Disgusted in Denver
I recently took a ride to Amarillo, Texas on my 2009 Harley Davidson Fat Bob. Prior to leaveing I decided I should have a new rear tire installed at the local dealership here in Parker, CO. During my trip the support bracket for my pipes cracked. I contacted my local dealer and they orderd a new bracket. I was scheduled to return to the Denver area on Sunday, but I wanted to get the bracket secured before traveling back. I went to the local dealership in Amarillo to have the repair completed. After the technician completed the repair he took my bike for a test ride. I am unsure why this was required due to the level of maintenence that was completed. The tech jumped on my bike and rapped it out in the first three gears on the first leg of his test ride. He returned about 4-5 minutes later. The day after I returned from the trip, I was riding home from work. I pulled up to a red light, put the bike in neutral. After the light turned green I put the bike in first gear disenguaued the clutch and the bike sat motionless.
I contacted my local dealership who came and picked up my bike. After the inspection they contacted me and told me the clutch was smoked, and there was burnt rubber in the fender. I was informed this was not a warranty item because it is a wearable item. After dicussing this with my local dealer he informed me that someone had to have done a burnout on the bike to do this amount of damage. He suggested I contact the Harley Davidson Customer Service Line. My discussion with them was as follows…. This is not a warranty item, any damage done will have to be taken up with the dealership. The dealerships are independent from us. Pretty much, get lost we just make the product, we don’t support it.
I contacted the dealership that did the work in Amarillo, ( there is only one, and the only other person to ride my bike was the tech who did the repair. ) I ask for the general manager, He sent me to the service manager. I explained my problem to him. Of course he denied doing anything of the sort. I called back the General Manager and he just told me that we don’t do that to our customers bike and that the tech has worked there for 20 years. This is a family run buisness by the way. The owner’s are the parent’s and the son is the general manager.
So my question is, what happened to the intergrity in the US? No one takes responsibilty anymore, I have to take my bike in to a dealer to service otherwise my warranty is void, But the company holding the warranty dosen’t take responsibility for the dealers it allows to sell it’s product. I can’t complain about the local dealer from whom I purchased the bike, but the whole objective of having the Harley “America’s Motorcycle” is to put your face in the wind and feel the freedom we are so lucky to have here, Jump on you bike hit the open rode and see where it takes you. I just hope it’s not Amarillo
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June 1st, 2009 at 5:51 am
I had a similar experience at my local H-
D dealer in Kansas.
My wife had some electrical problems with her 1980 shovelhead and took it in to have handlebars changed, turn signals added, and the start switch replaced.
After 3.5 months they called and said it was done and it would cost $2500.00 to get it out of the shop. Reason: they could not figure out where the starter switch wire was (on the old starter switch of course), the turn signal wires were (hanging out the hand grips), and had to rewire the entire bike to get it right. The starter switch lasted 3 months! Needless to say I was exceptionally po’d!
Oh yes, the bike was taken in in the first part of June so my wife missed the entire summer to ride.