| Author | Message | ||
     Needforspeed2 |
I think it's a crying shame that such a fine motorcyle is marketed through a network that so clearly despises this type of bike. My dealer Alamo City Harley Davidson, in San Antonio, TX. simply is too busy with the cruiser segment to properly pay attention to this market. This is a high performance motorcycle that responds readily to aftermarket modifications and should really be serviced by dedicated distribution. MY 2 CENTS | ||
| Jmartz |
Todd: I was speaking only of the parts counter. Although not the case for Buells, HD dealers mark up their line above MSRP in big markets such as Atlanta. I will not patronize such activity when a trip outside the metro area can save you some money. As to the service department I agree with you wholeheartedly. For enthusiasts like us giving the bike up for service or repair more often than not results in disapponintment. No one is as careful as I with my bike and even so I still hurt it ocassionally. How could a person who does not appreciate the bike treat it like we would want them to? I am tired of seeing reputable shops take the bodywork off for service and lay it on the bare concrete floor while thay are at it. Or take your precious CF ham can and lay it finshed side down on an abrasive surface in order to put screws in it. If you allow others to work on your bike all the time the "normal" wear and tare of servicing it will sooner than later make you want to replace it for aesthetic reasons. I know that not all of us are mechanically inclined and those need to be prepared for the existing system. Perhaps a single employee shop where work is done by an enthusiast himself would be less abrasive... Present day shops assign time limits to each service procedure in order to maximize efficiency and profits. While beneficial to the shop I have a difficult time believing that such a system can be conducive to careful and meticulous work. By working fast a technician can seriously enhance his income, perhaps at the expense of the quality of his work. Jose PS I have finally acquired the tools necessary to change a tire. Now I won't have to endure scratches and gouges "normal" to shop-by-machine tire replacements. | ||
| S2pengy |
Jose This is what I fear will be the biggest downfall and disappointment to the V-Rod owners.... | ||
| Jmartz |
Todd: Just wait till people discover how convenient that airbox cover is to hold screws while upside down on the concrete floor. | ||
| Usroute66 |
Sarodude...read your post about Glendale HD/Buell. You couldn't be more right! Last year Glendale added Ernie Snair and Chris Matty to their already good staff, and boy have things taken off. Chris and Ernie have gone through the parts department and added alot of things that we sometimes break off regularly (not me yet!). Then they developed the Buell showroom with tons of Buell clothes and accessories, and got a Buell only parts counter built. And the maintenance guys have got my bike running great. In fact, after the 10K service, I swear it runs and handles better now than before it went it in. Their Buell mechanic used to race bikes and knows suspensions. | ||
| Supermod |
sent my S2 to H-D of Fresno a month ago. They did 14 dyno pulls, changed some jets and plugs, gave me 13 HP more , deatiled the bike and charged me 146$. They were forthcoming w/ the dyno sheets(even ran another set in RPM mode as opposed to MPH)> I aam real happy with the service i recieved and would recommend them to anyone. Thanks Chris, good luck w/ the dragster-Clay Dart | ||
| Milehi |
Well, I can't say one way or another about their Sales Department, but I CAN speak highly of Rocky Mountain H-D/Buell's Parts and Service Departments... I took my recently acquired '97 S1 (with salvage title) in for the remainding recalls and a 10k mile service... And was most pleasently surprised when I picked the bike up! They did all the work requested (even the front exhaust hanger), treated me with respect (even when I went to visit the S1 on my Bandit) and they where done when they said they would be. A couple of unexpected/nice touches where when the mechanic came over and spent time explaining what he did and the general condition of the bike. Once I got home and started to do my mods to the bike is when I noticed the little extras... Many of the little bits and pieces the had disappeared over the years (and numerous owners) had been replaced at no charge! I can safely say that I will continue to patronize this shop... | ||
| Ezblast |
Dudley Perkins of SF,Ca gets a C+ - overall they have made 3 different errors in the servicing of my Blast, however, they were quick to fix both errors they caused, and have been very good about the warranty work. Their third error was to scratch my bike's frame while fixing their second error. Positive's:They have a Mech. going to Buell school and say they are sincere about improving their customer service level. Negetive's: They have lost my trust - they will get nothing but warranty work and they are twice as much as anyplace else that works on HD products - have taken my modifications elsewhere. | ||
| Bigun283 |
I'd like to put in a plug for the Harley/Buell shop in Lima, Ohio. Those guys there are always there to help you with any problem and really care about their customers. | ||
| Skulley |
Stubbs Cycles in Houston Blows Chuncks! What could you ask for from a multi brand dealer. I actually had some chump tell me that the used M-2 I was interested in was a service bike. Ok, so whats a service bike? He states and I quote, "all the fluids are drained from the bike untill its sold". Hum? I asked, so you drained the radiator fluids out of this bike? He said yes. Avoiding smashing his face with my fist, I left pissed off. Parts- Every part I have sought at this dealer has needed to be ordered, from a primary tensioner to a battery strap. as far as service I drop off my bike to get the kick stand switch fixed, but since I didn't buy the bike their they won't cover it. I now work on it my self and mail order my parts. | ||
| Road_Thing |
Skulley: You might try Goe HD in Angleton. There is (was?) a tech there named James who is very Buell-friendly. He worked on my bikes when he was at another Houston shop, and I was very pleased with the results. Unforunately, Angleton is a little too far for me to go for service, so now I do my own. r-t | ||
| Roadrunr |
skulley: you might also try scooten cycles up in the woodlands. They dont do warranty work but they have 2 tech's there that both own buells. They will probably talk ya out of more stuff than they will talk you into. | ||
| Artful |
I am now taking my good comments about Tucson HD/Buell back. At the 10k service last week they did not fix an oil leak, they did not address the fact that it is using/blowin way too much oil. They also refused to replace the SRP shock unit, "nothing is wrong with it". And said about my request to put the race ECM on, "it won't make any difference without the race pipes and muffler". I am going to try Chosa's in Mesa AZ as they have hired Carey Johnson (ATC) and he actually returned an e-mail with a phone call. I will let you know, the bike is still under ext. warranty btw. Art..... | ||
| Kevinhern |
For those of you in the Denver area, I highly recommend Sun HD/Buell. They have a Buell Tech named Matt that is very enthusiastic about Buells. He has always gone out of his way to answer questions for me concerning any service or mods I've had performed there. And best of all, he does excellent work. This is the second bike I have purchased at Sun HD/Buell. The service department has bent over backwards to make me happy with all warranty claims on both bikes. The people at the front desk are very friendly, regardless of the type of bike you ride. They even service and sell imports. Their parts department shouldn't go unrecognized either. It's rare that they don't have what you need in stock. They are always very eager to provide information and/or special order any parts for almost any bike asap. Aaron and Paul in parts have been very helpful to me. I also recommend Rod in sales and Charlie in finance. I have delt with them on both of my bike purchases and have found them to be friendly, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about Buells. No dealership can please ALL customers ALL of the time. But, Sun HD/Buell continues to earn my return business. Kevin Hern | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
Anybody deal with Rocket H.D. in Alabama? I've been talking to a guy named Cap, who was suppose to be selling me a set up for my Buell. But it has been way over a month. Lately, it has been over a week after all the problems were suppose to be straightened out on his end. But he still will not communicate?? Should I write him off? | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
After some additional communication with Cap, all has been straightened out. Seems there were some communication problems at the shop and he wasn't gettting his messages. | ||
| M1a65 |
Hey, just a note to let riders in the Atlanta area know that service at Earl Smalls H-D isn't worth a toss. They didn't have the brains to call me to say the work I was to have done wouldn't be covered under "good will repair" after having the appointment for a month. Lucky I called before riding an hour in 30 degree weather to their shop to check with them, having dealt with them before. Guess they expected me to cough up cash for parts and labor after telling me it was gonna be covered for free. Had a speed sensor shit the bed for the second time after only 600 miles. H-D/Buell refuse to accept the fact they have a problem with this part. The service manager at Earls said he never heard of the speed sensor failing, right. The last time I had recall work done there it took them 6 hours (Six hours to remove/install 6 bolts and clamps) to change the foward muffler hanger to the new Y mount and change the muffler since it sheared in two. I inspected their work before riding off and found missing and miss matched hardware compaired to the ones on the show room floor not once but twice they did it wrong and had to go back into the shop. Like so many others on this site once the warrentee ran out I intend to use only mail order parts houses and do all the work myself so it gets done right the first time as it should. My riding partner had the same experience having to have his bike redone due to careless maintenace at Earl Smalls. Stone Mountain H-D doesn't fair much better. They get the job done right but for the amount of attitude they give you you'de think they were doing you a favor instead of getting paid to perform a service to you the loyal H-D customer. | ||
| Blake |
Jeff: Cap is a well know and very well respected member of the Buell community. Glad you got things straightened out. Watch out for that "Andy" character with the NJ accent though. He's a WILD man. Drives other peoples' bikes through doors and such. If you see him, please tell him Blake said "hello." You'll have a hard time finding a better service rep. | ||
| Duck |
Looking for some info on Tampa, Florida area Buell dealers. I will be there for 6 months starting 31 March and am interested in who is good or bad. Thanks in advance Duck | ||
| Oldman |
been off for a few days duck, there are some mechanics around who do work on the buels but i have only been taking mine in to where i got it at the brandon location on rt 60, west of i-75. the mechanic is new to buel but has been around as a mechanic. he's an independant racer who does his own work. he readjusted my carb after i put the sidewinder on then had it dynoed. i think he did allright. when you get into town look me up. they all know me pretty good at that store. neil k. | ||
| Seatonii |
I don't know if this is the correct place to put this but here it is. I went Bumpus HD in Murfreesboro to look for a bike for my wife and I wanted them to check my TPS to see if it had been set correctly, I bought the bike used with a race ECM. They charged me $56 to the job and about $5 of this was "shop supplies". Well I was very unhappy about this, so much so that I bought my wife's new Harley for this dealer's competitor. I then went to Daytona and asked a Factory test if he could look at my bike because I did not think is was running the way is should. The Factory test reset my TPS because it was not set correctly. The Factory test states he was not claiming that the prior store did not do it correctly but he did tell me it was NOT set correctly when he was looking at it. Well you make your own conclusions from this. P.S. the service advisor is very helpful but the service manager is the person that charged me $56 and lost a sale for is sales department. SORRY FOR THE LONG POST DWIGHT | ||
| Hauck |
From the TPS discussion on the electronics/ignition thread: St. Croix HD/Buell in Wisconsin is the dealer that wanted 1.5 hours to rezero the sensor. Since I'm here, I might as well plug Wausau Buell, also in Wisconsin. I've been very happy with them every time I've delt with them. It's been a nice surprise after reading all the horror stories posted here. I plan on going to them for the TPS so I'll post on how that goes. Hauck | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
My parts order #3 This will be the third posting concerning the same issue. I will not nail down all the dates herein, but just design this last posting to be a WARNING. My other two postings can be reviewed if necessary to put things in greater prospective. As stated, this post is a WARNING. For after my second post and the decision to give the benefit of the doubt to the seller, nothing was resolved. If you look at the dates of all three of these messages, you can easily see that more than enough time has gone by before this date and giving the benefit of the doubt has certainly warn thin. My problem started back around Jan of 02 when in placed an order for over $1000.00 in parts. When nothing arrived as it grew close to Feb, I started placing e-mails to find out why. After a week or so of no replies, I ended up calling and was advised – “ That my address was lost so the parts were not sent. That everything was together and waiting” O.K., I reviewed my info with them and advised that I wanted notice of the UPS tracking number so I cold track the shipment. I was told – “O.K.”. I stared to wait again. After about another week when nothing showed, I again started to send faxes, e-mails, and called. When I made contact, I was advised –“That everything was together and would be out that week”. More time went by and I sent out more messages and finally made verbal contact and was advised – “That it was mailed, but not with UPS, and the USPS had no tracking numbers. That it should be to me by that Sat.” Why wasn’t UPS used as discussed, I do not know. At that time I was just happy to hear it was sent finally. More time goes by and I send more notices that nothing has arrived all the time wondering why my personal credit card has not been charged. I finally, made contact again and was advised – “ It must be lost and another set of parts would be sent”. That my card wold be charged, just that it was not gotten around to yet” You know what is coming next. Yep, time goes by and I see that my card has still not been charged, and nothing has arrived. Well it is now some 3 months after this order had been placed and during this time I have sent no less than 10 e-mails, 5 faxes and placed several calls. I have talked to the person several times and have been told many things. But still no parts and the only thing that can be concluded now is that most if not all of what I have been told are lies. So take it as a WARNING, because it is now time for me to write this person/organization off. The only reason I held off so long, was because I had made verbal contact and was assured everything was O.K. I had even inquired if they just did not want to sale the parts and if I should go elsewhere. I was also told that he was an icon in our Buell community. Well, this is the last posting and I can assure you that I have not exaggerated in one thing. I have now purchased some someone else. I have thought long about this problem before posting this message. I can only report what happened to me and you will have to draw your own conclusion. | ||
| Mikeyp |
Andy Spiegal... Our "In House" Suspension expert.  | ||
| Blake |
Yeah, he's highly sprung alright, and if what Jeff is saying is legit, Andy may be fixin to open one of those famous Alabaman "cans o'wup-ass" on poor Cap. | ||
| Blake |
Jeff: I understand you had similar problems with an order from Modesto? Care to elaborate? | ||
| Jeffx1rs |
Blake- In response to your inquiry. That is if you are asking me, or are you asking another Jeff? If I understand you question correctly, you are asking if I had a problem with getting parts from Modesto Buell after I had ordered them like I did with Cap. The answer to that would be no. It was just the usual wait, which Buell had everybody doing at that time. I liked the manager of the Modesto shop (a lady) and the main mechanic. I was hoping to do further business with them on tune-ups etc. Only after a parts order problem, am I feeling iffy against them. I guess I better cover what did happen in case any misconceptions are out there. You must have heard something somewhere, or you would not have posted the question. My problem- I had purchased the bike and lots of extras all at once. Some of the extras were put on immediately and others were to be added when they came in - a fairing. It was ALL listed on the original purchase order, which was done by the manager. After the manager had gone to the parts guy and had him look up everything that was needed for what I wanted to do (put a S fairing on a X1). My problem revolved around not being able to understand why I was later being charged more than my legal agreement with the manager when parts started coming in. It seemed to me that the parts guy had a different idea of what I should be paying and he also changed the list of what was needed later, which made calculating final totals a bit difficult. I never really did understand how he came to his figures and I am sure he feels a little bad against me as I did about him at that time. I believe he did a compromise in his eyes and feels he did the best he could at the time. But the communication just broke down and I had to remind him that the purchase order is binding. It was a pain. The list changing in all fairness, could have been a result of me being one of the first to attempt to add an S fairing to a X1. He could have just not been up on this quite yet and the original list he did could have just been incorrect because of inexperience, I guess. So, that is the only thing that happened to me at Modesto. Again, this is just my experience and I hope I have relayed it without predigest. (if this is a double post, please excuse) | ||
| Bluezhawg |
To All I live near Olympia washington.Unfortunately for us northwestern Buellers our dealers SUCK.Therefore I highly recommend Modesto Buell.I just had a bunch of work done on my S3T and found them to be very very customer oriented.Don and Deanna,delivered as promised.All parts ordering and confirmations were done over the phone,fax and computer.I was treated like a long time friend over the phone and in person.All my questions were answered and the work was performed to standards that warrant high praise.Don and Deanna stayed three hours after to finsh my bike so I could be on my way home "wow".Modesto Buell is the gauge by which all other Buell dealers should be measured.My experience was Top shelf,Red carpet,Five star ect.Modesto Buell Rocks!!!!and now my S3 does too!!!! Just my .02 Steve | ||
| Blake |
Jeff: How is it that you were "not able to understand why (you were) later being charged more"?  It had to be one of the following... 1. They added additional parts/labor that they initially missed in the original estimate 2. They forgot to apply a discount you were promised 3. They were trying without cause to increase the price over the original estimate (not likely). 4. A combination of the above Which was it? | ||
| Bighead |
Could someone recommend a Buell shop in Washington, N. Oregon, or W. Idaho? The closer to eastern Washington the better. Thanks. Todd |
