Big St. Charles Motorsports — Local services in Saint Charles

BEWARE OF BIG ST CHARLES MOTORSPORTS On January 24th 2018 I took my 2014 Can Am Commander into Big St Charles Motorsports to have a routine oil change before I took it out on the weekend. When I dropped the machine off, I went through my normal routine of taking a photograph of the hour meter. Since I was 16 I have always taken pictures of odometers when dropping vehicles off for service for peace of mind. In over 20 years of doing this, this is the first time ever that the photos have exposed an issue. At the time the machine was dropped off it had 55.3 hours as you can see in the time stamped photograph. Two days later when I went to pick it up I noticed there was 59.8 hours. When I asked the guys working how this could have happened they began to blame it on a faulty part from Bombardier and said they would need to call them?? When that didn’t work they said “if you leave the key in, it will clock hours”. I think we all know that that is a huge lie. We are all conscious of the hour meter and know that the machine must be running for it to clock more time/hours. After I explained that those two explanations were not going to work the manager started to say over and over “well I didn’t drive it”, like that helped anything. Naturally I was more than upset at the fact my machine that I have had for 4 years magically has almost 10% more time on it. I took the machine home and looked it over. The storage space in the back had been freshly treated with Armor All before I took it up there and was now covered in grass clippings and heavy dust. The next day, Saturday, I loaded up the bike and headed out to ride. After about thirty seconds of riding I noticed that the steering wheel was pulling hard to the right, something it had never done before. The following Monday, I decided to reach out to the owner of Big St Charles through a friend to let him in on what happened (I used a friend for the call because I felt so violated and did not want my emotions to impact the communication). He implied that I was wanting something for free. The facts were explained that I have two time stamped photographs, one with the bike in their shop and one of the hour meter. Not only is there a time stamp associated with the photo but it also shows on Google Maps where the picture was taken. Anyone with half a brain can figure out that the bike was in their possession while the additional hours were put on. The owner said that they have a signed slip with the hours at drop off being 59. When dropping off a vehicle for a routine oil change, I am not scrutinizing paperwork. Regardless of what the paper says, a picture is worth a thousand words. The owner, Brad, said he would review the cameras and get back to us that same day which was on Tuesday January 30th last week. I feel I have given him ample time to respond being that I waited until today, Monday February 5th, to post this. Additionally, I find it ironic that their website boasts “At Big St. Charles Motorsports, our customers come first”. At this point I have not asked for anything more than an explanation and they can’t even seem to give me that. I would be very cautious taking anything to Big St Charles Motorsports. You would think that spending $288 on an oil change would give you peace of mind that it was in good hands but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. There are plenty of other shops in the area to...

I bought my bike about 3 years ago at Big St. Charles Motorsports. The sales experience was great. No issues at all with my sales experience.

Cut to a few months ago, I get a call from Big St. Charles service dept. that they can pick my bike up for a couple recalls. The guy who came to pick up my bike didn't even know how to start it.

A week went by and I hadn't heard anything. So, I call the service dept. to check on my bike, and I was told they were waiting on the part for my bike and it was back ordered. I asked why they picked up my bike when they didn't have the part. I was told the recalled part was a safety issue, and they were told to pick up the bike so it didn't fail while I was riding the bike (which I was told by the service manager that was not true, and he wasn't sure why I was told that).

I called every few days with no updates. I was getting pretty irritated with Honda over this stupid rule that wasn't true.

9 weeks later I get a call that the part came in, and it was finally done.

I show up to pick up my bike, and after waiting for 45 minutes, one of the techs tells me they can't start it. I had to tell him how to re-sync the key fob to the bike after the battery died from not being plugged into the battery tender that I told them to plug the bike so the battery didn't die (I had a stereo upgrade done, and I hadn't added the circuit breaker to keep the amp from drawing power while the bike was off yet).

They bring the bike out and it was filthy, because they LEFT IT OUTSIDE FOR 9 F'ING WEEKS!!!! During that time it snowed a foot, and it rained many times.

I took the bike home, and my cruise control wouldn't engage. I could turn it on, but I couldn't set the speed. I call the service dept. to make an appointment to get the cruise looked at. They had it for another 2 weeks. The cruise/clutch switch had gone out...because it was left in the elements for OVER 2 MONTHS!!! They wanted me to pay around $250 to replace it. I reminded them about the fact that they left my bike outside for 2 months, and they decided to eat the labor. I still ended up paying for the part which is still BS, but I was tired of the entire process.

Then the right compartment started sticking and it would open on me randomly while riding down the road.

Today, I was supposed to take part in the Ride for Chatham to help benefit the families of the victims of the incident a few weeks ago where a woman drove through a daycare. So, I go get on my bike, and the right compartment will not open. Since that compartment is where the fuel door button is....I CAN'T FILL UP THE F'ING BIKE!!!!!

With all of the bikes I've owned, I've never dealt with the gross incompetence of a service department quite like Big St Charles Motorsports.

I'll go to Niehaus Cycle Sales in Litchfield, IL before I take my bike to be repaired Big St Charles Motorsports again.

Update - I called today to set up an appointment to have the right compartment repaired. I explained the situation, and they are still going to make me wait 2 weeks just to drop it off...again. Who knows how long they'll have it this time!...

I’d like to say firstly that this store is absolutely huge. They have a wide variety of vehicles to choose from including: -Dirtbikes -ATVs -Snowmobiles -UTVs -Jetskis -Children’s pit bikes and ATVs

They also have a large selection of apparel and accessories to choose from upstairs. Just when you think it can’t get any bigger there’s another motorcycle dealer connecting to the shop.

My salesman’s name was Keaton and off the bat I told him what I was interested in and how much I would submit as a down payment. It’s about a 2 hour drive from FLW, MO to Saint Louis so I started the loan application on my phone and Keaton called me anytime he had questions so when I arrived I signed some paperwork approving the loan application. I asked if they had a rebate for Veterans so they gave me a $100 gift card to use. I went upstairs and bought a ventilated protective jacket, which after the gift card it was $80. It took about 30 minutes for Justin, the finance guy, to get the paperwork all together and it was time to sign. Justin told me I had about 5 options to choose from. 3 with GAP and warranties and 1 with no GAP and 1 with just GAP. Justin was friendly, thorough and honest himself. I asked if I paid it off early if the warranties are still active and he said yes however call and get a refund for the GAP coverage. I chose the best package with the tire coverage for 60 months.

The signing process only took 5-10 minutes. It did take a little while for them to clean the bike and prep it to get loaded onto my truck. They used a forklift with a flat surface and rails to load it onto my truck and Keaton helped me strap it down and secure it. Then I was on my way back home.

Overall, I am very pleased at the experience here at Big St Charles Motorsports.

My only complaint is they didn’t allow me to test drive the motorcycle I wanted and the only reason I wanted to is because I was conflicted between the Yamaha R-7 and R-3. However, as soon as I loaded my bike off and rode it I was very pleased I chose the R-7. 5 stars to Keaton and Justin for being some of the most thorough and friendly individuals to work with at a...