Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Bad Service

My bikes in the shop getting fixed now and while they have the front end apart I thought I'd take the oppertunity to take care of a couple of things I've been wanting to do for a while namely powdercoating the lower fork tubes and upgrading to progressive fork springs. I know that the springs are not a big deal and I could do it myself but while insurance is paying for labor, why not? I also know that I can get the springs from FastEddy I thought I wouldn't hurt to call around to some local progressive dealers just to check, while FastEddy is my first choice it's nice to have other options just in case. All the progressive dealers in the area are Harley dealers but I decided to give a call anyway because I wanted the info. So I call Ocean State HD and get the parts guy on the phone and tell him what I'm looking for, price and availability, he asks me what kind of bike I have and I tell him I have the part number if that's easier for him. I give him the number and he looks it up and says, "That's not right, what kind of bike do you have?" I tell him and he says, "You know this is an HD dealer right?" I say, "Yes but you're also a progressive dealer right, so you could order the part right?" His reply, "We're a Harley shop, that's not what we do." I just hung up. I couldn't believe it, they have access to the part, they could order it but they won't because it's not for a Harley. I can totally understand them telling me they won't do the work, that's fine, I understand that. I was calling a progressive dealer for progressive springs and they wouldn't sell them to me, seems like bad business to me.

The dealerships are the reason why I'll probably never ride a HD.

The local dealer would not sell, mount and balance a tire for my Dad because it was not still on the bike- I carried the wheel in.

The same dealer's parts guy made some stupid comment about triumphs being jap shite. I just shook my head and left.

HD Dealers

Some parts droids are just plain stupid. Fortunately, not all are like that. Ventura HD is also an East Brackets dealer. The parts guy there was actually able to look up the correct P/N for my America and ordered the kit. They would have installed it if I wanted.

My local Yamaha dealer would've bent over backwards to offer you service; that's the kind of business they run. It takes all types, you just ran into a Harley snob. Spend your money elsewhere.

I don't like the people who own my local HD dealership but I know a few guys that work there and they will get me any part they have access to. There was one guy who I never met before that spent quite a bit of time with me looking for jets when I was rejetting my bike. He knew it was a Triumph and never said a bad word just interested in the new bike and asked me all kinds of questions. Some shops are like that some are not. Personally if I owned a shop I would sell you anything you wanted to buy if I could get it. Money is green no matter what the part is going on.(well it used to be green)

My Triumph is more in Suzuki garage(just round the corner) than in Triumph one (18 miles away) coz... they cheaper and have no problems when they getting all parts from me like chain and sprockets ,oil filter and oil or tyres and many more and reason is that they have tools and place I'm doing smaller bits

I LOVE my local HD dealer.

OK I'd not buy a bike from them - they had an Speedmaster in once, but that was gone 2 days later... - but as far as accessories go they are far better than my Triumph dealer.
It's where my helmet is from, my Draggin Jeans, the Nelso Rigg Roll I used at the weekend and they do Kurakyn (sp?) and will get me bit for the Americas.

And they give me stuff for the raffle at the TOMCC raffle - even if I just walk in unanounced.

Oh, come on Tim! You forgot to tell us about the part were the doofus not only told ya that they were a H-D dealer, but once you informed him of your bike's brand name the part where he said..."TRIUMPH???!!! When did they start makin' THOSE again???"

(five'll get cha ten I'm probably RIGHT, huh?!)

Screw 'em! Get your stuff though the internet.

(the chances are probably better that you'll find somebody there who knows motorcycles and motorcycling IN GENERAL!!!)

Quote:

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"We're a Harley shop, that's not what we do."

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While quite a few are that way not all. There is one dealership in Leominster Ma.,American Harley-Davidson, I have dealt with a couple of times and they are pretty good. The last time I ordered some jets and told the guy what I was riding. He took a break came out looked at my bike sat on it and had nothing but good things to say about the looks and set-up of the bike. On the other hand I've got the "we are a Harley dealer" thing from another local shop. I guess it all depends on the people who own and operate the individual dealerships. And also the folks they got working for them too.

I don't mean to imply that I think all HD dealers are this way, I have had good expierences at other dealers I just couldn't believe what I just heard. I called back to talk to the manager of the store and he seemed pretty helpful until he hung up on me. To give him the benifit of the doubt he offered up an explination about the person in parts not knowing what was going on and told me that he'd have a talk with him when he went to put me on hold the phone hung up so probably an accident. Oh well, does not matter, I'm gonna go through someone else

I don't know if I moaned and whined about my recent experience trying to acquire a new latch for my '83 Harley Sportglide hardbags. One of them died a couple weeks before the Kootenay Raid. The local, independent Harley mechanic who mounts my tires for me tapped his sources in the Harley dealer network and generated a list of dealers nationwide who have this part.

As an aside, this searchable dealer network feature is an OUTSTANDING thing that Harley has set up.

Now, keep in mind I never told them this was for a Triumph. I posed as an owner of a 1983 Sport Glide.

The first dealer sold me the part, then called me back and said the owner didn't want to sell it to me. It was the last one they had and they wanted to hang on to it. Baffling.

The second dealer couldn't be bothered to go check the old parts bin to see if they had it.

The third dealer had it but wouldn't send it me anything but UPS ground (it showed up after I got home).

The fourth dealer, I think in Indiana or Iowa, can't remember, was super helpful and sent it out second-day air. Ironically this was the only female I talked to during this part search. Funny, that.

Oh, I just remembered, before I did all that, I rode down to the Harley dealership in Butte, MT, and they had no problem helping me (I bought a generic tour pack latch that ended up not working) even though they could see my Triumph sitting out front.