I recently purchased a Kawasaki ZX-6R brand-new. It was running nicely before its first service; I haven’t ragged it yet. When it got to 500-odd miles, I booked it in with my local garage for an oil and filter change.
They did the work quite quickly and off I went. On my ride home, the rear wheel span up and I lost control. I had no idea at the time, but the rear wheel got coated with oil from an improperly fitted oil filter. This was the reason for the crash.
The garage is telling me it is a brand-new bike (covered by a four-year Kawasaki warranty) and that I should claim via Kawasaki. My insurer is telling me to send the bike to a repair centre for repairs (I am covered fully comprehensively), and the finance company want to instruct its own legal team to determine the fault.
What do I do?
Answer
Hmm, yes. This is a lot of nonsense. The law is quite simple. If the cause of the accident was an improperly fitted oil filter, which leaked and caused the accident, then your claim is against the garage that did the work. This is because they must carry out the work with proper care and skill.
If, however, the cause of the accident was a defective motorcycle (I am thinking along the lines of a crack in the engine housing which allowed oil to escape), then your claim is either against Kawasaki or the dealer who sold you the bike. The latter is the easiest target even if they didn’t know about the defect. That might seem unfair on the face of it, but that is how the law is set out: The dealer that sold you the bike might be able to retrieve the cost of the claim from Kawasaki directly, but that is a matter between them and not your concern.
However, the most important issue is the bike itself. The bike is the evidence, so don’t let it go to any repair centre or anyone else. Keep the bike. Don’t make the mistake of thinking any lawyers appointed by the finance company are ‘your lawyers’ – they are not. A lawyer needs to look out for their client’s interests and that could mean the finance house first, not you.
You definitely have a claim; it just needs an initial report on the bike to find the cause of the leak. That will give you the answer as to where to present your claim.
Gavin Grewal
Fast Bikes – August 2025