hd dealer strikes again or beating a dead horse.

[zombieBUELLer]

caught a nail and blew my rear tire last night. called my local hd dealer.. everything was great until i told him what the tire was for."oh ..its for a buell?" i was told i had to wait 2 weeks to get a tire. cost $220 and i would be off the road for 2 weeks. HAHAHA!

called the closest sportbike shop .. tire is in stock (pirelli diablo). mounted balanced and out the door for $130.

my guess... hd does not want my money. well MORE of my money anyway.

what gives?

 

[mrdozer2you]

Ummmm they suck? Tell us something new.

 

[BuellPartsGuy]

What was the reasoning for it taking 2 weeks for them to get a damn tire? If I dont stock a Buell tire the longest it would take to get would be a week, and thats if I order it straight from Buell. I can get them overnight usually.

 

[anrusso]

off topic, but I just found out that the dealer mechanic messed up replacing the transmission seal when changing my fluid. I've been dumping oil into my bike all worried about thinking it was burning it and its just been leaking into the primary this whole time. Doesn't matter its the same damn engine, HD just doesn't care about Buells.

 

[zombieBUELLer]

the parts guy i spoke with said they were waiting on a shipment of tires. im not to worried about now. tire has been replaced and everything is rainbows and unicorns again.

i doubt it will every happen ... but i hope i live to see the day buells are no longer sold thru HD dealers.

damn that svcks anrusso. and i agree that MOST hd dealers do not care about buells. im sure this has to do with buells not having enough chrome on them.[smirk]

 

[TheJekyll]

Chrome is Gay anyway...........looks like shit!

 

[NOMORE4s4ME]

The HD dealer by me didn't seem to want my business when I was in the market to buy a bike...so I drove and hour south to buy my bike at a Buell/HD/Yamaha/Ducati/BMW dealership. They seem to care about all their customers and they got my business. They'll get it again too when I buy my girlfriend a blast. F HD dealers

 

[buellfiend]

To tell the truth, I think Erik Buell is behind us all the way, but the dealerships don't get the gross margin that they do with HD's, which they typically sell well over MSRP. I think that we should consider a 'movement' if you will, if that isn't too 60's, to get HD to listen to us.

hell, they invested in Buell and you would think that the dealerships would get on board. Since everything negative I've EVER heard about Buells is about the support from the dealerships, I think we need to collectively raise the attention of the corporate people... not the dealerships.

If we raise enough noise, they will at least listen, and perhaps do something about this.

My dealership wants me to buy their own extended warranty as opposed to the Buell x-warranty.. I'm beginning to wonder if either are worth it if I have to go through this shiat.

comments?

 

[assfalt]

Buellfiend,Stick with your instinct.If somone sells you a product and offers you any warrenty,I'd trust them before I'd trust a company that proffits mostley there name alone.Eric is an existing fellow rider! [up][up][up]

 

[MPea3]

My dealership wants me to buy their own extended warranty as opposed to the Buell x-warranty.. I'm beginning to wonder if either are worth it if I have to go through this shiat.

The warranty they tried to sell most likely has a much higher profit margin than the Buell x-warranty.

I'll probably be in the minority here, but buying 23 cars and 11 bikes over the last 30 years, I've never bought an extended warranty on any of them. I've also never bought an x-warranty on any appliance or piece of electronics. The amount I've NOT spent over the years is a LOT, and I've yet to have a repair that would have been covered. I figure that even had I had 2 motors need to be replaced totally, I'd still be well ahead. Granted, I maintain my stuff really well and take care of it, but I'm a firm believer that self insuring for repairs is much more economical than the overpriced stuff people get sold.

Also, kudos where kudos are due. Earl Small's HD in Marietta, GA treated us well during the sale and continues to do so with service. We weren't as impressed with Stone Mt HD where we bought Beth's Blast.

 

[mrdozer2you]

I typically avoid the dealer whenever possible.

 

[zombieBUELLer]

I typically avoid the dealer whenever possible

yeah. i guess thats what ive learned.

 

[XBear9S]

Extended Warranties

_______________________________

You get what you pay for.
Companies make money off Extended Warranties.
Please undestand that if they didn't,
they wouldn't bother to sell them.

Should you buy one?
Well, the facts are the facts.
Extended Warranties are and insurance policy.
How you do feel about insurance?

I have two very good friends who are glad they did.
Both experienced some sort of knocking.
Both would be in deep do-do ifin' it wasn't for an
Extended Warranty...

The first had his bike in the shop for months.
Multiple diagnosis and attempts to fix.
They easily could have bought him a new engine.
His bike's finally up and running.
It would have set him back thousands of $$$.
He paid not a single penny!

The second guy,
they just outright rebuilt his engine.
He was out for a month+, but its all better now.
Also thousands of $$$.
Also not a penny!

You may never need an extended warranty.
I certainly hope you won't.
But working in the retail business,
I see a lot of people coming back w/defective merchandise.
They are usually out of luck if it's over 90 days in-store.
They are way outta luck if their mnfr warranty is expired.
The only way I can help them is if they bought the extended warranty.
They fight, they scream, they cry, but it is what it is.
No Extended Warranty= and expesive repair and/or a heap of trash.

The more complex the machine,
the more moving parts,
the greater the chance that something will be defective.
Its the law of averages.

Anyone who owns a pre XB Buell knows
that we've come a long, long way to a dependable machine.
But nothing's perfect.
Prior to my warranty expiring, I had several costly repairs.
I didn't pay a penny!

Now that my bike's up over 33k,
I find myself wishing I'd invested.
Despite good regular maintenance,
I know that I drive her hard.
(Like she likes it!)
Things can and will give.

So, don't be takin' anyone's advise to lightly.
Consider all your options.
Weigh in what you can afford.
(Just don't factor the cost in w/the loan.
Don't pay 9% ontop of the investment.
That's just insult on injury.)

If and when I do it all again,
I WILL buy the Extended Warranty...

Robtk!142 a.k.a "SpecialK!"

"I never, ever ignore the speed limit. If my speedometer says the speed limit is 140, I won't go a mile over that. To do so would be reckless and irresponsible."
--"Buellzebub" Bessonette

 

[angel]

I have an '04 XB12S with an extended 100,000 mi warranty I purchased from a Harley dealer (I mean, where else do you buy a Buell). At 45,000 mi service the mechanic said she had a funny knocking sound on deceleration. At 50,000 mi service I had them look for the source. They found metal shavings in the oil, piston rings had scored the cylinders, the valve stems had been beaten down,bushings on the cam were loose and looked like they,d been attacked with an awl, and we all agreed that the engine was just shy of blowing up.Here's the kicker, they called it normal wear and tear with no one real source of the damage.Bottom line, they said I could buy a new motor for $5,000 not including labor.SSSSHHHH*****T Where's my 100,00 mi warranty now? Those of you with this knocking sound, remember , it only gets worse.Dump that bike quick, Harley wants nothing to do with it, and I'm not sure Buell is backing it.Now I've got to get a good lawyler!!! Angel[down]

 

[angel]

I have an '04 XB12S with an extended 100,000 mi warranty I purchased from a Harley dealer (I mean, where else do you buy a Buell). At 45,000 mi service the mechanic said she had a funny knocking sound on deceleration. At 50,000 mi service I had them look for the source. They found metal shavings in the oil, piston rings had scored the cylinders, the valve stems had been beaten down,bushings on the cam were loose and looked like they,d been attacked with an awl, and we all agreed that the engine was just shy of blowing up.Here's the kicker, they called it normal wear and tear with no one real source of the damage.Bottom line, they said I could buy a new motor for $5,000 not including labor.SSSSHHHH*****T Where's my 100,00 mi warranty now? Those of you with this knocking sound, remember , it only gets worse.Dump that bike quick, Harley wants nothing to do with it, and I'm not sure Buell is backing it.Now I've got to get a good lawyler!!! Angel[down]

 

[thirdbuell]

I purchased a Xb9R last week. The criterias for choosing a dealer were, bike in stock, take non Harley trades and reasonable service. The experience was not what corporate Buell or Harley-Davidson would have wanted for their new customer, but there are reasons that weigh in.

Buells do not sell well.
The customer can be and is mostly different from the HD customer.
The staff is trained to cater to the HD customer.
The staff is sometimes Buell trained, but reward for their efforts is so infrequent compared to their rewards of helping a HD customer.

So... The product "Buell" needs to be in an enviroment that is invested in the "culture" of their customers and prospective customers. Can it happen in a Harley-Davidson store? Rarely, if not at all.

"I'm sorry for all the inconvenience, we don't sell many Buell."

This was the apolgy I received after showing their sales management team and F&I mgr the current offers on their own web-site. The delivery took 4 hours.

 

[dmp0001]

Before I finished college I used to sell cars, and when I sold cars I would spend more time on customers that I could make money off of, plain and simple. At the end of the day everyone wants to be well compensated for their time. Its hard to blame a HD sales person for not being too enthused about spending a whole day with me talking about buells to make $50 when he cold sell a Harley bagger and make $1,000 in less time.(and less effort as people come in to BUY them and not just to see what they are)
the only time you are going to see an enthused buell sales person is when they personally love the buells or when the dealership is offering some type of incentive to sell them, the way to get better buell customer service is to fill the pockets of the salesmen that do actually sell them. If it paid the same to sell them as the HD’s we would be treated just as well at the dealers.
This would change the attitude of the service dept. as well because where there is enthusiasm for a product on the floor it will spread to the back and also to the street. I would also wager that they would sell more bikes if customers weren’t scared to buy them because of lack of knowledge at the dealer. Right now the only people who buy them are those who are comfortable having something unique with no support.

 

[MPea3]

Again we've had an excellent visit to Earl Small's HD in Marietta, GA. After changing the ECM and air filter to go along with the Drummer, we set an appointment today for 9am to get the TPS reset. They took the bike at a few minutes before 9, called Beth's name at 9:35, and charged us $40 to do the work. I should add that the first TPS reset when we installed the Drummer they did for free since the bike had so few miles.

While there they noticed that the horn button was broken. Beth relayed the story about it breaking when she blew the horn at some asshole that had pulled out in front of her. They responded that the button shouldn't have broken and ordered a new left side switch for the horn and blinker, saying that when it comes in it would be replaced at no charge under warrantee.

I know Buell service is a problem, but in the case of Earl Small's, credit is due. They've done a great job for us over the last 5 months and 8000 miles.

 

[keisersozae]

my harley dealer sold me my buell just fine, the bikes sell themselves. service is what is lacking and we all know it, or have learned it since owning a buell. when i went to the shop and bought my bike i was wearing baggy shorts and flip flops, haha. the salesman didnt talk to me until i was sitting on the bike making motorcycle noises and disturbing the "people in leather".

 

[mrdozer2you]

I called a dealer last January and told them what I wanted. They had a used XB12ss with 500ish miles on it. They said that they wanted 10k for it. I was going to be driving almost 2 hours so I said if I come I'm buying, what will you take. They sort of laughed and said how bout 7k? I said done...again a bit of laughter on their end and I hung up. Two days later I popped in the dealership just coming from my shop looking like a piece of crap. I stood there for about 20 minutes before I was acknowledged (and I had my wife with me). She was starting to get pissed and wanted to leave ( keep in mind that it's JANUARY in MICHIGAN!!!! snow everywhere) so needless to say...they werent busy. I said "watch this"....pulled out 70 $100 bills from my pocket and went and sat on the bike. INSTANT acknowledgement [up]. I told them that I had called about the Buell, (they had no record of my call, but thankfully the salesman remembered me...and looked suprised)

They honored the deal [up][up][up]...and I left happy until I recieved the bike.

They delivered it to me, and I didnt touch it for almost 3 months!!!!!! Except pulling the battery inside and using my battery tender. I went to start it the first nice day that was somewhat warm and no snow on the roads( almost March). It wouldn't start. The dealer claimed that everything was working when they shipped it to me and that I must have done something. WTF!!!!! I dont ride in the frickin SNOW!!! Eventually they picked it up from me and I had to give the delivery guy $20 for gas because he "forgot his wallet, with the company credit card", and the company would re-pay me. It turned out to be a fouled plug, which they fixed for free, or almost.....im still waiting on my $20 from almost 9 months ago.[down]

Thankfully I found an independent bike shop near my house....I haven't had them do any work for me yet but they were very nice and honest people. They will be putting new rubber on for me in the spring [up] and were honest enough to say "we dont see any Buells, but we'll learn about them and fix anything you need" Hopefully I wont need them because I plan on doing almost everything myself....but if I do, I'll gladly hand them money, those type of comapnies deserve it.

Gotta love the "whatever it takes" attitude[up]