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I'd bet your average rider would only need a set of tires every 3-5 years, so yeah of course theyd pay for that. And once you figure in the cost of labor for all of the services you have to get done there, they are making out like bandits.
I'm sure once they got the bike in for your "free" tires they will add hundreds of dollars of parts and services that are critical to your safety and the dependability of your bike.
I recently took my pickup, a 2019 with 32,000 miles in for an oil change at a dealer. They had over $12
00 worth of stuff they strongly suggested be done while I was there.
Not that good of a deal, the dealer will nickel and dime (except hundreds and hundreds) you to death. The tire business is not the most honest business anyway.
I wonder what they would do if your bike was a garage queen? Hey Mr Dealer, my bike is 10 years old with only 2k miles on the odometer. My tires are now too old, do I get a free set?
A lot of riders either don't want to, don't have the time or skill necessary to do regular maintenance. Many buy the selling dealers service plan which are cheaper than the same work without the plan. So for those riders the tires for life is a good deal. For others not so and they can pass on the deal or bargain for a cheaper price without the tires for life.
they are not as much of a money saver as the dealer makes them out to be. when they are trying to sell you the plan, they will compare the cost of the plan, against one of their services, repeated every 2500 miles. it's quite a bit of a different picture if you compare apples to apples and figure the costs against the mfg recommended services. there is absolutely no reason why anyone needs to do a 3 hole change every 2500 miles.
I purchased my FLHTK from Avalanche Harley in 2019. They were running the same promotion when I bought. Won't be using their program as the cost of services and then their labor doesn't really save you anything. Sadly, if I need anything done I can't handle they are the closest dealer at almost a 100 miles away.
I used to buy all my maintenance items from (now closed) Rocky Mountain Harley. I actually bought my tires from the Indian dealer just down the street as they were cheaper than Harley for the Dunlops. I never got a good feeling from Avalanche Harley, a few of their sales folks just aren't real knowledgeable. I prefer the mom and pop style dealers that Harley wants to get rid of.
It sounds good at first, especially if you are going to buy a Harley anyway, but there are way too many considerations involved. When you peel back the layers on that ONION, you start to reconsider how much of a deal it really might be.
The way Harley is closing dealerships they might not be here in even two months...who knows?
It might be a good deal for some but everybody's situation can be different, like the ones that do their own wrenching. If you use the dealer for service work like I do, getting free tires would save a little. I mean, free tires is one less thing I have to pay.
But generally, like those pre-pay service plans that are offered, I don't buy them. Heck,, at my age I don't even buy green bananas!
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Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
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