KJM Superbikes

Douglas

New member
Hello

Has anyone had any dealings with KJM Superbikes near Wigan. I am considering a parallel import from them, and would welcome any views.

Thanks

Douglas
 
My Mate bought a GSXR 750 K5 from them last year. The only problem he has is it was set up for the american market & when its cold weather it runs like a bag of @@@@.
 
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A mate has had a couple of bikes off them and has always been very impressed with the service he recieved !
 
Hi
I bought my 749S (saved £2k) from them, handy for me as I live 2 miles away, had an initial engine light warning- not serious, which was fixed under Ducati warranty by Woods of Abergele, who are superb and get all my business now.
You can get warranty made official by contacting Ducati UK - who were really helpfull and did not sneer at you like some dealers for buying from KJM.
after all it was Ducati Italy who sold the surplus product to KJM.
Anyway the 2k bought me a new set of Dianese leathers and lots of bling for the bike.
Go for it I say.
 
Thanks Chaps.

Green, I rang Ducati UK who told me that the warranty depended on checking the bikes frame number with them, to find out if KJM had bought a warranty along with the bike.

Alternatively they say I could get the PDI done at a Ducati dealer, and then it would be Ducati registered.

I wonder if you did that, or how you registered the bike with Ducati, or if you got a Ducati Dealer to do the PDI?

Thanks

Douglas
 
My brother lived in preston for a few years and bought three bikes from KJM and always found them great, good to deal with and the bikes were always set up well.
They have not got 1098,s have they ??
 
Hi
There was a delay in repairing mine at Woods due to nobody recognising the diagnostic fault code and they were waiting for Ducati UK to answer.
Got bored of waiting and as I work for a company that does a lot of automotive electronics and deals with Magnetti I knew someone was pulling my wire.
Rang Ducati UK to get the story from the horses mouth so to speak and a very helpfull lady explained the delay was caused by the relevant person being on holiday and it would be sorted as soon as he returned.
She also suggested registering the bike with them over the phone, passed all the details over and that was it. Even got an official UK service book. No metion at all of a PDI
Bike was fixed by Woods and did not cost me a penny as was covered by official Ducati warranty.
To be honest service from KJM, Woods and Ducati UK was superb throughout.
If you want anymore info let me know
Cheers
 
Thanks Chaps. Looks like all the snippets are coming together! Very re-assured by KJMs good press, so I have to check the details with KJM and Ducati UK.

Will keep you all posted!

regards

Douglas
 
Keith Mason's superbikes been there for over 20 years. Started as a small family venture selling cheap imports. Still there and has expanded so can't be bad.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. It is quite interesting that I put similar posts on Ducatisti and Ducati Up North sites, and got completely different views of KJM!

I have decided not to go ahead with a 900 Sport from them for a variety of reasons. My first impression was not good, because their website clearly states that the bikes cost £3999 in red or black. When I visited to look at the bikes, I was immediately informed that the red bikes actually cost £4699! After a robust discussion they met me halfway on price, but although they were very friendly and pleasant to deal with, I was left with the impression that you had to listen very carefully to what was and was not said!

I was aware that the bikes were old stock, and my concerns were really raised by the warranty situation, and the level of PDI. Their answers on warranty were evasive, and I never really understood what warranty came with the bike. KJM implied that a Ducati warranty was available, and talked about putting it through on some bikes. I called Ducati UK who were very helpful, and said with a frame number they could confirm the warranty situation.

KJM told me they would supply the bikes with four year old belts and oil, claiming renewal wasnt needed because "they had had no problems", and stated that Ducati only recommended they be changed so dealers could benefit from the income. They also failed to respond to my email asking for the frame number or confirmation of their promise on the phone that they would put the bike through for a Ducati warranty before I took delivery.. They did however offer to change the belts if I paid £125 plus VAT on top of the £199 PDI charge

I decided that when all the costs were added up, and the lack of a warranty that didnt require the bike to be returned to Wigan, these bikes didnt offer me what I wanted. These bikes actually cost over £5k on the road, and 900 sports were just about £6k when new from Ducati.

There is no doubt that they are genuine "New old stock", and if I lived near Wigan and didnt plan to tour on the bike I may have felt differently. However I was left with the feeling that they told things as they wanted you to hear them, rather than as they were.
 
Interesting observations there. Just shows you have to ask the questions and listen to the answers carefully. Good luck with your quest. Still haven't fitted those forks by the way........:D Wanna buy a 996?
 
Over the past few years KJM advertised different varities of 900, sport, supersport, matt black "dark", full faired and half faired, these ranged in price from just below £4k to about £5K and you'd need to check out very carefully which one you were buying.

I wonder what would happen if the belts weren't changed and did snap? would Ducati honour a warranty based on that? and surely you'd expect a price to include PDi??

guess it just goes to show that there are no real bargains and its safer to buy from an authorised Ducati dealer
 
:mad:
I was aware that the bikes were old stock, and my concerns were really raised by the warranty situation, and the level of PDI. Their answers on warranty were evasive, and I never really understood what warranty came with the bike. KJM implied that a Ducati warranty was available, and talked about putting it through on some bikes. I called Ducati UK who were very helpful, and said with a frame number they could confirm the warranty situation.

KJM told me they would supply the bikes with four year old belts and oil, claiming renewal wasnt needed because "they had had no problems", and stated that Ducati only recommended they be changed so dealers could benefit from the income. They also failed to respond to my email asking for the frame number or confirmation of their promise on the phone that they would put the bike through for a Ducati warranty before I took delivery.. They did however offer to change the belts if I paid £125 plus VAT on top of the £199 PDI charge

I decided that when all the costs were added up, and the lack of a warranty that didnt require the bike to be returned to Wigan, these bikes didnt offer me what I wanted. These bikes actually cost over £5k on the road, and 900 sports were just about £6k when new from Ducati.

There is no doubt that they are genuine "New old stock", and if I lived near Wigan and didnt plan to tour on the bike I may have felt differently. However I was left with the feeling that they told things as they wanted you to hear them, rather than as they were.

Every now an again there is a fine example of crass stupidity on the forums. To say "Ducati only recommended they be changed so dealers could benefit from the income" astounds me. They have clearly considerable more experience in the day to day requirements of our engines than we do. :rolleyes:

The 900 Sport was a reasonably good base version of the 900 SS. In 2001/2002 we were faced with a stockpile of them. In the UK we were given a great deal of support to allow us to sell them at a discounted price of £4999 OTR for a Full Faired version (£4699 Half Faired) which was a grand off, we cleared them out within a year. However several ended up on the parallel market with people like KJM the fact that they still have some is testament to the selling techniques of not being clear about what is involved. Naturally they are going to say "we have had no problems" when quizzed about selling a four / five year old "new" bike with it's original belts and oil.

If you speak to a tyre manufacturer and ask them if they recommend using tyres that have been on a shelf for five years they will say no. How many caravans have you seen on the road side with a failed tyre? is this because they are worn out? No, generally it's because they are too old and have perished. Is there a common theme here? Oh yeah, they are made of similar materials......

I remeber during a Dealer visit a couple of years ago, meeting someone who was considering an old ST4 from a parallel dealer and he had the same concerns and answers from that dealer. We advised him to get the belts changed before using it. Two weeks later I was informed that his bike was in the same dealers workshop for belt failure!

Yes, I have a vested interest in driving sales through the official network. That's what I am employed to do. I also have a vested interest in protecting the brand from all too familiar comments like "my mate brought a Ducati and the belts snapped / it broke down / or it went home in an AA van etc etc " that we hear about at shows and events or just down at the pub. Invariably the full details of the event gets omitted and people form an opinion that's wrong.

Rant over!!

Ultimately the decision to buy is yours. I would also add that if the price is too good to be true then there is a good reason for that. The 900 Sport is a good bike, I had one in 2002, but the 1000 SS is a far better one :D

Cheers
N
 
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