I have been a HOG member for 16 years, mainly for the maps and tow service and benefits, I've never belonged to a chapter but the other benefits are nice. In all these years I've used the tow service twice. The first time I was on vacation in the middle of no where on a Sunday and got a flat tire, I called and in less than an hour a flat bed tow truck with a motorcycle attachment showed up, the driver got out told me and the wife to get in the cab of the truck ,the a/c was on he had water for us and he would load the bike and get us to the dealership who already knew we were coming shortly, the second time was the vacation we just came back from, I ran the bike very low before getting gas and it had started to miss, I figured I either picked trash up in the line on the new gas was bad, we were staying near Robbinsville, North Carolina so the next day I decided to ride over to Ghost Town Harley in Waynesville, NC and have them check it out, we are on Hwy 74 about 20 miles from dealership and the bike quits running, tried everything and it won't start, I call HOG and they said we'll get a tow truck out to take you to the dealership, I'm 15 minutes to Sylvia ,NC or Waynesville, NC so I figure no problem, 2 hours later these to young kids show up in a 35 year old jacked up 4 X 4 with a flat bead trailer not equipped to haul a bike from a tow company, I look at them and ask how are you going to strap my bike to that trailer, we'll figure it out they stated and push my bike up on it, as they are trying to cross strap it down I look and 1 tire on the trailer is 1/2 flat and losing air, I ask what about this tire, they both look at one another and say I thought you were going to put air in it, finally bike is loaded ,tied down and they tell me we have to go in the opposite direction of the Harley shop to the closest gas station so they can put air in the tire, me and my wife will have to ride in the bed of the truck, we climb into the bed of the truck and there are 3 bags of household trash stinking back there that he was taking to the dump, so now we are riding down the road to get air and I notice the access of the straps were not tied off and were dragging from the trailer but before I could tell them they run over one of the straps which rips it off the trailer and from my bike, they pull over and how I don't know it didn't damage anything, now they say we didn't need that strap anyway and off we go again, finally get air and some how make it to the dealership but by now their tire is flat again, they air it up at the dealership and take off, I called HOG to tell them my story and all they could say was, my, my, oh my, oh my God , my and that probably sums it up, oh my

 

I don't imagine the respresentative you talked to at HOG was the one that should have been taking that kind of complaint. Anything out of the normal routine call for service is about all they are probably trained to handle.

On a different note, my first and probably only membership with HOG, I had to call them when the starter switch went out on the '09 Ultra Classic. Causing the starter to engage after the engine was running. The nearest dealer is 45 minutes away and it cost me an extra $65 above the $100 HOG coverage for road service. The dealer wouldn't cover the extra cost either. They said they would give me a credit for accessories but that never happened either.

 

I have used HOG roadside assistance on 2 occassions. Both times were excellant. They did exactly what they were supposed to do.

 

I have in the past read the free magazine they send when I'm bored. 3 times I got the free memberships, but never used any of it. The patches, pins, decals, etc all got sh*t-canned as soon as I got home. I don't have anything against this little sewing circle, just never got it.

 

I happen to enjoy the magazines (gotta read something when I'm on the can), and it's nice to have a little extra towing protection in case I need it. I also have AAA coverage, and I'd probably use that first, but it doesn't hurt to have a back up. Plus, I like the guy's in my local HOG chapter, so I'm renewing when it comes up!

 

HOG saved us a bunch of money on motorcycle rental in Las Vegas. Five days of unrestricted riding, Death Valley, Grand Canyon and all around. Helped make a great vacation.

 

i had a bad tow guy from hog too. didn't properly tie down the bike and as we made the first turn i watched my ultra slowly start to tip over. thank god it was the jiffy stand side and he left it down.

 

We had to wait for about three hours the first time we had to get towed and when they got there they had no bike rack. I says how youngonna tie it down and with what? They says with this pair of two inch wide ratchet straps, will just run it over the seat. I said in a pigs *** you will. So he said well we can run the strap over the transmission. So any way I had to tie it down myself. It made it back to the dealership OK. The second time we got towed we still had to wait a while but the tow truck had all the right equipment.

 

One of our riders had a tire go down and it wouldn't hold a tire plug, so one of the guys in the group said "I'll go home and get my trailer". Good enough 2 hours later he shows up with the new trailer witha bike chock on it, but he had never bought any tie down straps. He was just going to use a rope.

So I now carry my own tie down straps in the bottom of the saddlebags. Just for these numb nuts. They mean to help but never have the right stuff. I'm also the only one in the group with a tire plug kit and air compressor.

 

hog contracts there towing to road america.