I think I would have asked for my old tires and tubes back and cut them into little pieces with my pocketknife while waiting for them to mount the new dunlops.

For anyone else that gets this treatment from Gillette or any other HD dealer, most Honda shops have Dunlop tires to fit our rides. Indy works too, but Honda shops stock the tire, and will normally mount on your HD no questions asked in my experience.

 

Friend of mine had a similar experience with Blue Ridge HD in Hickory NC. He & and another buddy, both live in Myrtle Beach, rode up to Hickory to see his dad. He had a flat, his dad had a brand new HD tire. They went down to Blue Ridge HD (a place where my buddy BOUGHT his HD) and they would not put the tire on. This was a new, stock Dunlop HD tire. He ended up having the Suzuki dealer down the street install it. Shameful if you ask me. We take lots of trips as a group to the mountains....but always bypass that dealership now.

 

There is no risk at all, I did it all the time on my previous jap bikes.

I'm running for now the original Scorcher front tire on my Sportster, while I have a Conti Milestone on the rear. My 1972 Airhead also has different tires brands, with not any problem at all.

I'm still alive & riding, and this since 1983, the first time I bought a motorcycle.

 

OK, I'm confused here. I understand not repairing a tubeless, but unless the tire has a major hole in it, why the hell can't the tube just be replaced?

I know many who have repaired a tubeless by putting a tube in it!

 

These comments are because I read through this. Two tires mounted and balanced for under $700 is about right.
Years ago when shovel batteries had braided grounds, mine broke and I limped into a shop as the owner was locking the front door. When I told him all I needed was a braided ground, it was in stock, he walked to his car and drove off.
Here in central Pa. many of the dealers decided to close Sunday and Monday. Good luck to the touring rider.
In the mid 1970's Harley made a business decision to assure all dealers had what Harley felt as enough room to have a generic showrooms. The new dealerships pushed out the mom and pops and were being purchased by people more interested in the dollar. It hasn't changed.

 

I hope people are still following this thread first and foremost since its 9 pages long so far. I am not a regular here but came here after seeing a post about this on this dealers FB Page. THEY TRIED THE SAME THING ON ME!!!!!!!!!! I thought this story might be mine brought over from another forum so I searched and found it and read all 9 pages. My story is so similar its not funny. Had my 09 Ultra towed in to the same dealer in Gillette, barely made it before closing time on a Wed. got pressured into signing a service order or "we won't be able to put it on the schedule first thing in the morning" I had a 45 day old American Elite on the front and he said it was because their ins. company wouldn't let them mix treads. I said how about we call Dunlop first thing in the morning, he said it isn't worth my time. Well I did in the morning and Dunlop said and I quote "we have designed and tested the American Elite to be a suitable replacement for the Dunlop HD D407 and it is totally acceptable to run them together if you only need to replace one tire" I asked if they would call the dealer promptly and they said sure. Called me back right away and said Artie (service writer I dealt with) said it was the "owners policy" so no luck. Well I stewed about it a little longer at the hotel and decided to call a dealer and see if I could get a number for Milwaukee. I got one and talked to customer service and asked about the 2 tires and told them what Dunlop had told me. She said I need to talk to an engineer or tech I forget and to my surprise when she came back she said "HD is fully aware of the American Elite tires Dunlop is making for the newer machines and we see no issues with them being mixed with our tires when only one tire is needed" This did surprise me I admit so again I asked if they would call the dealer, then I got "all our dealers are independently owned and operated and we can't tell them how to run their businesses" I said well if thats how you are gonna allow your dealers to treat YOUR customers then I have to admit I will probably be trading my Harley for a GoldWing as soon as I get home, I have a Honda dealer right in my town that would love to take it on trade. Well then she offered to call the dealer. I won't discuss the details of what all happened next because HD is now looking into this dealership and their practices. This is who you want to call: HD Customer Service ask for Anne , 414-343-4056 #Deluxe #DeluxeHD #Deluxe Gillette WY #Deluxe Harley Davidson #Deluxe H-D

 

H-D may not be able to tell dealers how to operate their businesses in all ways, but they do have to be operated according to their franchise argreement or they can lose their franchise. I can assure you, a dealer who treats riders like **** falls into not following the requirements of that franchise, though it make take a little effort to light a fire under H-D's *** to get them moving.

 

Well I feel bad for you, seems that the almighty dollar has struck again. The days of Harley Davidson's Brotherhood seem to be coming to an end as far as the dealers and corporate are concerned. Just show me the money. Can't fix that. But wait...we got coffee and have some dunkin donuts.
I emailed this Deluxe Dealership with my opinion to which we know, nothing will come of it, but at least it's there. One thing my wife does is make a fax and fax it to them every 3 minutes for days. It makes people crazy in the office...it works!
Good luck with all this.

 

The phone number is there and the contact person, light the fire!!! Its funny it was during Sturgis week and they were all over the radio stations up there advertising "home of the 49.95 oil change" I can only imagine what that cost "out the door" and also that "we only sell bikes a MSRP" well times have changed where I live and Harley dealers don't get MSRP anymore when there are leftovers sitting on the floor. They had a tent set up during bike week with 4 lines in it, Tires, oil changes and I forget the other 2, there were NO bikes in any of the lines!!!!!!!!God I wish I had took a picture of it. I told a guy at Rapid City Harley about my story and he said thats why our service manager don't work over there anymore and is with us. The Dunlop trailer at RC had both tires and I asked the rep if they could be mixed, he said sure so I told him my story and he asked if their customer service helped out and I said they did everything they could do and he said I'll make it one better and gave me and the GF each a $40 gift card to any HD dealer. In the end HD and Dunlop had my back. Forgot to mention my right side muffler slipped back an inch before I even left and my belt was extremely loose and the tires were exactly 5lbs low on air each, they must need a new guage. I wasn't going back for more. BTW they have a Facebook page, just a simple "shame on you highway robbers" will be enough

 

I hope that the owner of "Deluxe" Chuck is reading this.
I will never stop there.

I've never heard of such a blatant rip off before.
Damn!!

This information needs to be passed on to all your friends!!