John Trooper and Elka are the very best!!!

[Spyderjockey]

​I have had an issue with my rear Elka shock since it was installed on my Spyder back a couple of years ago. I could not get it adjusted right even after talking to the dealer and John himself about what I needed to do to get it right. Also I discovered another issue with rear shock bolt....it was bent pretty severely. I had sent John an email about that issue and he told me that it was nothing to do with the Elka and that it was a design flaw on the Spyder itself and that he had seen quite a few with that problem.

While I was talking to him about that issue I brought up the problem of still not being able to get the shock adjusted right. He asked me to get the serial# from the shock. When I gave it to him he checked it and found that it was a shock for the 2010 models and not the 2008. BRP had lengthened the shock starting in 2010 and he said the dealer must have by mistake put the wrong shock on and that I would never be able to get the adjustment right with that wrong shock. Anyway he told me to get a hold of the dealer and explain the situation and they should take care of it for me by having it sent to a service center for Elka to be rebuilt. He said if he had installed it he would just take care of it for me. So I talked to the dealer and got all kinds of reasons why they could not really help me with the problem. I called John and told him of the stance the dealer was taking and he advised me to call them back and let them know that they had been paid in good faith and that it was not my fault that they put the wrong shock on and they really needed to do the right thing.

To make an even longer story short John called me tonight and said that he too had talked to the dealer on my behalf and they would not budge on doing anything for me. So John took it upon himself to go to the Elka people and explain the situation to them and they told him that they would rebuild the shock "free of charge" to make things right for me. I can tell you I was really amazed that they would step up and do what the dealer would not do. That is the kind of company that really does care about their customers and wants to do what is right even though they really had nothing to do with the mistake. I just wanted to tell the Spyder family of the kind act of customer service that John and his Elka company did to make things right for me.

Thank you John Trooper and thank you also to Elka......you guys are a great team and a great company!!!

(As a foot note the service manager from the dealer called me tonight and said the best they could do would be to send me a used stock shock that was taken off another Spyder.)

PS: Everyone should check their rear shock bolts once in a while to ensure their bolt is not bent also.

Update:

I rec'd my rear shock back from Elka last Friday after a bit of delay because of a back order problem that Elka ran into on a part they needed to finish my shock rebuild. I finished getting everything back together yesterday and took it out for my first ride this year. What a difference the rebuilt shock made over the prior wrong shock that was put on out in Missouri. No more bottoming out and now the belt tension is what it is supposed to be. Before I had to have the belt tension really loose because when we got on the Spyder it would tighten the belt up....it was really strange and a lot of people would notice how loose the belt was with no one on it and would comment on it so we would get on it and people could not believe how much it would tighten up.

Any way I just wanted to thank John Trooper and all the great people at Elka for fixing the problem that the dealer had caused but would not take care of. Like I had said in the original post they stepped up and fixed a problem that they knew had nothing to do with them, but wanted to make things right for me and rebuilt the shock "free of any charge". You just can't beat customer service and a company like that!!! Thank you again to all the great people at Elka!!

By the way no signs of the oil leak that I saw during the winter while it was just sitting there. I guess it must have been the extreme cold weather we had all winter and it kind of shrunk up the seals, any way I see no signs of it now.

[SpyderAnn01]

Wow, that is awesome. BRP could learn something from Elka about good customer service.

[SteveMac]

Thanks for the review. John is a fantastic guy who sell a great product. Winner winner!

[Yazz]

Thanks for the review. John is a fantastic guy who sell a great product. Winner winner!

+2... Got to talk with John after a Spyderfest, what a wonderful man!

Hope he puts on a seminar again this year about the Elkas. Learned so much from him.

Yeah, I have Elkas too...

[spyderyderjim]

lower rear shock bolt grade 8 hardness.jpgbent lower rear RT stock shock bolt bushing.jpg

​I have had an issue with my rear Elka shock since it was installed on my Spyder back a couple of years ago. I could not get it adjusted right even after talking to the dealer and John himself about what I needed to do to get it right. Also I discovered another issue with rear shock bolt....it was bent pretty severely. I had sent John an email about that issue and he told me that it was nothing to do with the Elka and that it was a design flaw on the Spyder itself and that he had seen quite a few with that problem.

While I was talking to him about that issue I brought up the problem of still not being able to get the shock adjusted right. He asked me to get the serial# from the shock. When I gave it to him he checked it and found that it was a shock for the 2010 models and not the 2008. BRP had lengthened the shock starting in 2010 and he said the dealer must have by mistake put the wrong shock on and that I would never be able to get the adjustment right with that wrong shock. Anyway he told me to get a hold of the dealer and explain the situation and they should take care of it for me by having it sent to a service center for Elka to be rebuilt. He said if he had installed it he would just take care of it for me. So I talked to the dealer and got all kinds of reasons why they could not really help me with the problem. I called John and told him of the stance the dealer was taking and he advised me to call them back and let them know that they had been payed in good faith and that it was not my fault that they put the wrong shock on and they really needed to do the right thing.

To make an even longer story short John called me tonight and said that he too had talked to the dealer on my behalf and they would not budge on doing anything for me. So John took it upon himself to go to the Elka people and explain the situation to them and they told him that they would rebuild the shock "free of charge" to make things right for me. I can tell you I was really amazed that they would step up and do what the dealer would not do. That is the kind of company that really does care about their customers and wants to do what is right even though they really had nothing to do with the mistake. I just wanted to tell the Spyder family of the kind act of customer service that John and his Elka company did to make things right for me.

Thank you John Trooper and thank you also to Elka......you guys are a great team and a great company!!!

(As a foot note the service manager from the dealer called me tonight and said the best they could do would be to send me a used stock shock that was taken off another Spyder.)

PS: Everyone should check their rear shock bolts once in a while to ensure their bolt is not bent also.

Here are 2 photos of lower rear shock stock bolt & grade 8 hardned bolt 10mm x 140mm. Fastenal company carries them.
Jim

[Spyderjockey]

lower rear shock bolt grade 8 hardness.jpgbent lower rear RT stock shock bolt bushing.jpg

Here are 2 photos of lower rear shock stock bolt & grade 8 hardned bolt 10mm x 140mm. Fastenal company carries them.
Jim

Hi Jim,
Just curious, does your Fastenal store sell individual pieces? We have one in Cortland, NY but only sell bulk and refuse to sell individual pieces. Did you have to replace the bushing that is in the second picture or were you able to straighten it? Mine was bent worse than the one you show in the picture, but I was able to straighten it with a big bench vise.

[Spyderjockey]

​I have had an issue with my rear Elka shock since it was installed on my Spyder back a couple of years ago. I could not get it adjusted right even after talking to the dealer and John himself about what I needed to do to get it right. Also I discovered another issue with rear shock bolt....it was bent pretty severely. I had sent John an email about that issue and he told me that it was nothing to do with the Elka and that it was a design flaw on the Spyder itself and that he had seen quite a few with that problem.

While I was talking to him about that issue I brought up the problem of still not being able to get the shock adjusted right. He asked me to get the serial# from the shock. When I gave it to him he checked it and found that it was a shock for the 2010 models and not the 2008. BRP had lengthened the shock starting in 2010 and he said the dealer must have by mistake put the wrong shock on and that I would never be able to get the adjustment right with that wrong shock. Anyway he told me to get a hold of the dealer and explain the situation and they should take care of it for me by having it sent to a service center for Elka to be rebuilt. He said if he had installed it he would just take care of it for me. So I talked to the dealer and got all kinds of reasons why they could not really help me with the problem. I called John and told him of the stance the dealer was taking and he advised me to call them back and let them know that they had been paid in good faith and that it was not my fault that they put the wrong shock on and they really needed to do the right thing.

To make an even longer story short John called me tonight and said that he too had talked to the dealer on my behalf and they would not budge on doing anything for me. So John took it upon himself to go to the Elka people and explain the situation to them and they told him that they would rebuild the shock "free of charge" to make things right for me. I can tell you I was really amazed that they would step up and do what the dealer would not do. That is the kind of company that really does care about their customers and wants to do what is right even though they really had nothing to do with the mistake. I just wanted to tell the Spyder family of the kind act of customer service that John and his Elka company did to make things right for me.

Thank you John Trooper and thank you also to Elka......you guys are a great team and a great company!!!

(As a foot note the service manager from the dealer called me tonight and said the best they could do would be to send me a used stock shock that was taken off another Spyder.)

PS: Everyone should check their rear shock bolts once in a while to ensure their bolt is not bent also.


Update:

I rec'd my rear shock back from Elka last Friday after a bit of delay because of a back order problem that Elka ran into on a part they needed to finish my shock rebuild. I finished getting everything back together yesterday and took it out for my first ride this year. What a difference the rebuilt shock made over the prior wrong shock that was put on out in Missouri. No more bottoming out and now the belt tension is what it is supposed to be. Before I had to have the belt tension really loose because when we got on the Spyder it would tighten the belt up....it was really strange and a lot of people would notice how loose the belt was with no one on it and would comment on it so we would get on it and people could not believe how much it would tighten up.

Any way I just wanted to thank John Trooper and all the great people at Elka for fixing the problem that the dealer had caused but would not take care of. Like I had said in the original post they stepped up and fixed a problem that they knew had nothing to do with them, but wanted to make things right for me and rebuilt the shock "free of any charge". You just can't beat customer service and a company like that!!! Thank you again to all the great people at Elka!! You guys are great!

[Bob Denman]

I'm glad to hear that things are starting to look a bit better for you!

[Netminder]

John is second to none in client service! He has gone above and beyond in any enquiries I had about my Elkas! Just a real stand up guy!

[rnet]

My shock mount bolt was bent also and it did not bend until after I got the Elka and it happened right after. It happened at the last SITA on Rt 86 coming down from the campgrounds by Whiteface into Lake Placid and I bottomed it out on that bridge that was being repaired in a huge pot hole. Not Elka's fault, guess I was giving the rear a test with my wife on board. I did not go the grade 8 bolt thing, cause I would rather have the bolt bend than the frame and could have easily.

[Bob Denman]

Don't let her hear you say that...

[Spiderwoman]

+2... Got to talk with John after a Spyderfest, what a wonderful man!

Hope he puts on a seminar again this year about the Elkas. Learned so much from him.

Yeah, I have Elkas too...

+3....John is just a good guy!

And Yeah. I have Elkas too!

[Trooper]

Thank you all for the very kind, humbling comments. I dont own the company, but I try to represent it as if I did, and try my best to make sure that everyone is well served to the best of my abilities

I will see you all at Spyderfest !

[spyderyderjim]

Hi Jim,
Just curious, does your Fastenal store sell individual pieces? We have one in Cortland, NY but only sell bulk and refuse to sell individual pieces. Did you have to replace the bushing that is in the second picture or were you able to straighten it? Mine was bent worse than the one you show in the picture, but I was able to straighten it with a big bench vise.

I drilled out the bent rear lower shock bushing so hardened bolt would fit. Fastenal in Tucson, Arizona sells individual metric bolts 10m x 140mm (metric bolts have a different code = to grade 8). I had to sledge hammer the stock bolt out of bent Elka bushing.
I would like to see a hardened stock bolt or a stronger Elka rear lower bushing to address the bent bolt/bushing shock problem.
Jim