Repair and maintenance work also requires customer service and interpersonal skills.
Honestly, there are people with all sorts of hobbies and ways of thinking, and if the vibe doesn’t click from the start, unfortunately we have to decline.
As work progresses, sometimes outrageous issues or problems pop up.
There are times I think “ugh,”
but the motorcycle isn’t the problem. The motorcycle isn’t.
When it comes to certain things, I’ve sometimes drawn the short straw through past experience or DIY work.
Honestly, I could just ignore it and move on, but I was the last one to touch it.
The customer might come back, and I’m constantly wrestling with whether to fix it or leave it.
To paint a clear picture,
there are multiple connector pins that have come loose, shims—which sound fancy but are really just fine adjustments. Then there are the rear nuts with terrible serviceability, with spring washers and washers adding to the part count.
When this kind of thing happens so frequently, well, you can’t help but feel frustrated.
“But the motorcycle isn’t the problem—the past is; *sniff sniff*”—that’s what I think as I work to improve things.
Most of it isn’t visible from the outside anyway, and even if parts were in their previous state, they’d still function, so the owner wouldn’t notice anything or feel any difference.
In the end, it comes down to personal satisfaction, and reducing work stress for myself and others going forward seems like it would work out better for everyone.
When it comes to people, motorcycles are such a personal thing with strong opinions and preferences that it’s really difficult.
Basically, there are people whose vibe just doesn’t match ours, and from experience, I’ve learned not to force it with those folks—just a polite no thank you.
There’s no shop that provides services to anyone and everyone as a matter of course, so it gets pretty tricky when people misunderstand that.
These days, it’s also a real problem that shops come up so easily in search results.
Customers have the right to choose, but shops have the right to choose too.
Did Japan’s obsession with money mess things up?
Occasionally, even after taking on a job, I get a weird feeling about a customer.
Of course, some people end up on our blacklist, so let’s all try to be considerate and professional.
Even then, “this motorcycle isn’t the problem; *sniff sniff*”
I don’t cut corners—I do the work right. What goes around comes around in life, and that’s pretty profound.
