A year ago I bought a used 2016 Moto Guzzi Stelvio motorcycle at Fun Center Cycle in Farmington,…read moreNM, with 16k miles on it, and rode it 1,000 miles home. It was not an uneventful ride, as a year of sitting on the showroom floor meant that it had stale gas, and it ran badly the entire ride.
I had vetted the bike by calling the sales team and by texting and emailing. I specifically asked for the fluids to be changed out and that the bike was completely checked out by the shop.
I flew from Sacramento to Durango, Colorado and after an hour was finally able to catch an Uber to the shop in Farmington.
Folks at the shop were pleasant, friendly and welcoming even to the point of offering me a burger cooked out back. That was great as I was starving, a little out of sorts with the altitude and my flight.
I checked the bike out, and everything seemed ok. Loaded my gear in the saddle bags and poked around. Installed the charging wire for my heated vest, and installed my tank bag.
The financial folks got the paperwork sorted out quickly (I thought), and I was on my way.
Right away I noticed the engine had a bit of a rattle. But having owned Moto Guzzis in the past I knew by the sound that it wasn't serious and after a couple minutes the sound was gone.
At my first stop, I determined that the engine and rear end oil (shaft drive) were way past scheduled oil change as they were filthy. Interestingly the transmission oil was as though it was brand new. That lead me to believe that they had changed transmission oil thinking that it was engine oil. Maybe.
The shop had filled the gas tank up but I suspect there was old gas remaining which varnished the fuel injection up. Hence the rough running.
1,000 miles later, when I got the bike home I did a complete fluid change. And yep the engine oil and in particular the rear end oil was super nasty. Shame on Fun Center Cycle for not changing that.
Found a filthy air filter, and on further examination determined that the airbox had a defect in the factory molding process and that unfiltered air was making its way into the airbox and throttle bodies. Shame on Moto Guzzi QC.
If the mechanic had bothered to check the air filter he would have noticed it was filthy and something else was wrong due to the grime, and bird feathers in the air box. That's the second reason for running bad. I had to repair the airbox and spend much time cleaning throttle bodies. Shame on you Fun Center Cycles.
The valves sounded like they hadn't been adjusted in many miles, and on using my feeler gauges found that they were way out of spec. It takes 15 minutes to adjust the valves, and needs to be done every oil change. The included owners manual clearly states this. Shame on you Fun Cycles and maybe the previous owner.
While attempting to register the bike in California DMV, I found out that Fun Cycles screwed up the paper work and signed the title as though the bike had a lien. It did not as I paid the full amount with a cashiers check, This created a pain and I had to wait for new paperwork and had to make a second trip to DMV. Shame on you Fun Cycle.
DMV also wanted to see the emissions stickers on the bike. Luckily the previous owner had left some under the seat. The rest of the stickers on the tank, exhaust and swing arm had all been removed. The exhaust was aftermarket and I sweated bullets that I was going to get into trouble.
A year later I've put on 10,000 miles and I love the bike, but my experience with Fun Center Cycle in Farmington has continued to leave a bad taste in my mouth.