I have been reading posts on here for a year and a half now and I keep chuckling whenever I see someone use the term "Stealership" in reference to the local Harley Dealer.

Is it a surprise to anyone that HD is a business and in order to have a successful business, you must maintain a satisfactory profit margin; this means they must charge for their products and services.

You can argue that the prices are too high, or that the products are made in China, etc, bottom line is when dealing with luxury items (yes, bikes likes ours are considered luxury items vs "must haves" like the car sitting in your garage) prices for everything from basic service to accessories are going to be at a higher price point; you knew that going into this whole "lifestyle".

Bottom line is HD is there to turn a profit and not become your best friend, if you can do your own work, great, doesn't mean they are doing anything underhanded. Ok, soapbox is gone....start your nasty comments...I can take em hahahaha

 

I only think it's a Stealership in the parts arena; I'd never begrudge labor prices; these guys are, for the most part, skilled at what they do and deserve more than they get after HD takes their cut.
Sales, too; they gotta make a living. Some are more fair than others. I feel I got a fair deal. No issues there, though they could have been more informative..

But ****, these PARTS.. Omfg.. Yep. STEALERSHIPPPP! Every part should come with a $59.95 jar of Vaseline.

 

i agree 100% ! (us army '68-69)

 

although have only owned a HD for 8mos, what maintenence parts I have bought so far are not too bad. BMW parts on the other hand are highway robbery.

 

Well, to be fair quite a few call that Ford or Chevy dealership where they purchased that must have $60,000+ SUV a Stealership too.

 

Parts are kind of pricy but so far I have found that with just a little time spent searching on the Internet, you can usually find them at a reasonable price. Everything I have purchased for upgrades have all been via the Internet and I feel content about the price I paid.

 

Yeah. I can see that. I got some must-haves on my list, aux lighting, fog lamps, for example. I just spent a lot of $ on a new bike and I'm kind of loathe to put banged up used parts on it... Never had that issue before, I never had a NEW bike before.. So using the lights as an example, I need the kit($429), the bulbs (headlamp, $524; aux lamps, $399 ), the harness ($20) the fogs ($399).. And God forbid I have them install it all (Never!) .. . Gah, it keeps adding up and it ain't cheap... I do see why my bike was so reasonably priced, aHA! ; but that doesn't make it any less pain inducing shelling out for upgrades.. Ugh.. I just want to see in the dark better. Lol and that's just ONE section. Now let's do bars with lighted switches and heated grips... Lol

 

kinda like biting the hand that feeds ya.

 

I have always said dealer, I have seen lots of guys say Stealer but I don't see it that way, so I'm with you.

 

Two parts:

I flat refuse to use the term "stealership". It's demeaning and libelous unless you have proof they're doing something illegal.

There are always two sides to every story, and I assume that every time somebody accuses a dealership of unethical activities, there's at least a 51% chance the person complaining is the classic "customer from hell".

I love my dealership, and its sister locations. The GM, the sales rep, parts guy, all the service people, and even the "motorclothes gals" are all absolutely wonderful.