I know its been said a million times, but, the god damn stealers must be really gettin hungry.
Or is it that peeps who ride Harley's are made of money?
I went up to one of my local dealers yesterday to get a new front tire installed prior to Sturgis (12.5 K miles @ wear bars). After having my bike in the shop about 5 minutes the service writer comes out and says, "you need a new rear tire as well".
I said "WHAT", you sob's sold me that rear less than a year ago, told me the o.e.m. were less than par, and said I would get many more miles out of the replacement (same make and model). Well, I had about 7500 miles on the original, I now have 12500 on it, so you do the math.......
5 K on it and he has me sign a slip of paper saying "you have been warned". We stood and argued the merits of propper inflation, riding style, etc....I fully understand the science behind tires.
To which I finally said "do the front, and stick a new rear one in your ***"...and signed his slip of paper.
I keep it proplerly inflated, my wife goes about a buck and 1/2, and rides with me only on an ocasional weekend. We are in the country and all of riding is spent on back roads, etc....It is wearing beautifully which is a testiment to care and riding style.
I was talking to a couple of "old tymers" there who ride baggers, and they said "let us hook you up with XXXXX, cause that ain't right".
Well, Mr. XXXXX comes over, and says the typical **** I would expect, including the service writers get a little sell happy, but he did manage to calm me down.
I guess the point I am at right now is, I beleive the moco has Dunlop make **** for tires so they can generate revenue, the dealers will try and sell ice cubes to eskimo's, and given the lack of integrity and honesty, my end of summer new rear tire will be a Pirelli, or Michelin, or somethin........and it ain't gonna be bought at a stealer.

 

I think having you sign the waiver was going a little overboard. Service Writers as a rule, don't enjoy being salesmen because, frankly, they're not very good at it. Kinda like asking General Patton to be a diplomat. They have other skills and sales isn't necessarily one of them. They're "Order Takers" which is about the highest insult that can be said about a true salesman. But, like I said, they have other skills and knowledge.

But, he has a boss, and that boss has a boss, and somewhere along the line someone decided that the dealership wasn't selling enough tires. So at one of their absurd bi-weekly meetings I'm sure some bean-counter somewhere produced tire-sales results and someone else started keeping score or, even more ridiculous, decided to hold a tire-selling contest. Then some moron came up with the 'waiver' idea to scare cutomers. An old trick and as stupid as it is old.

If the Service Writer had been up front with you, treated you like an intelligent adult (which I'm sure you are), and ASKED you politely to sign the waiver to cover HIS ***, you almost certainly would have been accomodating enough to do so without getting upset.

Tough economic times can bring out the worst in businesses sometimes.

 

You better believe it as they will take advantage of you in a heart beat. I ordered a set of flush mount gas cap and gauges for my WG and just for Shi_'s and giggles I asked them what they would charge me to install. Well the tech said 150.00 because it takes about 2 hrs and they have to completely remove the tank etc, etc. Well it took me an hour to include cleanup and I didn't remove the tank at all. They are lucky there is a solid following and desire to own the HD bike or they would be Shi_ out of luck because their salesmanship and customer service for the most part SUCKS...

 

They call it up-selling and all dealers do it. They make most of their money from service and parts/accessories. Every car dealer I know does it, too.

 

i would of told him to shove his waiver up his bosses ***!!! and left without them even doing the front tire.dont you have a cycle gear around you? sign a waiver wtf is that.like you can come after them lmfao.i would do the tire by hand with spoons before i dealt with that ****.YOU DIDNT ASK FOR A REAR TIRE SO I DONT CARE IF THE CORDS ARE SHOWING.STAY THE **** OUT OF MY BUISNESS .its your bike,and your a FREE man........

 

Don't blame your dealer. It seems to be common knowledge that front tires outlast rears about 2:1; in other words don't act surprised that you need to replace the rear again when the front one is due for replacement. You were fortunate that your dealer took the time to point out your worn rear tire--you should have been aware of its' condition before you went in, that is if you do regular inspections of your own bike before riding.

I just had to have my original rear tire ( Dunlop) replaced at 9,000 miles; I replaced it w/ a Metzler Marathon 880. If I get less than 9,000 miles from it I simply won't use that brand again. But I won't bad-mouth the indy who mounted it or anyone who notices that it needs replacement when that time comes.

BTW have your rear wheel bearing checked at that time; mine needed replacing. Also it is a good idea to replace the tube at the same time as the tire; I went to a heavy duty tube and replaced the rim strip as well (on laced wheels).

 

Exactly.

I see a post downstream refering to car dealers, well, I put them in a league all their own, and frankly held Harley buissiness people in general to a higher standard. I guess I have alot to learn about what Harley really stands for, which apperantly is not what it used to be.....

 

But who should I blame given less than a year ago the service writer told me "oem are substandard, but our replacements are much better" and now @ 2.5 K less the "better replacement" needs replacing?
Its the dis honest bullshit that gets me. Be straight with me, and tell me the moco puts really soft compound tires on for safety, and repeat sales, and I can make an informed choice to go to a different brand. But don't stand there and tell me the 2nd time around will be better while in fact it is worse.
As was said above, if he wanted to point it out, cool, but don't use scare tactics to try and cram something down my throat. As you can see from the attached pic, it has Sturgis and then some left in it. I don't have a tread depth guage, but c'mon..............
They just shut the door behind me which is cool for there are about 5 other dealers within 1/2 - 2 hours of me so.......

 

I take that you did not replace the rear tire. What is the actual tread depth that's left? Then we'll decide weather to bash the dealer.

 

About 30 years ago, shortly after Wille G bought back the MoCo, things started to change.

When I first moved here, we had a HD Dealer here in town that had a shop that couldn't have been much more than 2,500 Sq Ft in size. If that. Small showroom with maybe five bikes on it at a time (at the most), small shop, tiny parts counter. Small time operation. And there were lots of those type dealers all over the country.

Well, the MoCo decided that wasn't gonna do and -- They were right. They needed to catch up to the times. John (not his real name cause he's still around) was being pushed by the MoCo to open a bigger, more modern, shiny new showroom and shop. John just didn't have that kind of money or that kind of credit. We're talking MILLIONS of dollars here.

So the MoCo 'persuaded' John to sell his franchise to some hotshot businessman who had lots of money. He opened a new place and now has a shop that, I would guess (I'm pretty good at that) is every bit of 35,000 sq ft. Maybe more like 40. Nice, new-ish, shiny, well kept, spiffy showroom with at least forty bikes on it, nice parts counters, clothing specialty area, glass enclosed shop.

Anybody wanna take a guess on JUST hat his rent is? If it's $12 a foot (I'm sure it's higher than that) he's paying between $35,000 and $40,000 a month JUST for rent. He has at least 40 employees and I'd hate to see THAT payroll. So we're talking well over a $100,000 month in overhead. Maybe more, counting electricity, workers comp, insurance, phones, maintenance on the building, CAM (common area maintenance), floor plan interest, etc, etc.

You gotta sell a lot of tires to crack that nut.

It isn't/wasn't just Harley, either. I remember Oldsmobile built a brand-spanking-new Showroom just South of me. Had to cost $20 Million. Easy. Maybe only ten years ago, if that. Of course, they're belly-up now. Saturn built a brand-spanking-new dealership -- Gonzo. Buick? Hurtin' fer certain. Mercury built a nice new one. They're gone too.

Point being, we're enthusiasts not businessmen. We don't see the business side of things all the time. Not sayin we should, either. I'm just sayin' that's all. I don't necessarily like it, but I understand it. Those Service Writers and parts guys? They're put under pressure. A lot of pressure. They're told, "You better be sellin' this and that or we'll get somebody who can." So don't take it out on them too much.

And don't blame the businessman who has his entire life tied up in the dealership for not wanting to go under. It's a lot easier to go belly-up than one might think.