I'm hoping for some ideas on what to do nextin my dilema. My bike has been down now for 4 months. I own an '03 Anniversary Fatboy that was upgraded "high performance" at the dealership prior to my purchase. All upgraded parts are HD, 95, 1550, and the mileage is 16,000.

From the beginning I had experienced problems with the operation of the bike with the dealership not really listening to my concerns. Unfortunately, the bike's motor gave out, pushrod/cam related,with no help from the dealership. I know that I am way out of warranty, but thought that the dealership would help out on diagnosing and working with me to have the HD factory look into what possibly went wrong with the parts. It urks me that the dealership is pointing the finger at me, stating that the motor most likely went out because of the way it possibly was driv'n.

Should I take the bike to another dealership and have them work on it? It's my hope that through a dealership working with the HD factory that a diagnosis of some kind would be found of a defect. Or, should I just bite the bullet and find a privateHDmechanic to work on the bike?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

How old was the bike when you first started to complain to the dealership?
Is the dealership, that did the mod work, the same one youwere complainingto and wouldn't listen to you?
Tom

 

If you have your initial complaints documented, I would go back and escalate the problem to management. If you don’t, you may be SOL. In that case I would fix/rebuild it myself. If you are not so inclined, I would take it to a reputable mechanic. IMHO [align=left] [/align]

 

I've complained to the so-called "President" of the dealership. Explaining to him how his service dept. slighted us on our previous complaints about the bike--the ill performance and the noise coming from the top half. Looking back,this specific dealership's service departmenthas never kept their word, i.e., the bike would stay in the shop 3-4 weeks longer when being promised back a certain day. Now, after personally speaking with "the President," I don't have any confidence remaining in indealing with themat all.

The bike was "brand new" when we started complaining. Yes, theyare the same dealershipwho installed the high performance upgrade.

We were so upset with them because there were no anwers within the three weeks that they kept the bike, so we picked it upand had it looked at by another mechanic who informed us of the cam damage, but this mechanic can't do the major cam repairs.

The dealership is saying that they're hesistant to help us because we had someone else look at it.

I can't help to think that we were"had." Knowing we've had problems from the beginning and now not having Harley Davidson dealership stand behind their product. I'm in a dilema as to what to do next.

 

I would say that the dealer wont help you.

If you didnt race the bike and its a 03 with only 16000 miles on it there was something wrong.

The cam is a part that can take a long time to fail if something was wrong with the top end.

I dont think the dealer or harley will help becouse its out of warrenty.

David

 

Was the bike "in" the shop while it was still under warranty? I'll assume it was if you had issues with it since you purchased it. If it were me I would start trying to contact the MoCo.You need to show there were issues stemming from the beginning. If you have any receipts from maintenance that was done (and hopefully can show how long they had it in the shop), that will only benefit your case. I would contact them and inform them of the issues you have encountered with this dealership, from the get go. I don't think that Harley Davidson wants a tarnished reputation, granted in this case you are just one guy, but maybe they can do something. As it stands right now I think you have nothing to loose. It couldn't hurt anything to go straight to the top! Who knows you could be one of MANY complaints about that dealership and they could take action on your behalf.

Good luck & keep us posted!

Jim

 

I agree with Cool hand...Write a letter to the MOCO and explain the situation but you have to be tactful or they will most likely throw it in the trash before finishing it...Tell them times, dates, problems encountered in cronological format and be specific...Sometimes a dealer getting a passdown from the MOCO will bring them around...It never hurts to try...Get some help with the letter if you're not a good writer..Good luck...

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I'm in agreement too.My motor went south at about 500 mi. after some dealer work.They wanted to rebuild it.After I could see we were never going to agree I should have a new motor I called the MOCO and a new motor was shipped the next day.Good Luck

 

If you had problems from the beginning you should be on the phone to HD in Wisconsin the phone number is on the HD web site call and complain to them get them involved and they will contact the dealer this will start to put pressure on them. Any paper work you have will help. What i found out is that in CT we have a lemon law and when a problem is bad enough my dealer will not give paper work when you pick the bike up because three times for the same thing and we are eligible to file lemon law. This probably has nothing to do with your situation. But on the other had its a reminder to every one that when they work on your bike tell them you want paper work this way you have a record in your case this would now be in your favor when calling Harley.

 

Agreed, never start out hostile. Its nearly always a lose lose proposition and one of the fastest turnoffs there is. Tactful presentation with copys of any paperwork you have documenting your problem will always help.
I'm not sure how true it is, but I was told that all the repair records are regularly uploaded to the MoCo from the dealerships records. So make sure you include your bike's serial number. If they do in fact collect the records, they will be able to pull them up to check.