More Harley bashing

[billz410]

I was doing a little snooping on 'hdforums' and found this rather lengthy thread about guys unhappy with the service from their HD dealers.

If you were in the market for a V-Twin cruiser, and price was not a factor, would this be enough to turn you off from HD, or do you think this is really a narrow cross-section of rants compared to the number of HD's sold?

When I say price isn't a factor, I don't mean go out and spend 100K at Orange County Choppers, I just mean if you were looking at what different OEM manufacturers had to offer, and you could, or would, spend the dough for an HD product.


http://hdforums.com/forum/general-ha...periences.html

What's been your experience with dealers- HD, Kawasaki, or otherwise?

[dogdoc]

My personal experience with MY kawa dealer has sucked. luckily I have not taken it back since the 600 mile check-up. Thats why I do get along with them at this point. :-)

[phenrichs]

Honestly I have not met very many people (maybe 10) that are happy with the service and support they got from their dealer, regardless of brand. It just doesn't seem to me that these mc dealers are interested in anything after the sale or they have such a hard time working with the OEM that it isn't worth it.

And if I could truly afford 'whatever' I would take my nomad a couple hours west of here to Klockwerks Kustoms. They specialize in custom baggers. I would love to take my Nomad to them and let their imaginations play with something different.

[macmac]

Harleys are ok, but no dealers I know are worth squat. They are into getting all the money they can get from preying on the innocent.

If I had wanted a harley i would have bought one. Harley will have to do 2 things for me to buy one. Neither depends on a dealer, because there is no way I am going to any dealer for other than to get parts no one else can get at a better price.

Harley will have to drop their pricing to a realisrtic level. I refuse to buy cool...

Harley will have to make the amenities equal or surpass Nomad.

It would help if I could buy the harley I wanted in the first place instead of the harley kit they sell.

It would help if they got rid of the shaking which guys might like, but metal parts don't.

What might help most is if harley would just get real and tell the people the parts come from the world over and they are not buy AMERICAN.

All them riders talkin and walkin ain't talking JACK because they are not techs and have no clue what is and what isn't American in the first place. And further more hasn't been American since further back than 1981!

Last I won't belong to any club that would have me...

[cactusjack]

I clicked on the link and the first rant about dealers is about Chester's HD in Mesa, AZ. I find that odd, because I know several guys who bought their bikes from Chester's and use them for service. (Note: NONE of the HD owners I know perform their own service, in fact most of them probably couldn't identify the spark plugs) I've never heard anything bad about Chester's.

I guess mediocrity is universal. Ineptitude and poor customer service is rampant in the motorcycle dealership world.

If it isn't a poorly stocked inventory, it's amateur technicians and surly attitudes. I think dealers are hardwired to sell bikes and parts, accessories and service are low-priority items.

I haven't had a bad experience with my Kaw dealer, but I really haven't put them to the test, either. They have only performed scheduled maintenance on my bike, no warranty issues or big problems.

I prefer to do my own work, I know it's done right. I treat my bike with the care and respect that I feel it deserves and I am not at the mercy of a dealer. There's also the benefit of knowing your bike and understanding the various systems that could get you back home if you have a problem out in the middle of nowhere.

[phenrichs]

Originally Posted by macmac

I refuse to buy cool...

I call ya out for BS on that one mac.

You did buy more than one Nomad. You still wanna try to tell me you don't buy cool.

[Jared]

I agree with the above comments. I think that most dealerships, regardless of brand, suck. I've never had my bike into the dealership for any maintenance for this reason. I hear too many horror stories. I consider myself relatively smart and anything that the dealers mechanic can do, I can learn and do myself.

[trip]

My Kawa dealer is too interested in selling 4 wheelers, Mules and jet skis.

They've done me wrong on a few things. Minor stuff, I do myself. Major stuff, I take to Paul Zabor in Austin. Paul may be 200+ miles away from me, But I know he'll do it right and the price will be right.

[flavor]

From past experience......Request a mechanic that's been around the block. Too many newbies in service. So get a mechanics name and if you need work done specifically ask for him. Razee motorcycle in RI treated me well it time frame to get the bike put back together and had a mechanic, John who's been a mechanic for 31 yrs. Work was as well as I think it could've been. No issues.

Service took my calls and got involved with my insurance compant when needed and in a timely fashion at that.

Bike only laid up for 10 days counting parts ordering.

However when on my long trip this summer I had my oil changed in MT. When I returned home I had to use a breaker bar to get the oil plug out and had to crush the oil filter to get it off with a nylon belt filter wrench. Ther's no reason for that. I must've had a newbie change mt oil. Glad I won't be in MT for future service.

[cactusjack]

I wonder how many of these dealership technicians are graduates of a vocational school like MMI and how many picked up the skills by osmosis? Not that a technical degree means the tech has the common sense to not overtighten an oil filter, but I just wonder about it. I don't think there are very many motorcycle-specific programs. MMI has 2 campuses, one in Phx and one in FL somewhere. I guess some community colleges might offer something.

[dhomoney]

I mainly do my own service, but my dealer is great. Jimmy Houston Kawasaki in Park Hill, OK is great. Midwest Powersports in Green, OH was good to me as well. They squeezed me in and mounted my tire quickly. They also had a Voyager (blue/black) in stock at a very good price.

[taranis]

I must be in the minority.
Skagit Powersports in Burlington, WA. Fantastic service all the way around, and I'm as picky as they come. They work on bikes they don't sell new (Honda and HD), and will even pick up your bike, for free, from your house to have it serviced. I've also purchased all my bikes from there (three total) and steered two more people to them, also with great customer service. They do a BBQ once a month in the summer, along with Dyno's and workshops for new owners and even female rider clinics. Can't say enough good things about them.

In contrast, walk into the Honda dealership in the same town. The salesmen typically ignore you, they don't allow test rides, even on used vehicles and work on nothing but Hondas. I went in there for a new speedo cable for a '92 VLX once - I forget the price, but offhandedly asked how much for an oil change - $125.00. I laughed out loud at the guy behind the counter and walked out. Didn't buy the speedo cable there either - ordered online and saved like $10. :)

I don't think poor customer service is limited to just one brand of anything. I have heard of very good HD dealers, and piss poor ones. Ditto for metric bikes.

Here in DFW, I go to High Five Cycles. So far, they seem to be pretty good, but their service comes at a premium cost sometimes, which is why I tend to do all my maintenance myself.

[macmac]

Originally Posted by OP

I call ya out for BS on that one mac.

You did buy more than one Nomad. You still wanna try to tell me you don't buy cool.

I just took the desert dawgs off for cool, most of the time I run them on fer the heat.

I am nearly 58 years old and so I can't be cool no matter what I do can I?

Is it No price too high, or it is No, price to high....... ???

I get so confused these days. ::)

[psychocycle]

My dealer also sells and services Victory. Service is slow, costly and inept. Harley does not have a monopoly on poor dealers. I think the opposite applies but you can find support for both sides of the coin. Best to learn how to do most of what needs to be done, develops confidence, learn how your bike operates and save some $$.

[nomad561]

My local Kawa dealer quoted me $60 then charged me $130 to change the rear tire(I had the tire) then basicly told me tough s**t when I asked why the major price increase.They told me the extra $70 was because they had to remove the bags. I'll never go back or recommemnd them to anyone.