Suters Speed Shop

On October 19^th I purchased a 2008 Suzuki DRZ 400SM from Suter’s Speed Shop located in Madison, WI. The transaction was personally handled with Steve Suter (the owner of the shop), who simply signed the title and gave it to me, after receiving the cash. At the time of the transaction, I asked if the fluids in the bike were good since it was coming out of storage. Mr. Suter replied, «yes». During this transaction I was never given a WI Motorcycle Buyers Guide, asked to sign a purchase agreement for the vehicle, or was given a used vehicle disclosure form. The only tag or information displayed on the vehicle was a tag stating «08 Suzuki DR-​Z 400SM $ 4995». I was given verbal confirmation by the owner, Mr. Suter, that the bike was ready to ride and so I drove it home.
Due to my current living arrangement I chose to store the bike in a garage approximately 45 minutes away from my primary residence. For this reason, I was not able to thoroughly examine the bike and discover the extent of disrepair that it was in until recently. On October 24^th I noticed that the bike had produced a lot of backfire from the exhaust (usually a sign of improper carb jetting) and that many of the spokes were loose (a danger to throwing the wheel out of alignment). I notified Steve Suter via phone on October 27^th at 2:37pm, and asked him if the bike had passed mechanical inspection and had been properly tuned after aftermarket products were added to the motorcycle. Steve personally assured me that the bike had been properly adjusted (jetted) by the previous owner, and had passed an inspection by his shop (Suter’s Speed Shop).
On November 6^th I thoroughly investigated the bike including the removal all of the plastics and gas tank. I found that the throttle cable had a tendency to remain open and was not closing properly. The front brake reservoir was extremely low, and the rear break fluid was discolored and needed changing. Next I changed the spark plug and found that the motorcycle was running very rich and had not been jetted properly contrary to what I had been told on October 27^th. Additionally I found an excess amount of engine oil in the bike (1″ over the maximum fill line).
Given the combination of low brake fluid, a faulty throttle cable and loose spokes the condition of the bike when purchased from Suter’s was not safe to ride. If the brakes were to malfunction and the throttle remain open that could easily cause a deadly crash. The bike was sold to me under the assumption that it had undergone a mechanical inspection and was sold as safe to ride. The information Mr. Suter provided about the bike was fictitious and illustrates blatant negligence in allowing the bike to leave his shop in such condition.
I called Suter’s Speed Shop on November 7^th at 10:23am and spoke directly with Mr. Suter. I notified him of the issues that I had found and asked him whether it had been inspected prior to sale. He confirmed again that it was inspected, and that he was unaware that the bike was low on brake fluid. I asked if it was possible to bring the bike back to the shop to have the fluids replaced and for it to have another inspection ensuring it was safe to operate. He replied «I guess we will give you a good deal on labor».
I called the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on Monday 11÷9÷15, and notified them of my situation. They confirmed that Suter’s Speed Shop is in fact a licensed dealer (as listed on google search). Given that they are a licensed dealer and the bike was advertised and sold under the business. Suter’s by Wisconsin State Statute 139.04 subsection (6) should have provided a Wisconsin Buyers Guide detailing the inspection of the bike. In addition to the Buyers Guide, Suter’s failed to provide a purchase agreement and complete the registration process of the vehicle through the dealership.

Big thanks to Steve and Wade brought two custom built Harley motors up last week. Had both bikes custom mapped on the dynojet 250i (awesome tool wish my shop had one) after several hours of tuning we pulled a 103 HP and 111 TQ out of the McCutchin Motorsports 103 kit. With very linear torque curve this build will rock any hd on the streets. Thanks for the great tune guys. Second bike was a prowler 106 build that pulled 102 HP and 107TQ we’ll be back in spring with some new heads and bigger throttle body (via steves recommendation) to unleash the full potential of the prowler 106. Thanks guys you rock keep up the good work. Power commanders ROCK !!!

A little out of town if you live downtown or in Middleton, but worth the drive for the service. I needed to put some tires on my motorcycle and these guys did it quickly and inexpensively. And they did it right.
Also, if you work on an older/​vintage bike, they have a huge graveyard of bikes in the back. I needed to replace the seat lock on my ’73 Honda, and I just went out back and picked around for about 15 minutes, found the exact lock, removed it, and paid about $ 5 for it. Identical piece would have cost ~$ 50 on eBay.

As the owner of several older motorcycles, and pretty much being mechanically inclined, Suters has been invaluable to me. Sam, who is pretty much in charge of the bone yard side of Sutter’s, knows most every part of every bike you could think of, or that matters at least…
They keep parts in stock that are hard to find TODAY (let’s be realistic, ever since the Internet came about nothing is hard to find if your little balls have dropped and you can patiently wait for it) and can cut you any gasket you need while you wait.
The only negative thing is that most of the bikes in the yard have been picked clean, probably by Sam himself, but that’s how he makes his money, for what he has in his barn the prices are very fair, a $ 45 seat from a 33 year old cycle wont be taped up or missing half a hinge.