UPDATE... I finally got a resolution to my broken knuckle.
Let me preface this with a few things...
- I am not going to disclose dollar amounts or other monetary specifics so please don't ask.
- Although Honda did not cover the entire amount of the damage caused by the broken knuckle, they had good reason and I agree.
- My dealer threw in some concessions (they didn't have to do that) and I am satisfied with the outcome.
- My Service Manager is top notch. A resolution looked almost impossible at times but he never gave up and made this work out.
Took a long time but Honda had good reason (in my opinion) and this had to go way up the chain. Honda would not concede that the knuckle was faulty and they did what is called a "Good Will" warranty claim but did it in a strange way that the dealer had never seen so that I could get compensated for the parts that I had already replaced. The dealer did not do any repairs, Honda simply gave the dealer a lump sum amount and told them to give it to me. I have been told by several people (including the Honda CR rep) that Honda never does this. I believe this is one of the reasons it took so long. My dealer made nothing and is giving me some take-off parts to boot.
The biggest question was...
Did the knuckle break and cause the vehicle to flip or did the vehicle flip and cause the knuckle to break? No one will ever know for certain but since there have been several flipped and rolled Talons and no other broken front knuckles (that I have been able to find), it is reasonable to conclude that the knuckle on my machine could have been faulty. Another observation is that since I replaced the knuckle over 1000 miles ago, I have subjected it to MUCH worse conditions and it is fine.
The biggest expense is the rear Roll Cage. It is slightly tweaked and needs to be replaced. Honda would not give me enough to entirely cover it ($1,466 MSRP plus shipping) so my dealer has worked something out with me to resolve this.
Conclusions...
- First and foremost, I do not believe the we should be worried about the front knuckles on our Talons. My first one broke at 14 miles from what I consider a minor jump/impact and now after 1000 plus miles and some pretty hard hits on the new one, I am confident that the front knuckles on the Talon are fine and that my original one was defective.
- Honda may be methodical but they had good reason. They could have easily just said it was my fault and done nothing. Instead, they went up the chain of command and worked it through and although they didn't pay for everything, I agree with their final resolution to this issue.
- My dealer is the absolute bomb!!! My service manager never gave up, they spent hours working this through without any compensation and and they even made other concessions to make the final outcome work for me.
