I recently took my 16 FLHXS in for service at Oregon's largest HD dealer. It was regular schedule service and they found a nail in the rear tire. No big deal, **** happens. They called me and I told them to put a new rear tire on. They also changed out the hubs while they were in there.
I picked it up with my trailer, (enclosed 17' with a Condor chock) since it was raining to beat hell. It took it there in the trailer as well. No, I really don't like riding in the rain. Got home and wheeled it into my garage. A couple of days later, (no riding in between) I see wheel weights lying on the floor near the rear tire. I look at the rear wheel and it was extremely dirty. To be fair, it was probably that way when I took it in because I normally don't clean the rear wheel. Anyway, as you can see in the pictures it doesn't appear any attempt was made to clean the wheel prior to sticking the wheel weights in place... They're not going to stick well that way.
I cleaned the area and finished it with an alcohol wipe. I then stuck a piece of thin 3M body moulding tape (the gray ****) on the weight and placed it back into position. To top it off, it appears there is an "X" etched into the rim face where the weights are stuck...I guess a grease pencil wasn't nearby. It will probably rub out with some polish.
Am I making too big a deal out of this? Are they just that lazy?
Why do they always "Latus" down. I suppose I will try to find "Paradise" for my next service.
On a side note...I did get these painted to match Advan Black mid frame air deflectors for Christmas and I'm real happy with them. Installed easy enough.
Regardless if the rim was dirty or not, they should have at least cleaned the area where the weights went. I know that wasn't a cheap service, so I know I would be pissed. At the very least, I would call the service manager and tell him what happened. Who knows, you might get a free service, although that might not be a good thing after all. Maybe a free t-shirt for your troubles?
Question - When you say "changed out the hubs", did you mean wheel bearings?
I take my tire work to a real good independent shop in town and always give the tech lunch money because he knows what he’s doing and I appreciate that...It’s stories like this that not only **** you off, but who’s got time for this crap....
If the service guy does crappy work, the shop allows crappy work. Should be an inspection by the service manager to confirm the job was done right.
If you take the bike back to get it done right, they will do something else wrong. They don't care. They got your money. The service guy gets paid regardless of good or bad job.
Love the dealer reference. When I lived in the Portland area from ‘06 through ‘13 I was in Paradise, and they never Latused me down. Too many dealers let their entry level people do tire and oil changes, they charge full labor rates, and they do crap work.
Id go back to Latus, and tell them what happened to get it on the record. Then ride it there on the next dry day and have them fix it.
Pry the weights off and install some Ride-On in the tires and then don't look back. I know this was about crappy work being preformed on your bike, but that's all you get from the dealers anymore. Makes me wonder if the belt is adjusted correctly.
01-07-2019, 06:31 PM
Is it impossible to get good service anymore?
