Now you done and went and voided the warranty.
TOTALLY rediculious
TOTALLY rediculious
So, the passing lamps on my Road King start flickering. I wiggle the toggle switch on the steering head cover, it turns to mush, and the lights go out. <snap> Another little project. OK fine.
I call a dealer, looking for a replacement switch. Parts guy says, yea we have one. $50.40 for the switch, $4 for the boot. WTF? It's a friggin switch! He tells me, yea but it's pretty beefy and comes with the wiring. All you do is plug it in. I ask him for the part number so I can see a pic on the web and make sure we are talking about the same switch. He tells me, 71522-96. OK, thanks. Google the P/N, and yup - that's the switch, but 50 bucks!
I go out to the garage, cut out the old switch, and take it down to my local Radio Shack. P/N 2750603 is almost a dead-on replacement, for $2.73 with tax! The switch part itself is a little smaller, but won't matter with the boot over it. In fact, the switch box itself looks a lot beefier than the one I took off. All done except it is too cold in the garage to do any soldering.
So, long story short, this is the most outrageous markup of a very common part I have ever seen. If HD had wanted $15, I probably would have just been a sheep and gone for it. But, $50 for a $3 part? Come on, that is just ... I don't know.... lame!
I call a dealer, looking for a replacement switch. Parts guy says, yea we have one. $50.40 for the switch, $4 for the boot. WTF? It's a friggin switch! He tells me, yea but it's pretty beefy and comes with the wiring. All you do is plug it in. I ask him for the part number so I can see a pic on the web and make sure we are talking about the same switch. He tells me, 71522-96. OK, thanks. Google the P/N, and yup - that's the switch, but 50 bucks!
I go out to the garage, cut out the old switch, and take it down to my local Radio Shack. P/N 2750603 is almost a dead-on replacement, for $2.73 with tax! The switch part itself is a little smaller, but won't matter with the boot over it. In fact, the switch box itself looks a lot beefier than the one I took off. All done except it is too cold in the garage to do any soldering.
So, long story short, this is the most outrageous markup of a very common part I have ever seen. If HD had wanted $15, I probably would have just been a sheep and gone for it. But, $50 for a $3 part? Come on, that is just ... I don't know.... lame!
And what if you did not have any common sense and could not diagnose the problem yourself and paid $100.00 labor for the install.. Good for you..
My Dad used to have a private plane. One time the rotating beacon light bulb blew out and he had to replace it. FAA regs require the use of an FAA approved light bulb. He pulled the bulb and went to the shop and the bulb was like $25. Went to NAPA and the bulb was identical to a tail light bulb for his chevy pickup. $0.85. What a ridiculous ripoff.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
From: Long Island, New York
Similar situation. Driving lights out on my nacelle, find the loose wire, under the cover, the clip off the switch. Squeeze it with the plyers, push it on. Had to replace the fuse that blew when the hot lead hit the metal. Saved a bunch of money by the sounds of it. Glad it worked out for you also. Chris
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 7,498
Likes: 19
From: East Alton, IL
I go out to the garage, cut out the old switch, and take it down to my local Radio Shack. P/N 2750603 is almost a dead-on replacement, for $2.73 with tax! The switch part itself is a little smaller, but won't matter with the boot over it. In fact, the switch box itself looks a lot beefier than the one I took off. All done except it is too cold in the garage to do any soldering.
So, long story short, this is the most outrageous markup of a very common part I have ever seen. If HD had wanted $15, I probably would have just been a sheep and gone for it. But, $50 for a $3 part? Come on, that is just ... I don't know.... lame!
So, long story short, this is the most outrageous markup of a very common part I have ever seen. If HD had wanted $15, I probably would have just been a sheep and gone for it. But, $50 for a $3 part? Come on, that is just ... I don't know.... lame!
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 3,817
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From: Novi MI
So if I understand this, you bought just the switch and are soldering it on to the old wiring harness and the HD part is the switch with the wire harness? Well that wiring harness explains the difference in price of at least $2 so what are ya bitchin' about?
Good job, you saved a bunch of money by buying a $2.73 Chinese "almost" dead-on replacement. I hope "almost" can carry the same current as the USA version so you don't have to replace it again in the cold garage.
And yes, I checked - it's a 3A 120V switch with the exact same mechanical dimensions as the broken one.
If you read my post, I was willing to pay 5x for the Genuine HD part. But not 16x.