Would you get your bike serviced by a non "Harley" Tech?
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Tourer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 389
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From: Nova Scotia
Would you get your bike serviced by a non "Harley" Tech?
Where I live, we have a motorcycle shop which repairs most Japanese models as well as Harley's. I checked them out recently and asked if they had a certified "Harley" tech on hand and they said they didn't.
They said they back up there work and they seem like a bunch of good guys. I took a tour of the shop and it's clean and safe.
I guess my question is would you guys take your bike to a shop where there was no "Harley" tech, but one that could work on them?
I have no problem with my local Harley shop, just that it's over an hour to get there and this place is a stones throw from work.
Thanks,
They said they back up there work and they seem like a bunch of good guys. I took a tour of the shop and it's clean and safe.
I guess my question is would you guys take your bike to a shop where there was no "Harley" tech, but one that could work on them?
I have no problem with my local Harley shop, just that it's over an hour to get there and this place is a stones throw from work.
Thanks,
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,373
Likes: 5
From: Central Texas
There is no magic in being a certified tech. The certified Harley tech our local shop had sucked. They fired him, got a new guy who isn't certified that does great work and knows his ****. So yeah, if you trust them and they have a good rep, take it to them. But you might want to check your warrantee. Never owned a Harley under warantee so I don't know if they have a clause in there about using certified mechanics or not.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,036
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From: Temecula, CA
Depends.
Obviously I'm no Harley tech but I work on my own bike all the time. I trust me to make something right on the bike if I screw it up.
Now I took my 99 Sportster to an indy shop that mostly works on metrics (name of the place is a negative play on the Hog name) but that advertises they sell tires for all bikes including Harleys. Their prices are really good and I needed a tire put on my bike before the weekend. Normally I would pull the tire myself, take it to cycle gear and just have them mount the tire to the wheel but I didn't have the time.
First they tried to tell me my spacers were wrong. No, I did a 150 tire conversion and the spacers, while looking wrong, are right. After all, the tire was CENTERED in the frame when I brought it in and that's the purpose of those spacers. It took them two hours because they had problems getting the tire on the wheel. Now, in their defense I was putting a 150 tire on the wheel which originally came with a 130 but Cycle Gear had done this once before without a problem. This was on Friday. Saturday I rode from my house down in Southern Ca up to Las Vegas. Just as I was getting back on the freeway by the strip, I hit a small bump and my secondary drive belt snapped! The bike had only 20K miles on it and the belt had been in fine shape. My only thought is when they put the tire back on they didn't properly tension the belt. That SNAFU cost me $400.
So after that I'm VERY leary of any indy working on my bike unless they come HIGHLY reccommended. At least with the Harley dealership you know they have a better chance of knowing what they're doing.
Obviously I'm no Harley tech but I work on my own bike all the time. I trust me to make something right on the bike if I screw it up.
Now I took my 99 Sportster to an indy shop that mostly works on metrics (name of the place is a negative play on the Hog name) but that advertises they sell tires for all bikes including Harleys. Their prices are really good and I needed a tire put on my bike before the weekend. Normally I would pull the tire myself, take it to cycle gear and just have them mount the tire to the wheel but I didn't have the time.
First they tried to tell me my spacers were wrong. No, I did a 150 tire conversion and the spacers, while looking wrong, are right. After all, the tire was CENTERED in the frame when I brought it in and that's the purpose of those spacers. It took them two hours because they had problems getting the tire on the wheel. Now, in their defense I was putting a 150 tire on the wheel which originally came with a 130 but Cycle Gear had done this once before without a problem. This was on Friday. Saturday I rode from my house down in Southern Ca up to Las Vegas. Just as I was getting back on the freeway by the strip, I hit a small bump and my secondary drive belt snapped! The bike had only 20K miles on it and the belt had been in fine shape. My only thought is when they put the tire back on they didn't properly tension the belt. That SNAFU cost me $400.
So after that I'm VERY leary of any indy working on my bike unless they come HIGHLY reccommended. At least with the Harley dealership you know they have a better chance of knowing what they're doing.
Last edited by Robotech; Jan 13, 2011 at 11:20 AM.
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