I've made three trips to the local dealer for parts for my 95 FLHT in the last couple of months.

The dealer is Thunderbird HD in Albuquerque, NM.

The first time I needed to replace an instrument bulb while I had the batwing off.
The dealer quotes me $3 each but has none in stock. He adds we will be happy to order them for you but you will have to purchase 10 of them and pay shipping. $35 bucks for 10 bulbs when I need only 1. No thanks.

On my second visit I needed a new stator. He quotes me $187, but once again, not in stock. Ouch. That sure makes those free hot dogs expensive. I go home and check the yellow pages a find a local independant who has a fairly large selection of parts and accessories. Larry's Custom Cycles. The sell me a stator from the same company that makes the HD part for $82. They offered suggestions on what other parts I will need and advice on how to do the installation.

Prior to my third visit I tried Larry's first. I needed a clutch pushrod and throwout bearing. Mine was the only pushrod they did not have in stock. The offered to order it, at no additional cost, but I wanted to get the job done immediately. They said they would be ordering one anyway, so they would have one in stock.
I went to the dealer, willing to pay whatever price because I wanted it now. They did not have any of it in stock. These are not model or year specific parts. They fit most models from 87 to 2007. The indy carries more parts than the dealer.

I called the dealer in Santa Fe, 60 miles north and got the same reply.

WTF?
I don't expect the dealer to carry every part for my bike, but you would think they would carry common wear items.
Is every dealer like this?
What happens you break down on the road? Do you sit for a week waiting for a clutch cable?

 

Wait until you need some basic hardware that you can't just get at Lowes or Home Depot. It's frustrating as hell to need a specific bolt or screw and then find that you have to wait a week to get it because they don't carry them. However, if you need some new footpegs... the dealer's the place to go!

 

Welcome to the new world of the Harley Boutique. Why stock parts when the mark up on clothes is so much better. They haven't stocked parts since the 90's. I can beat you, tried to get a simple part for my lowers that fits all models from 1977+. Sorry we can order one for you, it will be here in 10 days, has to come from Milwaukee. What a crock, order from your indy the MOCO doesn't care if you wanna ride today.

 

They had my Sportster for 3 weeks when the choke cable broke. A 15 minute job covered by warranty. If I'd had an appointment, it would've taken a week. I've never been back to the dealership for service since. I found an independent shop that doesany work for half the price and finishes when promised.

 

you can blame just in time inventory control accounting, the math shows that every day a part sits on a shelf costs the retailer money.

what it doesn't show are the lost sales due to letting the accounting department dictate how to sell merchandise.

 

I needed a few of the small "D" spring steel washers for footpegs and went to the local dealer for them, not in stock, a week to order and $3.99 EACH.

I bought a box of ten for $0.99 thru Phat Performance and had them the next day (They're local to me)

I will only use the dealer as a last resort.

 

Oh don't even get me started, just suffice it to say, I love my independent mechanic Jeff! He and his staff are fabulous!!

 

I use a independant exclusively...they know my name...do great work, that doesn't ever have to be done again...are closer than any dealer and are cheaper...but the most important thing to me is they seem to appreciate my business more.

I'm sure the dealer had lots of t-shirts and key chains.....

It looks like someone might have lost some business...





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Me dealer makes no secret about it that he does not carry parts on bikes older than 10 years old. It's just a matter of economics and where the profit is.

Ride Safe.

 

Got a better one, had a buddy wait for 10 days for fork oil. Dealer eviedntly ran out and couldn't get around to ordering any more. No fork oil? Isn't that like a gas station without gas? I went in for fork seals bought a set they actually had in stock. Two weeks later realized one was bad went back for another set, no luck could order but would be 5 days, screw it drove 90 miles to the next closest dealer and got a set (along with the fork oil that they still didn't have) rode the next day. Very frusterating when you have a bike in the garage that can't roll until you get one part and local dealer doesn't have it.