I miss typed the title should read "Thinking about buying a limited and the Dealer said I CAN'T test ride it..."

Took the RK in to have the recall fixed and started looking at the Limited. One of my favorite bikes. Sales guy comes over and we start chatting, I am always interested in a good deal. I would love to purchase this bike and intend to one day. I asked him about the pin stripes as I would want one without them he said he would check and "call me about it" hmmm that was odd, as I am here now and if he really want to sell me a bike he probably should find out A.S.A.P. Did not think much about that as I said ok. He had me fill out a visitor slot on his paper and i left my number. I then asked about going for a ride as I haven't had an opportunity to ride a UC. He replied "NO" I almost lost it but asked if he would explain why. He started by saying it was policy and they want to make sure they have a serious buyer. I then said to him I have purchased new bikes b4 from harley and have never heard that. And illustrated to him that I was insulted that he assumed I was not a serious buyer. Then he said sometimes they waive this procedure for certain customers, big mistake on his part. I had enough at this point and told him thanks for the time and waited for my bike to be completed. Another sales guy that got word of the situation came over to me and told me he would check with the sales manager when he gets in and see if I could ride the bike. I said no thanks as I did not want to be a privileged customer waiting around to be blessed by your charity ride. I then called another dealership that I purchased my first bike from and they said come on buy and take it for a ride.

Sorry had to vent but I wanted to know if any of you guys out there experienced this or anything similar at any HD dealerships.

 

First of all, the pin stripes are there to stay. The MoCo won't do anything about that. The "salesman" should know that. But we know he isn't a "Real Salesman" because he should have let you do that test ride. Just my 2 cents.

 

It just felt all wrong the way he said it and the reasoning behind it. I will be speaking to the GM tomorrow about the situation.

So HD wont take an order for a custom Vivid black Limited without pin stripes?

 

The Heritage was my first " back to the MoCo" in a number of years and I shopped several dealers in 3 states for nearly two years to get what I wanted at a price point. I found about 50-50 on test rides, some do some don't for whatever reason. I did purchase from one who did and encouraged me to ride several bikes over the nearly two years I shopped them on and off.

My

 

If you test ride it say good bye to the king, that's what happened to me, lol.

 

It's not all that uncommon. A few years ago, when Harley sales were booming, Very few people could ever test ride a bike. Only if you were well known at the dealership, and respected by the management.

A lot of dealers have relaxed these polices now. Some will even let anybody take a test ride as long as you have a motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license.

 

I was always afraid of that, this is why I waited until I could actually purchase one before I jumped on it.

 

[QUOTE=fireaxxe;8979234]I miss typed the title should read "Thinking about buying a limited and the Dealer said I CAN'T test ride it..."

I then asked about going for a ride as I haven't had an opportunity to ride a UC. He replied "NO" I almost lost it but asked if he would explain why. He started by saying it was policy and they want to make sure they have a serious buyer.

I'm somewhat confused by your post. What makes you think that Harley Dealers want to sell bikes? I can assure you that they most certainly don't want to sell anything from chrome to clothing! I tried without success to have 2 dealers take my money and they would not even consider it. I have had the same experience years ago with Japanese dirt bike dealers as well as domestic and foreign car dealers. How these outfits remain in business, especially in this economy, completely baffles me.

 

Here the dealers don't let you ride it until its yours on NEW bikes and let you ride the USED bikes if you have a M endorsement. They also have a policy that you have so many miles after purchase to ride it and return it no questions asked if you are not happy.

I can't blame them on new bikes really, it is different than a car and so guy used to a sporty could lay over a new Ultra if he is not careful. I know when I sell my used bikes, there are no test rides until I have the cash in hand.

 

Not real sure how it works, but I have been told the higher volume dealers get demo units from the MOCO, in most situations, those are the ones that let you test ride. their rationale is why would somebody want to buy a new bike with miles on it and get no discount.

The small dealer I bought my ride from let me test ride it, but it was used. I would venture a guess that they would not let me ride a new one unless they were real certain I was going to buy it.

I do understand your frustration, I would never buy any vehicle without testing it first.