Bear’s Cycle & Restoration

[mossquire]

I havent posted anything regarding my problem with the above company whilst I was still trying to give Bear every chance to do the right thing. However other than a court case I believe I have exhausted all avenues now with the result that Randakks have removed him from their list of Recommended Carb Rebuilders.

I suppose the bulk of the message to forum users is as above and I urge people not to use the company and Randakks have agreed but should you be interested in the story its below. Not knowing how to post photographs of the mess he made I havent but if someone shows me how I will be happy to. I sent all the photos and emails as evidence to Randakks.

Name James Moss
Email the_james_moss@
Phone +440786
Reason
Customer Service
Bike Information
1975 Honda Goldwing GL1000
Message
I have a serious complaint regarding Bear Cycles, one of your 'approved' carburettor restoration partners. I, my brother and my restorer have all contacted him regarding the complete mess he made restoring my carbs. over a year on and I am now having to pay the restorer to completely strip, clean, restore and replace worn and damaged parts from a set of GL1000 carbs that were sent to him. I did my research via both the Goldwing sites and they all said your carb kit was the best. I went onto your site and saw the recommended installers for your kit. Approved and trained by yourselves it said. Unfortunately, Pistol Pete had passed so I chose Bear. I am in the UK but the bike is at my brother’s house in Boston Mass. I bought it with the plan to come over and do road trips with my brother. It needed restoration so it went to a highly recommended restorer in Mass. I stupidly said he could do all the work other than the carbs which should go to Bear. They were sent but when they came back, they had been trashed. Two float posts were broken, they stank of old fuel and had clearly never seen a cleaning tank. We contacted Bear who claimed he was moving premises and had given the job to an employee to do and it was their fault, this seemed strange as half way through the job Bear emailed us to explain he believed the shafts were from a different set of similar Honda GL1000 carbs. He apologised and said send them back and he would do them personally and he would replace the two carb bodies damaged in the last attempt. We ended up paying postage which is not cheap. The set came back days before I arrived to do a two-week road trip. The restorer fitted them but the linkage had been damaged and it would not run at all on the rear nearside carb. They had to be removed and checked. It was due to something in the carb being fitted upside down which stopped the float from dropping and any fuel from entering the float bowl. I had to cancel the road trip, costing 100s of dollars/£, doing a few days on a borrowed bike, Bear was contacted but he was not interested at all in doing any remedial work or any recompense. After that the restorer explained that he was not going to fit the carbs as he had done a lot of work on the bike and he was not prepared to fit a set of carbs that he was not confident about and is telling me the carbs will need a full clean as they are filthy and another full carb kit. So it now appears that after paying over $600 for Bear to 'restore' my carbs, I am going to pay it again to have a professional to do the job properly. I am coming back at the end of August to do the road trip again. Is this the sort of customer service you expect or approve? I can’t see that you would want your reputation associated with this. I have all the emails and pictures of the abysmal attempt by Bear who has been anything but customer friendly which is why I am coming to you. I am literally hundreds of dollars out of pocket.

[WingAdmin]

I havent posted anything regarding my problem with the above company whilst I was still trying to give Bear every chance to do the right thing. However other than a court case I believe I have exhausted all avenues now with the result that Randakks have removed him from their list of Recommended Carb Rebuilders.

I suppose the bulk of the message to forum users is as above and I urge people not to use the company and Randakks have agreed but should you be interested in the story its below. Not knowing how to post photographs of the mess he made I havent but if someone shows me how I will be happy to. I sent all the photos and emails as evidence to Randakks.

Name James Moss
Email the_james_moss@
Phone +440786
Reason
Customer Service
Bike Information
1975 Honda Goldwing GL1000
Message
I have a serious complaint regarding Bear Cycles, one of your 'approved' carburettor restoration partners. I, my brother and my restorer have all contacted him regarding the complete mess he made restoring my carbs. over a year on and I am now having to pay the restorer to completely strip, clean, restore and replace worn and damaged parts from a set of GL1000 carbs that were sent to him. I did my research via both the Goldwing sites and they all said your carb kit was the best. I went onto your site and saw the recommended installers for your kit. Approved and trained by yourselves it said. Unfortunately, Pistol Pete had passed so I chose Bear. I am in the UK but the bike is at my brother’s house in Boston Mass. I bought it with the plan to come over and do road trips with my brother. It needed restoration so it went to a highly recommended restorer in Mass. I stupidly said he could do all the work other than the carbs which should go to Bear. They were sent but when they came back, they had been trashed. Two float posts were broken, they stank of old fuel and had clearly never seen a cleaning tank. We contacted Bear who claimed he was moving premises and had given the job to an employee to do and it was their fault, this seemed strange as half way through the job Bear emailed us to explain he believed the shafts were from a different set of similar Honda GL1000 carbs. He apologised and said send them back and he would do them personally and he would replace the two carb bodies damaged in the last attempt. We ended up paying postage which is not cheap. The set came back days before I arrived to do a two-week road trip. The restorer fitted them but the linkage had been damaged and it would not run at all on the rear nearside carb. They had to be removed and checked. It was due to something in the carb being fitted upside down which stopped the float from dropping and any fuel from entering the float bowl. I had to cancel the road trip, costing 100s of dollars/£, doing a few days on a borrowed bike, Bear was contacted but he was not interested at all in doing any remedial work or any recompense. After that the restorer explained that he was not going to fit the carbs as he had done a lot of work on the bike and he was not prepared to fit a set of carbs that he was not confident about and is telling me the carbs will need a full clean as they are filthy and another full carb kit. So it now appears that after paying over $600 for Bear to 'restore' my carbs, I am going to pay it again to have a professional to do the job properly. I am coming back at the end of August to do the road trip again. Is this the sort of customer service you expect or approve? I can’t see that you would want your reputation associated with this. I have all the emails and pictures of the abysmal attempt by Bear who has been anything but customer friendly which is why I am coming to you. I am literally hundreds of dollars out of pocket.

I would encourage you to post this also in our Vendors database (click on "Rate/Edit this Vendor")

[mossquire]

Posted as suggested
So as people dont think this is just someone hating/keyboard warrior ect this is Randakks reply to my complaint


From: Randakk's Customer Service <customerservice@randakks.com>
Date: 3 August 2023 at 17:09:03 BST
To: the_james_moss@msn.com
Subject: Re: Complaint
Reply-To: Randakk's Customer Service <customerservice@randakks.com>
James,

Thank you for your patience on this.
Our manager has attempted to reach out to Bear on 3 separate occasions with no response.
We will be removing him from our Recommended Carb Rebuilders.

We apologize for the unsatisfactory service you have received from Bear,
thanks to your feedback, no more future Randakk customers will have the same issue.

Please let us know if we can further assist.

Thank you and have a great day,
Sam
Revival Parts
201 Kelsey Lane | Suite B | Tampa, FL 33619

[ankgrays]

I’m glad I saw this post. I am getting to the point of having my carbs rebuilt, and was going to go with Bear’s.

So now I’m stumped.

Who else does quality work at a reasonable price?????

Thanks,

Dave

[mossquire]

I have ended up having the carbs done by the shop who restored the bike in the first place. This was the guy who I said no no I want the carbs to go to a proper specialist....... huh, who's eating humble pie now. As for anyone else wanting to send their carbs away I was contacted by a guy called Cedric who has been absolutely fabulous. He offered to drop everything and he would send a set of restored carbs that he has in stock and I just send mine back. He is a carb restorer and if his knowledge is anything to show his level of work then I would recommend you at least talk to him. his contact details are cedricfairweather@gmail.com and I would have used him definately but I had to get the carbs done and on the bike this week so some test riding could be done prior to me arriving in the US next week hopefully to put 2-3k over the 3 weeks I am there. The alternative is an Aprillia V4 which although is incredibly fast doesnt do my 63 year old wrists much good after a couple of hundred miles let alone 1k.

[longhairbeardontcare]

Bear here. This guy was trying to get a free rebuild out of me or something. I tried to please him by going through the carbs again but it became clear that only a free rebuild would satisfy him. My rebuilds are as clean and perfect as ever, I promise. Nearly 1000 happy by-mail customers in the last 5 years, great reviews, and my only issue is major volume keeping turnaround times above 8 weeks.

I haven't heard a thing from Randakk's about this. Bear's Cycle is still an Approved Rebuilder. I assume it's nonsense which they've seen through as well.

[Bike...and Dennis]

I'd sure like to see (detailed) pics of the damaged carbs. And a detailed explanation of the work originally requested.

[Rambozo]

You know what they say; "Without pictures, it never happened."

[OldguyGlen]

I have purchased from Randakk's before and get their email notices on promotions regularly. Just out of curiosity, due to Bear's post above claiming he was still an approved carb rebuilder, I clicked on my email notice today and went to the Randakk's site. I looked up approved vendors for carbs... I did NOT see Bear's Cycle on the list as of today 8/25/23

[WingAdmin]

I have purchased from Randakk's before and get their email notices on promotions regularly. Just out of curiosity, due to Bear's post above claiming he was still an approved carb rebuilder, I clicked on my email notice today and went to the Randakk's site. I looked up approved vendors for carbs... I did NOT see Bear's Cycle on the list as of today 8/25/23

I can confirm this - I saw it there last week, and you can see it on this archived version of the page:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230609223 ... program-2/

However, looking there today, they have definitely been removed:

https://www.randakksblog.com/randakks-a ... program-2/

[mdblackjazz]

Sorry to hear this post. Bear rebuilt my carbs two years ago, no leaks no issues. I just sent him another set of gl1100 carbs to be rebuilt
and have no reason to not have confidence in this reguard. I assume he is using Randakks rebuild kits for my rebuild and have no reason
to distrust otherwise . Bear will contact me with information on progress with rebuild soon. Maybe the complaint has merit , I can't say.
Bear has done right by me , Jus sayin.

[FM-USA]

So BEAR is his working name, what's his first name?

.

.

[Rambozo]

Yogi, Teddy, Smokey, Panda, Grizzly, Care, etc?

[FM-USA]

Was sent word that his first name, Barret (S.)
I needed to know who I was chatting with online for parts & possible carb rebuild.
Doubt Yogi knows how to remove a carb .


.

[Rambozo]

That all depends on if it's in a picnic basket.

[mdblackjazz]

old carburators are like old clocks , you cant leave them outside in the rain and cold for years and years and expect them to work with no new parts because some parts are not reusable once damaged by time and use.
Bears Cycle and restoration has rebuilt two of my gl1100 carbs . It takes a while to get them back and sometimes some of the parts can not be
reused which will increase the price.
My friend converted his gl1000 to single . It runs , it didnt cost a lot , but if you can't figure out throttle body and linkage you probably can't rebuild a carb.
Maybe the complaint should have never taken on the challenge of restoring a old goldwing with out accepting inevitable set backs and yes
there will be many.

[GD2]

I’m glad I saw this post. I am getting to the point of having my carbs rebuilt, and was going to go with Bear’s.

So now I’m stumped.

Who else does quality work at a reasonable price?????

Thanks,

Dave

Hands down - https://romaxcycles.com/

[FM-USA]

Hands down - https://romaxcycles.com/

Buying there, I'll need to take out a 2nd mortgage.
YA-ya, I know everything's gone up & still going up but our income is still basically stagnate.

.

[GD2]

Buying there, I'll need to take out a 2nd mortgage.
YA-ya, I know everything's gone up & still going up but our income is still basically stagnate.
.

You think his rebuild services are expensive? From what I compared them to locally, he's downright cheap.

[FM-USA]

Buying there, I'll need to take out a 2nd mortgage.
YA-ya, I know everything's gone up & still going up but our income is still basically stagnate.
.

You think his rebuild services are expensive? From what I compared them to locally, he's downright cheap.

I perform my repairs, hence the parts WOAH $!

.

[GD2]

I made the referral to someone who asked about rebuild services.

[mdblackjazz]

At this time I can not say if this service is right for you , it was right for me both times I had done because I have no issues, no complaint after two different rebuilds. If I had paid a lot for a rebuild and it did have leaks or problems maybe I would have a different view point.
I had a local rebuilder quote me 800$ ON THE MOTORCYCLE and put back on two years ago , I thought that was a lot at the time.

[mossquire]

To all that took notice, my apologies. I intended to reply with all the emails from Bear and the photos of the aborted attempt to refurbish my carbs. I didn’t because I had put a similar post on another forum and was banned without recourse, without anyone asking me to back up my allegations. I believe this is a forum I need to have and don’t wish to be banned or fall foul of a rule that I haven’t read ect. I had, like this post put a couple of emails from Bear showing him lying but TBH wasn’t certain how to put the photos on. I did send the photo’s to Randakks as part of my evidence and I thought that that would be the best way to deal with it. We can argue all day on a forum and Bear can make silly comments about wanting a free rebuild!!! If it had been done correctly, I wouldn’t have needed a rebuild. It went Bears twice and came back non functioning both times. Did I ask for a refund? Yes, why wouldn’t I? I chose you because you had a good reputation but you let me down, twice. I paid you somewhere around $600 then paid for the postage for them to be sent back and then paid another $500 for your work to be corrected. I have the photos, I have the emails where you tell me when stripping the carbs, you thought the throttle shafts maybe from another carb model then after the problems were found I have the emails stating you didn’t do the rebuild, you were sorry that you had given the work to someone else and it must have been them. So just a blatant lie. Unfortunately, between then and now covid reared its head and TBH there are more important things in this life than to carry on banging my head against a wall with this. I am in my mid 60’s and have been in business for myself and others for 20 of those years. I have long since learned that reading a review that someone sold a product that was a good price and arrived on time is worth nothing. The worth of a good company is how they deal with a fault or problem and Bear cannot be trusted to rectify a fault. You cannot do it by lying.
If the consensus on here is that, someone said, without photos it didn’t happen and they want to see them I will post them, After all, it’s not my reputation.

[longhairbeardontcare]

Go away already. Back to the swamp with you.
My shop is Randakk's Approved again, despite your best efforts to screw with me.
You sent me a terribly corroded set of carbs and it came out great, all things considered. You state in your first email that you never even ran the carbs on a bike, just began taking them apart and nitpicking the corrosion, eroded metal and staining that no cleaning process can fix. I admitted fault because it seemed that would please you, and had you send back the set. I went all through the set, polishing even all the little parts which by now I knew you would be disassembling and inspecting upon return. Again it seems you did not run the carbs on a bike. I offered to refund labor the first time around. After the second time you disassembled and nitpicked a perfectly serviceable set of rebuilt carbs, I was no longer willing to refund you.
I've sorted out the emails. I was confused initially since I had communicated with both you and your brother and so much time had passed, but I have all the emails and your pictures rounded up. Your complaints were baseless from the beginning. The dark pictures you took show basically nothing, and surely no potential for running issues. You could have just installed the set and enjoyed the thrill of riding a wing with perfect carbs. I think you just prefer to moan.
So, go away already. It's you and your nonsense versus over 1000 very happy customers. Randakk's sees through it, and so does everyone else.

[tamathumper]

It's all becoming so much clearer now.