| Author | Message | ||
     Snackbar64 |
With the recent clutch issue, I had little to no choice but to drop the bike off at Dallas HD in Garland. I don't yet have my manual to do the work myself and since it is under warranty I didn't want to mess anything up attempting to fix it. Anyway upon dropping the bike off, I was completely at a loss for words at the response from the service manager about my bike. Over the phone I told him that I had a Buell 1125R that was new, just had service and an oil change prior to the clutch going out at just over 4000 miles. The service manager immediately put the blame on me and said the only way that can happen is if the bike had been hot rodded and popping wheelies. He said that although the bike looks like a crotch rocket it is not meant to be ridden like a crotch rocket. I got to the dealership and he comes out and tries to charge me 84 bucks to look at the bike and to his surprise when I told him it was still under warranty he told me that he would have an adjuster come out and assess the bike to be sure there was no harsh treatment of the bike to cause the clutch to fail. He then told me that Buells' overall have been nothing but problems for them and that's why Harley dumped them and why they don't stock their parts, so he assured me whatever was wrong with the bike he would have to order the parts, especially if it was a 'clutch cable' that was bad. It's like the guy was mad at me for having a Buell. He had no idea what type of bike I was riding, as he had never seen or ridden one he admitted. Then he proceeded to checking the bike out to ensure the lights, horn and all were functioning before taking the bike in. He then comes back and says that my bike has a problem because when the key is removed it stays on for a while. I told him it was part of the security system and his eyes bucked open Rodney Dangerfield style. I told him it would cut off buy itself in 4 minutes if the code was not put in. Shouldn't service managers know something about all of the newer products they service at the least? How can you be a good restaurant manager if you've never bussed a table? I was told there was a pretty good Buell Tech there which was the only reason I agreed to leave the bike there after this whole ordeal. Also I have had good work done on my XB there, but it was a little disheartening dropping my bike off initially with a guy seemingly clueless of the brand. He is definitely not on my side and this may not go over well with the warranty claim. | ||
| J_copeland |
Red flag for sure !!!! Find another dealer or ask to speak with the tech himself. | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
call cust service as well. don't be mean to them. when you're nice they are amazingly helpful. also find a new dealer. | ||
| Snackbar64 |
Any suggestions would be great! I'm willing to go as far as Houston, or Austin. American Eagle HD in Denton was very nice even though they underfilled my bike during a recent oil change. | ||
| Sprintst |
that's going to be a very bad dealer for you | ||
| Crustyxpunk |
snackbar64, go check out Longhorn Harley in Grand prairie/Arlington they have a good team working there and were a Buell dealer before Harley gave them the ax. The last time I was there (about a month ago)they still had 3 buell certified techs. Hope that helps. The other stealership sounds like crap and I would complain to the GM/owner about your treatment. I may complain for you lol. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Turn around and run like heck..... The 'creating doubt' B.S. is so old school it should be on social security. | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Go get your bike, say thank you and good-bye and move on. ASAP. One of my favorite sayings is "choose your battles." | ||
| Snackbar64 |
I think I will go and get it. I think they are going to put it on the back burner anyway since it's warranty work. They said I'd be lucky if they got to it by Thursday. | ||
| Jules |
Definately go get it back.. When you do, feel free to be as rude as you like to the arrogant pr*ck you dealt with last time, it'll make you feel better. Some HD dealers are pathetically ill-informed, not quite sure how he's expecting to build a relationship with a potential future customer with that attitude, I'd call customer services and tell them he's ruined the whole "Harley experience" for you.. | ||
| Froggy |
It is obvious they don't want your business, so don't give it to them. Get the Erik Buell Racing kit, I can send you a copy of the pages from the service manual. | ||
| Snackbar64 |
Ok thanks Froggy. I will do that. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Get the bike back now. The longer they possess it, the more scratches etc all over it and they'll say "it came in that way". For the future, dealer assesses issue, you take bike home while parts are on order, dealer calls to say parts in, you drop off, dealer calls and says come pick it up. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
Agree with all the suggestions to get your bike back pronto. That Service Mgr was a major A-hole/Buell hater, which from my personal experience pretty much embody most H-D/Buell dealers back when they carried the brand--they were Buell haters and loathed Buell owners. My local dealer, Orange County Buell was not like that but they could not even do a TPS reset on my XB12R right. In fact they screwed it up even after charging me $100 for a 15 minute job. Then they wanted to charge me another $100 to fix the TPS reset when they screwed it up in the first place! NEVER AGAIN! | ||
| Gofast |
Wow, that's the dealer I use because of the tech. Never had an issue with service there, but I've only been in twice since I picked the bike up in Jan 2009 ( Fuel Pump issues ). Send me a PM with the service guy you delt with if you don't mind, I want to see if it's the guy I talked to yesterday. I'm up for the 12K service soon and just talked to them yesterday about a different warrenty issue. I drive past the Allen HD store for the reasons you mentioned above. | ||
| Jdugger |
Wow, what a change. I bought 3 Buells from that store, and I've never been treated like that. First, your service writer is an idiot. The clutch leak issue can develop if you throw away the key to the bike and just squeeze the lever a bunch, never riding it. It's got nothing to do with how the bike has been ridden. I brought my '09 in there with a leaking clutch seal safety wired and with track slicks on it and not a word was said. In addition, they realized the back brake MC was seized (I'd never use it, so I guess it was!), and replaced that, too. Warranty. So, in the future, ask for Michelle as your service writer, and don't use anyone else. Tell her I said 'hi'. She's a sweetheart. Second, insist on Cy as your tech. There are others there that are good, but I know Cy, and Cy has and likes Buells, and he's competent and does good work. So, ask for him every time. That *was* a good dealership for our bikes. I'm heartbroken to hear they have gone to the dark side. I hope it's limited to a service writer with a bad attitude. | ||
| Jdugger |
Oh, and if all's gone to shit, buy the Erik Buell Racing part. Ride out to ECR one weekend afternoon and we will do the job together in about 30 minutes. It's a piece of cake. I'm in that clutch assembly all the time. | ||
| Albert666 |
how many independent buell specialists are there in the usa? over here we pretty much have 3, one hd dealer where an md owns at least 3 buells and at least one mechanic owns an 1125, one independent shop down on the south coast that i use for dyno work and one independent wizard in manchester, they're the only ones i'd take my business to | ||
| Pmjolly |
If you can't make it to see Jdugger, I can help you change it out also. I'm in Arlington. I've done mine twice. It's very easy. Get the Erik Buell Racing part if your doing it yourself. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
Count me as one "independent" Buell tech in the USA.  | ||
| Pmjolly |
Oh, about that dealership's service. I went on a Buell group ride this year with several Buells, and someone who had their XB serviced there the day before. I don't know what all he had done other than a brake job. When we got rolling, the riders in back were getting something splattered on them. It was brake fluid coming from his XB. We pulled off the road and found his rear master cylinder was leaking from the cap. Upon closer examination, we found brake fluid on top of the rubber diaphragm inside the master cylinder. I don't mean just a little. It was like the diaphragm was pushed into the reservoir and the fluid was poured on top. How does that happen?!?!?! He was not too happy about the brake fluid all over his recently painted bike! | ||
| Jcjohnson33 |
I do my own maintenance does that make me an independent? And I'm in the US, So. Cali to be exact. (Message edited by jcjohnson33 on September 21, 2011) | ||
| Snackbar64 |
Wow! Thanks for the tremendous support guys. Jdugger, Cy is the guy who fixed my steering head bearings and voltage Regulator on my XB. I have yet to meet or speak to him. It is a shame that the service writer has soured my experience there. There was not a scratch on that bike so I would be pissed off to the highest of pisstivity to find any damage. I would certainly like to take you guys up on the handy work. I could use some tips on working on this thing myself and the tools needed. I think I have most of them. | ||
| Jdugger |
The clutch requires a circlip tool and through/hollow sockets in 17 and 19mm, otherwise it's normal stuff. | ||
| Syonyk |
Is there a writeup on replacing the clutch bits? Mine is weeping again & I'd like to do it myself if it's not too difficult. I have whatever the revised kit is that was supposed to fix the problem. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
I wrenched on my XB 99% of the time especially after that TPS botched job from the dealer. They are very easy to work on. I have limited time on the 1125R but so far it's just as easy as the XB on stuff I've done. No dealer is ever going to touch my R. | ||
| Black |
Snackbar64, I am sorry you had that experience. One would think that the owner of the shop probably wouldn't be happy to learn that his service department was running off paying customers. Lots of Harley dealers have gone under in the last couple of years. Dallas HD in Garland was it? Interesting business model. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Bad service writer stories are like the movie Joe Dirt. At first you think nobody is that bad, then you read these stories. There really are stupid people like that. | ||
| Craigsmoney |
Is there a different service manager? Try to talk another service manager. If that doesn't work, yes go somewhere else. Good luck my friend. | ||
| Snackbar64 |
did call and request Cy work on my bike. I was ensured by a different person that they would indeed put him om it. I got a call an hour later from the service writer telling me the bike was ready. We'll see, I'll keep you posted! Just picked her up yesterday evening and will depend on her to get to work because my truck is in the shop. Maybe there was some divine intervention going on there. |
