was wondering if anyone has had the unfortunate experience to have their motorcycle repossessed or close to having that happen.
my brother in law had a severe motorcycle accident in november 2006; he as since lost his job and is now late with all payments because of his accident. thankfully he had served our great country for 24yrs and has a small military pension. i had spoken to harley credit numerous times for my brother in law in regards to hopefully setting a new payment plan--i faxed them all his medical records and other items they requested but that same afternoon they
repossessed the bike. my husband and i have a road king classic
and we loved what harley davidson stood for; but now we feel
protrayed . does anyone out there have any suggestions on how to fight this so this wounded h.o.g. member/military veteran could possibly get his bike back. anyone have a direct link to any ceo's at harley. thank you!!

 

Ok. I'll do my best, but I'm a bit gun shy to even address this issue because I don't want to get flamed for my response. This happens to be an area that I know something about since my background is in business and finance. They kind of go together. I work for a large national company who among other things finances motorcycles.

Having said that let me begin with this, there is only one CEO and that is Jim Ziemer. Secondly there is not some direct line to his office and even if there was, it's doubtful anybody here on this forum would have it. So the best you can do is call the corporate offices at: (414) 343-8300 and ask to speak to someone working in his executive office. CEO's who run large companies don't usually take these kind of calls. You might get to speak to his Vice President or maybe his assistant who can relay your message. Usually for this type of thing, you are better off writing a letter and mailing it to his office, or even send it by fax. A phone call doesn't hurt, but don't be disappointed if your call isn't welcomed with the warmth and enthusiasm you might be expecting.

As far as the repo is concerned, the next immediate step would be to auction the bike off and charge off the loss for the amount owed, minus the auction sales price. Depending on the state you live in, your brother in-law may still be responsible for any shortage. ie.....15,000 loan balance (-) 10,000 auction price = 5,000 amount still owed. In all liklihood, if the bike has been repossessed, it won't be coming back. My guess is the loan payments were 90 days past due so they decided just to cut their losses. For all the unfortunate losses people suffer regarding their jobs, health etc...it's rare that a company will undoa reposession because a person has a really sad or touching story. It's a business and that's how they run things. I would never say never, but I wouldn't count on your brothers prior military service or his current curcumstances to change anything. It doesn't hurt to try, but at this point it seems pretty unlikely.

Good luck. I hope everything all works out for your brother in-law. He's lucky to have you on his side.

 

Pay the bill for him.

I admire his service to our country, but the bills still gotta be paid.

Doesn't he have any disability insurance from the military for this sort of thing?

 

can we take up a can collection,, bottle drive??

 

There ain't any disability insurance from the military after you retire.

When you "retire" from the military (I'll use the Navy as an example; other services are the same, but with different names for the stuff) after 20 years you actually transfer into the Fleet Reserve with about 40% of your base pay. You lose all the "extras", such as proficiency pay, flight pay, flight deck pay, sea pay, housing pay, etc. So in reality your "retirement" pay, actually called "retainer pay" since you are still in the military, will probably be significantly less than 40% of your actual pay at the time you left. If you stay longer than 20 years your retirement pay increases, up to about 75% of base pay at 30 years of active duty. (Caveat: these 40%, 75% figures may be different now)

In addition to your retainer pay you get medical benefits at a local base medical facility. If you don't live near a base, you get to use the VA if there is one close. If no VA, no base nearby, then unless you have the military version of health insurance (ain't sure what it is called now) then you are on your own. And the mil version of insurance ain't free.

My descriptions above may not be precisely accurate 'cause the gooberment changes stuff all the time. It will be representative of what actually happens. Bottom line is that military retirement after 20 years ain't retirement, but it will help. If you live a normal life you will need another job, and if you lose that job you're gonna lose "stuff".

Too many times those of us in the military put off buying a home because of transfers, etc. Can be too much of a hassle with moving every couple years, and the pay is low enough you ain't making 2 house payments while waiting for one to sell. Some people manage it, but most don't. But after you do your 20 - 30 years, then you buy a house, get a job, start a second retirement plan. But now you're years behind your peers at the new job.

Sorry for being so long-winded; just wanted to let y'all know that mil retirement ain't all many suppose it is.

 

give it up....hdcredit does not care, and i've never seen them give a bike back once repossessed...its not about the why's ever, its about the money....hd does not even care about the bikes or the lore, its about the money....the bike is simply a vehicle to get the money....i own a large repo co, i deal with this everyday....sorry to tell you the truth....but they only want the money....its the engine that drives business....yall can argue or be mad or even tell me i'm crazy but i have been very successful in the recovery industry to the point where most of the men i ride with are the decision makers on auto credit worldwide...i know how they feel and what the agenda is....sorry for your loss

 

Real sorry about what happened to your brother-in-law and hope all works out for him, but to expect any company to forgive a financial obligation because of life circumstances is unrealistic. There is insurance offered at the time of financing to cover situations like these, most say it's a rip-off and I don't buy it myself, but in cases like these it would've been money well spent.

It'sa well known factthat Harley builds bikes to make money.Sure there's heritage and nostalgia involved, but they can't do it for free. It takes money to build factories, pay people, buy supplies, turn on the lights etc..

Geeze, this is America, right or wrong, nobody does anything unless there's money to be made. Some organizations hide this truth better than others, but still it's money that matters.

 

Sorry to hear about your bro-in-law. It's sad to hear on top of a severe accident, dealing with his injuries, job loss and now a repo of his bike which in itself is not the end of the world. Just a change in priorities. He needs to heal up physically and mentally first. All the rest fall into line after that. I've had 2 financial set backs in my life and can assure you that there is life after collection agencies and repo's. Tell him to let it go, take care of himself and things will turn around.

Take care.

 

I hope everything works out for the best for him.

Take care,
Baldman

 

I wrote to Jim Ziemer over a year ago!! I know he receieved the letter cos I spoke to his PA.

Still waiting for a reply (although I realized a long time ago that I'd never get one) [:@]