It does suck that the discount dropped with www.surdyke.com, but their discount has always been up to 20%. They have been also been offering Free shipping which makes up for it and I am one of the first to be notified when they are having their Free ship sales. They update my order status almost daily and their customer service agents are always helpful and they always go over and beyond. They have my vote, they have earned it.

 

Similar experience here - I only order from CHD when I can afford to wait at least 2-3 weeks. Some items take even longer.

My only beef with them is that I've cancelled two orders with them because I had already waited 3 weeks and the item still hadn't shipped from the Mothership and I didn't want to wait any longer, and they didn't credit my card back until I made 2-3 follow-up calls.

Other than that, if you can afford the wait the products arrive factory fresh and you can't beat the discount.

 

I have ordered a few things from them too. They definitely have aggressive pricing, but don't seem to actually stock most of the things they sell. I bought a jacket, a fuel cap and a few other items. The thing that really bugs me though is that they charge my credit card immediately when I make a purchase. So if it takes them 2-3 weeks to actually get and then ship what I ordered, I've got all that on my card with nothing to show, but they already have my money. What I think they are doing is trying to implement a lame version of "just in time inventory", using your money to buy whatever it is you want so they are not "out of pocket". Most places online do not charge you until the item ships. They need to change their policy and not hold my money.

 

I have ordered several things from CHD. Slow shipping. I ordered some simple things in January and it has now been 8 weeks with no email or status update. It also sucks that you can order online but no way to contact them except with a phone call. This is my last order with them.

 

When I am price-shopping I check Chicago HD and Zanotti's. Whoever has the best price including shipping is who I usually go with, as they are both reputable dealers from my experience. The difference between them is that CHD gives a blanket 20% off MSRP while Zanotti's uses cost-plus pricing. Since the profit-margin varies from item to item you don't know which dealer will give the best price, but sometimes one (usually Zanotti's) can be much cheaper. An example is IDS for an '07, which lists for $305 and costs ~$195 at Zanotti's, about a 35% discount. OTOH some items come it at only 5% discount or even less, so it pays to compare.

Also, Zanotti's has a PDF list of their inventory, so you can check to see if your item(s) are in stock or not. I find that CHD has had to order more items than Zanotti's, which prolongs the delay.

 

[quote] When I am price-shopping I check Chicago HD and Zanotti's. Whoever has the best price including shipping is who I usually go with, as they are both reputable dealers from my experience.

Ditto those remarks. Both are mail order discounters. Have bought more from Zanotti's recently. Both are dual dealers, not that it means anything. Chicago is a Harley BMW dealer, and Zanotti's is Harley Suzuki. Have had good luck with both.

 

Discount off what? Published Harley catalog price? Dealer in stock retail price? This question was raised in another thread and it pretty much looked like the Dealer could set HIS price where ever he wanted and then offer to discount or not. So if someone is offering 20% off, I want to know OFF WHAT?

 

I have run some orders through Lake Shore, not CHD. The 20% at Lake Shore is of MSRP, in the catalog. I compare Zanotti, CHD, and Lake Shore for every purchase. In Kansas City, Worth offers a discount off of MSRP, but it is usually 10% off of MSRP. I always use the online catalog from MOCO to see what the MSRP is, before putting an order in anywhere online.

 

I go by catologe price. You can save up to 20%, and Zanotti ships free over $100.00. At least they did the last time I ordered tires.

 

I placed my first order from Chicago HD a few weeks ago. The discounted price looked great until I remembered Cook county Illinois has a 9.75% sales tax rate. That 20% discount drops in half for those of us ordering from Illinois addresses.

Dennis