Extended Warranty! What's your opinion/experience?
End of the week I will be astride my new Fat Boy 114, my first HD. Trying to get a read on whether the extended warranty is worth it or not. Thinking 5 year or 3 year, with the tire and rim warranty.
Would you get it? Have you used it, was it worth it? Yes or no to tire and rim warranty?
Thanks!!
ND
A couple of things to keep in mind:
When the salesperson is talking term, they include the 2 year factory warranty in the quote. So a "3 Year Plan" is actually only one year more than the factory warranty. A "5 Year Plan" is only 3 years longer than the factory warranty. And the "7 Year Plan" is 5 years longer than the factory warranty.
Tire & wheel coverage is from day one, so you do have that coverage during the factory warranty period, plus the extra years you buy.
Here in the states, the rates are negotiable. You may have to call around to various dealers in different states, but you can save big bucks over the list price.
Jim Palmer at Boardtracker HD in Wisconsin sells a different plan that has had good reviews on this forum.
But who knows what today or tomorrow might bring? If it gives you peace of mind to have it and you will be out on longer rides I think it's worth the gamble.
Many can chip in with circumstances where the warranties paid out more than customer paid in.
The math don't lie much like a slot machine some win but most lose.
I prefer to only insurance things i cant afford to replace , like health insurance and liability insurance where the down side is hundreds of thousands of dollars .
Engine repairs and tire replacement may fall under the" can't afford to replace" for many and that is their decision to guarantee against those issues.
If you receive emotional comfort with a warranty by all means buy it . It makes you feel better that can be priceless.
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I will agree that the amount of miles you ride (and in what time frame) defines whether or not you (or I) should get an ESP.
Weekend, sunny day riders would more than likely be wasting their money as the chances of serious issues developing with their bike are slim-to-none, whereas those of us who tour a lot have much higher chances of needing more warranty after the OEM, TWO YEAR warranty expires.
I have the 7 (actually 5 year) H-D ESP on my '13 (including the tire and wheel warranty) and I have about ONE year left on the plan and I have 34,000+ miles on my bike. Should I decide to keep the bike (which I doubt) I could purchase addition warranty but I don't see that as prudent because I will be putting more miles on the trike.
I've used the ESP twice on my '13 (voltage regulator failed and the radio died) and I'd estimate that if I had to pay for this myself, the bill for both of these repairs would have been somewhere near a $1,000.
So far, I'm "in the hole" so to speak with the "cost-benefit ratio" of the cost of the ESP to what my claims have been, BUT, I have one more year to go and who knows what could/may happen to a 6 year old bike in that time?
That said, I'll probably go for the H-D ESP even though it is more expensive and limits certain upgrades which requires the use of their products to avoid the voiding of the warranty.
Last edited by 2AMGuy; Sep 18, 2018 at 10:44 AM.











