It is very rare that I feel the need to leave a negative review, and never have I ever needed to follow up with a second post due to disputes. Here is my experience with Thunder Alley: Ive been to this shop two times. The first time was for a new clutch and gasket change. Second time I hit a deer and needed the bike patched up. To paraphrase, the bike was at this location for 2-3 months. Timothy ordered the wrong parts numerous times and required me to drive 4 hours round trip each time to pick up/swap out parts. He stated if he went to pick the parts up it would be delayed by multiple weeks and hed charge gas prices on top - which is odd to me when its to fix a mistake he made.
When I picked up the parts from the dealership in Indianapolis the first time, I noticed a front subframe in the order. When I asked about subframe damage he denied any, and stated that there was no subframe in the order and to bring the parts in anyways. I did just that as hes (hopefully) a certified mechanic. After I dropped the parts off it was two weeks afterwards that I got a call from him stating he has "good news and bad news." I requested bad news first, and he stated "you were right, theres a subframe in here. We will need to return it and get different parts." I was understanding and accepting of the fact that people make mistakes, and willingly swapped parts. After the second and third time making trips to correct his errors involving wrong parts, I started asking for occasional updates on the bike with an estimated time frame of it being completed. When I asked however, I was given non answers by either him or his wife, or just ignored entirely. The non answers were always "working on it," instead of actual details on how my vehicles condition was. Every time I was given a completion date it was pushed back without notice. Of course I eventually got frustrated, and started asking more often for updates which was met with attitude and more non informative "answers."
I was eventually given the straight up answer that he was having issues getting plastics to align, which I appreciated the details since I was actually given some that time.
Fast forward through all the frustrations, I was finally given the notice that my bike was completed. I showed up, and my bike was matter of factly not complete, as he stated "I forgot another piece so there's some wires hanging down." The piece he forgot was the radiator infill fairing, which held the wires in place. The wires were a jumbled mess hanging down about two inches away from my front tire. The foot peg was still broken and he stated that he slipped his foot off of it and almost lacerated his leg while taking it for a test drive around the block, but "its safe to ride."
The next day I get a text asking how it's riding, to which I responded it rides. Later that night however, I noticed the entire front end was unsupported, pointing downward, and heavily shaking and vibrating upon riding on even the smoothest of roads. I informed him of this, and he asked me to bring it back to him. It took me approximately 90 seconds of looking with the all pieces of plastic attached to notice that the front subframe is entirely snapped off. With such a crucial piece (the one supporting the entire front end of the bike) being broken and going unnoticed, I of course did not bring it back to him when he asked as I actually value my motorcycle being in the hands of competent people. Remember that front subframe I mentioned that got returned earlier? Yeah that was the piece that was snapped. I left a negative review, and was responded to with attitude essentially pointing the blame at me, and entirely denying that the subframe is broken. I'm back with photos to prove that. The bike was dropped off at the dealership via trailer, which it should have been in the first place. The parts guy stated that he recognizes the bike and remembers ordering the correct part for it, and that they'll have to reorder that exact same part to ensure the bike was safe to ride. If you want a competent mechanic, this isnt the place.
Update: after leaving the review you just read, Timothy proceeded to send me a very angry text, cursing and continuing to refuse taking accountability. Even with photo evidence of my subframe being broken, he continued to deny that it was broken.
He stated that "nobody cares" about my review, but proceeded to ask me to take the review down.
After asking to take the review down, he then stated that he in fact does not care that the review is up, and will just delete it. I watched him in real time try to figure out how to remove it. I would assume he didn't figure it out, as he left his own blank 5 star review on his own page, then proceeded to take down his entire business off of Google Maps.
Second Update: if I didn't mention it before, the bike went into the shop throwing no codes. It came out with an engine light that Tim said wasn't an issue, turned out to be air pressure. read more
