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Early in the year I made a deal with Kurt Von Zech for a 64 Sportster that I have since regretted. I wanted to warn anyone that was thinking of doing business with this guy - BEWARE. I searched several forums and didn't find anything about him but I certainly wish I had!
There is far too much to write here but I have documented everything. From the beginning, Kurt made promises that he would not be able to keep. He told me things that I wanted want to hear; "My bikes don't leak" or "I'm one of the 3 best Sportser guys" and "My paint work is my specialty" and so on and so on. The reality is, most conversations resulted in him talking about himself until I could get a word in to tell him I had to go. ZZZzzzzzzzzz.
The short story is, the bike wasn't done when he said he would have it ready. No big deal, I expected that. Excuses preceded that date. "I have three other bikes I'm trying to finish and deliver." I told Kurt that he was to take the extra time so that there would be nothing wrong with my bike when I got it. Read that last sentence again because it is important.
What I came to find out was that he wasn't working on my bike at all with the extra time I gave him over and over again. What stings for me is that this is the only time in my life that I had gathered some extra money to buy something done and ready to go that wasn't a project. I do all of my own work on my old cars and I felt maybe I was in a place where with two kids and my work schedule and two other projects in the garage, I might treat myself to a moto that I could just enjoy. I haven't been on a bike in years and years and I didn't want to have to research and learn a new parts book and what's correct and what fits what and what the undesirable parts were regarding these H-D's. More than anything, that's what was stolen from me with this bike from Kurt Von Zech.
I got tired of excuses and waiting and gave him a hard deadline. He said he wasn't ready so I relented and set another for when I returned from overseas. Two more weeks of him working on other peoples bikes, not mine. I drove down to Florida to pick up my bike and the first thing he said to me was, "Do you hate me." Interesting statement I thought. Where was this overconfident bullshitter? He was madly tightening things and adjusting things while I stood there. The brake/clutch handles weren't tight so that was my forst clue he wasn't riding the bike. He told me over and over he would not deliver a bike until he rode it 2 or 3 hundred miles to work the bugs out. He never rode it.
He also removed the nice horseshoe tank with waterslide under clear and replaced it with a dented one claiming the other one was scratched. Well, that one mysteriously showed up on eBay for quite a premium. That was a shitty move. I could now see the the nibs (****, flecks, dust, hair) in the paint too. Less than average painter to say the least despite what he might tell you.
Oil was leaking from the pushrod tubes. He said you just had to "turn them". The kicker pedal was loose and swinging around, he said "they all do that". Well they do when you don't use the D spring washer. He still didn't have the tach drive in it and a couple other small parts after months of knowing he needed to have those parts. I couldn't understand that.
I got the bike home and after a day or two of starting it, it got very difficult to start. I documented this in the HarleyKModel.com forum. This is when the denial on my part ceased and I realized this guy was full of **** as a mechanic. I had a decent collection of shiny parts, or so I thought. Short version is, the plugs were gapped at 40 thou for a mag bike. Then I moved to the points to find that they had grease on the contacts. Then I discovered the mag wasn't put together correctly and ended up sending it out to Morris. I made Kurt pay $180 of that bill and to his credit he did, but called it a "waste of money." How so I wonder? Excuse after excuse. He claimed I wasn't starting it properly. I wasn't doing it right. Nothing was his fault or the bike's fault. Morris rebuilt the Mag properly. Why would you even build a mag and NOT put a new coil in it? I'll tell you why, because Kurt Von Zech will everything the absolute cheapest way possible and by the cheapest vendor. You will pay for that later, friend. Ask me how.
While waiting for the mag to return, I addressed some other issues. The main one being the rear rocker cover leaking like a sieve. That wasn't happening according to Kurt. ?! Those parts fit together before and didn't leak so...... The mating surface between the head and the rocker cover was terrible to say the least. I pulled that cylinder and removed the head. "This bike is done and ready to go?", I thought? The opposite. I TIG welded the surface and hand filed it flat and installed a new gasket after several fitments. I hope that's fixed it anyway. The head and plug valley filled with oil and smoked.
Smaller issues included the lower tank bolt looking as if it had been gnawed off to length with a pair of nail clippers. While trying to start the bike before the points problem, I had to pull the throttle cable and rout it properly without hard bends and corners and lubed the wire and filed the damage on it. After an hour, the throttle worked wonderfully and smoothly as it should. He claimed it needed to be "broken in." More basic hack mechanic bullshit. Choke lever/spring needed fixing as it just flopped around and wouldn't stay in position. There's probably more I'm forgetting.
With the mag back I thought I might be out of the woods. Some of the missing parts were shipped to me after many calls and firm emails. "I have your box ready to go but it's been raining a lot here." What? I'm shipping your stuff today. Three days pass. "I'm shipping your box tomorrow when I get back from New York." Four days pass. "Kurt, ship my parts. Today." Box ships the following day. Magneto installed I begin kicking again only to discover oil will not stop leaking from the rocker oil tube boss area. I had replaced the neoprene gaskets with stock style cork/rubber jobs. It turns out that there is a crack in the boss of the case between the two oil tube fittings and beyond.
So I pulled the motor and disassembled it myself. I have just sent the cases out for welding as it has proven difficult to find a pair of decent cases. (Dr.Dick has been very helpful, thank you sir.) The cases need additional work, one place being the left side kick shaft bushing is loose in the case where there was a **** repair done previously most like contributing to the terrible kicker slip I had been dealing with up until now.
I understand these bikes are old and there are certain chances to be taken but when someone makes promises to you that are no where near what they can actually deliver, I have to feel like I've been taken advantage of. I could have bought a cheaper bike and done all this myself and never have had to listen to the lies and deal with the frustrations. In the end, I hope my telling this keeps someone from experiencing the same **** I went through. With this off my chest and having received the "plated?" kickstand in the mail last week. I will put Kurt in my past and never have to deal with him again. If you MUST buy a part from him on eBay selling as camaneye2, you'd better beware firstly on how it was assembled and secondly if he actually has it in stock. Do not do any business on a promise because you will be sorely disappointed.
There is far too much to write here but I have documented everything. From the beginning, Kurt made promises that he would not be able to keep. He told me things that I wanted want to hear; "My bikes don't leak" or "I'm one of the 3 best Sportser guys" and "My paint work is my specialty" and so on and so on. The reality is, most conversations resulted in him talking about himself until I could get a word in to tell him I had to go. ZZZzzzzzzzzz.
The short story is, the bike wasn't done when he said he would have it ready. No big deal, I expected that. Excuses preceded that date. "I have three other bikes I'm trying to finish and deliver." I told Kurt that he was to take the extra time so that there would be nothing wrong with my bike when I got it. Read that last sentence again because it is important.
What I came to find out was that he wasn't working on my bike at all with the extra time I gave him over and over again. What stings for me is that this is the only time in my life that I had gathered some extra money to buy something done and ready to go that wasn't a project. I do all of my own work on my old cars and I felt maybe I was in a place where with two kids and my work schedule and two other projects in the garage, I might treat myself to a moto that I could just enjoy. I haven't been on a bike in years and years and I didn't want to have to research and learn a new parts book and what's correct and what fits what and what the undesirable parts were regarding these H-D's. More than anything, that's what was stolen from me with this bike from Kurt Von Zech.
I got tired of excuses and waiting and gave him a hard deadline. He said he wasn't ready so I relented and set another for when I returned from overseas. Two more weeks of him working on other peoples bikes, not mine. I drove down to Florida to pick up my bike and the first thing he said to me was, "Do you hate me." Interesting statement I thought. Where was this overconfident bullshitter? He was madly tightening things and adjusting things while I stood there. The brake/clutch handles weren't tight so that was my forst clue he wasn't riding the bike. He told me over and over he would not deliver a bike until he rode it 2 or 3 hundred miles to work the bugs out. He never rode it.
He also removed the nice horseshoe tank with waterslide under clear and replaced it with a dented one claiming the other one was scratched. Well, that one mysteriously showed up on eBay for quite a premium. That was a shitty move. I could now see the the nibs (****, flecks, dust, hair) in the paint too. Less than average painter to say the least despite what he might tell you.
Oil was leaking from the pushrod tubes. He said you just had to "turn them". The kicker pedal was loose and swinging around, he said "they all do that". Well they do when you don't use the D spring washer. He still didn't have the tach drive in it and a couple other small parts after months of knowing he needed to have those parts. I couldn't understand that.
I got the bike home and after a day or two of starting it, it got very difficult to start. I documented this in the HarleyKModel.com forum. This is when the denial on my part ceased and I realized this guy was full of **** as a mechanic. I had a decent collection of shiny parts, or so I thought. Short version is, the plugs were gapped at 40 thou for a mag bike. Then I moved to the points to find that they had grease on the contacts. Then I discovered the mag wasn't put together correctly and ended up sending it out to Morris. I made Kurt pay $180 of that bill and to his credit he did, but called it a "waste of money." How so I wonder? Excuse after excuse. He claimed I wasn't starting it properly. I wasn't doing it right. Nothing was his fault or the bike's fault. Morris rebuilt the Mag properly. Why would you even build a mag and NOT put a new coil in it? I'll tell you why, because Kurt Von Zech will everything the absolute cheapest way possible and by the cheapest vendor. You will pay for that later, friend. Ask me how.
While waiting for the mag to return, I addressed some other issues. The main one being the rear rocker cover leaking like a sieve. That wasn't happening according to Kurt. ?! Those parts fit together before and didn't leak so...... The mating surface between the head and the rocker cover was terrible to say the least. I pulled that cylinder and removed the head. "This bike is done and ready to go?", I thought? The opposite. I TIG welded the surface and hand filed it flat and installed a new gasket after several fitments. I hope that's fixed it anyway. The head and plug valley filled with oil and smoked.
Smaller issues included the lower tank bolt looking as if it had been gnawed off to length with a pair of nail clippers. While trying to start the bike before the points problem, I had to pull the throttle cable and rout it properly without hard bends and corners and lubed the wire and filed the damage on it. After an hour, the throttle worked wonderfully and smoothly as it should. He claimed it needed to be "broken in." More basic hack mechanic bullshit. Choke lever/spring needed fixing as it just flopped around and wouldn't stay in position. There's probably more I'm forgetting.
With the mag back I thought I might be out of the woods. Some of the missing parts were shipped to me after many calls and firm emails. "I have your box ready to go but it's been raining a lot here." What? I'm shipping your stuff today. Three days pass. "I'm shipping your box tomorrow when I get back from New York." Four days pass. "Kurt, ship my parts. Today." Box ships the following day. Magneto installed I begin kicking again only to discover oil will not stop leaking from the rocker oil tube boss area. I had replaced the neoprene gaskets with stock style cork/rubber jobs. It turns out that there is a crack in the boss of the case between the two oil tube fittings and beyond.
So I pulled the motor and disassembled it myself. I have just sent the cases out for welding as it has proven difficult to find a pair of decent cases. (Dr.Dick has been very helpful, thank you sir.) The cases need additional work, one place being the left side kick shaft bushing is loose in the case where there was a **** repair done previously most like contributing to the terrible kicker slip I had been dealing with up until now.
I understand these bikes are old and there are certain chances to be taken but when someone makes promises to you that are no where near what they can actually deliver, I have to feel like I've been taken advantage of. I could have bought a cheaper bike and done all this myself and never have had to listen to the lies and deal with the frustrations. In the end, I hope my telling this keeps someone from experiencing the same **** I went through. With this off my chest and having received the "plated?" kickstand in the mail last week. I will put Kurt in my past and never have to deal with him again. If you MUST buy a part from him on eBay selling as camaneye2, you'd better beware firstly on how it was assembled and secondly if he actually has it in stock. Do not do any business on a promise because you will be sorely disappointed.
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