getting kind of long...sorry!...almost done....) the day I went down to the credit union in Phoenix and took posession of it was a very happy one...even though I had this creeping feeling in my gut that I was doing a really dumb thing...I rode it up the mountain to Prescott, holding it between 70-100, and it FLEW!!! This is it!!! the best bike in my 30 yrs of riding! I deserve it! Why was I distrustful? Relax...this baby is sweet...rode it directly to my local Honda shop, and told them that while NOTHING was wrong with the bike, I would like them to synch the carbs, adjust the valves, drain the radiator and brakes, and, just to be really thorough with this BEST EVER bike of mine, do compression and leak-down tests...just for the record, so I can know what kind of shape the engine is in...
...they call me the next day, and say that they don't know how the bike is even running...compression is 60 lbs in one cylinder, around 100 in 2 others, I think the 4th was 140...I told them to do it again...they say they already have...leak-down numbers reflect the same thing...not believing my ears, I asked them what we can do...the service mgr says "...no problem, Greg...the engine is probably just really carboned-up...we'll pour some of the right stuff through it, and clean 'er out...
...they did, and when they were through, I picked it up, and rode it home...it ran very poorly...I brought it back, they poured more stuff through it, and finally said that the engine was toast, and all they could really recommend was a complete tear-down...they HAVE shown me some pretty carboned-up valves, but....are they screwing me? is the odometer reading probably actually TWO HUNDRED and 60k? Not being a mechanic, they have me...and for the past month, have not even been able to find all the parts that they need.... any theories out there? (I'm talking to you two guys who are still reading this...:) Thanks to ALL of you, for stepping up to help me...I'm gonna love this ST yet...!! (yes, I do occasionally miss my last bike, a '98 Concours,...but in my heart I KNOW this is a better bike!!!)
Greg

[tccox]

Hmmmmm, it ran great before you took it to the dealer, it ran like crap after the dealer go a hold of it. Something dos'nt seem quite right here.

[eddiemack]

If your Honda Dealership is ANYTHING like the place I bought mine from I wish you luck! Dealer prep was pushing it out of the showroom floor & using honda polish on it. And they waited until I signed the papers to even do that! It's very hard to find a good dealership/mechanic... so when you do be nice to them. The less the dealership has to do, the better the chances of your bike coming home in working order.

[Jeff F]

Hope you get on the road real soon Greg .... with your brand new 96. :)

Cheers,

[wjbertrand]

None of this makes any sense to me. ST1100 will easily go 3X and probably much further than that mileage without major mechancial issues. The only way the engine could be in as bad a shape as your dealer indicates is that if it had never had it's oil changed! If your compression were as low as they claimed, your bike would not have run as well as it did and it would have been blowing smoke I think. I'm wondering if the dealer didn't dick up the valve adjustment (put a cam in wrong or something) and is now trying to cover it up?

[electrajoe]

Hales Motors, Inc.
534 Madison Ave
Prescott, AZ 86301-2433
(928)445-5730

[alan]

Hales Motors has serviced my ST1300 twice while I was visiting my son who lives in Sedona. They did an oil & filter change once and last year I needed to replace my shot Dunlop rear tire and they had a tire in stock and did the mounting and balancing of the tire. I have been satisified with their service and their ability to squeeze my vacationing bike into their schedule.

[Greg Jones]

I am as confused as any of the rest of you might be on this...the bike DID run very strong when I rode it home. then ran much worse after the dealer ran some stuff through the engine "...to burn out excessive carbon..."...I guess what it boils down to, is I probably should have brought it to someone else to verify the crappy compression readings, before agreeing with the dealer that an engine tear-down was the only thing left to do...at any rate, in their defense, I WILL say that Hale's Motors DID offer to not charge me any labor for the rebuild, and just charge me for the parts...the very last one of which they were unable to find, and which finally arrived a couple of days ago from the canadian honda dealer that Jeff in Ontario, Canada was kind enuf to locate for me...now I'll have to wait and see how well it runs after they get it back together...I really just want to ride the thing...I've ridden for the past 30 yrs, and have ALWAys bought used bikes, but this whole mess really has me thinking about making payments on a new one....stay tuned for the success story to come...(hopefully!)...
Greg

[TAPnTX]

That is exactly why, when I purchase a new bike, I tell the dealer to take a very long hard look, he will never touch it again. I agree, seems like it was working fine till the dealer got his hands on it. Good luck, I hope you get to enjoy it soon. In the Future, you might try a place called Boca Bearing. They have been in business for a long time, and may have been able to help you out.

Todd

[jfuhrman99]

so how much did it cost you to rebuild the motor.

[STWannaBe]

I know this is an old post, but I can't help but chime in after reading all of this.

First of all Greg, how did everything turn out? Did you get your bike back in working order? I hope you ended up with a great ride and some time to ride it.

Secondly, why would the dealership offer to rebuild the engine with no labor charges? That automatically leads me to believe that the dealer screwed up the engine in the first place and was trying to cover it up, then offered free service. I mean, did you already know someone there that would warrant the dealer giving away service dollars? That is how any dealership survives, on service numbers. This all sounds very weird, especially since the bike was running like a bandit to begin with. I agree with wjbertrand, if compression were that far off on all of the cylinders, you would have known it when you first bought it. It wouldn't have run well at all.

Finding an honest dealer is tough. I hate you had the problems you had Greg. Let us know how things turned out.

[joeca43]

See if this works, if it does, take you wife or girlfriend to dinner with the $50.00
http://www.cycle-parts.com/cart.asp?Action=searchparts&SKUSearch=13317-MT3-000
Joe

[videolester]

Hmmmmm, it ran great before you took it to the dealer, it ran like crap after the dealer go a hold of it. Something dos'nt seem quite right here.

I agree with this statement. Your ride should NOT be running that badly after just previously running better. Let us know how things turn out after the bearing install. Hopefully you'll be back on the road real soon! :) :tools1:

[STWannaBe]

I PM'ed Greg last night because I just couldn't stand it anymore, I had to know how things turned out with his 1100. He PM'ed me back with good news and this is what he said:

"Dave, and all others who have wondered:
...sorry I didn't follow up...the story has worked out quite well...the local shop (Hale's Honda in Prescott) put their senior mechanic on it, and he completely rebuilt the engine...because of the considerable $$ that I had already spent with them, after initially bringing it in for what I thought would be routine maintenence, they charged me NOTHING for labor for all the work...I still had a $1200 tab for parts, but I am now happy with the bike...rode it to NW Montana this past august, with no problems at all...have caught the farkle-bug, and have just ordered a Rick Mayer saddle, and am about to mount both 910 as well as 1400 PIAA lamps, and, if I can figure out how to fit it, a Stebel compact air horn...
Thanks for asking! So far, so good!"

Glad it all worked out, but still sorry you had to spend $1200.