RT55 questions....

[eddystone]

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a riptide 55ap electric....

It seems MANY people have had issues with them Does the warranty include postage or do you have to fork this out???

Any vic guys sent theirs toi BLA??? How much does it cost in postage?? (i'm from tas)

Thanks
eddy

[swoffa]

My RT55AP has been back to BLA in QLD several times and hasn't cost me a cent. I drop it off to BLA Sydney myself to speed things up, and they courier it to me when it's finished.
I assume you'd have to get it to your local distributer yourself, but there shouldn't be any cost with warranty repairs.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, BLA customer service is excellent.

[The_Scales]

Hi Eddy, The RT55 ia a popular model as it is the largest you can go in the 12v range. After that you go into the 24v models RT65 and up. Also I bet there are more happy owners out there then there are sad ones. By this I mean you never complain when everything is working. For the record I bought a RT65 with AP. All I can say is that I'm very happy with the relative hands free fishing. I just set the speed point in the direction and start casting, with only very minor adjustments to be done. The other advantage with the AP feature is you can go for the remote control later if you wish. I also read that the first range of the AP were sent out with a cheaper compass card and that was the cause for most probs. I don't know how true thias is though.
research,research and research.

[eddystone]

Thanks for the info fellas.

I can't wait to finally have an electric..... Is going to make fishing SOOO much more enjoyable

eddy

[dantheman]

Mate just look at the top 5 left in the grand final last year, i think 4 of the 5 had the minn kota cable steer ones, they are far less prone to breaking down, and have less moving parts, also move faster, just food for thought

ps i find them easier to use

[swoffa]

I think those guys finished in the top 5 due to fishing ability not because of what leccy they used...


I find the Riptide easier to use, especially without a lean seat, but they are certainly more prone to problems. Also, apparently the new Riptides are 50% faster than the older model.

[the_hide]

Guys I had my RT65 go back under warranty because the steering servo died. All I had to do is drop my motor at BLA melbourne, it was shipped up at their expense and sent back at their expense in a little over a week. Like any electrical device theres going to be a % of failures no matter how good the product. How serious a company takes their warranty is usually how to assess the reliability. I found BLA's after sales / warranty service exceptionally good.

[eddystone]

Not so sure how service would be in tassie

I really like the AP feature but i'm somewhat put off by the reports of brake downs

Is it that people tend to knock them around??

Mine wouldn't get HEAPS of work......Maybe on average once a week and often in fresh water.

eddy

[swoffa]

Eddy,
Do they sell Riptides in Tas? If so, then you'll have somewhere to take the motor to when it break down.
I can almost guarantee that you'll have an issue with the Riptide at some stage (everyone seems to), but I can guarantee you'll be well looked after when rectifying the issue.

My steering servo has gone twice and there's been another motor problem once (can't remember what it was) and the foot control has packed it in once. Each time it's been sent to QLD and returned to me in 3-5 days at no cost.

I never used to "knock it around", I was always careful with it actually. Now is a diferent story, I knock it around and scrape it on rocks/racks all the time, I haven't had any problems with it for ages. (Except last week when the anderson plug caught on fire, but that was my dodgy wiring )

After seeing thier quality of service in the last few years I personally wouldn't touch a Kota again unless it was free.

Mark Morris's Kota sat in the BM shop for God knows how long (Mark will know but it was like months) before they even picked it up and sent it to QLD. Myself, Sewelly & Gav called them probably no less then maybe 15 times to see what the f%$k was going on and Sewelly ended up just taking it down there.

Same thing happened with Craigs kota and I honestly coudln't tell you how many kotas we have seen come back through the BM store needing repairs. We've lost count. I'd say that probably 99% of ppl who own one have had it back in at some stage.

Then there is the two boat shows that I worked here for BLA. I did talks on the main stage each day and they told me that if I did some talks on Humminbird sounders they would give me a matrix and a 74lb transom mount for my Super Punt.

I did these talks for them for two years in a row.

After 2 years of trying to get my gear including phone calls to their main office in QLD they never sent my gear and never even returned ANY of my calls.

Then when I did finally speak to some guy there he told me that I'd done nothing for Kota in WA.

The facts are that Kota had never even sold one unit in WA before I started promoting them in DohDohDoh and through the comps. The national rep at the time (Mick Gregory) told me that they sold 80 units in the first year I ran the comps here in WA.

Then there is the undelivered prizes. I had been promised about 3 kotas and a sounder for Super Punt prizes and spent a year promoting Kota as the Super Punt sponsor, then it comes to deliever the goods and guess what happened!

Mitch is still waiting for his gear.

I think you get the picture. From what I've seen their service leaves alot to be desired and so do their products.

The good news is that all it took was one phone call to some of their competition companys and I now have 5 sounders on my desk for upcoming prizes including the massive, live on stage, drive through weigh in inside the 2005 BIA Perth Boat Show, and electrics as well.

Seems like other companies know the value of this site, the #1 hit bream site in Australia and the world, our comps, the #1 BREAM tournaments in WA by a country mile and WAFM magazine.

Next issue of WAFM is the massive official Boat show issue and we will be reviewing a heap of kotas and sounders but a few may not make the cut if you know what I mean.

Bite off the hand that feeds you and it will come back to haunt you..........

I realise most of this info isn't relevant to what you asked but most ppl dont get to see what goes on behind closed doors and I wanted ppl to see just how they really operate.

Cheers.......

[Bream Addict]

so eddy should buy a motorguide

[eddystone]

Swoffa,

Thanks for the info

Only issue is now i have more doubts than ever

IRA,

You seem to have had many personal issues with minn kota BUT is there a better motor out there???

I'm right in saying they are the only ones with Auto pilot??

Thanks
eddy

I really wish ppl would read what is actual said sometimes.

Maybe you missed this bit

"Mark Morris's Kota sat in the BM shop for God knows how long (Mark will know but it was like months) before they even picked it up and sent it to QLD. Myself, Sewelly & Gav called them probably no less then maybe 15 times to see what the f%$k was going on and Sewelly ended up just taking it down there.

Same thing happened with Craigs kota and I honestly coudln't tell you how many kotas we have seen come back through the BM store needing repairs. We've lost count. I'd say that probably 99% of ppl who own one have had it back in at some stage."

I reckon I could name probably 15 guys in WA you could call and ask them about their service.

Does that sound like personal issues to you?

And I don't know anyone in WA who's AP still works after a few months of owning it.

If yours still works then post up but I reckon I know how many of those posts there will be.....

[swoffa]

I'm not in WA, but my AP still works after owning the motor for 17 months.

Eddy, as far as I know the MK is the only brand that does motors with AP, but honestly you'll hardly use the AP feature. I only use mine when fishing bridge pylons, it helps keen the boat staionary against wind/current.
I recommend the MK Riptide, just as long as there's somewhere near you to take it to when it plays up.