Sisaket (TH) to Singapore – Ep 22

Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh

We needed to wait for 5 days in Kuala Lumpur that Chinese New Year holidays are finished and the shops open again.
On Wednesday, 14th of Feb (Valentines Day) we went to see Triumph Motorcycles in Batu Caves for check the problem with the rear suspension and the adjustment.

Even that I called upfront and told them what the problem is, they tried to sell me a full service.
Useless as the bike was serviced 2.000 km before in Hat Yai, Thailand.
After a chat with the technician, Triumph understood the problem and proposed to have a look at the software version. This problem might pop up if the software is not updated.

For sure, the software was an old version (why no update in Hat Yai where the bike stayed 2 days for service??) – so let’s update and hope for the best.

3 hrs of waiting – the update was completed but did not solve the problem.

Checking the bike again, the mechanic found out that the rear shock / adjustment is leaking oil.

As the bike is still under warranty, I thought that it should be no problem to fix it in Batu Caves.
Wrong thinking, the sales and the technician told me unisono that we should go back to Thailand where I bought the bike.
The argument was, that they not know when and if Triumph accepts the warranty claim and if they accept, when they finally receive the necessary spare part – this can be up to 15 days as it is sent from UK.

In summary they told us very clear that they not want to take care the bike (as the bike is not from them)
That we needed to ride back over 600 km to Hat Yai, Thailand with a bike what is not safe to ride, Triumph Batu Caves didn’t care about that!!

After this new experience with Triumph Motorcycles we decided to go back to Ipoh.
For 3 reasons.

First, Ipoh is more nice and relaxed than Batu Caves, second we know a great homestay there and in Ipoh is a Triumph Motorcycles dealer as well. Maybe Triumph Ipoh is more active and more friendly than Triumph Batu Caves?!

Riding the 180 km was not fun, we managed to arrive at 4 pm in Ipoh. The guy’s at Triumph Ipoh were super friendly. The sales and the technician visited us at the homestay for check the bike.
After some phone calls, Triumph Ipoh came to the conclusion that the best for us is go back to the closest Triumph dealer in Thailand what is Triumph Hat Yai.

Bad news, it seems the Triumph world wide warranty does not work in South East Asia?!

In the end we decided to go back to Thailand the next day and cancel the trip to Singapore at this point.

For me this is the second time that a Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer ruined a trip.
The first time was in Europe on my trip to Gibraltar and around the Iberian peninsula (Spain, Portugal) in 2023.

Two motorbikes of the same type (Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer) failed on two different continents.

The reason must be bad quality of the product in combination with a bad dealer service.
In Europe they couldn’t fix the problem at all, in SE Asia they didn’t even try.

To those who read this, ask yourself if this is the right way of customer service for a “premium brand”??

For me, after this experience in 2023 and 2024, I am done with Triumph Motorcycles and I would never ever buy one again.

Hopefully the Triumph Rocket 3 GT what is still in the garage will work!!!

Stay tuned and enjoy yourself!!

#dustysocks