Harley "Custom" Paint Defect
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,412
Likes: 2
From: Ma
Harley "Custom" Paint Defect
To All
Please look at these pictures and give me your opinion on whether Harley-Davidson should honor the warranty for the blemish found in the paint.
You have to click on the thumbnails to get a bigger pic. The arrows in pic point to the blemish. I's a big white spot where the painter missed with the black finish paint.
The paint set is from the Harley-Davidson Custom Color Shop. It is a black base with metallic red flames. (Ghost flames). This paint set was ordered at the same time I purchased my 08 Fatboy. The set was put on the bike by the dealer at purchase.
Not that it matters, but I took delivery on a crappy overcast day when the blemish did not readily pop out at me.
The blemish is about 1/2" at its widest point. But for all practicality, it is 3/8" to the visible eye. It is in a high-visibility area about 5/8" from the tanks bar & shield emblem on the high side of the bike.
The blemish is not easily seen when the bike is parked in the shade. But it really pops out in the sunlight alongside the ghost flames. It appears the dealer thinks it may be okay to have to live with this blemish and have to park my bike in the shade.
I won't get into the on-going fiasco regarding this issue. Let's just say that between the dealer and the moco, I know what major companies should not do in dealing with customers that spend $23,000 on their bikes and purchase their extended warranties.
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Please look at these pictures and give me your opinion on whether Harley-Davidson should honor the warranty for the blemish found in the paint.
You have to click on the thumbnails to get a bigger pic. The arrows in pic point to the blemish. I's a big white spot where the painter missed with the black finish paint.
The paint set is from the Harley-Davidson Custom Color Shop. It is a black base with metallic red flames. (Ghost flames). This paint set was ordered at the same time I purchased my 08 Fatboy. The set was put on the bike by the dealer at purchase.
Not that it matters, but I took delivery on a crappy overcast day when the blemish did not readily pop out at me.
The blemish is about 1/2" at its widest point. But for all practicality, it is 3/8" to the visible eye. It is in a high-visibility area about 5/8" from the tanks bar & shield emblem on the high side of the bike.
The blemish is not easily seen when the bike is parked in the shade. But it really pops out in the sunlight alongside the ghost flames. It appears the dealer thinks it may be okay to have to live with this blemish and have to park my bike in the shade.
I won't get into the on-going fiasco regarding this issue. Let's just say that between the dealer and the moco, I know what major companies should not do in dealing with customers that spend $23,000 on their bikes and purchase their extended warranties.
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Last edited by trafficjams; Oct 27, 2008 at 11:18 PM.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,929
Likes: 1
From: Grayland, WA.
The photos probably don't show what you are seeing in person. I would think they would be able to fix it without repainting the whole tank.....but then again, I'm not a body shop guy. Good luck, call the factory and let them know whats going on...???
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,047
Likes: 3
From: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
I can't really see the blemish but I believe it's there. I don't see why the dealer wouldn't support a warranty issue. Simple. Bring the bike in, remove the tank, send to factory, repaint it, send it back, put it back on. Done. You'd probably be down for a couple of months though but at least it's winter.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,412
Likes: 2
From: Ma
I can't really see the blemish but I believe it's there. I don't see why the dealer wouldn't support a warranty issue. Simple. Bring the bike in, remove the tank, send to factory, repaint it, send it back, put it back on. Done. You'd probably be down for a couple of months though but at least it's winter.
PS... you have to click on the thumbnail pics to get a larger pic.
The dealership would not commit to honoring the warranty. They told me back at the beginning of July that the moco rep would look at it next time he was in town. That did not happen until Labor Day weekend when I was out of state and had essentially no advance notice. I did not hear from them again until a week ago when I went to the dealer and asked about it. Then they tell me that the tank will have to be removed and sent to HD for warranty evaluation after jerking me around all summer with the "factory rep" bull. Then they tell me it could come back denied. The story gets even longer.
Last edited by trafficjams; Oct 27, 2008 at 11:28 PM.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,047
Likes: 3
From: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Yes, I know. Photos of tough. You know what you're looking at and your brain compensates. Truthfully, it looks like a blemish on the photo but if that's the blemish then I really can't understand why your dealer is hesitating at all.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,274
Likes: 9
From: Tampa, FL
christ... i would be on the phone with Harley factory
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Banned
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Take it to a different dealer. Ask them to call corporate or to call your dealer. Get as many people as you can involved! I can't see it in the pic. If it is under the flame, the whole tank will need to be reshot. If it is in the flame they can scuff the clear and re-shoot the flames.
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Tourer
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 305
Likes: 1
From: pittsburgh
You're leaving out important details. On what grounds is the dealer NOT attempting a warranty? It's simple. Harley didn't paint that. Their custom shop did. (A sublet labor contract) I can 100% guarantee that Caliber wouldn't be OK with reshooting that paint. It's a ****ed up process of ordering a part number for a tank reshoot but I've done it a few times and your dealer is just being lazy. Take it to a different dealer. Warranty isn't covered exclusively by the selling dealer. Holy crap.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,412
Likes: 2
From: Ma
Take it to a different dealer. Ask them to call corporate or to call your dealer. Get as many people as you can involved! I can't see it in the pic. If it is under the flame, the whole tank will need to be reshot. If it is in the flame they can scuff the clear and re-shoot the flames.
I have called Harley. Wanted to send them these pics to evaluate for a yes/no answer on the warranty instead of the bull**** of taking it to the dealer, having them take the tank off, shipping it out, with no certain answer that it would be covered under the warranty. Harley would not give me an email to send the pics. Instead they said they would send me an email and I could use provided link to return mail to them. I waited a week and no email from Harley. So I called back. It seems that the first woman I spoke with was not capable of listening very well because she filed my email address as ".com" instead of ".net". The second woman said she would correct it and have it sent to me. That was a week ago.
The whole problem has been centered on the dealer not being able to give me a warranty commitment. Now they want to take my bike, wrench off the tank, ship it out, with the possibility of the answer coming back no?? That's nuts.