I'm sending you this letter about my 2003 Harley-Davidson experience in the hopes that you might include it in your next publication/newspaper/website/chat room/forum etc. If nothing more I hope you read it and try to understand the point I'm trying to get across. If you do decide to publish/print etc. This letter all I ask is that you inform me of where it might be published so I can keep a record of where my story went. I think you will find my story a little different than most.
Hello my name is Rolland (my friends call me Dusty) and this is my Harley-Davidson 2003 story.
I will start my story with a little bit of back round on me and what prompted me to purchase one of these so-called fine motorcycles. I'm 40 years old/young (however you want to look at it) and Ive ridden street bikes since I was 18 years old and dirt bikes since I was really young, but never a H-D. I have an extensive back round in the automotive industry and have been a mechanic for 25 years. So at the age of 40 I decide it's time for me to purchase something I've always wanted, a brand new H-D. Also at this time we started making plans to attend the H-D celebration party in Milwaukee over Labor Day of 2003. My brother, in the past, has purchased new bikes (Honda, BMW, H-D) and I had bought them off of him when he wanted to move on to another model, so he was pretty familiar with how things went when purchasing a new motorcycle, which I wasn't.
When he, and others, had told me that the H-D dealers that I would encounter were going to be rude and not willing to work with just any customer that walked in the door, I didn't believe them. Silly me, they were exactly that! I started my quest for my new H-D in August. No one in my area (Middle part of Ohio, Columbus area) wanted to talk to me unless I was on their list or had a trade-in that they liked.
I didn't qualify in their minds/books all though I had cash money to buy anything they had on the floor. H-D dealers that considered me out of their area/zone would not even speak with me. So I put my name on a couple of lists, which meant they would try and get me one (any model), but it would be 8 before they had anything coming available. Didn't sound too promising to me. My brother, who at the time was living/working in Minnesota, had an idea.
Let me see what I can do up here, in Minnesota, is what my brother told me, and I agreed. To make a long story short he located two dealers that would sell a bike to him, one FLHTCI and one FLHTCUI. So I gave him the money for the FLHTCI and he bought the FLHTCUI. Both had to be titled in his name because the dealers wouldn't sell the bikes to anyone that did not live in their area, I found this to be true with every dealer I had talked to about buying a H-D.
My Father & Mother were going to my brothers' place for Thanksgiving so I asked if they would mind taking my truck & trailer and bring back my new motorcycle with them, they agreed and my new bike arrived at my home the week after Thanksgiving. I was so happy/proud of my new bike, I would go out to where I stored it almost everyday that winter and just look at it, sit on it and envision how it was going to feel to finally get it out on the road.
I suppose anyone who has every bought something/anything, and waited this long (40 years) to get it, and for whatever reason could not use it right away knows what I'm talking about, there aren't enough words to describe the anticipation I felt that looooong winter. The day finally came, the snow had since melted away, the salt had all washed from the roads, the temperature was above freezing and I was way past ready to ride this baby for the first time. The first ride was great and for some reason it was unlike any other motorcycle ride I had every taken, don't know what it was, but there was definitely something. My H-D motorcycle riding experience had started.
After a week of riding it was time for my bikes first cleaning, as per the owner's manual. I hand washed the entire bike and then waxed it. Upon reaching the tires/wheels I noticed the wheels/rims had small pits in them, I cleaned them with H-D wheel/tire cleaner but the pits were still there.
I didn't think too much of it at the time because my warranty was for a whole year and I had waited so long to ride my new bike that I didn't want it to be in the H-D shop for any amount of time. I had also notice that the four gauges (fuel, temp., amps, oil press.) had condensate in them in the mornings I would ride to work (5:30 am) but would be gone when I got on the bike to head for home after work (3:00 pm).
These two issues in my opinion were definitely warranty items and I would have a year to get them taken care of, I had also purchased the four-year extended warranty for my bike. Later in my story I will tell you how H-D warranty's their motorcycles, but I will tell you now that I wish I hadn't bought the extended four-year warranty.
I rode for about 950 miles and set up an appointment with Mid-Ohio H-D in Springfield Ohio to have my 1000-mile maintenance done, as per owner's manual. The day before my appointment the unthinkable happened, I had an accident. While cruising home after work on 6/26 @ 3:10 pm. I was following a Semi-truck trailer and the driver decided to lock up his brakes for no apparent reason (his reason was that he wanted to turn onto a side road, which he had pasted).
I had almost gotten my bike stopped when I ran out of road; I hit the back end of the Semi-truck doing about 5 to 10 mph. The accident in itself is another whole can of worms but it leads into my next run in with H-D and its dealers. My bike made it to Mid-Ohio H-D on 6/27 but now it needed a little more than just its 1000-mile maintenance.
My insurance agent meet with the service manager of Mid-Ohio H-D and they agreed that the bike was repairable and only needed the front end replaced, I agreed and they ordered the parts the following week (parts & labor close to $6,000.00). So during the prime motorcycle riding time of the year I was without my bike.
I consoled myself by saying that it would only be for a few weeks and things could have been a lot worse, I might not been able to ride ever again. I had left my home & work telephone numbers with the dealer so they could keep in contact with me on the status of my bike. After two weeks went by and no word from anyone but my insurance agent I decided to give the dealer a call.
I was informed that some of the parts had arrived but the hold-up would probably be the two painted parts (outer fairing & front fender). I asked if these items were traceable so I could finalize my plans for the 100-year celebration, I was informed that the H-D company would/could not tell them a estimated due date on painted items. I found this hard to believe, not being able to track parts, but I accepted it and went on about my motorcylceless spring/summer.
Two more weeks went by with no word, so I called the dealer again.By this time my bike had been in the shop for five weeks and I was getting worried about being able to take my bike to Milwaukee over Labor Day. I was told the same thing as before that they were waiting on the painted parts and as soon as the parts came in they would get a tech. Working on my bike.
Week seven and still no word, by now I'm livid. There is only 1-1/2 weeks until I'm supposed to go on my long awaited trip to the H-D anniversary party and I don't have a bike. I called the dealer once again and got the same response, this time I didn't take it, I called Wisconsin H-D Company and talked with one of their representatives.
The representative listened to my story and said it might take some time to figure out what was going on, but assured me by the end of the day they would have an answer for me. So I gave them my work phone number and waited. At the end of the day I got a phone call from H-D in Milwaukee and they told me that the Mid-Ohio H-D dealer had the painted parts for almost 2 weeks but were waiting on some small odds & ends.
They also informed me that they had located the other parts at other dealers and told Mid-Ohio H-D where they could get them. Upon this news I called Mid-Ohio H-D and they told that yes the parts were available at these other dealerships, but someone would have to pay the extra cost of procuring them. I told them to get the parts and finish my bike and we would figure out the extra cost when the bike was done, I ended up paying the extra cost. I did get my bike back 3 days before I left for the big 100-year anniversary party in Milwaukee. The party experience was great and everybody in our group had lots of fun.
Back to the warranty issues I have with H-D. After returning from Milwaukee I decided it was time to get someone to look at the wheel/rim & gauge fogging problems I have had since the bike was new, and still have to this day. So I took my bike back to Mid-Ohio H-D and showed them what my issues were.
The service manager told me right then from his experience that Harley Davidson would not cover these issues, but he would submit the claim anyway. They kept my bike for a week only to inform me that my problems were not covered by my warranty. I proceeded to call Wisconsin H-D Company and got in contact with one of their customer representatives, this person would not give me their name. He (the rep.) said that the pitting rim was not covered, and referred me to a certain page in the owner's manual that tells of the importance of keeping your UNPROTECTED, UNSEALED rims clean.
He said that if these pits had come from the factory they should have been pointed out before the bike left the dealership. My response to these points are; 1) Why would a company put UNPROTECTED, UNSEALED rims on a motorcycle, they are engineered to fail.
I have had 4 motorcycles, none of them were Harley's, with aluminum/mag rims and this is the only one I have every had any problems with. 2) I agree that these pits should have been pointed out before it left the dealership when the bike was picked up. Seeings how I wasn't the one picking the bike up, my parents and my brother picked it up for me, and the bike was in Minnesota and I live in Ohio I took for granted that the $800.00 set up fee charged by the dealer would include a complete inspection.
As stated earlier in this document, it was the following spring after a few rides that I hand washed the bike, removed the saddlebags and discovered the rim pitting. As for the fogging gauges I was told by the H-D rep. That these gauges are made with a weep hole in the back to let any moisture out that may get into the gauge. This is one of the most ridiculous things I have every herd of in my 41 years.
I know of 6 other people that have the same bike, FLHTCI/FLHTCUI, and none of their gauges fog up. If there is a hole to let moisture out, then what do you suppose is letting the moisture in to begin with. Again these gauges are designed to fail. After prolong moisture exposure the mechanics of the gauge will start to corrode, the lens will start to cloud over and the gauge will become an eyesore.
It really pisses me off every morning I get on this bike and have to look at theses gauges.By now anyone reading this letter should be able to realize that my 2003 Harley Davidson experience was not as I expected it to be and one might say it was down right horrible. The way it stands now I will never buy another Harley Davidson motorcycle and will deter anyone that I come in contact with to buy any other brand, and I come in contact with a lot of people.
To the people at Harley Davidson: I am sending this letter to you first to give you a chance at a rebuttal to my accusations and a chance to right what I feel is wrong. On the good chance that no one from your company really cares about what your customers feel and you don't reply to this letter, I have already formed a list of newspapers, competitors' dealerships, consumer groups and customer relations depts., etc. Around the WORLD that I will send this same letter to.
I will post this letter on every WEBSITE that will have it; yes I'm very adept at using computers and the INTERNET to get my point across. I would e-mail this to you but you seem to be so far behind the times that you can't or don't want to receive e-mails from your customers. I feel it would be in your (Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company) best interest to reply to this letter just to let me know that you received and read it. I will wait until mid-spring 2004 to hear from you, and then you might want to start looking on the Internet, newspapers and your competitor's newsletters for my story.
Your customer,
Rolland
Mechanicsburg, OH.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company did reply to this letter. Their response was as I expected. They referred me to page 257 of my owner's manual which states that some wheels are unprotected and may not be covered by warranty (this parts is engineered to fail in my humble opinion). They stated the obvious about the fogging gauges, that as the temperature or atmosphere changes an unsealed unit will develop some condensation under the lens, but should disappear while riding or out in the sun for about an hour (again this unit is engineered to fail).in other words H-D is not willing to work with me on solving these issues.
I called H-D just to make sure that this was their finale decision, it is.
Rolland
Mechanicsburg, Ohio
U.S.A.
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