I have been waiting 10 days for even a basic part to be back in stock.
BHPian ninjatalli recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I had my INT 650 serviced more than a week ago at the company-operated service centre in Bangalore (BTM Layout) and I had exclusively asked for the front brake pads to be replaced as part of the work to be done. A day later the service advisor calls me and tells me they are out of stock of brake pads and I could get the work done about a few days later once the stock arrives.
It’s been 10 days and even after checking with them every 2 days, there’s no clarity on when such a basic part will be back in stock. Today morning reached the service centre and was advised to check with other service centres across the city as they now were not even able to give me timelines (till then I always was told 2 days repeatedly). I called up at least 2 more service centres across Bangalore (HSR, Koramangla) and they confirmed the same situation at their end. None of them is now confirming when the stock will be available.
In the past, I have seen a few parts for the Interceptor not being in stock (e.g. sump guard) and had to wait at times for over a week but these were not absolutely must-have parts. Going to mechanics outside the RE network so far has not given me the availability of original RE parts (e.g. I had to ask around a few local FNGs for changing my bike handle and they all asked me to go back to the service centre).
Is parts availability a common/recurring problem observed wrt to the Twins across the country?
Here’s what BHPian aargee had to say on the matter:
My quick answer is – Agree with you, there seems to be a shortage of spares
Last month when doing the school service during the peak hour traffic, a Tata Lorry & Leyland Dost were doing a breakdance competition on account of demonstrating their driving skills. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past their show due to heavy traffic.
During this ongoing show, a mini-episode was unveiled in the form of a RE 350 rear-ending a Pep that rear-ended my Inty. That was incidentally the first accident as well, anyway, no human injury & to keep things cool, I let go of the incident as nothing seemed to be damaged other than the skewed rear number plate bracket. After all, I own a machine that’s built like a gun!! Or so I thought? Until Son pointed out that the already protruding left exhaust is even more protruding.
My first reaction to hearing from ASC was They said, this is nothing & I can continue to ride as long the bike is rideable. Told them, that’s not how I treat the motorcycles & told them whether they want to do a business or not. They said the left side bracket is bent & needs replacement and they don’t have one in stock.
But still, they reluctantly removed the exhaust only to find the exhaust gasket that they thought was in stock is missing now. So, they don’t know what’s in their inventory!! But they were cooperative, sent a person 8 Km away to fetch one from a different showroom, who eventually didn’t show up even after an hour.
Eventually, I placed an order to be said the parts will arrive in 3-4 days. That 3-4 days was somewhere by end of Feb. Little did I know that 3 days is nothing but 3 weeks!! Finally, I replaced the bracket & gasket last week after 3 weeks of patience & 300 follow-ups!! Cost me Rs 169 for both.
Although I wanted to give some business to ASC in form of fitting, they were too busy to book my appointment due to which I had some fun with DIY, which is a story for another day.
Here’s what BHPian Rahulkool had to say on the matter:
I am not sure how is the scene in Bengaluru but here in Chennai lots of RE authorised parts stores are there, you should try there as well. I have been to a couple of places to buy a few small parts and mostly they have stock if they don’t have they will take the order and arrange it in a couple of days.
When I want to fix back the stock silencer on my bike, one gasket was missing in the accessories box the previous owner gave me with the stock silencers. I Went to the nearby RE Store and bought it, as this gasket is the same as other RE models they said, I had the old part with me and they gave me the right size. Similarly, I bought the screws for the exhaust heat shield as that was also missing.
Keyword: Facing spare parts scarcity for RE Interceptor 650: A common problem?