Here's an update on my situation. I'm hoping to get some suggestions from you guys:
So the insurance company didn't want to pay for it. So I said "fine". That evening, I went down to the dealership to pick up my bike. They told me:
(SA = Service Advisor, SM = Service Manager, Me = Me - duh)
BTW, I though I'd mention what dealer this is also, for any of you in the Puget Sound area may want to know. But it was South Seattle Sports Plaza.
SA: That'll be $5?? (I wanted a new battery too)
Me: Actually, I don't plan on paying anything.
SA: Well then we can give you the bike.
Me: Actually you have to, cause I'm not obligated to pay a dime since you completed the work without giving me an estimate.
SA: I gave you an estimate. You came in here with an estimate that you said you were going to send to the insurance.
Me: Yes, but that was after the work had already been completed.
SA: Ok, I'm not going to argue with you. (He gets the SM)
SM: What's the deal here?
Me: You guys completed all the work without my authorization. I'm not paying a dime.
SM: Then I can't give you the bike.
Me: You have too, or I'll have to call the cops to get you to release the bike.
SM: Then call the cops.
So I call the cops, and they said they'll send someone down.
Before the cops show up, about 5 minutes after I got off the phone, they wave me over and hand me my keys. and tell me "Your bike will be pushed out in a minute, and we don't want your business again." I reply with "Fine by me."
Well, after about 5 minutes, my bike still wasn't out. So I kinda went behind the fence and peaked in and saw a couple techs with at least the seat off, not sure about the air box. They saw me and said "Sir, you need to stay behind the fence, this is for employees only." So I casually walk away.
About another 10 minutes later, they roll my bike out. Here's something very professional, they left a nice loogie on my transmission for me. I pointed out the service manager. He looked and replied "Well, that ain't very professional." I reply with "Uhhh, ya!" And he proceeds to wipe it off.
I tried to fire the bike up, but the it was dead. The lights didn't even light up.
The cops finally show up. I explained everything to him. He agreed that I didn't have to pay them anything. But now that I have the bike, he really didn't need to be there anymore. I pushed the bike off their lot, and into their neighbors lot. Whipped out some tools and pulled the seat off to give it a jump. The negative cable wasn't even connected. Those *****. I connect it, jump the bike, and.............................................THOSE F@#$ERS!!! It's puking fuel out of the same GD vent line!!!!!!
Now I'm pissed! And they're already gone and closed up. I eventually was able to remove the airbox with limited tools. I couldn't access the float bowl. So I ended up plugging up the fuel feed line to the problem carb, dissabling that cylinder and rode the bike home. BTW, on the way home, the bike was idling really high (2500 rpms or so) even with it only on 3 cylinders.
So I've had the day to try to figure out what the hell I'm going to do now. I could just fix the damn thing myself, but honestly, this bike is totally hacked up now, and it's pissing me off. Because before the accident, my bike was nearly flawless.
My plans are to call the insurance company and get really pissy with them with threats about involving the Insurance Commissioner, the Attorney General, and maybe even sueing their *****. The bike has only about 30 more miles on it than it did at the time of the accident that happened last freakin' August! This time I'm going to mandate a rental car that gets comparable mileage to my bike, because my truck gets a whopping 16 mpg. And I'm going to request to take it to Renton Motorcycles, which is where I bought the thing, and is where I wanted to take it in the first place, if it wasn't so far away. My bike is an '02 with only 4600 miles on it. And now it runs like sh@#. The freaking handle bars now squeak cause all the damn hoses and harnesses are misrouted. I've seen plenty of trim items and covers that aren't installed properly. I don't know if I mentioned this, but this was the third time it was in the shop. The first time was the majority of the repairs. The second time, the wheel was still bent, they wired the front turn signals wrong, and there was a fat dent in my radiator guard still. They didn't even test ride it after the repairs. The second time, I requested they fix all this. They only fixed the wheel and the turn signals. They attempted to fix the misrouting of the hoses and wires, but failed miserably. I took the bike home and waited for them to order the radiator guard. When it came in, that's when I fired the bike up and it started leaking fuel everywhere. Plus my battery could barely hold a charge when I got it back. My bike is now a f@#%ing piece of sh@! now. And I'm pissed.
I'm wondering if you guys have any other suggestions. I'm still not too clear on the float bowl issue. I know alot of you guys have had these carbs apart way more than I have (none). I know how a basic carburetor works, but not a v-max carb. I heard two things about this. The dealership originally said the float was out of adjustment. How does a carburetor float go out of adjustment? Honestly, I can see one getting stuck, but not out of adjustment. It seems that if a float was out of adjustment, it was adjusted out. Then, I believe they claimed to the insurance company that it was just stuck, because the bike's been sitting too long. BTW, since the accident, I've had possesion of the bike for about 97% of the time. So who's fault is it that the bikes been sitting too damn long? Certainly not mine!
For those of you who read this whole thing, I really should buy you a beer!
