Hi Freelancer, Sorry, but I'm unable to give you much help in what to expect from the distributor here in the US. Although the shock began to leak very early on in it's life on my bike, it was a year or more, time-wise. I never contacted the distributor and complained; I sold the motorcycle. However, I've learned that others have had this same issue, and in fact a friend reported that two shocks showed signs of leaking in their boxes in the shop, even prior to them ever being mounted. I had initially believed my experience was an "out-lier" but after hearing Steve's report, I thought it probably was not so uncommon. I therefore decided I'd post my experience for others to take into consideration. After all, that is not an inexpensive part. Good luck with yours. In all likelihood the factory has addressed the QC problems by now.