Very bad experience.

[brandolph]

Last April the wife and I spent two weeks riding in Utah and around the Phoenix area. Something went haywire with my RMX right off the get-go but I ignored it as the bike was still running well enough to ride with my wife. The last day in Little Sahara the thing siezed and when I tore it down I found that a retaining clip that holds the p-valves in had broken. Continuing to ride it virtually destroyed all six pieces of the two valves, and hammered the valve chambers to death. And it was heat seized. I was bummed out as I was looking at at around $700 for a new cylinder, valve parts, topend etc...

Then I called Eric Gorr. He said he'd get me in a bored out, re-nikked, RM cylinder with RM valves (which were supposed to be simpler and cheaper) for a little less money. I was psyched!! Sent him my entire top end around the beginning of May.

On july 21st UPS took my $385 COD check and left me a box of crap. A decent used cylinder with my destroyed powervalves improperly installed, a brand new head (mine was fine but I had to buy a new one since the original wouldn't work with the RM), and a top end kit.
The frame-mount brackets wouldn't work with the new head, I couldn't route the radiator hose around the RMX tank, the studs on the cylinder weren't long enough to bolt the head on, and the powervalves were sticking. Took the valves out to find that a spring was installed wrong and the valves hadn't been touched. I could still smell the kerosene that I'd cleaned em with. One of the valve guides was hammered so thin that I broke it with my thumbnail.
If the parts had fit I would've had broken valve parts in my new top end instantly.
And to top it off he didn't send my my old parts back!!! I sent him his box of junk back, ordered all my valve and cylinder stuff which will be here Monday, and now I have to wait for my head to come back from him.
I'm out three months of my my 7-8 month riding season, $30 in shipping costs and $20 for a cancelled check.
And not so much as a freakin' apology from Eric. All he said was "send the stuff back if you want" and some rambling about "what my guy said".
I've never been f***ed like this in my life.
And I burned his damn book.

 

[kbud]

UHOH, this isn't gonna be pretty.

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by kbud
UHOH, this isn't gonna be pretty.

yep, this one should be very interesting.

 

[Senior KX Rider]

For some reason I'm getting a really strong feeling that there is more to this story

 

[jmics19067]

the only thing I have to say with any certainty is that burning his book out of spite was a waste.

everybody has an off day and I think I would be pissed too if his off day coincided with my money. I definately think that there was some type of miscommunication though since it just doesn't sound normal for Forward Motion not too honor their work too some sort of satisfaction.

 

[brandolph]

An off day??!! He had the stuff for nearly three months!!

And here's a bit more to the story. My neighbor's one of my riding buddies and he's also my postman. My new cylinder and valve parts are in his truck and I'll have 'em mid-morning. If I had a cylinder head I could go for a ride tommorow before the woods get shut down due to fire danger. Why didn't he send my old parts back??!!

And I left out the utter embarassment I feal about bragging to everyone about my new Eric Gorr built, 265 cc, ported, polished rocket-bike I was gonna have. And that IS what we talked about. I also printed out his service order form and filled it out to the T, including the mo power everywhere porting and all the info I could think of that would help them. I called him once about a week after I shipped to make sure he got the parts and see what he thought. He had the parts but hadn't looked at em. I called again about three weeks later and he said he had a cylinder but needed a different head. Then I called on the 15th of July and he said the parts had just shipped. I was really uneasy when he mentioned "we just wire-brushed the power valves and they looked fine". The "looked fine" part I know is a matter of opinion but the valves were TOAST!! The "wire brushed" part was a lie.
The middle valve part has a hole tapped in it for a tiny little 2mm screw. This screw goes through the valve plate and has a nut on the other side that keeps the plate centered. The hole in one of the plates was beat to about 3/4 of an inch long!! Both of the main valves had rattled in the chambers so much that they were mushroomed and wouldn't slide anymore and both the valve guides are completely trashed. It was one of these that I broke with my thumbnail. Also you couldn't get the valves securely installed because of the damage done where the keepers hold em in.

My point is that the valves were junk. I knew they were junk and Eric knew that I was worried about em. I mentioned them everytime I called him and I wrote something on the order form about "the valves are toast but I sent them anyway in case you might be able to use a couple parts".

My first phone call after receiving the parts I complained about the mounting bracket, the short studs and the valves not closing properly. Eric said "just buy (order) some YZ125 studs and put a little penetrating oil on the valves".
I was on my own trying to get the head/frame mounting brackets built.
Fortunately I didn't listen to his "penetrating oil" advice and tore the valve assembly out. Oh, and there's a tentioning adjuster spring on the side of the cylynder that was installed wrong, which pushed the valve rod over about a 1/16 and made the rod jam.

And Forward Motion can't honor they're work because they didn't do any work-other than spending a couple minutes sleazing my old valve parts into the new/used cylinder. How could a mechanic not notice that when they sat the head on the cylinder there were only about two threads worth of stud to get a nut on??

Damn I'm getting pissed again!!

 

[Patman]

That's too bad. I have nothing but praise for Eric's work. My KTM came back better than I thought it could be. My current engine that Eric & Rich did is nothing short of amazing. Yes the time line on both might have been a bit longer than some of the big name parts swappers but I also know that the work was done by a professional rather than some $5/hr monkey with a grinder but I also appriciate quality work taking extended periods of time and try to not call every other daysince I seem to have better experiences when I leave the professionals do what they do on their schedule.

As Senior pointed out I too suspect there is more to this story than is being presented. :think:

 

[zio]

You've got to admit, brandolph doesn't sound like the usual flamer spouting off about "so and so sucks!" It's hard to swallow it when someone with a good reputation, especially someone as revered as Eric, gets flamed. I hate it when I hear a flame on MXSouth, because I deal with them so much, they're DW sponsors, and they've always been so dang good to me.

 

[junkjeeps]

Eric Gorr is a sponsor of Dirtrider. Can someone see that he get this and let's get his side of the story. I'd like to read it. There are usually 3 sides to every story: your side, their side and the truth.

Mark

P.S. Everyone has their off day. Out of all the people I talk to, I seem to be the only one who has ever had bad dealings with XR's only.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Eric has an Internet connectivity problem at the moment but I'll get a hold of him tonight and make sure he knows about it.

 

[Green Horn]

Originally posted by Rich Rohrich
Eric has an Internet connectivity problem

Damn the connectivity probs! I've been watching this thread all day. :thumb: :)

 

[Zerotact]

I keep hearing about Eric and his Connectivity problems..... He must not rely on the internet to make his living.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by Zerotact
I keep hearing about Eric and his Connectivity problems..... He must not rely on the internet to make his living.

He lives in PoDunk Wisconsin so it can be a pain sometimes. He is far more reliant on the TELEPHONE to make his living, and luckily they figured that out years ago.

 

[Layton]

Originally posted by Zerotact
I keep hearing about Eric and his Connectivity problems..... He must not rely on the internet to make his living.

Dang! All this time I thought he worked on motorcycles for a living! :confused:

 

[mdmader]

I sorry your port didn't go as anticipated. Eric ported my engine (’01 YZ250) after my piston skirt blew up in the cylinder. I had the "Mo better" port done on mine and I'm happy to say that I'm completely satisfied with the work done. They did the work in a fair amount of time at an expense that was far better then the local shop wanted to charge just to replace the cylinder, do a top end, and clean out the lower end.

IMHO, I believe that you didn’t handle the situation properly. I believe that Eric runs a very professional and reputable business. I’d be willing to bet that if you had contacted Eric and explained the problem in an appropriate manner, you’d have a better chance in getting you problem resolved.

Businesses like Eric’s gets business by word of mouth. This is the first time I’ve heard of that someone was not satisfied with the work done. Not to say that issues like this doesn’t come up from time to time, but knowing the quality that his business produces, I find it had to believe that some sort of median couldn’t be found.

I’d contact Eric and work it out.

Best of luck.

 

[sigar]

I'm not saying brandolph is right or wrong, but I will say this:

1. Eric ported my 02 CR250 and the thing flat out rips, I couldn't be happier.

2. My riding buddy after strong suggestions by me traded in his worn out stock KX250 cylinder and head for a KX265 kit. It was supposed to be here on Tuesday, nothing yet. Ooohh the plot thickens....

Plus in any business it's hard to hit a home run everytime and perform perfectly, however, that isn't much consolation for the guy who happens to be the freak exception where things went wrong.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[brandolph]

mdmader-
I contacted Eric and we worked it out. I explained this above. I sent him the parts back and he's sending my stuff back. I hope.

I wasn't after a "port" and I don't think I could have handled the situation any better. I've heard NOTHING but incredible reviews about Eric's work and I know he's very busy. I was calm and simply said I was disappointed.

When he told me a couple weeks ago that my parts had shipped I said "Excellent!-And everythings all ready and I can just bolt it up?" Eric answered "Yes".

I certainly can't think of any "median" in this situation other than starting all over again and I don't have the time. I'm not rich but I've got more money than time and I just want the thing fixed. Now i'm sitting on nearly $800 worth of new parts that I can't use because I still don't have a head or cylinder studs.

And in Eric's defense I'd bet a weeks salary that he never looked at my stuff. There's no way in hell that one of the best engine builders on the planet would have sent me that box o' junk. He charged me $25 for "Exhaust valve mod and service"!! $25 to improperly install some wrecked valves. He did replace the broken $3 keeper though.

I just want to ride. Today.

 

[jboomer]

I can't help but wonder if some of you even read brandolph's entire post. From what I've gathered (and I DO understand we haven't heard Eric's side yet, which will be along I'm POSITIVE as soon as he gets his computer problems worked out), brandolph was screwed. I don't think him getting his original parts back and starting from square one is a fair shake either. I've heard nothing but great reviews about Eric's work and planned to have him mod my engine too when the time comes, however, I sure hope things are smoothed over between these two in the mean time because, unfortunately, I don't have the money OR the time and my confidence up to this point has slipped just a tad.

 

[brandolph]

jboomer-
Thank you.
I don't think the current arrangement is exactly fair either. I'd love to get my 2-3 months back as well as some $'s for shipping but oh well. Maybe pain and suffering?

One point that I don't think I've stressed enough is he should have sent my original head and cylinder back with the new parts. Granted the cylinder was pretty much junk but the head was mine and in perfect condition. Makes no sense at all. He charged me 135 bucks for a head (and a new valve linkage cover as my old one wouldn't fit on the RM cylinder) that wouldn't bolt to my frame or bolt to the cylinder w/out dicking around with studs and he get's a free RMX head?? Bullsh*t.

The wife just got her brakes done in her Astro and guess what they gave her when they were done. HER OLD PARTS!!!

 

[brandolph]

Just realized something else. I payed 20 dollars for shipping and insurance when I shipped my original parts, Eric charged me 15 dollars to ship the new stuff and I spent 15 dollars last week to ship em back.

I'm out 50 dollars in shipping!!! Aaaahhhgggg!!!

 

[TheJunkMan]

Eric Gorr ...... are You out there to reply.......

 

[Gary B.]

I'd like to hear Eric's take on this as well. :think:

 

[ktmboy]

The suspense is killing me!

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by TheJunkMan
Eric Gorr ...... are You out there to reply.......

For the 1000000th time. Eric doesn't have an internet connection at the moment .

 

[motometal]

I can't fault anyone for sharing their frustrations, but I think it would be foolish for any of us to base our overall opinions on one person's experience.  We all drop the ball ocassionally. 

I take care of sales and customer service on a daily basis, and I GUARANTEE you that if you called enough of my customers you could form a short list of people that would say either I am a poo-poo head, or my company has poor quality, or high prices, or long lead times, etc.  That being said, I could give you a list of about a hundred other very satisfied customers.  On the technical side of things, I make mistakes ocassionally, but the busier I get the more I delegate, and unfortanately these people tend to make more mistakes than I do.  Chalk it up to my poor skills as a trainer, or their lack of knowledge/experience, whatever.  When you go from a "one man shop" to having several understudies helping out, things change.  But this is inevitable as a business grows.

Another example: US Chrome.  I had a terrible experience with them.  My cylinder evidently was sucked into a black hole, not resurfacing for months.  Then when it did, the plating quality was very poor.  But, since them I have heard of many others that have been satisfied.