| Author | Message | ||
     Usapitbullz |
I think this board needs a thread that list H-D shops to stay away from, as well as other, don't "FORCE" me to name them, businesses that don't cater to customer needs. Then maybe some of these shops will take notice when their poor customer service or tech service is put on display. Just a thought. L8R, JM | ||
| Fst_tyms |
We would have to list well, mostly ALL of the dealers then! :P I have had my worst experiences at SImi Valley and Ventura Harley. Both owned by the same people. Both have major issues. But I will say their parts department is nice to work with, but they don't really know anything about these bikes. Most common answer to my questions.... "really?, I didn't know that!" | ||
| Court |
Generally, to quote a singing bear from a movie, we like to "accentuate the positive". I'm willing to share some personal tales of horror in terms of service, but it gets dicey when you try to extrapolate from individual experiences. I'm more moved by a "pattern" of good experience from folks like Topeka or Modesto than a horror story. "good", to become a "pattern" indicates a "culture". I like that, it's data. "bad", no the other hand, can be the result of one horse's ass. Just my $0.02 Court (who has generated some personal, well warranted "Court's an asshole" stories, that I'd hate to be judged by from this day out on an internet board. In fact, search "Buell and Asshole" and you find Mr. Buell and I named (thanks Gil) in several old Buell chat rooms from 10 years ago. Can a person be a "the asshole formerly known as".....never mind.)  | ||
| Midknyte |
Maybe just a standing poll so that votes / ratings can be averaged out and self correcting? It's real easy for a dealership to be lambasted by an equally unreasonable person who is not going to be satisfied by any thing or any one... My dealership (Lakeshore Harley, Libertyville IL) has a dedicated & trained tech for the Buells and I've always been treated well by staff and sales. Woodstock Harley in McHenry IL appears to be equal or perhaps even better. Only thing lacking is Buell branded clothing in the accessories area.  | ||
| Usapitbullz |
I agree "accentuate the positive" but if you read quite a few of these post, they all have one thing in common, poor servicing dealerships lacking in general Buell knowledge and cust support. Some of these dealerships can't correctly order parts, what's that all about? But most certainly their will always be that 1 or 2, maybe 3,4,5,6, guys that are never satisfied no matter how hard someone tries to help their situation. But with feedback from numerous sources (people), across the good ol USA, it would be easy to draw a good conclusion of which places are good and which places are bad. L8R, JM | ||
| Doughnut |
The dealer I got my S2 from knew NOTHING about Buells. 5 of them came to the conclusion that the 96 S2 "must" have a gas tank size of 3.7 gallons. Their ignorance is one reasons I got the bike for such a great deal I think (96 S2, 2995 miles, $5000). Even though they didn't know a Buell from a Trek, they where the most willing to try and help. They were wrong about a lot of things about the bike, but the fact they were willing to try their best to help me with the bike means a lot to me. I wasn't sure if I should/could name the specific dealer, but I will consider them for future use. | ||
| Bads1 |
Doughnut Jamie your sales person had the identical same bike as you color and all,bought it brand new in 96. | ||
| Dyna |
(Lakeshore Harley, Libertyville IL) has a dedicated & trained tech for the Buells and I've always been treated well by staff and sales. Woodstock Harley in McHenry IL appears to be equal or perhaps even better. Holy crap what a difference of opinion. Myself & Bomber disagree with you on Lakeshore...hell it took them 10 minutes in a futile attempt to figure out what tire goes on the rear of an X1. And Woodstock is just plain nutz on their prices, I sure as hell dont enjoy being ass raped just for walking in the door. | ||
| Doughnut |
Bads1, my sales guy name was Dean. I have a bis. card from Jamie as well. I thing I got it with the nuts they sent me. | ||
| Midknyte |
I have no experience with Woodstock, only as I said, it "appears" that things ought to be ok over there. Never had any service there and did not go there to make my purchase decision or to price anything. Lakeshore so far has treated me with respect. Their parts department is on the ball in regards to the XB. My saleseman was a little bit aloof but I'm not going to name names - I have my own personality quirks... I'm about to find out over the next few weeks how the service department fares (SP?). There's no alarm bells going off for me yet. I got really spoiled with my first bike - the Belvidere (which moved to Cherry Valley) Honda dealership used to have this greasy, cool dude of a mechanic I could always get an honest off the cuff answer and good feeling from. Haven't had a chance to speak to the mech at Lake Shore in person yet, but I plan to. | ||
| Usapitbullz |
I "Officially" add FORCE MOTOR PRODUCTS To The:STAY AWAY THREAD Don't buy their Shit, Don't support them, Tell your friends not to support them, in general let it be known they are CROOKS Thats All I Got To Say About That: FG L8R, JM} | ||
| Trevxb12 |
if anyone is in the boise idaho area dont be scuurrred of cycle nuts and bolts h-d. they are very buell friendly. i think buell riders outnumber the h-d kind. and so far the service doods know there heads from there ass so they get my vote. | ||
| Lance12r |
Cape Fear HD in Fayetteville NC. The story for that one is under the "Need diagnostic help please" thread. They REALLY suck bad. | ||
| Bomber |
Midknight -- it's possible that Lake Shore has changed it act regarding Buells -- I bought my Y2K MaDeuece there in Y2K (!) . . .. I'll not comment on the sales force, as I, too, have personality quirks, and, truely, the experience with the sales person can be very short and negative, while the experrience with the parts and service folks should be ongoing and positive . . . . . Please, when your scoot is done being serviced, go over it with a fine tooth comb -- the thrid (and last) time their service department touched my bike, I found that one of the fork legs (a blown seal was the reason for the service visit) was held in the tripple tress (note, plural) by bolts that were not even finger tight . . . that certainly explained the, er, odd handling . . . the scoot was filthy, btw, which goes more to explaining attitude than anything else . . . be careul, and make sure the bike is bolted back together again, they may have changed for the better (it couldn't have gotten any worse) -- they recently announced the formation of a BRAG chapter . .. DaveS (of Appleton) speaks highly of one of the sales guys there I also had to supply service bulletins to the service staff, and walk the tech through the shock replacement procudure (it was assigned to the youngest member of the service staff, who had no experience with Buells at all) while having lunch with a bunch of riders I didn't know, one them them revealed that her husband worked at Lake Shore . . . I politely inquired as to their attitude towards Buells, and she laughed and said "Oh, they are definately red-headed step children, aren't they?" hmmmmm friends I know report great service experience at Woodstock, but they ride HDs . . . .no Buell data to report | ||
| Midknyte |
Unfortunately, service on anything, anywhere, is a crapshoot anymore... My ride is in for some extensive work, so I'll be in good position to form an opinion over the next week or so. I can't go into it with a chip on my shoulder or "I" run the risk of turning it into a bad experience. They have been sending their Buell mech in for training, so I'm not worried yet. I'll just be so f#%&ing glad to have it back! | ||
| Bomber |
Mid you're absolutely correct about the crapshoot! Also, keeping the chip off your shoulder is definately the right thing to do . . .. as I said, my experience is a little more than 3 years old, and things could have changed greatly! I'll be interested in hearing of your experience . . . they are only about 10 minuites from where I live, and it would be great to hear that they've turned a corner! | ||
| Xb9er |
Why does it have to be a crapshoot? The service folks go through all the same training, right? Well then someone needs to take a serious look at their training program because it seems to need lots of work. I think the Customer Relations program was cut from the curriculum and the people who wrote the text on dealing with Buell owners have never even seen a Buell. Mike. | ||
| Mikej |
Why do the burgers get prepared different depending on which McDonalds I go to, some add more sauce, some add less, some put the meat in the middle of the bun, some have the meat hanging half exposed when you unwrap the burger, some put the lettuce on the burger, some seem to just fling it loosely into the wrapper before wrapping it up, some have been sitting there waiting for me for over a soggy hour, some are prepared fresh and nice. Life is a crapshoot, some people just shoot crap all day, and others actually care about the work they perform. Customer service and quality of work starts and ends with the person doing the work. Do you want fries with that? | ||
| Xb9r49er |
I would like to add Ocean County H-D/Buell in NJ to this list | ||
| Moboy516 |
We're not talking about 99 cent burgers, we're talking about 10k bikes and labor rates or 60+ per hour. I have been to two separate dealerships-one indifferent to Buellers and one fantastic. I'll name the great one-Central Harley Davidson in KC. Those guys really care about the Buell line. | ||
| Mikej |
Doesn't matter if you're talking burgers or bikes, pride in one's work and performing one's work to a professional level is what it comes down to every time. Guaranteed the techs to who screw up the Buells do not care much for Buells or for their jobs, or they are working in an oppressive environment and are just working to minimum standards to keep their jobs for one more day. And the techs are not making that labor rate the shops charge, often less than a third of it. If the techs cared and if the shop management cared then things would be much better for all of us. As it is some of us are using shops that care, and others of us are not. Some have good dealership experiences, and others end up burning oil out of their mufflers. It's all about attitude and competance. Lack either and the game is over. | ||
| Dyna |
the scoot was filthy, btw, which goes more to explaining attitude than anything else . I've never understood that part. Just about every dealership has an indoor bay where they clean the bikes. You always see a bagger or cop bike getting detailed but never a Buell. First time my motor puked & I got the bike back from Ukes it too was filthy. And by that I mean greasy black finger prints on the tank cover, aluminum rear subframe, the frame, etc. It was very nasty. Some guy comes in for a set of fringed levers & gets his bike spitshined. I get 2 lbs of grease on the exterior of my bike at no added charge. | ||
| Bomber |
not all techs that spin wrenches on Buells are so trained not all tech have the same attitude HD/Buell doesn't pay the tech's salary, and attitude starts at the top of the organization (dealership, in this case) in an ideal world, it wouldn't be a crapshoot (for instance, Ford has pulled the dealership franchise from a couple of local busniesses as a result of bad service -- they were also buying up marginal dealerships a few years ago, simply to protect the brand's image . . . . . ) it ain't an ideal world, simply the best of the possible ones {big grin} and I didn't expect the bike to be detailed when I got it back, but I was curious how the headlight got greasy during a rear shock replacement . . . . . . must be that awful manual! | ||
| Curtyd |
Orlando HD always washes my Buells, except for the time I was riding out into a thunderstorm (they're pretty regular down here in the summer), I told them not to bother. I'd take care of it later after I got home in the rain. | ||
| Xb9er |
Mikej said:
You're not getting it are you? It's a crapshoot if you take your Buell in to an HD dealer for service. If you take your Harley in, the same service staff bend over backwards to get it all right the first time! Mike. | ||
| Xb9er |
Add A.D. Farrow HD in Columbus, OH to this list. Mike. | ||
| Mikej |
Oh, I'm getting it, and we're both right. If the person working on your bike likes Harleys and hates Buells then you're done for. We're both saying the same thing, and we still both have to try and find techs and shops who care, or we both end up working on our own bikes. Hmmm, mine hasn't been to a shop in several years for much of anything beyond recall requirements. | ||
| Buelluk |
Yup , I took my 9S into Woodstock HD after riding through the rain and mud for 25 miles , they didn't bat an eyelid and they must have washed it as it came out of the shop a lot cleaner than it went in ride..don't polish. | ||
| Yeahcmon |
If they can say "Oil in the swingarm fuel, in the frame" your good to go!! |
