I just recently purchased my first HD (and first bike ever) from Thunder Mountain in Loveland about a week ago. While there they offered the VIP maintenance agreement which is a prepaid agreement for the factory scheduled maintenance over a 2 to 4yr contract. Has anyone else signed up for this or found it to be more cost effective then DIY and/or using an authorized HD mechanic?

 

It will not come close to diy...You need to shop around between dealers & Indy mechanics to see what they charge, then run the numbers side by side!

 

When I bought my Ultra 2 wks ago, they tried to sell me a prepaid service plan for the first 3 yrs or 20k miles for $1333. They change oil every 2500 mi plus the 1k, 5k, 10k, 15k & 20k service with a free rental at the major services. I bought it, probably because I was so f-ing sick and tired of working on my old bike. I'm sure they make good money on those plans, but I don't gotta touch it for 20k miles, which will be 2 yrs.

 

I bought one when I got my streetglide last year. After my bike had been in three times for service, and all three of those were done so poorly, I had (Gale's Harley Davidson in Blue Springs, Mo) refund my money, which they did--luckily.

Save your money. Buy a service manual, a J&S Bike lift, and the Harley Drain pan.

For all of the service you don't feel comfortable with, find an independent bike shop that's not driven by commissions, you'll be much better off.

 

^ what he said.

 

I think I spent 3000 on mine and I have a 72 hr promise that my bike will be on a lift and being worked on. It also comes with a pickup or drop off one way for the service. It also came with a coupon book with two 15% off coupons on all parts and two 20% off all clothes and a free battery and 2 free winter storages and details. Three years unlimited mileage services and oil changes. And with no service costing less then 400 bucks alone was worth it. So far I've had it less then a year and I've got almost 12000 miles on it. I think the deal I got was a steal however I'm not happy with any of the services or how they have treated me after I bought the bike. I can't believe it and to top it off I paid cash money for my bike

 

OP, if you like wrenching on your bike and are even half mechanically inclined the services you are paying for can be done by you. With so many hack mechanics out there and so many horror stories about terrible work being performed on things as simple as 3 hole oil changes I would use that money to buy a good bike lift, flat jack and a service manual and do the work yourself. Not only will you get the satisfaction of the work being done correctly, the way you want to do it, you will also notice potential problems early and let any issues be taken care of under your warranty. Here is a link for a great lift for short money...
http://www.derekweaver.com/bikers-ga...eaver-tx-1000/
This will also let you dismount your wheels when time for tire changes saving you install charges and whatnot...

 

Thanks A lot guys for the thoughts and advice! I talked with an authorized HD mechanic and the their prices definitely where better. They also said the factory scheduled maintenance was all i needed to do with oil changes on my own. The only problem i will run into now is that I will be renting an aptmt and won't have a garage :/

 

Gails Harley Davidson is in Grandview, Mo. Outlaw Harley davidson is the one in Blue Springs, so not sure who didn't do the work right.

 

Yea was it in Grandview,MO or Blue Springs,MO? Big difference, I've had work done at Gail's and never had any problems.