Kimberkid Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I have an 06 Roadking. I love this bike and have enjoyed it at every oppertunity. The handlebars have grown loose and now can be pushed up or down at will with little effort. Of course, the bolts that control the tension are hidden inside the headlight nacelle and you must remove the nacelle and the fork lock to get to them. I am not a mechanic, and this is the very reason I bought an extended warranty, so I call 2 local dealerships about getting it fixed. Guess what.... they are gonna charge me. $55 for 1 hour labor to tighten the handlebars. One guy claims that they werent put on right at set up (11 months ago) and that if I want it done under warranty that I have to take it back to the place I bought it. I bought it at a dealership over an hour away and dont feel like going back just to get something this stupid fixed. In review, you can spend over $20K on a toy, plus the best warranty they offer, and still get boned any time you need anything. This will be the last Harley I ever buy and never again will I have even an iota of guilt for not "buying american". I will probably vomit next time I hear some BS about Harley brotherhood or brand loyalty. I tried emailing Harley to complain, but the customer service dept. doesnt accept email. I tried calling but you never get to talk to a person, and they dont have any phone options even close to one that allows you to voice your concerns. The days of a big corporation standing behind their product have passed. Shoulda never sold my Yamaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Welcome to that intangible "character" that is often quoted in the motorcycle rags when a Harley is found to be short on performance. Sorry about your troubles, Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joer Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 How come you did not buy it at a local dealership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 BTW, the story about returning to the original selling dealer for warranty work is BS. Dealers agree to warranty work regardless of where the bike was purchased. Do what you can to get ahold of someone at HD coporate and they will get the dealers straightened out. (maybe) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Sorry for your problems with the warranty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberkid Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 I bought from the dealership I did, for several reasons. They provided far superior customer service, they offered a better price and more for the Yamaha I traded in, and several friends of mine bought bikes from there in the past couple years. Also, the shop is family owned, as it has been for about 50 years, and the family has been very generous in helping the owner of our gun club, whose health has declined a great deal in recent years. I feel it is important to spend money with people that support our interests. Plus, they will take guns in on trade or as a down payment. I am gonna call the dealership where I bought it and see if they have any phone numbers or people at HD headquarters that I can talk to. This whole thing makes me so mad I could scream. A metric buttload of cash invested, and this is the treatment I get. BTW, Dont anyone ever stop at the Harley dealerships in Michigan City, or Valparaiso Indiana. Unless of course it is to beat the daylights out of a service manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Moneypenny Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Hate to hear about your bad experiences. sounds like those are some pretty shitty dealerships. Glad you found a guy who was good to deal with when you bought the bike though... consider it an excuse to take a long ride ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 At an Oregon shoot some guys shirt summed it up best.... "Harley Davidson" If they made a plane would you fly in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I bought from the dealership I did, for several reasons. They provided far superior customer service, they offered a better price and more for the Yamaha I traded in, and several friends of mine bought bikes from there in the past couple years. Also, the shop is family owned, as it has been for about 50 years, and the family has been very generous in helping the owner of our gun club, whose health has declined a great deal in recent years. I feel it is important to spend money with people that support our interests. Plus, they will take guns in on trade or as a down payment.I am gonna call the dealership where I bought it and see if they have any phone numbers or people at HD headquarters that I can talk to. This whole thing makes me so mad I could scream. A metric buttload of cash invested, and this is the treatment I get. BTW, Dont anyone ever stop at the Harley dealerships in Michigan City, or Valparaiso Indiana. Unless of course it is to beat the daylights out of a service manager. They are lying about honoring warranty work. All dealers should do it and then bill HD for the work. They are just jerking your chain. I suspect you'll be a lot happier if you buy the srvice manuals and some tools so you are not helpless with such minor repairs in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Sandoz +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I have an 06 Roadking. .... The handlebars have grown loose and now can be pushed up or down at will with little effort. The old saying was that harley riders always rode in packs so the guys in the back could pick up the parts falling off the ones in front...... Thought they had all that fixed. Apparrently not...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I have had more Harley's than I like to count. In fact, I have two now. I would not judge Harley on a lot of the new dealerships. You probably got great service from the first dealership because they are real Harley owners. In the last few years many dealerships have been opened by "business men" who could care less about Harley. They only care about the bottom line. It is sad to pay big bucks for a Harley and not get great customer service. My guess is the trainee who did the initial assembly of your bike from the factory did not tighten the handlebar clamp bolts to specs. I would try talking directly to a service manager and not the initial person in service. I have been on road trips and my bike has developed some mechanical problem, (mostly bad wrenching in my inexperienced days), that rendered my bike useless. I called the nearest dealer and they were there with a trailer and had me fixed and back on the road in record time. Harley does have a pretty good maintenance manual (about $39.95) for minor things you might need. I had a Road King and it might take a hour to do what you need to do. Give er a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 All of the old bikes had stuff falling off them...my 68 Bonny, my 69 Tiger both had crap falling off them...my 74 H-D really had stuff wrong with it... Sad to say but the best bikes I have had are Japanses and Italian... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 No tool bags needed on the newer Harleys. No oil spots either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 If I were you, I'd: 1. Get the names of the individuals you talked to that refused to do the warranty work. 2. Call the dealership you got the bike from and ask for the corporate office phone numbers or ask for a recommendation of who to call. 3. Call the corporate office and demand a refund of any money charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Harley Davidson...Yesterdays technology at tomorrows prices! That about says it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 I must have missed something here. I thought you were supposed to trade something for or steal your Harley and wrench it yourself??? Pay $20,000 for a bike and ask a salesman to fix it? There is a lesson here somewhere.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Fixing the handle bars is about as hard as field stripping a 1911....not very. So the dealership is an hour away you gonna ride the thing or just look at it and bitch? Sounds like a good excuse to put a few miles in it. Buy the service manual and fix it...you might actually find that there is very little that you can't do yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinney Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Unfortunately, you see this small town attitude in dealers across the country - its not as wide spread as it used to be, but its still there (I see it in car dealers in my job all the time ). The whole "if you didn't buy it here, I'm not servicing it under warranty" thing is ridiculous, and horrible business practice. They get paid by the factory for the warranty work, so they are really making a "sales" related decison when they say something like this - in the stores eyes, if they won't service your bike, then maybe next time you'll think more strongly about buying locally from them next time.... when in reality they have so soured you that you'd buy from anyone else. Best thing to do is as suggested above, get all the pertinent contact info for the nimrods that won't do warranty on your bike, and contact HD customer service, or have the other store where you bought it contact their HD field rep and report the matter. All HD stores are REQUIRED to do warranty work for all HDs. Now, if a store makes a judgement call, and say it is not a warranty item (ie customer abuse, wearable parts, or what not) then thats another matter. But in the mean time I'd ride the hour to get it fixed. Do you really want the local store working on it once they get a call from their HD rep telling them they have to? Hard to tell what kind of gremlin issues might spring up with your bike after that service visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberkid Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 I considered just figuring it out myself, I also work with 2 guys that went the the Harley school and would be fully qualified to do it, and might charge me a case of beer, but that isnt the point. I paid a lot of money for a "quality" product, as well as a lot of money for a warranty, and I want what I paid for. The whole reason that I bought a warranty was for things exactly like this. I am not a mechanic and dont want to be, so I got a warranty so that at any minor problem I can have a professional fix it. I cant believe the guy telling me that is was wrong from set up, when they held together fine for 11 months. It is sad that something so stupid as a half hour of minimal labor takes this much effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I considered just figuring it out myself, I also work with 2 guys that went the the Harley school and would be fully qualified to do it, and might charge me a case of beer, but that isnt the point. I paid a lot of money for a "quality" product, as well as a lot of money for a warranty, and I want what I paid for. The whole reason that I bought a warranty was for things exactly like this. I am not a mechanic and dont want to be, so I got a warranty so that at any minor problem I can have a professional fix it. I cant believe the guy telling me that is was wrong from set up, when they held together fine for 11 months. It is sad that something so stupid as a half hour of minimal labor takes this much effort. I really am sorry for your bike hassles Kimberkid, you are right that no one should have to do this. In a cynical, subjective way, (not directed at you but at HD) I do not think you paid a lot of money for a "quality" product, although I am sure that was your intention. IMHO you paid a lot of money for a brand name and an image. "When you know how they're built, you'll buy Yamaha" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mainus Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Just spent the last 12 days driving around Montana and Wyoming on the bikes. Had a blast. One of the FLT's started to leak gas from underneath the tank, pulled into the dealer in Cody Wyoming, service guy came out and fixed it on the side of the street, no charge no questions. We then proceeded to drop big bucks inside on shirts and such. There are some bad apples out there, the hospitality we received on our tour of the west was outstanding. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinney Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I considered just figuring it out myself, I also work with 2 guys that went the the Harley school and would be fully qualified to do it, and might charge me a case of beer, but that isnt the point. I paid a lot of money for a "quality" product, as well as a lot of money for a warranty, and I want what I paid for. The whole reason that I bought a warranty was for things exactly like this. I am not a mechanic and dont want to be, so I got a warranty so that at any minor problem I can have a professional fix it. I cant believe the guy telling me that is was wrong from set up, when they held together fine for 11 months. It is sad that something so stupid as a half hour of minimal labor takes this much effort. The key thing is that this is a small repair, and even under warranty he won't make much turning the wrenches.... he doesn't want to work on it unless yoiu bought it from him because his techs can make more money more efficiently working on other larger repairs. If you needed a new trans or motor, I'd bet they'd jump right on it and bill HD a pretty penny. Good product, ok company, Bad dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 +1 Aikidale...or Honda or Kawasaki or Suzuki or Ducati... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 +1 Aikidale...or Honda or Kawasaki or Suzuki or Ducati... Maybe even a BMW. A friend had one that always ran smooth as silk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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