VOR parts nightmare - BEWARE!!!

[woodsy]

Hi All - In another colum I made a brief comment about having had problems with getting VOR parts. One of the readers emailed me and said:

((You had problems getting parts for a VOR? What year and model? I'd also be curious to know who the dealer was. Were they an ATK dealer? Did they get parts thru ATK USA? If the guy you sold it too is a freind, let him email me and I can point him to a source of parts and support. Shouldn't have to wait more than a day or two if you don't have a dealer...there are a few who will overnite parts. Parts are available for all models from 1999 to 2002. Sorry things didn't work out with that VOR hope the KTM does..they are awesome bikes!))

Just for everyones information here is what I wrote back:

Hi WJ - Here is the story on the VOR> I bought it from a guy who had all kind of problems getting parts for the dealer (an ATK dealer in Spring Lake Michigan). He had 2 of them - a 2000 400mx that I bought and a 99 503mx that one of my buds bought.. The "not being able to get parts" problem cost the guy that I got it from the State Harescramble title - couldnt get clutch parts....
I bought and rode the bike all last year and half of this past winter - it was an AWESOME machine!!! Very well made and excellent performance (pulled like a tractor off the bottum and flat out flew from mid up.... I wore the chain and sprockets off it and called the importer in California to try and get new sprockets (I didnt even bother with the ATK dealer).. Dave in California said that "Maricio" had told them that they could not sell directly to the consumer and that I would have to deal with a dealer. He said that the sprockets were in stock and he would give me the number of a dealer. I asked him specifically for his best dealer and he hooked me up with Funwheels in Colorado.. I called and spoke with Brad at funwheels and got the parts ordered. After I received my sprockets I discovered that the front one had the wrong spline (splines were 20 thou to thick at the tips). I called Brad again and he said he would find out what the deal was - he called back the next day and said that I was correct - there were 2 different front sprocks used that year... He also said that there were NONE of my style in the country and that "maricio" was in Italy and would hand carry me the front sprocket back when he returned.. Brad also stated that he would gladly send me a free set of sprockets if I would send him my original sprocket so he could have Sprocket Specialties make up some sprockets here.. I did that - that was over 3 months ago and I still have not recieved the correct sprockets for the VOR neither have I heard from either VOR or Funwheels about the status.. I took the wrong sprocket and modified it so I could sell the bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHICH THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO DO!!!!!!!
Think about what I just wrote you! All of it is true!! What a real shame that these beautiful bikes dont stand a chance here because of mis-managemant!! If it would have happened over a crank assembly or even a piston that would have been at least a little understandable - but never over sprockets!!!
I feel sorry for me but I really feel sorry for the guy I purchased the bike from - he got hit for over 10 thousand bucks on these bikes - be carefull that it dont happen to you!!
By the way - the guy that bought the bike from me has my word that he will get the sprockets as soon as I get them.. I am going to give VOR another 3 months (I fiqure half a year to get sprockets for a brand new bike should be plenty of time) and then I will call VOR in Italy and see if something cant be done - WHAT A FARCE!!
Thanks for writing!!

Anybody else had this type of experience??
Woodsy

 

[Camstyn]

:scream:

:silly:

:uh:

 

[Sage]

I've been inside 4 VOR engines in the last year and never waited longer than 3 weeks for parts (after they were ordered), I've got tranny gears from Italy in less than a month? don't know what happened with your stuff, sounds like you got back burnered?

 

[Boozer]

Sage, no lie, how reliable are these VOR's? i am thinking of getting one but i'm worried about how long it will last. you were saying you have been inside 4 of them? can you elaborate a bit more please? thanks

 

[Enduro_Nut]

Boozer

I have a 00' VOR 400enduro with about 100 hours on it - I love it! So far parts are not a problem( that is why they brought VOR to the US.) and for that matter it has not broke. I dented my pipe and got a replacement in 3 days. I am going to buy a 02' 450E in the next month.
I am finally(after 28 years) making the transition to thumpers - it's getting to the point where I can ride 60 miles on the VOR and be less tired than riding my GG 250.
Going back to reliability - VOR won the 01' ISDE !! :) :)

 

[Boozer]

that sounds sweet!

 

[rollingp]

Three weeks for parts ?
No longer than a month.
I wont be buying one of those.
Thats about 4 races missed.

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by Boozer
Sage, no lie, how reliable are these VOR's? i am thinking of getting one but i'm worried about how long it will last. you were saying you have been inside 4 of them? can you elaborate a bit more please? thanks

the 503's had a run of bad cranks, they were the ones with the polished rods & they don't hold a whole lot of oil and people forget about that..........

#1, owner never checked the valve clearence, spit a exhaust shim and chewed up some cam gears and chipped a tranny gear

#2, owner went camping at a dry lake bed riding area and didn't check the oil for 3 day's worth of fast riding.................. BANG!!! (he came off a XR into a 503 VOR, still thought all 4 strokes were like XR's)

#3, 1 year worth of hard riding - crank started making noise (old style polished rod), pulled it apart, new piston/rings & a updated crank

#4, #2's back 2 years later for a refresh (he kept on top of that oil thing and checked his valves on a regular basis)

they are really a simple engine, the clutch push rod is a turned down car valve :think: , not a whole lot of parts to break.

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by motoeuro
Three weeks for parts ?
No longer than a month.
I wont be buying one of those.
Thats about 4 races missed.

you could get stuff faster for higher shipping rates, that was just ground shipping and me placing a order through my VOR dealer (who knows when he sent off the order? I have a shop in a small town and order almost all my OEM parts from dealers outside my area, 3 weeks for VOR parts from my local dealer is about on par with my local Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki & KTM dealers (now you see why I order from outside my area!!!) anyway's, if your going to race anything other than a jap bike you better stock some parts, I don't see many VOR, HUSKY, TM, GAS GAS, ATK, CANNONDALE, etc.... dealers in every town across the nation. They are a small company who is trying to make it, look at KTM and the leaps they have made in the past years yet I know a lot of people that quit racing KTM's because if they break friday its almost impossible to race sunday.

 

[weimedog]

The parts/customer service situation is the main reasons VOR went direct. They got enough feedback from customers AND dealers to realize the best way to build a happy customer base is to INVEST in a USA based warehouse/company. So they DID.
My 2001 503 has been a very reliable machine. I haven't had problems with parts through the dealers I have worked with. I had to buy crash damage stuff like fenders, radiators, levers etc. Fun Wheels has been good to me. I also know Fun Wheels has done motor work and didn't have problems with parts. I know them very well. There were some warrentee issues n the 2000 series that Funwheels took care of...parts were not an issue. Neither was VOR's resolve to dig out those issues before they got into customer hands. VOR USA has been very pro-active with customers to make certain issues like woodsey talks about don't happen.
The transition between the 99 VOR-Vertimatti-Bimoto and VOR built VOR may have had some twists and turns in parts numbers...I have dealt with later 2000's and they have mostly the same part numbers as my 2001's.

Here is a list of a few other dealers who could help should the NEW owner of this 2000 VOR need things:

1) PVP Cycles, Louisville, KY 502-364-8800 Ask for Andy Hardin
2) Town&Country, NJ 973-875-2111 Ask for Eric
3) Gold Sport, Ithaca NY 607-257-5854 Ask for Jerry.
4) Bike Worx, Maynard Mass. 1-978-897-0044

These guys in addition to FunWheels, all have experience with the 2000-2001 series as well as the new 2002's.

As the first part of the letter woodsey posted show's the VOR community would like to help others even with the older VOR's... woodsey if you have the "new" owner email me and I will take care of the front sprocket...even though I'm not a dealer.