This was my understanding in the owners manual. Ilet my warranty die.
I found it extremely difficult to get Harley-Davidson (dealerships) to take care of their own Recall obligations, that they notified me of, let alone any warranty item.

Checkout the dealerships Service Department's reputation, before your purchase is my suggestion.

DougJ

 

This is interesting topic.

Ok here is what i was told when i asked in depth about it at a local dealer.

HD takes the stand that if aftermarket parts like pipes are put on by dealer or anyone your warranty is void.

Ok this is what he said if his dealership puts this on they will warranty the bike and no issues will arise yada yada. If you put them on your self no issues will arise unless they prove it was something you did wrong.

However he had one guy that did not believe him and called Harley davidson and talked to them on the Phone at headquarters and told them that he had changed his pipes dumb move. They said please hold came back told him his warranty was void and this conversation is over basically.

Next time he brought his bike in for an issue not even related to the pipes and the dealership brought up his bike on the system it was flagged from HD headquarters as Warranty Voided do not perform any Warranty work on this bike.

Now weather that is true or not means i would not call National and ask lol. Most dealers will take care of you the rest will screw you.

Prime example i do all my own work and my own service my dealership has no problem with that and has already replaced a rockerbox gasket that was leaking.

My buddy does the same and his dealership wouldn't tighten his spokes under warranty because he did his own 5,000 mile service thats bull ****. He had to pay $120 bucks. and they were all loose as hell and the wheel wobbling. Thats a warranty claim

 

Another determining factor is when you first hit the door, (Attitude) and your relationship with the Dealer/Service Dept... Service manager....They candecide to go to bat for your, or not...or you can become another numbers figure for themonths total numbers. One of my closest Friends is a service Manager at a large Dealership....Belive me the last thing you want to do is hit there door with Attitude. If there is any crack in the door they can kick it open if they need to and believe methe MOCO willback there Certified Techs and Service Managers beforeyou...

 

B S, if your dealer sells you your after market pipes you think that they would stand behind it. However, if you take it to another dealer expecting warranty work and something was wrong, they probably would not honor it, cause warranty work is a loosing propostion to them in the first place, and if they can avoid doing warranty work you know they're gonna.

 

Skully, with all due respect, there is either more to this story that you weren't told or aren't telling or it's complete "Bravo Sierra". Milwaukee isn't going to maliciously void your warranty over the phone just because you call them and tell them you changed pipes. Come on now. Almost everyone does it and they know it.

As Trotter points out, your attitude has a lot to do with it. If you go in there screaming and yelling and pointing fingers, they'll immediately get defensive and not be on your side. A lot of what happens to determine warranty covereage begins on the dealer side. After all, if the factory doesn't do an audit of it (and let's face it - how many can they audit?) then they have to take the dealer at their word that it should be a warranty repair.

 

Warranty work is not a losing proposition as far as I'm aware. The moco, I'm sure, has to reimburse the dealer for warranty work time and materials. Perhaps at a lower, fixed rate, but it's better than twiddling their thumbs. And I don't think any reputable dealer is going to refuse warranty work because you changed your pipes if the repair has nothing to do with the exhaust.

 

I really appreciate everyones input here, it definately helps me out as I decide what to do and how to go about it.

 

Greg ..You are right they get credit off the top for all warranty work... Mechanic's and dealer gets paid.... Dealers don't mind warranty work at all.... They want any and all of your repeat business Warranty or not... Buy taking care of your Warranty work and building a relation ship with you, they hope you will feel confident enough for them to do your non warranty work as well..

 

Good intentions for sure. But, I've now had 2 installs done by 2 different dealers and both made silly, unnecesaryoversights. Not enough to hurt anything but enough to shake your confidence in them. If I do something myself and make a mistake, I chalk it up to inexperience. If I take something to an indy I don't know much about to save a few bucks and he makes a mistake, I chalk it up to "that's what I get for trying to save a few bucks". But, when I take something to an authorized dealer and pay their prices, I expect it to be done right and done right the first time. When I do that and a mistake is made once, I give them the benefit of the doubt, to a certain degree, and chalk it up to "everyone is human and entitled to a mistake". But when it happens again, it makes me wonder and hesitant to go back. Sorry for ranting...

 

I honestly have more problem's getting a Big Mac with no seed's on the bun than the with harley dealers, and we deal with 2 or3 Daily ... Thank goodness the Big Mac is only a couple bucks...