Colombia AKT TT AdvenTour 250

[Weldangrind]

That's quite a remarkable example of good service. To me, the key was their willingness to communicate, whether or not they had new info.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

That's quite a remarkable example of good service. To me, the key was their willingness to communicate, whether or not they had new info.

I agree.

Companies such as CSC and AKT are building international goodwill for Zongshen motorcycles.

[CSCDude]

I was not at all surprised to read about AKT's great service. The time I spent with them earlier this week convinced me that they are a responsive group of great people. All of their leaders impressed me greatly, particularly Enrique Vargas, their General Manager.

And I agree (after riding round Colombia on a black RX3 for the last 9 days); it is a beautiful machine.

Having spent the last 4 1/2 decades of my life in and around manufacturing organizations, I know that there will always be instances in which a product does not perform as intended. The measure of a great organization's success is not that they keep failures from ever occurring; it is that they continuously strive to drive the failure rate down and (more significantly) how they respond when failures occur. It was good to read your account of AKT's response to this problem.

As an aside, Colombia is a magnificent country populated by wonderful and friendly people. I hope all of you get to experience it as I did.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

Companies such as CSC and AKT are building international goodwill for Zongshen motorcycles.

I agree.

Zongshen is doing their part by manufacturing terrific bikes.

[rtking]

Joe's back in the US and just updated the blog. The assembly line in Columbia looks solid. And I guess that, since they're manufacturing in Columbia, they can pick their own colors (such as the bronze color) and add their own options. I see the AKT bikes on the assembly line have the auxiliary lights already mounted.

But one thing is clear to my mind: Zongshen has engineered a really solid bike that is working well in many parts of the world. But I think the customer service and good will from CSC and AKT are what completes the customer experience and supports the pride of ownership.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I agree.

Zongshen is doing their part by manufacturing terrific bikes.

Originally Posted by rtking

Joe's back in the US and just updated the blog. The assembly line in Columbia looks solid. And I guess that, since they're manufacturing in Columbia, they can pick their own colors (such as the bronze color) and add their own options. I see the AKT bikes on the assembly line have the auxiliary lights already mounted.

But one thing is clear to my mind: Zongshen has engineered a really solid bike that is working well in many parts of the world. But I think the customer service and good will from CSC and AKT are what completes the customer experience and supports the pride of ownership.

I agree completely with both of you.

[SpudRider]

I am surprised, and impressed that AKT manufactures the Zongshen bikes in Colombia.

[CSCDude]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

I am surprised, and impressed that AKT manufactures the Zongshen bikes in Colombia.

They do, Spud. The whole Colombian motorcycling scene, the Colombian adventure ride I just completed with Juan and Carlos, the AKT story...it's all far more than I could fit into the blog. I'm thinking there might be another book here, ala 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM. What say you? Is there sufficient interest in this to warrant my gluing myself to the keyboard for the next 2 or 3 weeks?

[DaytonaMike]

Along with the headlight guard the Version 2 or Full version of the AKT Adventour comes with these assorted guards. I finally got around to getting some photos posted. You can see the TT theme throughout the guards. This bike is called the AKT 250 TT Adventour here in Colombia.

[RedHawk47]

Hey Joe,
Can you get these guards for us here in the US?

[SpudRider]

Thanks for posting the photos, Mike.

I would like to get the brake caliper guards for my RX3.

[detours]

I like those guards. Are they steel, aluminum or plastic?

[DaytonaMike]

Detours, they feel like metal. The caliper guards are about 1.5 times as thick as the radiator guards. They feel heavy duty.

[DaytonaMike]

Brake guards are about 3mm thick and the headlight and radiator guards are about 2mm thick.

[detours]

Very cool. I'm officially interested in the headlight and brake guards ... maybe the rest too