I would never let harley touch my bike for a damn thing. They slammed it together and thats as far as they will get to it.

 

When I was working in a small shop and the mechanics also wrote the work orders I would always tell my customers that It would take 3 days longer than I thought it would to have their bike ready.

Most of the time I was able to call them a couple days before they were expecting the work to be done. This always made them really happy and if I ran into a problem I usually could still get it done by the time I had originally promised it.

Really never understood why they can't just be honest about it. Sometimes I don't think the Service writers even have a clue about what's going on in their own service dept. Either that or they just flat out lie to get the owner to leave the bike.

 

I hate auto dealers. All of them. i've never met one that didnt straight up try to cheat me. My wife's volvo dealer. Charged me hundreds of $ to replace a bunch of suspension parts. When I came to pick it up I asked to see the parts they took off. They said - oops we forgot to change them. WTF?

I took my dodge truck into the dealer for some vent work. They destroyed the airbag wire harness & didn't tell me about it. I started the truck & saw the airbag light was on & refused to take it back. They tried to tell me it was safe to drive w/o the airbag. Right - F'n liers & cheats.

The harley dealer was to do an oil change only. I specifically told them not to call me with a bunch of BS surprises. They literally called me every day & the first words out of their mouth was 'theres a problem with the bike' - bad problems like I have a japanese tire on the front wheel. A brand new 0 mile japanese tire. They explaind i would wreck & die if I kept that on the front. Or when they told me the starter gear was warn out & if I didn't pay them $800 I would be left stranded somewhere dark & dangerous. WTF?

Is every dealer in the world a f'n theif? I'd like to find one that isn't. I've caught them all trying to cheat me.

 

I don't blame the OP for getting torqued off. Sounds like the nonsense my local dealer would pull. I envy you guys that have a standup dealership you can deal with as opposed to a stealership that many of us have dealt with. Mine's only 20 miles away, but after their service dept jerked me around twice, I won't use them again. I've spoken to many riders in this area that share my sentiments, so it appears that they have earned their crappy reputation. They do have a very knowledgeable guy in their parts dept that I enjoy dealing with.

 

The smae freekin' thing happened to me!

I ordered Carlini Flyin' Apes, High Roller Risers and bushings.....then I ordered new grips and said I wanted all installed. They ordered the parts 2 weeks ago...they came in on last Friday and they insisted on picking my bike up on Monday. So I figured they'd start on it Tuesday or Wednesday the latest. They told me it would take about a week start to finish. So Friday rolls along and I called for a "progress report" and he said there was no progress...they'll get to it next week...and maybe I'll have it back in a week.

I don't unterstand the need to pick up my bike and then just let it sit! It was beautiful all this week and I could have been on it, but instead, its sitting at the dealer in thier storage area and they'll get to it when they can.

I know I should do my own work, but I'm not the most mechanically inclined. I may start just to avoid things like waiting 2 and a half weeks for a 6 hour ape hanger install.

 

NOPE!!! But they are out there... they are the ones the cheapskates flock to when they go out to buy a car.

 

Sounds to me like many of you need to find a new dealer and if that isn't feasible complain to the MoCo. It might take time but you would be surprised how much good it does. I think we have the best dealer in Racine HD. They have never left me hanging on anything I have had them do. I do most of my own maintenance but when it is out of my league I take it to them. Always out when they promise sorry many of you don't get the same "service"

 

screw the dealership, and find a good indy in your area

 

There are two main reasons for what essentially amounts to a lack of competence from Motorcycle Dealership Service Departments:
First, Most dealers divide the dealership into three separate businesses, both financially and literally. Sales, Parts and Service. To many Dealers the Service Business is not their focus. This is because, for the amount of resources (money and time) it consumes, it is the least profitable of the three. As a result the Service Business is funded the least and staffed with the lowest cost minimally competent people. There are exceptions, but this tends to be the generally accepted way of running a Motorcycle or Car dealership.
Second: Even here in southern California; Motorcycle Service tends to be a seasonal business. The number of technicians you need in the spring and summer isn't what is needed in the late fall and winter. So you have to ask yourself; Self? What sort of a mechanic do you think you can get who will only work for 6 - 8 months out of the year . . . year after year after year?

 

Well....if I owned a shop, I wouldn't schedule to pick up a bike (or car), then let it sit for over a week and say "we haven't started it yet." I'd rather tell someone to get it to me when I can actually work on it....its beneficial to the dealer for a better turn around and it makes for happy customers. The only reason I DIDN'T go and get the bike is because there are no indy's in my area that I know of and this dealer has worked on my bike before and it always comes back perfect. I just hate the wait!