I made a response on another thread about Harley dealers "flagging" a bike for installation of non-Harley parts and wanted to start a discussion. Having crossed the country many times and speaking to many other owners and dealers the issue of flagging is a sore spot, even for me. There seems to be a general consensus that the use of flagging cannot preclude the dealer from making good on warranty issues but, there are also many stories of people made to pay for their own repairs because of non-Harley parts installed on their bikes.

I myself was at Rapid City Harley for warranty work and any work they did on my bike would not be covered just because I had a SE compensator installed and was told that voided my warranty because Harley considers that a race part installation. Now they appear on the 11' bikes, go figure.

There seems to be no consistent answer from any dealer or even Harley themselves. You hear about some getting parts warranted, that others have had to pay for. This is an issue the MOCO needs to address in my opinion. The inconsistent use of flagging by various dealers becomes the detriment to all of us. The MOCO would be well advised to address this issue as I believe it will (if it hasn't already) hurt their sales and alienate future HD buyers.

 

That's just ridiculous. Too much of that stuff and I could see Harley owners walking away out of disgust.

 

Hey Dave,

that sucks- what was the issue you had, and how was the compensator involved?

In most cases, the parts in the P&A and Screaming Eagle books are marked as to whether they impact the factory warranty.
the warranty is a contract and those who don't read it are sometimes surprised.

and once aftermarket hard parts are installed you are on your own


For years and years we would put back the air cleaner and stock pipes before going into the dealer for warranty concerns ( or commonly, ride the bag out of it for the 1 year warranty period, then start the mods).

now it's a 2 year period and most of us can't wait that long & the 3rd party extended warranties are more common ( and a rip-off with all the exclusions).

I don't know what to tell you, but I try to remind all that they have a contract, the terms of which are pretty simple.

many of these issues are shades of grey.


on the other hand, what does H-D do when someone has tried a "tuner" and burned holes in their pistons, or has never had the oil changed or bike serviced and then has problems. Or put in a high lift cam which pushed the valves off of the rockers.

alot of the confusion comes from dealers who slide a warranty claim through when they shouldn't- esp if they sold and charged for the install on non-warranty items.
H-D is probably onto that.
Then the finger pointing starts.
( If a dealer tells you that they can install a part without voiding the factory warranty, get it in writing---and wonder what happens if that dealer goes out of business or if you are on a trip.)

H-D could do a MUCH better job of representing themselves to us rider/owners than the dealers do on their behalf. ESPECIALLY when dealing with warranty concerns.

With the Dunlop 407 service memo, my local ( Stubbs) dealer wanted full price to replace the troubled tire----Arrowhead was happy to replace as warranty item ( and earned a bunch more of my business).

If you feel you have a valid concern, I'd really suggest keeping all documentation and taking it up directly with H-D.

Mike

 

I have replaced a compensator on 2 bikes with a SE comp to eliminate starter kickback. Just mentioning I had an SE comp in the bike at this dealership got me, "your warranty is not good if you replaced the comp". Now I am reading about some having them replaced under warranty or with some kind of credit towards the final bill.

The issue is consistency with the application of the warranty and what they will pay to have done, it's not the same at every dealer. When you travel across the country, what your dealer back home would excuse (after market parts)or warrant, the dealer where you might need the service won't do the same work under warranty.

I know this issue of flagging a bike is done by dealers to protect themselves. And that again is the issue, some will flag a bike in their computor as " aftermarket parts installed" and some won't. When the flag has been placed on your bike, ask to see it. Some don't even know it.

Again, this is done to protect the MOCO and the dealers. But, not applied consistently as a national program.

 

Simple solution find another dealer. They have to prove that the non-stock parts caused the issue in order not to cover it under warranty.
I know of one dealer (not a Harley dealer) who would tell customers that repairs were not covered under warranty and get the customer to pay even though they had been paid by the manufacturer.

 

The Magnuson-Moss warranty act prohibits them from denying coverage on your bike if the aftermarket part didn't have anything to do with the breakdown. This has been coming up a lot lately for some reason and any dealer that refuses to warranty an un-related issue is in violation


The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637) is a United States federal law, (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.). Enacted in 1975

 

hey dave, great looking new roadking you got there. i've had very good experiences with one of the tulsa dealers. they're always very helpful. finding a good dealer is getting tougher but they're still out there. i really like the way i'm treated at route 66 harley in tulsa oklahoma. a kuryakyn taillight won't cause your front wheel bearings to go out, but there are some real ****** in the business who would try to convince you of it.

 

Great Start to a New Forum - Best and Worst HD Dealers

We need to post Names , Phone Numbers and Pictures

 

That's funny, I was upgraded to the SE compensator under warranty.

 

magnuson-moss isent worth much 500$repair bill 5000$ lawyer and 5 years later u might see some cash back.one reason i went with power commmander over sert, i can unplugg it in about 5 minutes and no cryin from the dealer.another problem with warrentie work is dealer only gets paid for book price of repair but not for time in diagnosing problem so u get, they all do that , its normal or my personal favorite ,you will have to pay for diagnostic.