By the same token, we DO ask folks to fill out an information sheet when they come in for any type of tuning, be it suspension, dyno or engine performance work. Besides the regular info, we ask them what they are looking to achieve, what is most and least important, why they chose the modification that they did, ect.
A LOT of shops won't install stuff they haven't sold to the person for just this reason; they don't know what the person has or has not been told (or if the claims are even TRUE or not). We are sensitive to people's pocketbooks; a lot of folks buy stuff on the internetz and then bring it to us for installation. Many folks get the wrong parts, or buy something inappropriate for the intended use and then get pissed. Is it REALLY my fault because I am the bringer of bad news?
In suspensions, we sell Race Tech, Ohlins, Penske and Elka; we sell Dynotune and Bazazz for FMS; we sell Leo Vince, Yosh, and custom race pipes; we work on all the Japanese bikes, new and old, Truimphs KTM's and Ducs, street bikes, dirtbikes, racebikes and cruisers. We fabricate just about anything someone could need. All with just 4 guys.
We are VERY careful about what we sell; most of our business has been by word of mouth through the racer's grapevine. Most of our clients come back time after time.
And most of the problems we encounter are because people don't tell us what they REALLY expect, or interrupt when I'm doing my information gathering and tell me "I just want you to put it on; I'm not interested in that other stuff."
OK...you're the boss.
I will tell you that one of the big issues we've had is with people's expectations from what they may have read; ie. motorcycle mags and websites.
All the big hoopla over the BMW S1000RR in the press has lead to some VERY po'd folks. Motorcyclist touted the "190HP BMW"....(they don't tell you on the cover it's crank HP). So we get folks who want their BMW's dyno'd and then get pissed cause it only makes 174 at the RW. Even when you explain to them beforehand that RW hp is different from crank hp, and that every dyno will give a different reading and that humidity and temperature can have a 2-3% difference on actual raw numbers.
And don't get me going about the guys who come back a week later with $3600 Akropovic full race systems and a Bazazz unit they bought from some internet site based on some "expert" on one of the boards who tells them they should see 195-198 hp with THIS downloaded map... only to find out we can only coax another 4 hp out of the bike on pump gas, and that even with a custom map he might only see another 1-1.5 peak hp by leaning it out a bunch more.
Don't believe everything you read on the internetz........
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