Warranty worries - will doing the work myself void the warranty?

[Don60]

Hello, I have a 2021 RTL with a issue with seat shock holding the seat up, also has a broken clip on the front of the passenger seat that holds the seat in place. I called my local (100 miles, one way) to check on warranty on these items, was told at least six weeks to even take a look at the bike, drop it off and they will get back to me! They would check and see if it is even covered under the warranty and then order parts and I could drop off bike again to get repairs done! REALLY!
My question is, I can replace the seat shock myself, will doing the work myself void my warranty on the rest of the bike? The seat is heated, so would want that covered under warranty!

[Bangorbob]

Yes you can. And I'm sure it voids the warranty. It takes longer to get the part than it does to change.

I meant to say DOES NOT void the warranty.

[Jetfixer]

The broken tab is from someone trying to slam the seat into place instead of making sure it is lined up first. The seat strut going out is a common problem. The strut would be covered under warranty, but would be replaced with the same item which probably wouldn't last any longer than the first one. The tab on the seat would lead to a battle, because they would accuse you of breaking it.

[K80Shooter]

Don't buy the shock from Amazon as others have recently posted links for. It's way too expensive.

Look up McMaster Carr and search on their site for the shock. Thats where I got mine.

[ARtraveler]

Great service from the dealer. I would keep that in mind. The six weeks till we can get to it is happening a lot lately. I am thinking it is the new excuse to blow you off. They got the most money they are going to get from you. Why encourage you to come back to "pick their pockets."

[spyderdave]

I'll start with..., Jetfixer is right on the money about the seat tab; they will undoubtedly blame you.

Regarding the strut...., I, personally, would not hesitate to install a new seat strut, although I wouldn't tell you it's an easy task. And, would order a factory strut, even if it costs more; how would the dealer know?

[Don60]

Jetfixer: you are so correct about blaming me instead of just fixing it! We will see when I take it in next month! Looked at just replacing the seat with a custom one with fill door for fuel, but damn! A heated replacement is over $1000.00! Not within my budget! Will use some aluminum plate and rivet it in place if they don’t cover it!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hello, I have a 2021 RTL with a issue with seat shock holding the seat up, also has a broken clip on the front of the passenger seat that holds the seat in place. I called my local (100 miles, one way) to check on warranty on these items, was told at least six weeks to even take a look at the bike, drop it off and they will get back to me! They would check and see if it is even covered under the warranty and then order parts and I could drop off bike again to get repairs done! REALLY!
My question is, I can replace the seat shock myself, will doing the work myself void my warranty on the rest of the bike? The seat is heated, so would want that covered under warranty!

To eliminate ANY warranty worries .... just carry a stick until they can fix it .... Mike

[Revrent]

Take a look at the "Moss Magnuson Act". Basically it does cover your question about voiding warranty. Short answer is NO it is not voided. However that is not to say that some dealers have still refused to honor warranty claims and have had to be taken to court. Added to that, there is a possibility that you will not come out whole, in that you might not get reimbursed for legal expenses and most likely will never get reimbursed for the use or loss of your time to file and go through the process of a legal claim. However many have used this Act to win against companies, dealerships, etc when they have initially refused to honor warranties because the owners have not used their dealerships etc. In other cases only the item that was changed was voided in the warranty (ie, you put on an aftermarket exhaust, so that item would not be covered under the factory warranty, however they cannot say that since you put on an aftermarket exhaust that your steering bars are now not covered unless they can prove that your aftermarket exhaust caused the steering bars to go bad).

Hope that helps
John

[K80Shooter]

I'll start with..., Jetfixer is right on the money about the seat tab; they will undoubtedly blame you.

Regarding the strut...., I, personally, would not hesitate to install a new seat strut, although I wouldn't tell you it's an easy task. And, would order a factory strut, even if it costs more; how would the dealer know?

The strut from McMaster Carr has the exact same name on it as the factory one. I called the factory that makes the strut with the BRP part number, while that one is made "only" for BRP you can get one with just a couple more psi. BRP does not make the strut, they also purchase them. But it is your money.

[Don60]

Thanks to everyone. I ordered a new strut from McMasters and will go ahead and install it! Wooden dowel for support until I get this done!