My experience with CW Bikes

[Josh_ox3]

My honest review and opinion on CW Bikes

So I bought a Stomp Z125 Road legal from CW Bikes on 31th October 2013 for £1583 (including delivery and extras (£60 or so)).

Extras: Road Legal Tyres, 17 - 37 sprocket set, Monster graphics, green fuel cap, green grips, 1L of Oil.

It arrived on the 3rd of November, took it off the wooden pallet, propped it up and put the front wheel on. I got it insured on the 6th and rode it that day, filled it up took it back home.

So first things I noticed was the poor attempt at putting the Monster stickers on the plastics, I assume they were not made for CRF70 plastics as none of the holes lined up and they bubbled within the fist week. I ignored this as a new set was £35 which I bought and put on which are still good as of 07/02/14.

After 5 or so days of owning the bike the speedo started messing up, was freezing, turning off and on, getting stuck at 22mph, etc. So I messaged Callan, he told me to adjust the sensor which I done, no luck. After a few days of listening to Callans advice on how to fix the problem he instructed me to send the speedo back to check if it was faulty and potentially get a replacement, so around the 12th I shipped the speedo back, two weeks later I called them and then they decided they needed the clip that goes from the speedo to the bundle of cables, so I sent that down to them, so after a month of numerous calls, being told that the speedo was faulty and its being fixed I finally got a response.

But this wasn't because they had got me a replacement, it was because my clutch cable had snapped, it had completely snapped off at the top by the lever. I called Callan and he said it's £10 for a replacement so I sent that and he told me that the speedo would be sent with the clutch cable. So I paid for the clutch cable on the 17/12/2013 and it wasn't shipped till the 24/12/2013 after I sent a few emails explaining my frustration, I received the speedo and cable on the 4/01/14 and straight away a problem.

The speedo was turning off when I revved the bike and also when I turned the lights off, Callan told me I needed a cr7hsa spark plug to fix this and he would send me one, after a few days I gave in and bought one myself, his arrived a week or so later.

24/01/14: I was riding to college, turning into the car park (leads onto the college car park) bike swung sideways and came to a stop, got off, looked at the back and the chain had come off, understandable as the chain is Chinese and stretches 3cm+ every week, it was so loose I could put it back on with my hands, so I did, got back on the bike and started the ride off, that's when it made crunching sounds, got off and walked it the rest of the way. Called my grandad to pick me up with the trailer, done my lesson, come out, strapped the bike in the trailer and got it home, first thoughts were the spindle snapped, but I took the rear wheel off, out falls a few ball bearings, mangled up plastic and mangled up metal, the remains of the bearings and oil seals.

To cut it short I took the other remaining bearing and oil seal to a local shop, got a replacement for and fitted them fine, now I'm waiting on the front ones to go, but I'll get on to that.

01/02/14: Leaving to get to work, clutch cable snaps, again, replaced it, got to work, on my way home, back brake wasn't feeling right, took wheel off, checked pads and one side had almost crumbled completely off, now I forgot to say earlier but the front brake disc was bent from when I got it and it jolted when I used the front brake and every time It caused the rear wheel to lock up in wet weather. New pads and disc was ordered and arrived on 05/02/14 and work fine.

Stuff I've missed: All terminals for lights like the rear number plate light, front brake lever light, have all corroded and gone rusty and no longer work, tried filing them down, will need to solder them to fix it.

All through this I kept Callan updated and all he could say was that I didn't return within the 1 month warranty, yes 1 month on a £1500 bike, and that it was wear and tear.

So let me go over this, here is the price of parts.


Prices:

Clutch Cable x3 : £20
Brake Pads: £5
Front Disc: £8
Wheel Bearings and Oil Seals: £40
Plastics + Stickers: £35
Postage to return parts: £15


What's next to be fixed/replaced

Chain: £25
Sprocket Set: £30
Tyres (not that soon): £70



Toal Price So Far

= £1706



Summary of CW Bikes

Callan refuses the accept he is in the wrong, he hasn't offered to send free replacements as he sees all of this as wear and tear as it's out of warranty and every time I call he's hostile and trys to make you feel like you're in the wrong unless you're spending money. They ignore emails, don't call back when promised and act like they're doing something when really they have no intention of helping you, this is my honest review of Callan/CW Bikes as all I see here is people saying how much they liked X product and service.

This isn't a review on the Stomp bikes as what Callan advertised on the website and ebay was completely different to what I got, supposedly YX120, Start in gear, fold back levers when In reality it was a SR120, non SIG and standard levers, so I assume he strips the bikes and replaces with cheaper parts to profit even more.

A bike shouldn't be on its last legs after 500 miles and 4 months of owning it, I live in the city so it occasionally gets to 40mph but it's mainly 20mph and 30, none of these problems should have occurred if the bikes were checked before being sent there is something going wrong when the bikes are being built by CW Bikes, they must cut corners wherever possible.

I will try and update this thread when more stuff goes wrong, if you're going to reply make sure its worth reading and not just you trying to defend CW Bikes, thanks for reading.

Pictures



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^What I supposedly bought.... what I really bought: SR120-C Engine, Non SIG, No Foldback Levers... somethings not right here....




Final Update - 11/02/14

I'm just going to put this all out there, this will very possibly be one of the last things I say on the matter.

Callan offered me £800 then £1000 to bring the bike back to him in the condition described, as I didn't get a definite answer from Callan I doubt I will take this route.

I live 100 or so miles away and anyone in their right mind would not like to take it that far to bring it all the way back, now as Callan has demonstrated before he's not very honest when doing business, so when I turn up with the bike it would give him the opportunity to negotiate a lower buy back price probably in the region of £600-£700.

That isn't something I intend on doing as in my opinion his word means nothing, I would rather take my chances with TS and get all my money back.

I bought the bike based off what I've read on the forums about his company and the bikes build quality, I guess no ones brave enough to express their opinion on the forums as I don't doubt another 17 year old with L Plates hasn't made the same mistake.... It's a mistake you make once in a lifetime... So I don't intend on doing it again, got to hope work can give me enough hours to try and buy another bike quickly as this is my only transport and I can't see it living 6 months.

As it's not a satisfactory quality I can already see what TS has to say on the matter. Nor is it fit for it's purpose... No hard feelings Callan but your word isn't going to cut it.

Thank you everyone who's replied, I hope this thread will stop others doing what I done.

- Josh

[Adam #7]

What an absolute joke! Hes done nothing to help you. Personally id get on to trading standards buddy and see where you stand.
I was on ebay the other day and came across cw's ebay shop. His prices are silly and his feedback is shocking to say the least. To me that says alot about him as a tradesman. I think hes a cowboy and has no comitment to customer service. Only ever dealt with him once a few years ago when he was with stomp. If he carrys on the way he is then he wont last long.

[bigs#8]

He's even just read this and. Not responded
I'd be paying a visit if it was me

[cwbikes]

Originally Posted by bigs#8

He's even just read this and. Not responded
I'd be paying a visit if it was me

as for you bigs never had a positive comment of you, only quickly jumping on the ban waggon,

i do have a business to run and i have spent alot of time reviewing and commenting back. sorry my response wasnt fast enough for you.

[cwbikes]

joshes posts while he was unhappy with the bike and cw bikes:

I'm looking for a decent exhaust to put on my road legal Stomp Z125, I need something that doesn't wake the neighbors if possible, the stock one isn't too bad but it sounds really "throaty"... So any suggestions on exhausts?

I don't have a budget but I'm not looking to spend lots on one

How easy would it be to replace a GN120(Stomps standard engine) with a YX140 engine kit on a Stomp 125?

I assumed they have the same mounts and I wouldn't need to change anything else as the kit has the carb, cdi, kick start, etc

Would I be wrong in guessing it's essentially plug and play (breaking in the engine of course)

Thanks

Hi, so I got a Stomp Z125 (Road legal) and I thought it would be fun to ignore the road closed sign, followed a car and he stopped when he saw the flood, but I carried on, the first 10 meters didn't go past my rim, but the second half which was probably 20 metres must of come up half way of the rim (14 inch wheel) maybe higher, I was going slow making sure it wasn't splashing too much then next thing I know the bikes cut out and I've stopped.

So I get off, walk it through the water, sat on it, electrics were still working (speedo and lights)... now I know this was stupid as It could of damaged it but the air filter looked wet but nothing too bad so I tried to start it and it did first time, rode off, it bogged going into second but that might of just been the drenched air filters fault.

So what I'm asking is what could/has gone bad while doing this, I checked my oil and its a little low but theres no water in there (that I could see), when I got home I could squeeze out water from the air filter, would I need to check/clean the carb? Tomorrow I'm going to change the oil and oil the air filter again but is there anything else I should check?

Thanks in advance.


these are posts made from him, riding through floods that will explain wheel bearings, and all the rust. people just try there luck we have been going a long time to know when people are trying to get parts for free..

[Josh_ox3]

Originally Posted by cwbikes

joshes posts while he was unhappy with the bike and cw bikes:

I'm looking for a decent exhaust to put on my road legal Stomp Z125, I need something that doesn't wake the neighbors if possible, the stock one isn't too bad but it sounds really "throaty"... So any suggestions on exhausts?

I don't have a budget but I'm not looking to spend lots on one

How easy would it be to replace a GN120(Stomps standard engine) with a YX140 engine kit on a Stomp 125?

I assumed they have the same mounts and I wouldn't need to change anything else as the kit has the carb, cdi, kick start, etc

Would I be wrong in guessing it's essentially plug and play (breaking in the engine of course)

Thanks

Hi, so I got a Stomp Z125 (Road legal) and I thought it would be fun to ignore the road closed sign, followed a car and he stopped when he saw the flood, but I carried on, the first 10 meters didn't go past my rim, but the second half which was probably 20 metres must of come up half way of the rim (14 inch wheel) maybe higher, I was going slow making sure it wasn't splashing too much then next thing I know the bikes cut out and I've stopped.

So I get off, walk it through the water, sat on it, electrics were still working (speedo and lights)... now I know this was stupid as It could of damaged it but the air filter looked wet but nothing too bad so I tried to start it and it did first time, rode off, it bogged going into second but that might of just been the drenched air filters fault.

So what I'm asking is what could/has gone bad while doing this, I checked my oil and its a little low but theres no water in there (that I could see), when I got home I could squeeze out water from the air filter, would I need to check/clean the carb? Tomorrow I'm going to change the oil and oil the air filter again but is there anything else I should check?

Thanks in advance.


these are posts made from him, riding through floods that will explain wheel bearings, and all the rust. people just try there luck we have been going a long time to know when people are trying to get parts for free..

For a start after riding through the foot deep water I took the bike home, rinsed it off, oil the chain, drained carb, dried and oiled air filter and cleaned the bike.... I clean the bike atleast once a week, the rust you see in the pictures is from the poor quality metal, discs aren't rusty, only bolts on the disc and sprocket have rusted. The only other rust on the bike it at the light terminals and they only get wet when it rains, I also store the bike under tarpaulin overnight.

The bike was purchased end of October, it didn't arrive till the start of November... So if you count that's 3 whole months, I barely rode it for two of them as I had no speedo.... Yes we'll over a month maybe even two of no speedo, no help from you, I wasn't called once for an update on the speedo yet you kept telling me I would. I've had your clutch cable the original one, a replacement and currently I have in one from my quad bike, this one doesn't feel like yours. The ones you supplied all snapped at he top before the nipple, so it's probably the cheap Chinese shit you sell which caused this.

I'm not asking for free parts just for faulty parts to be replaced, e.g. The speedo, clutch cables, the bent front disc, crumbling brake pads, and wheel bearings. As people I've spoke to have told me they've never seen bearings mash up like mine did, that was a manufacture defect, I can send you one side of them if you like, but I probably won't as you don't offer to pay postage fees, Ive spent more than enough returning items to you.

I bought the bike to get to college and back, it's 4 miles, 4 miles doing 20 mph, I've not taken the bike off-road, I've not thrashed it either, what if I had used it for racing? Would the bike snap in half? And you'd still tell me that's wear and tear.

It's no so much the parts I'm annoyed about, it's how you've dealt with the problems, you didn't even offer replace anything, you haven't called me once to sort this out, you don't know the value of your customers till they stop doing business with you. You have poor customer service at best, I would advice people to buy from other sellers over you, maybe they treat their customers properly.

Above all most of this could be solved with a trip to the citizens advise bureau, which i will probably do in the near future as I can't currently as I'm not old enough to pursue this, you broke parts of the Distance Seller Regulations and Sale of Goods act. And I've said this before, we can resolve this, ideally I want a full refund but you're too money hungry for that. But maybe the small claims court may feel differently.

Before you start saying it's my fault the bikes breaking, it's regularly fixed by myself and my grandad, an engineer for 40+ years, and all he's told me is the parts and poor and stuff like this shouldn't happen, not on a new bike. I didn't save for a year to buy a bike that doesn't last 2 weeks before something else breaks.

[craig 105]

its a stomp very poor all said and done but it seems like you was happy to take hes money all £1500 and more these bikes are so cheap you could of helped him out cable bearings are next to nothing.

i wont deal with stomp after all the times there bikes ended up at my house for me to fix mark at stomp never gave me nothing.

i do have to say tho the rust on the wheel up there just shows you dont look after the bike as well as you make out.

every pit bike dealer is the same if you ask me everyone as had a problem with the dealers at some point bikes parts its hard to get it right all the time.

[Jamieleo]

Should of brought cw bike not stomp!! Cw can only offer stomp warranty ? As a business can not afford to pay for stomp defaults, never had problem with cw products or service? Maybe email stomp!!!

[bigs#8]

Originally Posted by cwbikes

as for you bigs never had a positive comment of you, only quickly jumping on the ban waggon,

i do have a business to run and i have spent alot of time reviewing and commenting back. sorry my response wasnt fast enough for you.

Dude that's all I've herd is people moaning about your service and after sales
It was the same for me a while ago when I got a 1/4 turn cnc throttle and cable
Cable didn't even fit emailed phoned the lot to no response so gave up on you and got a cable from else where
A company these days is built on reputation and when I mentioned about the cw logo plastered on everything you sell (some people don't want that) you got all narky
I was always told to learn from your mistakes
I suggest you do the same

[cwbikes]

Originally Posted by bigs#8

Dude that's all I've herd is people moaning about your service and after sales
It was the same for me a while ago when I got a 1/4 turn cnc throttle and cable
Cable didn't even fit emailed phoned the lot to no response so gave up on you and got a cable from else where
A company these days is built on reputation and when I mentioned about the cw logo plastered on everything you sell (some people don't want that) you got all narky
I was always told to learn from your mistakes
I suggest you do the same

bigs when did you place this order? things have changed a lot at cw bikes, the brand and bikes are growing stronger everyday massive plans for the pit bike scene, hope you can let us change your mind about us over a throttle cable.

and the comment about all bad comments, thats the thing never seen you comment on the good comments, only the bad which are far between these days. look on my sponsor page and have a look

thanks callan