Hello
I thought I’d share my recent negative experience with a company called 4thDimension. They are a motorcycle repair firm that deal with insurance claims.
Obviously this is my personal experience and nothing more.
TL;DR - 4th Dimension put the wrong exhausts on my bike, delivered an unsafe bike (seized brakes) and didn't complete their repair work.
I was filtering when a car u-turned on me. The bike was hit on its front left and engine block and then landed on its right side (I was somewhere down the road
). It wasn’t a fast accident, 15-20mph, but I ride a Triumph Bonneville and they’re not exactly made to be dropped – just like most bikes. There was a lot of aesthetic damage alongside the more serious issues.
The following was damaged:
• Left header exhaust pipe
• Snapped gear lever
• Left & right exhaust silencer bent / dented
• Bent handlebars
• Smashed left & right bar end mirrors
• Bent headlight bracket
• Dented headlight bowl
• Bent riders footpeg – right & left
• Bent passenger footpeg – right
• Snapped / bent R&G engine block protectors
• Bent rear brake lever
• Bent /scratched front right indicator
• Bent /scratched back right indicator
• Minor issues:
• Scuffed clutch cover
• Scuffed grips
• Swingarm scratch where the silencer hit
• Scuffed front brake lever
• Scuffed brake cable housing
4thDimension picked the bike up 2 days after the accident. About 5 days later they phoned to say that unfortunately it’d be a write off, but if I was willing to waive a few items then they’d be able to start repairs. If I waived the following, the rest of the damage would be repaired:
• Dented headlight bowl
• Swingarm scratch
• Right side rider footrest – they told me this was not bent but scuffed only (turns out it was bent, and still is)
• Light mark on the throttle grip
• Light mark on the cylinder cover
I agreed to have these waived if it meant getting my bike back. The third party accepted liability and repairs on my bike began. I even offered to help source the custom exhausts. So far so good...
Over the next few weeks communication was poor. I always had to initiate the email or phone call. I wonder how much longer this would have taken if I had left them to it? Quite a bit I’d imagine.
I was told the bike would be delivered back to me on the 9th of March depending on availability of parts (I had the accident on the 25th January). Towards the end of February I got an email from 4thDimension telling me that they had received the custom exhausts, but that they were damaged in the post and I’d need to wait a few more days for them to order another set. Fine.
On the 1st of March I got my bike back. I took another day off work. This is where it all went wrong... as the bike came off the van I noticed that the exhaust openings were a lot wider. When it eventually rolled off they were completely different to my originals – 100% different, size, length, make, welds etc. I then had to spend over an hour on the phone trying to convince someone that the wrong exhausts had been put on, and that there were other issues with the bike like the blatantly obvious loose headlamp bulb sitting in the bowl.
Eventually we (the driver and I) agreed for me to hold on to the bike but not sign for it because Norman Hyde (the maker of the exhausts) could have changed the design over the 3 years that I’ve owned them and it may not be the fault of the workshop. The driver left without saying a word to me, he was not happy having to wait around while I called 4thDimension to tell them they’d messed up.
Later, I phoned Norman Hyde and sent him (Arthur) pictures of the exhausts that 4thDimension had fitted to my bike and he said that they definitely were not his and even warned me of forgery. After a little research I found that the exhausts 4th Dimension had fitted were a make called ‘Feked’ reverse cone exhausts. They cost £117 and are cheap. My customs cost £370. I’m not too sure what was trying to be pulled there but apparently they had exactly the same Bonneville in their repair shop needing exactly the same repairs and shared a similar repair number, they apparently accidently fit those to my bike...
On the 5th March after much persuasion (and I mean a lot), I managed to get 4thDimension to come and pick up my bike and deliver a courtesy bike. Along with the exhausts I sent a list of other issues to them. They were:
• Right side exhaust still bent inwards
• Front headlight bulb is loose in headlamp
• A right hand (as you sit on bike) cable hasn't been routed correctly so now leans on the engine and is insecure - it will need to be tucked behind the bracket as the other cables are
• Rear left indicator cover different colour to the right side
• No side stand stopper, so it hits the exhaust when put up
• Left fork protector was damaged to the point of being not fit for use anymore – I assume this was done during transit as it wasn’t there when I handed over the bike
• Front brake cable routed incorrectly so it sticks out the side of the bike now – looks nasty
• Front left indicator is still damaged
• Front brake is spongy
They took the bike away. No one contacted me during that repair period and again I had to email them for an update. The bike was delivered on the 19th March.
The new exhausts looked great, I was happy. I went to wheel it and it’d barely move. The front and back brakes had seized and I wasn’t happy to ride the bike. I also noticed that the exhaust was still bent inwards and that every issue I had previously listed (bar the spongy brake) had not been addressed. Assuming they’d worked on the brakes to fix the spongyness and had seized them, I wasn’t happy to sign for the bike. But at the same time I was not happy for them to take it again, I didn’t want to wait another 2 weeks and I didn’t trust that they wouldn’t mess up again (the driver – a 4thDimension employee - told me he wouldn’t personally send his bike to 4thDimension to be repaired because of the shoddy repair jobs they do – he also said he’d deny he’d said that if I told anyone which I guess is understandable...). They asked for the courtesy bike back but considering my bike was unrideable, I asked that the least they could do is leave me with one working bike. After 2 hours of back and forth between the driver, myself and the guys on the phone, they agreed to leave me with a courtesy bike (but not after one of the guys told me I’d be stealing the courtesy bike if I didn’t return it – great customer service right there...).
I had to fix the brakes myself and also told insurance that I want to change repair company but they told me it will affect my no claims if I swap repair shop. The main issue now is the bent exhaust, everything else I can fix myself. I’m going to take it into Triumph this weekend and let them give me their opinion on it (I told them about my situation last week – he didn’t even need to guess that 4thDimension were involved and that he now refuses to work with them). If it needs replacing then hopefully they’ll be able to do it rather than 4thDimension. Strictly speaking I shouldn’t need to do a damn thing on that bike, but it’s become a bit silly now.
Like I said, that was just my experience, but it wasn’t just the repair job, but also decisions made beforehand. For example they replaced the clutch cover which if you don’t know is a huge lump of metal that sits on the left side of the bike below the engine – it’s worth about £250 from Triumph. It was lightly scuffed during the accident and would have buffed out, yet instead of using the £250 to put towards repairing the bent footpegs, or replacing the bent header pipe (also worth ~£250), they wasted it on a clutch cover.
If no one complains or expresses their opinion after this sort of service then nothing would get done about it, I just hope it never happens to anyone else.
I don’t usually get too stressed about this sort of thing, but it’s slowly beginning to wear me down now. I just want to get riding again!!!
I thought I’d share my recent negative experience with a company called 4thDimension. They are a motorcycle repair firm that deal with insurance claims.
Obviously this is my personal experience and nothing more.
TL;DR - 4th Dimension put the wrong exhausts on my bike, delivered an unsafe bike (seized brakes) and didn't complete their repair work.
I was filtering when a car u-turned on me. The bike was hit on its front left and engine block and then landed on its right side (I was somewhere down the road
). It wasn’t a fast accident, 15-20mph, but I ride a Triumph Bonneville and they’re not exactly made to be dropped – just like most bikes. There was a lot of aesthetic damage alongside the more serious issues.The following was damaged:
• Left header exhaust pipe
• Snapped gear lever
• Left & right exhaust silencer bent / dented
• Bent handlebars
• Smashed left & right bar end mirrors
• Bent headlight bracket
• Dented headlight bowl
• Bent riders footpeg – right & left
• Bent passenger footpeg – right
• Snapped / bent R&G engine block protectors
• Bent rear brake lever
• Bent /scratched front right indicator
• Bent /scratched back right indicator
• Minor issues:
• Scuffed clutch cover
• Scuffed grips
• Swingarm scratch where the silencer hit
• Scuffed front brake lever
• Scuffed brake cable housing
4thDimension picked the bike up 2 days after the accident. About 5 days later they phoned to say that unfortunately it’d be a write off, but if I was willing to waive a few items then they’d be able to start repairs. If I waived the following, the rest of the damage would be repaired:
• Dented headlight bowl
• Swingarm scratch
• Right side rider footrest – they told me this was not bent but scuffed only (turns out it was bent, and still is)
• Light mark on the throttle grip
• Light mark on the cylinder cover
I agreed to have these waived if it meant getting my bike back. The third party accepted liability and repairs on my bike began. I even offered to help source the custom exhausts. So far so good...
Over the next few weeks communication was poor. I always had to initiate the email or phone call. I wonder how much longer this would have taken if I had left them to it? Quite a bit I’d imagine.
I was told the bike would be delivered back to me on the 9th of March depending on availability of parts (I had the accident on the 25th January). Towards the end of February I got an email from 4thDimension telling me that they had received the custom exhausts, but that they were damaged in the post and I’d need to wait a few more days for them to order another set. Fine.
On the 1st of March I got my bike back. I took another day off work. This is where it all went wrong... as the bike came off the van I noticed that the exhaust openings were a lot wider. When it eventually rolled off they were completely different to my originals – 100% different, size, length, make, welds etc. I then had to spend over an hour on the phone trying to convince someone that the wrong exhausts had been put on, and that there were other issues with the bike like the blatantly obvious loose headlamp bulb sitting in the bowl.
Eventually we (the driver and I) agreed for me to hold on to the bike but not sign for it because Norman Hyde (the maker of the exhausts) could have changed the design over the 3 years that I’ve owned them and it may not be the fault of the workshop. The driver left without saying a word to me, he was not happy having to wait around while I called 4thDimension to tell them they’d messed up.
Later, I phoned Norman Hyde and sent him (Arthur) pictures of the exhausts that 4thDimension had fitted to my bike and he said that they definitely were not his and even warned me of forgery. After a little research I found that the exhausts 4th Dimension had fitted were a make called ‘Feked’ reverse cone exhausts. They cost £117 and are cheap. My customs cost £370. I’m not too sure what was trying to be pulled there but apparently they had exactly the same Bonneville in their repair shop needing exactly the same repairs and shared a similar repair number, they apparently accidently fit those to my bike...
On the 5th March after much persuasion (and I mean a lot), I managed to get 4thDimension to come and pick up my bike and deliver a courtesy bike. Along with the exhausts I sent a list of other issues to them. They were:
• Right side exhaust still bent inwards
• Front headlight bulb is loose in headlamp
• A right hand (as you sit on bike) cable hasn't been routed correctly so now leans on the engine and is insecure - it will need to be tucked behind the bracket as the other cables are
• Rear left indicator cover different colour to the right side
• No side stand stopper, so it hits the exhaust when put up
• Left fork protector was damaged to the point of being not fit for use anymore – I assume this was done during transit as it wasn’t there when I handed over the bike
• Front brake cable routed incorrectly so it sticks out the side of the bike now – looks nasty
• Front left indicator is still damaged
• Front brake is spongy
They took the bike away. No one contacted me during that repair period and again I had to email them for an update. The bike was delivered on the 19th March.
The new exhausts looked great, I was happy. I went to wheel it and it’d barely move. The front and back brakes had seized and I wasn’t happy to ride the bike. I also noticed that the exhaust was still bent inwards and that every issue I had previously listed (bar the spongy brake) had not been addressed. Assuming they’d worked on the brakes to fix the spongyness and had seized them, I wasn’t happy to sign for the bike. But at the same time I was not happy for them to take it again, I didn’t want to wait another 2 weeks and I didn’t trust that they wouldn’t mess up again (the driver – a 4thDimension employee - told me he wouldn’t personally send his bike to 4thDimension to be repaired because of the shoddy repair jobs they do – he also said he’d deny he’d said that if I told anyone which I guess is understandable...). They asked for the courtesy bike back but considering my bike was unrideable, I asked that the least they could do is leave me with one working bike. After 2 hours of back and forth between the driver, myself and the guys on the phone, they agreed to leave me with a courtesy bike (but not after one of the guys told me I’d be stealing the courtesy bike if I didn’t return it – great customer service right there...).
I had to fix the brakes myself and also told insurance that I want to change repair company but they told me it will affect my no claims if I swap repair shop. The main issue now is the bent exhaust, everything else I can fix myself. I’m going to take it into Triumph this weekend and let them give me their opinion on it (I told them about my situation last week – he didn’t even need to guess that 4thDimension were involved and that he now refuses to work with them). If it needs replacing then hopefully they’ll be able to do it rather than 4thDimension. Strictly speaking I shouldn’t need to do a damn thing on that bike, but it’s become a bit silly now.
Like I said, that was just my experience, but it wasn’t just the repair job, but also decisions made beforehand. For example they replaced the clutch cover which if you don’t know is a huge lump of metal that sits on the left side of the bike below the engine – it’s worth about £250 from Triumph. It was lightly scuffed during the accident and would have buffed out, yet instead of using the £250 to put towards repairing the bent footpegs, or replacing the bent header pipe (also worth ~£250), they wasted it on a clutch cover.
If no one complains or expresses their opinion after this sort of service then nothing would get done about it, I just hope it never happens to anyone else.
I don’t usually get too stressed about this sort of thing, but it’s slowly beginning to wear me down now. I just want to get riding again!!!
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