We do feel your pain! Every part I have added to my 07 RKC, except oil and a clutch cover gasket has had to been ordered. Not 1 everyday accessory in stock. I've learned to live with it. That being said, my last mechanical job was at a marina, where the same thing held true. Inventory is "overhead $" that the owner has to constantly deal with. As a tech, I was pissed I couldn't do my job...no parts. It's like that pretty much everywhere.

 

It all started with JUST IN TIME DELIVERYsystem. Now no one feels the need to wharehouse anything, on site. It's not just Harley it is everyone that has a retail store. For them it is more cost efective to just order stuff as needed. This is great for them but lousy for us, in a way. Our parts may take longer to get , but they keep the price down by not having as much overhead , that's the theory anyway. It just bugs me when I go into any store for a popular item and they don't have it in stock. With inventory controlled by computers these days there is no reason to be out of stock...Mark...

 

Normally I do not chime in on these heated topics because that is just the way I am. However, I recently took a part time gig at a local Harley dealer in the parts department. I have seen some things that have made me wonder, but I have also learned some things, etc. A dealer's inventory for the most part is based upon what is known as CIM's or cooperative inventory management in the Talon computer system that they all use. As most people will tell you that it a computer can only put out as good as what you put in it. We are fortunate to have a dealership that is owned by a former corporation inventory specialist that decided to open her own company. We are trained to look at the item history in the computer and see just how much that particular part has sold in the past. If it has at least three hits in the past year, it gets entered into CIM's and is kept in stock. Basically is what CIM's does is when you pull up what is called a TRADE (dealership buying parts from the MOCO to stock) CIM's will tell you what you need to order. We also have to perform wall checks and bin counts and do item histories on each everything. But, if we do not do this and update CIM's then some parts could wind up in the same situation that happened to you and your clutch cable. If per chance we do not have the part in stock and the customer needs it as a priority we will go onto hd-net and do a parts locator. We can see which dealer has that part number in stock. We will then call that dealer and have the part shipped out that day. Some customers are in no hurry and don't mind waiting the week that it will take it to come in. It also has to do with a level of service from some of the dealerships. So fellas, come on up north and I'll be happy to help you out

 

Yeah but they have no problem stocking T shirts,hats,baby bibs,rocking chairs, jeans,sunglasses ,every size boot,wall clocks,lighters, die cast collectibles, belt buckles, drink coozies,
coffee beans,calendars,hitch covers,tire covers,sunshades,
posters,and even more I cant think of right now.

But a clutch cable NOT IN STOCK

Its a shame I really liked Harley Davidson when they sold motorcycles

Now the dealers are 5th Ave chic boutiques

 

I can understand why the dealerships do not stock slow-selling parts. Coozies and T-shirts are a 500% markup! Seems to me with the parts locator, they should be able ot get the part within 24 hours. This is on-par with car dealerships.

Guess we can always go aftermarket instead if the MoCo fails us in parts support.

 

My bike was just in for 8 days for an oil leak,that was from the last dealer overfilling.Let me know how your free rental vent goes.I'd hate to have an impatient customer like you,keep bitchin they'll probably take longer.