Last weekend, 50 miles into trip to the Keys, I had a flat about 80 miles from the nearest dealer. Good old triple A to the rescue.

Upon arrival at the dealer, HD of Ft. Myers, Fl. I was met by the service tech.I pointed out a small finishing nail in the tire to him and said how long do you think it will take to fix it.

He told me not long, they'll get right on it. (I had a few other people with me.)

An hour later, my bike was fixed and the service guy handed me a bill for $278.00.

I looked at the bill and then lookedat the service guy, holding up the bill and said, "For an inter-tube?"

He went on to explain that it is against company policy to just replace an inter-tube, they have to replace the tire also. "Safety reasons you know."

We both examined the tire in question, ithad less than 100 miles on it and it was a one inch long finishing nail he was holding in his hand.

I ask him to point out the damage on the tire and he pointed to a yellow circle drawn on the tire with a Carola. There was no noticeable damage, not even a mark where the "nail" was removed.

He said it was not safe to ride on a tire that had a "puncture" in it and they will not plug a tire.

I said it didn't need a plug, it's a tube tire.

He said it was company policy and that was that, ether pay or leave the bike and talk to the manager on Monday.

I paid and called the manager on Monday.

The manager said she in was there policy and illegal to plug a motorcycle tire. There for I was responsible for the bill.

I explained that it was a "TUBE" tire and it was a verysmall nail. She said it didn't matter, that was not only their policy butit wasState law.

I can understand if it was a tubeless tire, but a tube tire. This is BS! I'll never do business with HD of Ft. Myers again!

 

I would have thought that they would tell you that the tire had to be replaced before you left the bike there for repair.

 

I've put many a new tube in a tire with a puncture, as small as yours was, it should no way affect the tube or tire. As for the state law, I dunno about that, would be worth looking into so you know. As long as theres no perforation or material sticking out on the inside of the tire to affect the tube, it should've been ok. I doubt the tube would squeeze its way out that little hole. At least they should have told you they had to do the tire, so you could discuss it before the fact. You could have put in the new tube yourself if ya knew that before hand.

 

damn!

 

I've done the same thing, put in a new tube many times in the past. There was not even a mark on the inside or outside of the tire. If not for the yellow Crayola there was no way of knowing where the puncher was.

That's the last time at that dealer for me.

 

I've heard of another dealer that will not repair a bike tire, don't know how common this is but the way business insurance is getting, I can understand it. Always ask any service dept, how long and how much before having any work done. They should have informed you of their policy in advance. You could get the tire back and fix it for future usage.

 

State law? In FL? Heck we don't even have vehicle inspections down here. Highly doubt the Sunshine State would be concerned in the least to regulate tire repairs .... cage or MC.

Sounds like dealer policy to me. And a BS policy at best to take full advantage and make full profit on breakdowns.

 

While waiting for service to completed on my HD last Saturday, I watched an older guy ride up on old Honda 750-4. He went in and brought out the service manager to show him a small nail in his rear tire. He then got the same story. New tire. Now, this is an alloy wheel......no spokes. He wanted it plugged and was told that it was not legal to plug the tire. They wanted him to buy a new tire.

BUT....the service manager referred him to several tire dealers in town that "might be able to do it for" him. So he was really trying to help. He did say that he couldn't do it "even if you signed a waiver".

So maybe the story Ft. Myers told is true.

As a new car dealer service manager, I do know that there are certainissues that do make it "illegal" to plug a tire on a passenger car. However, I do know that there are some DOT laws that are different for cycles, compared to autos.

 

The service dept should have asked you FIRST about the replacement of the tire, to give YOU the option of doing the work yourslef. The shock of the cost of the work could have killed you

 

Probably a Dlr shop policy for liability issues.They should of told you before though[:@]