25 plus years ago when I went to MMI in Phoenix Az the dealer sold HD and Kawasaki side by side with no problems. I really love my evo ,but even here in Milwaukee where in a 50 mile radius you could visit 8? dealerships, there are some who no longer want My Evo unless it is for a trdein.

 

Nope. Not even a little!

 

Sounds like a bad experience to me, the dealer I deal with has always treated me fairly. If they didn't I would go else where.

 

Believe it or not, I found that picture on ebay. The dude was modeling a used jacket he was selling. I don't think it got any bids. hahahahaha

 

Yea to the OP,yes if you've ridden HD's for a few decades you've seen the dealerships become incompetent elitists the exact opposite of the grass roots HD people that kept them in business way back when..
They totally suck r's.

 

Yea to the OP,yes if you've ridden HD's for a few decades you've seen the dealerships become incompetent elitists the exact opposite of the grass roots HD people that kept them in business way back when..
They totally suck r's.

 

Wow, don't get me started. . . Most HD dealers are just car dealers that happen to be selling bikes. When the bike goes in for service, it seems like you have a 50 - 50 shot of getting what you took it in for actually fixed with equal odds of not having something else screwed up. I don't know if this is because they use their trainees to do most of the common work or because their mechanics are either not good or just don't care to put in the effort to get it right the first time.

I've heard (and this may be wrong) that some dealers, if not all, pay their mechanics by the book time and not their actual hours. This means that if they do four jobs that have a book time of three hours each during the day, they get paid for 12 hours and not the eight that they put in. If that's the case, HD is paying them to rush through their jobs. That might explain why I've had things happen like them only putting 16 oz of oil in my tranny on a 5000 mile service. That cost me the main bearing.

For the parts guys, it's best to know the part number of what you're looking for before you talk to them. As for the salesmen, I don't even make eye contact with them as I walk back to the parts counter.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but the real issue is that from my experience this is the norm and not the occasional difference.

 

I wonder if it has anything to do with the attitude of the customer as well? I've been to a couple of dealerships where I didn't get over the top friendly service, but never felt like I was not a customer. I travel 2-3 times a month for work and always try to visit a dealership when I can, I've got over 30 poker chips from different dealerships now. My "local" dealership, at least the one I go to most often knows my wife and I by name. The service guys love EVO's, and know I prefer to work on my own so are good about giving advice and telling me if it's something I can do myself. The parts guys will spend time looking for those hard to find parts as well. I've taken a couple of friends in there, and they have received similar service as "strangers". The other two dealerships I go to, which are actually a little closer to home, just not as pleasureable a ride to go to, give good service. All this and I bought my bike from a private owner, not a dealership.

 

I find it real interesting to hear all these different experiences. Hell, I'm just glad I didn't get flamed for saying what I did. lol.

 

I personally have been lucky with parts at our Ottawa dealership. There is an older dude working there, he knows evos in and out, rides em himself (fxr nonetheless!), and he gave me tons of good advise i'd never get from mechanics!
Since ppl know me there well, their reaction is usually the same when I'm walking to the parts counter: they either start calling that guy to the front desk right away, or they just tell me "sorry he is not in yet" - pretty funny I think