quick vent... sorry...

What a joke... so KTM is made in Austria right?

Vienna is the capital of Austria right?

If you need help with your KTM you would go to the shop as detailed on the KTM website (please note there is only 1 in all of Vienna), right?

2Rad Börse Center KCO Handels GmbH & Co KG
Praterstrasse 47
1020 Wien
Österreich
Tel. 01/2148595

You would expect the only KTM dealer in Vienna would be something a little more special, right? but walking in you would think it was a dirty Honda dealer in any old town.
A KTM "authorized" dealer should have a master chain link, right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should have the KTM recomended chain lube, right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should have the KTM recomended radiator fluid , right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should have the KTM recomended shock lube, right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should be able to tell me where in Vienna I can buy a spark plug tool (since he doesn't sell them), right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should not refer me to "internet forums" to figure out what is the most street specific tire he can put on my bike, right?

A KTM "authorized" dealer should be helpful, right?

(I thought the fact that they are only open until 6pm M-F and not at all on the weekends was bad enough)

What the F !?


and does a thermostat really cost €45 ?

yea... KTM dealership is not the best at all, my sadly experiences as well....
there are only a very few around who deserve to be called special...

anyway hijacking your your post to introduce my POI file with most of the KTM dealers and workshops in Europe, OK some of the dealers in Spain and the UK are still missing in the file but most are included.

in this POI and waypoint file included are a few non-KTM and tyre shops as well so it will be help full anyway... free to use for everyone.

spooky

Attached Files

	KTM-workshops.gpx (112.7 KB, 192 views)
	KTM-workshops.gdb (30.6 KB, 87 views)

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The trouble is that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hobgoblinontour

The KTM capital is Oberhausen in Germany (for me at least). Sadly I had to move further away from it...
Best to order online, sad but true. Or tell the dealer to order it and pick it up a few days later, that'll save you the postage costs which is silly when you need only small items.

Surprised to hear this about KTM. Sounds like KTM do a better job outside of Austria. They are well represented in California, about five dealers in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.

I suppose you could ride your bike to the main headquarters, call the TV News guys and set it on fire. Maybe that would get their attention?

Most experienced KTM owners have to become somewhat expert regards the care and feeding of their bike. Only the strong (and smart) seem to survive ... the rest go back to whatever bike they had before.

Seriously, don't give up. It's a good bike, just need to get the basic tools and good, cheap source for parts.

And seriously, I would go the the headquarters and demand an audience with the King.

Good luck.

quiet right...
in the last few years it turned out that most of the "new" KTM dealers are quite arrogant the way they treat there valuable customers...
using the motto "buy the stuff.. or f**k off..."

KTM became to big in a short time, at least here in Germany, KTM became a sort of "elite lifestyle"... sort of "we are the best" you have to knee down in front of the king as customer and hand over your wallet in advanced if you want to be part of that exclusive club... well at least that's the way KTM shops are styled up for... as customer you have to pay for the big stupid orange shop outfit and flashy power ware crap... and not for good service...

don't get me wrong, there are excellent KTM dealers around, mainly the ones that have been in business for many years, mainly the ones from the "pre new-style orange hype" area.... I know a few of them... but they are "no official" KTM representatives any more, but still strong in business.

I agree most shop personal do sell you any thing that's on the shelf, but don't know anything about the bikes at all.

I'm personally order only by part-no. out of the parts manuals and hope for the best that I get the right part, any thing else go's wrong... even at "The KTM capital is Oberhausen in Germany" makes no differents.. OK yes they are fast to deliver... but... since it changed over from KTM-Sommer to KTM-team-west... well yea depending on who serves you at the phone makes a different, the amount of wrong parts picked out of the shelf, I stopped counting.... the workshop is useless.... not very helpfully for tech advice any more... two weeks booking in advanced is no good.
found another old KTM dealer near by.. can call the guys and they tell me to get over to have a quick look if they can fix it instantly...

that's it exactly.. yes... I rather get my hand dirty my self than trusting any workshop at all, if some thing go's wrong I can only blame my self, but don't have to deal with a mechanics bad work on the side of a country lane.
that's the way it is, love your bike, fix it your self, can't you fix it your self... well.. get a push-bike instead or walk.

sadly, most good service went down the drain in favour for profit and hype this day...

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The trouble is that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hobgoblinontour

Here in California some KTM dealers have been around since the late 80's. Some are new but ALL have to fight to survive. Very competitive business environment, so service and parts has to be good. Arrogant dealers don't survive here. In this economy especially ... the customer is KING!

KTM have done a really good job marketing here, sponsoring Desert Enduro Fun events out in the desert for customers (with racers as your coach!)

KTM have made the ownership experience fun and customers get to hang out with Dakar Racing stars and such. Smart. Too bad KTM lost Scott Harden to Husky now. Former Desert racer and Baja star Scott Harden was one of the driving forces behind KTM here in California and Nevada and really helped market the bikes with these events.

My local dealer has some decent mechanics, most of them ride dirt bikes and some are racers. This helps. They stay close to problems and know how to solve most of them and keep customers happy. No "Big Four" bike shop are as good in this regard. My KTM shop "make it personal" and connect with customers, know their names. That is the key.

Since we're mentioning decent dealers...

Here in the UK KTM dealers are fairly few and far between. I bought my first KTM, a 950, three years ago at Albion in Exeter, Devon. They are an established off-road bike dealer in Honda, Kawasaki as well as KTM and only branched into the road bike stuff when KTM kinda made them.

They have loads of of dirt bike knowledge and know their stuff in general but lacked a bit of road specific knowledge. Over the last few years though they have been keen to learn more from me and show interest in where I go and things I learn here and on ADV rider etc.

I tried buying stuff online to save a few pounds but ended up with the wrong stuff or no stuff at all despite giving part numbers! Went back to Albion and found the extra little expense worth it as they will always check availability before I leave the shop and call when the stuff is in, usually within the week.

Good luck with your local dealer everyone!

Well at least the Volvo main dealer in Vienna is good. They rotated, rebalanced and realigned all my wheels for free

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http://www.mongolbikers.com

If you want a knowledgeable dealer that will have a good selection of parts in stock, try Schruf in Hirtenberg, about 1/2 hour away from the center. 2 Rad Börse has too many other brands and KTM is really not their focus.

That being said, are you very new to motorcycles? You really don't have to use the KTM recommended chain lube....

Cheers,
Lukas


PS: If you need a very good independent mechanic who has been doing nothing but LC4 and EXC bikes for the last 15 years let me know.