Stars aligning allowed me to help KTM. Kudos to them for being open to listening and pushing my letter (see below) to the very top of the ladder. It set a ball in motion that offered me years of pleasure contributing to certain changes, recall campaigns, and contributing input to the constant development of the SuperDuke. Organically, without pressures that come from being an employee, my wife and I were offered the chance of being unofficial test riders and acting as a liaison.
We communicated with so many groups of SuperDuke owners, mechanics, and dealerships from various countries, on different continents, and reported the communal findings on possible flaws and solutions, including our own unique experience (two of the same SuperDukes, riding the same roads, by two different riders). These findings were presented and discussed at KTM’s international quarterly meetings.
I can’t hide I felt valued and important, getting reports from the director of KTM Spain via WhatsApp, being kept abreast of how our reports bore fruit – later receiving a letter of thanks along with a box full of carbon gifts directly from Mattighofen. That was just the beginning…
We were gifted with innumerable unique experiences, getting rare information, opening the doors to making many new friends and acquaintances around the world. Showing up at dealerships in foreign countries, we’d get shown around the store (offered free or heavily discounted merchandise, coupled with great conversations with salesmen and mechanics alike), while our bikes were taken to be cleaned and have chains greased. We were invited to track days with KTM Spain Racing Team; offered test rides with brand new models on some of the greatest roads; had parts couriered overnight to us when issues arose; were personally guided on rides by KTM employees, showing us roads considered hidden gems; had pieces one-off machined or created for us to test; given loaners and offered after-hours priority on repairs; escorted to catered events and chosen among few to get into the paddock at various MotoGP races; and so very much more.
It’s hard not to just focus on the VIP treatment, the gifts, the discounts, the mind boggling attention we received. The true coup of greatness I’d prefer to emphasize came from this huge company when it was modest enough to ‘listen’ to an everyday consumer. I’ve seen it happen before, but it’s usually the result of a marketing campaign or a once-in-a-lifetime luck of the draw. I can’t think of another motorcycle manufacturer the size of KTM who would have done the same.
Six years, 100 thousand kilometres on our SuperDukes, and 6 other KTMs later, we continue our relationship with KTM, albeit less actively, giving way to younger generations. I’m proud of the way they’ve grown and thankful for having been allowed to enter ‘the inner circle’. Possibly the pen was mightier than the throttle. I believe we made the rank of ‘influencers’ before the title even existed.
Open letter to KTM
April 1st, 2016
RE: Lack of Commitment to On-Road Sector
I’ve owned and currently own KTM Enduro bikes and two years ago have made the leap to buying KTM on-road bikes, starting with the Duke 690. I’ve since moved on to buying two SuperDuke R 1290s and have one with 29000km and the second with 24000km. I’ve owned the SDRs for 13 months and for 11 months respectively. In this time, I’ve spent a small fortune on PowerPart upgrades – a simple calculation easily sums up the price of a third SDR, to say the least.
Over the past year, my wife and I have traveled with these bikes across Europe. We use them as our daily transportation, for weekend jaunts, and for sporadic safety courses.
The bikes have been serviced exclusively by the only KTM official dealer in Barcelona, Spain. I have no complaints with the work and the effort afforded to me, and for the incredible patience and persistence they’ve put forth in trying to have KTM’s collaboration with customer service.
KTM has relatively recently become a ‘player’ in the world of on-road bikes, generally dominating in the off-road sector. The result of KTM’s experience with off-road is that customer service after the selling of the bike is very limited. If there is a part that is broken, it is due to use and abuse, thus KTM has no responsibility to address it. It is this same attitude that is carried on into the on-road sector, a sector in which the entire paradigm of customer-service, reliability, and prompt response time is paramount. These three fundamental pillars of on-road success are missing and extremely weak in the case of KTM.
A quick study, if not common sense, of the customer service needs of clients of on-road bikes, as opposed to clients of off-road bikes, will yield results showing a fierce dependance on reliability of the bikes, and prompt response from the manufacturer. The use of an on-road is daily, and for many, utilitarian. KTM’s ignorance of this is surprising and quite irresponsible.
Based on forums, and now on my own personal experience, I can say without a doubt that KTM could learn a thing or two by looking across the border to Germany, to Italy, and even further, to Great Britain, rather than being so hasty in jumping in bed to partner with India. Perhaps the company structure and business ties are not of any relevance, but it is obvious by the actions and the lack of reactions of KTM to issues with bikes (in the case of SDR: rear hub bearings failing, swing arm retaining water, clutch slipping, tail light breaking, suspension oil/fluid changing viscosity, front brake disks warping, the engine case leaking oil – just to name a few, all of which I have first hand experience with, and videos and documents to support them) that there is very little support and follow up after the goal of ‘making numbers’ selling bikes.
The lofty goals and seemingly insatiable appetite to dominate the market, from taking on the Adventure world a couple of years ago, to entering the Sport Touring segment early this year, not to mention making a debut in the MotoGP ring this coming summer, all seem to be examples of a strategy of biting off much more than KTM can chew. There is little thought given to the teeth, or in this case, support, to back this craving for supremacy. Bikes which boast touring capabilities – requiring specific and rare liquids, or having known fatal flaws, from certain models whose engines become unreliable at around 40000km, to other models whose rear hubs shake loose – should not earn a rightful place in a contemporary competitive market. At least, not without a very active support system offered by the manufacturer. Numerous examples of proper symbiotic relationships between solid initial products and healthy support exist both in the motorcycle world as well as in many other areas of production.
One of my SDRs is in the shop awaiting response for a failed rear hub bearing – a gross engineering mistake, considering the few km on the bike, while the other SDR is awaiting a tail light (a relatively cheap injection-moulded plastic piece) which has cracked due to nothing more than engine vibration. To add to this, we’ve been waiting 8 months for warranty to approve a clutch liquid container, which was faulty and leaking fluid; 5 months for a pair of front brake disks from my wife’s bike, which warped without just cause; 4 months for faulty slipping clutches; 3 months for a front cylinder timing chain tensioner; 2 months for a faulty signal switch. Please note that none of these issues are isolated to my case. They are common issues and faults with this model, spanning 3 continents.
I’ve been witness to various emails that have been sent by my KTM dealer to the KTM in-charge of Spanish warranty, and I’ve seen that there is a hear-no-evil, see-no-evil response, if any at all. Meaning, there is either no answer whatsoever, a very tardy response, or a simple brush-off of ‘not covered under warranty’.
It is somewhat understandable that there are certain concessions and compromises one must make when it comes to opting to buy a motorbike. Especially when buying from a company which has very little experience being successful or knowledgeable in properly conducting itself in a sector that is foreign to it. However, when it comes to personal safety, as is the case with failing rear hub bearings, signal switches failing, failing tail lights, and brake disks warping, I find that compromise is inadmissible. I will not accept that making money, by pushing sales numbers is more important to KTM than the safety of their clients. ‘Ready to make money’ should come after assuring the safety of your clients.
It is with great chagrin that I must beg of you to have a serious look at what many of your customers are saying, and ask that you start taking post-sale customer service as seriously as other on-road motorcycle companies do – or in the very least, more seriously than you are at the moment.
On a personal level, I would appreciate a prompt reply to my warranty claims and perhaps a reaction (dare I ask for an apology) to your obvious shortcomings in my experience with KTM on-road bikes.
Professor Peter Bokor
Barcelona, Spain