Ruined trip to Wales because top speed tune but wanted off road use
Booked my ducati desert x in bhp uk for a tune up 21st August. Before a wales off road trip. was told he has done 17 desert x before so i thoughti was in safe hands .Traveled 216 miles to get to Burnley to get there 9.15 am. cal tuned the bike on the dyno machine took a good few hours doing this I found he tuned and adjusted it for top end power I didn't want this as I was using it for off road use like I said and with nobby tires nobody would want top end riding so I took it to Wales later that day bike was great at motorway speeds but at below 5000 rpm it ran terribly and unrideable ratting like it was in wrong gear in any of 6 settings fantastic over 70 mph so contacted bhp to take it back ASAP after many emails and phone calls they finally got back week and half later to me giving me a date to go back 17th September fine so another 216 miles each way I decided to stay in a hotel in Burnley day before and took it in back of my friends van as the weather was very windy and rainy took the bike out of the van and bike was rolled straight in I has to remove the mirrors and screen had small problem after it was rolled up on the dyno the front brake was locking on only found out this when the bike dashboard was flashing red as it was blasting round to 10000 rpm on a cold start and wasn't warmed up to temperature not happy about that I adjusted the brake leaver and tighten up mirrors bolt etc I told cal my problem that it wasn't riding well under 5000 rpm he said my chain was loose and that was the problem so he tighten the chain still on the rolling road it was tightened far to tight in my book but took his word for it( it's should be 47 mm and on its side stand weight) and not tied down on rolling road cal has the tools but definitely no mechanic he then spent the next few hours on the rolling road adjusting on his computers I test rode it after and it was much better now at lower speeds 3000rpm onwards so i was Happy again I loaded the van again cal come over said am I happy as he said he didn't do anything only it just needed the chain adjusting why was he so many hours on the rolling road if it only needed a tighten chain what was a total lie this guy has loads of great reviews ???this is why I travelled so far to use him to get my bike spot on after my decat my summary is if you Decat your ducati your not going to stop the popping and back fires so so keep it as it is 500 pounds on the very small amount of benefits you get from this tune is not worth the potential damage I did ask for a dyno tuning print out of before and after the tune after 2 phone calls and many emails I got graph emailed to me 24th September just to add this bike has a brand new chain and sprockets fitted by a local motorcycle shop fully serviced with new air filter funnel web new o2 sensor oil and filters all before my visit I didn't want my money back I wanted my bike back to how it was rideable at traffic speed and for off road use its back to how it was now
Reply from BHP UK
Hi Barry, we strive to achieve perfect customer satisfaction and welcome all feedback both positive and negative. However, this is a really unfair review and most of the material facts are incorrect.
1, We did tune your bike before you took it to the Wales trip and you did call us to say that the bike was not good below 5000 RPM and felt lumpy. As we have tuned many of these bikes we were aware of the common mechanical problems and did ask you to check the chain tension which you said was fine so we offered to book your bike back in for us to check the tune on the dyno free of charge.
2, You came back to us and the first thing that we noticed was your chain was way to slack and the front brake was binding. We helped you fix these problems, and you were happy about how tight your chain was after YOU tightened it. We informed you that the chain was so slack it was probably the cause of the problem.
3, To be prudent we ran the bike on the dyno to double check the tune and the fuelling was correct. On your second visit we did 4 pulls and did not spend hours dynoing your bike as you say.
4, After running your bike on the dyno we confirmed that the tune WAS correct and we did not make any alterations to the initial tune. All your bike needed was the chain tightening and the brakes releasing.
5, After test riding your bike you reported with a beaming smile "That rides like a different bike, what have you done to it?". To which Qal replied "Nothing, we tightened your chain".
6, We did not rev your bike to the limit till the bike had been warmed up during the configuration & calibration runs. (We monitor the engine temps on our diagnostic screen)
7, The red light was not flashing on the dashboard due to the brakes binding but due to the fact that the bike was on a dyno and was only turning the rear wheel and as such registers a traction control fault. This happens on every bike on the dyno.
8, All of this could have been avoided if you had checked your chain tension as we told you to do on the first call you made back to us.
9, WE DID NOT NOT CHARGE YOU FOR ALL THE WORK WE DID ON YOUR SECOND VISIT EVEN THOUGH WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN OUR RIGHTS TO DO SO AS THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WAS POOR MECHANICAL MAINTENANCE.
10, ALL OUR WORK CARRIES A 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE IF YOU DO NOT FEEL THE TUNE UP WAS WORTH THE MONEY YOU SPENT YOU COULD HAVE SIMPLY ASKED FOR A REFUND.
