Harley Davidson experience.......... A word to the wise

[HHandbasket]

People in Harley stores will be nice to you if you have a Harley. If you come in on a Yamaha or a Suzuki or a Kawasaki... or a Flyscooter Il Bello... they treat you like dirt.

 

[muddstopper]

Buy a honda VTX and never look back.

 

[JohnCT]

Same kind of surprise here, I have never been treated with anything but respect at any Harley dealership I have ever been to, from CT to GA before and after I bought my FXD in 2003.

There was a warranty issue with the charging system that was taken care of promptly, and my service needs are usually taken care of while I wait or at most a day.

 

[greeneggsandham]

Quote:
Not sure if it is a regional thing or what, but here in New England it doesn't matter what you ride in on. The Harley stores I've been to have always welcomed other riders. As a matter of fact hubby and I went on a ride that started at one Harley store and ended at another one. Out of the almost 200 riders only half were harley riders the rest was a mix of other motorcycles and a few scooters. It was a blast.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

This is why DH owns a Ducati. He said if he was going to pay that much money for a bike and have to wait for the parts, he was buying a Ducati, so he did.

 

[The Dark Unicorn]

Wow I'm sorry to hear about how you have been treated.

I do not have a Harley, or any other bike right now. My SO does have a Harley and the dealership we deal with is a bunch of sweethearts!

To prove that, our HOG group has a member who no longer has a Harley due to medical issues. She now owns a CanAm ( that funny looking 3 wheeler). She is and active member who is well loved and a ride leader for the chapter.

I live near Dallas, TX. We go to Longhorn Harley in Grand Prairie. They treat every one including Metric riders well.....
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Now on another note there was a Harley dealership in Newburgh, NY that unless you were in a suit and tie and has cash falling out of your hands you were ignored..... I walked in there for a riding jacket and was ignored for 25 mins!!! It was empty and was told to watch out for their precious bikes! I rode in on my Yamaha! The kicker is this "dealership" also dealt with parts for other brands of bikes!

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I hope things get better for you.

Might be time to involve a lawyer..... They sound like a bunch of stuck up a**es!!!

 

[SillyChicken]

Quote:
Thats unfortunate, one of the largest dealerships near me sell everything so they don't care what you ride as long as it's something! Though my sales person knows we won't be buying any bikes for a long time, she still makes a huge effort to come see us when we're there. We hit a deer with the big bike once and they took it in and gave it a go over at no charge. I've never had any issues with customer support with any of the 3 dealerships I go to.

 

[spotstealer]

Most of them are pretty arrogant here in WI also. Sauk Prairie treat thu]eir customers right, as does Doc's in Shawano. The rest act like you owe them something. I know ride a Gold Wing and what a dream! A good buddy of mine has a -10 Ultra, it runs hot, and got mediocre mileage compared to older years. A new set of pipes, and an upgraded chip at a cost of 5K made it sound decent but no better on the heat issue or mileage. He complains as i sit back and smile...

 

[Stacykins]

They really do treat their employees like dirt, at least the ones that don't own the dealerships. My friend worked at the Harley headquarters in Milwaukee. They were always snotty to her since she didn't drive a Harley, but has a vintage volkswagon beetle. I won't post all the crap they put her through, but she worked there loyally for years, but they gave her no warning when she lost her job. She came into work as per usual, middle of the week, and when she went to get the day's assignment her boss went "oh, we outsourced your job."