Blademotorcycles Reviews 

Bought a XSR125 from Swindon Yamaha, Ben Faulkner has been brilliant from start to finish on getting the keys to my bike. DEfo will come back again to buy a new bike in summer

Update, received my deposit, could have been a smoother transaction so given 3 stars

Left a £500 deposit (which they said was fully refundable ) Decided I didn’t want the bike, asked for a refund. 11 days later, despite 3 emails and 2 calls no sign of it. Do not trust them, read the reviews, they cannot even bother to reply to anyone who gives them a 1star

All my dealings with Blade Swindon have been 'over the phone'. Ben Faulkner has made the transaction simple and a joy to behold. The Trike is only a couple of months old so should be 'as new' when I pick it up from the Stratford Branch. I am looking forward to that. Many thanks to Ben for such a pleasurable transaction.

125 twist and go, had it serviced and a new rear tyre by Blade Honda Abingdon in January, it has just had an MOT by same company and failed for.... excessive steering movement ( after the service) and excessive wear on the same tyre THEY fitted ( at least 7mm tread depth on tyre)
unable to contact them by phone for hours on a Friday afternoon, is this customer service?

Very positive change to previous visit - good progress team

I rang up about a bike that had unfortunately already been sold but Ben went out of his way to help me out and came back to me with a different bike (same model) that he had found for me. Within the week, the bike was at my house and it's amazing. Ben was really helpful and it was a really easy and pleasant transaction. Happy riding

If I could give this company 0 stars I would.
Submitted a complaint after receiving mediocre customer service in July, still yet to receive a response.
Absolutely no interest in customers and clearly they aren't interested in improving the situation.

Avoid at all costs.

I've submitted a written complaint to Yamaha UK as a customer I need a company that cares about me and my motorcycle.

Time to raise your game, Blade Motorcycles

I recently booked a test ride on a demonstrator Triumph 2023 Street Triple 765RS at Cheltenham Blade Triumph for Friday 6th October - having given 24 hours notice.
On my arrival at the dealership, Paul the salesman greeted me and checked his diary.
He had forgotten to book me in... I’d just driven 40 miles from Bristol for this opportunity…
Fortunately the bike was there and wasn’t booked out to anybody else. OK I thought.
Preparing to get all my riding kit on, I said to Paul that I would double check the tyre pressures for my own satisfaction and safety before I set off.
I found them to be 11psi low on the front and 9psi down on the back…
A safety hazard at the very least and potentially dangerous.
A mechanic took the bike away to remedy things while I continued to get myself ready.
On his return, both the front and rear tyres were still 5psi under pressure…
At this point I made it VERY clear that I was NOT going to ride the bike in this condition.
“We’ll have to cancel the test ride then” was Paul’s first reaction…. “and what makes you think that your gauge is accurate”. It’s because I have two other gauges at home and all three concur, I said. “Well our workshop gauge is calibrated” was Paul’s reply…
With this, Paul decided to check the pressures himself. This was initially by pressing and squeezing them with his fingers and saying “well they feel ok”.
Very scientific I thought….
He then decided to check them with his own personal battery inflator that he kept in his car, and had to agree that my readings were indeed right.
So between us, we get both tyres inflated to spec.
My impressions from the test ride are pretty much immaterial, but suffice to say that I won’t be buying ANY bike from them - not now, nor in the future.
One comment I did make was that the rear suspension was somewhat harsh at times.
“Oh you can adjust that electronically in the bike’s menu” said Paul.
“You can’t”, I said, it’s adjusted manually.
Paul decided to show me, but after several attempts, he had to agree with me….
To crown the whole experience, the bike looked as though it had never had a wash in its’ life, and there was chain lube (more like conventional oil) liberally sprayed around the whole back wheel, swing arm and chain guard. I took a few photos..
Ironically they sell an anti fling chain lube that I use personally, and can vouch for its performance claims. They obviously choose not to use it…
Finally, it’s well known that all new Triumphs can only have their service light / dashboard message reset by a Triumph dealer.
I would ask an open question…
Would you trust the all round ability of this dealership to service YOUR bike, and be comfortable that EVERYTHING had been done properly ?
My answer is a resounding NO.
I’ll continue to do my own servicing thank you very much.

Dealt with Jamie Paraskevas at Triumph Stratford, absolutely brilliant service from initial enquiry, to part ex valuation, to providing a video of the nine to agreeing a great deal, all very impressive. Don’t normally write reviews but really impressed.

I had written a negative review as below on this dealership recently. However always happy to look for a resolution and Abingdon Blade really did surprise me.
Kim the service Manager not only called up to apologise but arranged for my bike to come back in, had a full check over carried out, two new tyres with a huge discount and a full valet. Absolutely professional service, customer focused and on point, “well done Kim”, every dealership needs people like that.
Furthermore upon arrival, I was greeted with a smile and coffee from one of the showroom folks in Harley.
Based on this experience I do feel I had both ends on the service spectrum and certainly would return. Also thanks to Dorian who was apologetic and I believe focused on improving the service.

Previous review

Had decided to give the dealership another try following historic poor performance, apparently they have had a change of management, Sadly its worse then ever.
Took my 2022 Anniversary Fire Blade in for a service, was greeted by someone that didn't really care, and seemed in too much of a rush to deal with me correctly.
Called back the following day to collect my bike, to find it left at the front of the site, with the ignition left on and no steering lock engaged, you could just about see a dim orange light on the digital dash, the battery was completely flat. The initial response was they could bump me, or jump start the bike...."in my experience once you kill a Lithium battery its dead period, and will never be the same". It was suggested if I charge it up over night it should be fine.
I requested they supply and fit a new battery and I will collect the bike later that week. So at the time of writing this, I have just come off a call to be advised they have sent my keys to me in the post as the bike has been returned to me ? when its still at the dealership ?? Extremely worrying that my keys have been posted with my name and address on the envelope, if you join the dots up its not difficult to understand the security risk with that, which was lost on the dealership.
The new manager "Dorian" was too busy to speak with me, despite giving all assurances the dealership has changed...yeah for the worst !
Incompetent and unprofessional doesn't come close, notwithstanding the huge security risk of posting bike keys out, not even recorded delivery !
If you value your bike, a word of advice from someone who has been riding for 48 years, don't take your bike here. Oh they are keen to sell bikes, just know nothing about them.

It has taken me several weeks after my purchase to sit down and write this review because I wanted to give Blade Motorcycles the time to compensate for its mistakes. However, they did nothing.

They are more interested in selling bikes than any sort of customer service, they are a JOKE

Brought a Suzuki bike from Blade -Swindon, upon collection found they had damaged the paint on the wheel trim when changing the rear tyre and hadn’t completed the MOT as per their company policy (bike will have at least 10 month’s MOT) Arranged on the day of collection for the bike to be booked in 6 weeks later to have wheel repaired and MOT completed, still had to contact them a further 3 times as they still weren’t sure what had to be done.

A week after I dropped the bike off I was contacted informing me a new tyre was needed on the front at an inflated price, which should have been picked up on the MOT if completed prior to me collecting the bike.

After over a week of them having the bike still no MOT completed and wheel rim still not repaired, left several messages and were told someone would call me back to provide an update, no calls received. On one occasion when I called, the call bounced through to the Bristol branch to be told no one was available in Swindon service department as they hadn’t turned up.

After 3 weeks of the bike going in I’m told they couldn’t repair the wheel trim as it couldn’t be matched to the front wheel, again no apology and still no MOT completed. Told them to put the bike back together and complete the MOT as fed up no one would take responsibility of all the issues.

Now into the 4th week still no updated on the wheel rim and still no MOT completed, went round today to find service staff and mechanics standing around chatting, Bike still not put back together and still no MOT.

Seems they are happy to sell you a bike, however the aftersales / customer service is absolutely shocking, never known a company like it, will now be escalating to the Ombudsman.

Blade triumph Stratford where I bought my rocket3 roadster have been absolutely brilliant. Nothing seems to be too much trouble. While replacing light bulbs under warranty I tagged a couple of extras I wanted doing which they did at the same time and saved me money and time. Adam at the service desk and Darren in the workshop are stars.

Blade KTM Swindon is a disappointingly unprofessional dealership, with staff who seemingly have no clue what they are doing. From start to finish, my experience with them was marred by incompetence and a lack of attention to detail. The staff seemed ill-informed and unable to answer even basic questions, leaving me feeling frustrated and undervalued as a customer. Their lack of professionalism was evident in their disorganized approach to customer service, as well as their failure to deliver on promises made during the sales process. Overall, I would not recommend Blade KTM Swindon for anyone seeking a reliable and trustworthy dealership

Really poor buying experience, brand new bike was delivered with an engine warning light ,no hand-over advice, clueless and unprofessional , seems to extend to their service department as I have just found out........AVOID.

Bought a used RE Himalyan from Blade Triumph Cheltenham 17 Aug 23. Paul was a nice salesman from the start but as soon I left the dealership, who would of known what the future would behold. For context I'm an Australian on 4 months leave and want to visit UK and EU on my leave.

Bike had battery issues a week into my trip after travelling 1000 miles. Had to stop in Edinburgh and purchase parts and get it fitted out of pocket. All attempts to contact via email have been ignored regarding the month warranty. Managed to get onto a salesperson who said send the quotes for payment. Still no contact.

I feel as if I've purchased a motorbike in a third world country with the lack of after sales support. The whole point going to a dealership as a foreigner was to have a warranty but this has just fallen through the cracks with the ignoring and delay tactics.

I should of read the reviews before handing over any cash. The bike still runs fine but the whole issue has left a sour taste regarding my trip. I don't recommend Blade.

Triumph Blade Motorcycles (Stratford-upon-Avon)
5* Customer service with friendly and knowledgeable staff, in modern and comfortable showroom.
When having my bike serviced, there is the convenience of on-line check-in a warm greeting and free tea/coffee if you want to wait. Good and prompt service with a full explanation and system updates on completion.
Happy to recommend Triumph Blade Stratford and will be returning myself.

Test road a Honda Hornet last week. Was told it had £2500 of extras and was for sale as an ex demonstrator. It didn’t. Waited an hour for them to come up with a list of the extras. Was told it would cost £120 labour to add quick shifter despite Honda quoting about £25 on their website. They even tried to sell me GAP insurance when I was buying for cash! Claimed it was a legal requirement. It isn’t. No follow up call. No answer when I rang them. No enthusiasm from reception staff. A really miserable experience

Customer Mr S Binns

A very disappointing experience when purchasing & collecting my new 2023 Indian Roadmaster from Blades Swindon.
Firstly the sales rep sent incorrect payment banking details and registration number, so I took out insurance which had to be later amended.
On day of collection the bike was supposed to have been fully valeted with minor scuff marks removed prior to the pricey Guardex application. Non of the scuff marks had been treated and it’s dubious as to whether the treatment had even been applied.
The pillion handle/strap had been left under the seat and inaccessible, after a battery replacement.
The Nav system (maps) had not been loaded and it was explained that as they were no longer an Indian dealer they did not have the diagnostics to sort this out. This along with other jobs will now have to be completed at another dealership, likely at my expense.
On driving away, both mirrors became loose and slipped down so I had to turn round and go back to the dealership.
Clearly the bike had not gone through a comprehensive PDI as the user handbook had not been completed with details of the bike or the PDI.
In my opinion it seemed that the salesman just wanted to get rid of the bike and appeared in no way bothered to rectify any issues before I left nor did he return any calls I made during the purchase.
I did get a good deal, but this in no way makes up for the appalling customer service. I will not be returning to Blades Swindon.

Had my new Kawasaki delivered last week from the Abingdon showroom,and I’m very happy with the the bike. I’ve read the reviews and became very cautious. So I paid them a visit. The showroom is spotless, the used bikes well presented as are the new ones.Plenty of bikes on display.Danny the sales exec was very helpful and sent me a video before I’d seen the bike. Had the bike delivered right on time,by great fella called Simon, handled bike with care and no issues.
Blades are 3 hours journey from me but for me you have to physically view a bike in person.Puzzling reviews against Blades, all good for me.Have to weigh it all up.