The Worst Part Of Owning A Harley Davidson - Why I’ll Never Buy Another New Harley

Thinking about buying a Harley Davidson? Has anyone told you their parts are expensive and they over charge for service? I’m about to! In this video I tell my story of getting screwed over by my local Harley Davidson dealer…

[Kyle-srjm]

Learning to wrench is learning to pay yourself.

[dinkydotzero]

Honestly, this is exactly why i do everything myself, service it yourself and you know its done right. or find an independent shop and use them, dealerships didn't get the stealership nickname by accident

[Eric]

That's why dealerships have the nickname "stealerships".

[vfrnut]

I worked for a couple of HD dealers as a tech. I actually got chewed out by the general manager for suggesting we have a budget bike build off contest/ show for a weekend. He SCREAMED “HARLEY IS A LUXURY BRAND !!!! Ferrari doesn’t have cheap car weekend ! Neither do we!!!” I fucking hated working for them because they truly don’t give a shit about the customers anymore.

[stephenwatt]

I've been riding motorcycles for over 60 years. I have learned a lot but, I can tell you that H-D stands for "Hundred Dollar" not Harley Davidson!!

[chupacabraracing]

As a blue collar electrician and a road king owner, I support this video 100%. Harley is out of their minds with the prices. I'll ride my road king til it's dead, then swapping out the motor for a new s&s. I'll never buy another new bike from Harley.

[veefour]

I feel your pain. I'm a 66 year old retired white guy, I can't afford Harley dealer prices here in the U.K. so I do all my own work. I buy nothing from Harley Davidson, all my parts, fluids, tyres etc. are aftermarket. Even my factory workshop manual came secondhand from eBay as I refuse to give the Motor Co. any of my cash!

[TheDarkStigmataVA]

Dealerships, in general, are meant to bleed people dry financially.

For example, I took my charger to a dealership, and they said I need a new engine and I should pay $7K for my car. So I took it to a mechanic shop and they said it was just a faulty 02 sensor. They replaced it, and it removed the check engine light, which costed me roughly $150.

[randybarrett]

I feel the same way. Harley really lost sight of their true customer base in the early nineties, they stopped wanting to do business with the people that kept them alive during the AMF years. The sad thing is the new Harley owners are not really brothers anymore, I have been stopped on the side of the road and motorcycles ride by without stopping, that used to never happen. I am not a you ride a Harley or nothing kind of guy, if you ride I consider you a brother and will stop to help or least make sure you are ok. I keep standard and metric tools on my bike so I can help anyone that needs help. Today’s riders are rich and scared to stop and offer help. I am pissed with my HD dealership now because I go there to order parts, and some stupid young salesman told me that I was wearing a gay skull shirt ( I was recovering from open heart surgery, or that fucker would have been laying in their parking lot recovering) It was actually a pirate shirt from St.Augustine, you can talk trash with people you know but not a stranger especially a rider with over 50 years experience riding. The company has lost sight of their customer base. And then having a band that doesn’t like America represent their 120 th anniversary. I will never buy a new Harley again. Wokeness is killing our country.

[TXLorenzo]

I just had my Royal Enfield first service done for $130. This also includes an unlimited 3 year warranty. BTW, their CEO rides a bike every day and understands bikers. I used to be a Harley owner, but never again. Harley lost their way when they started making more money on clothes than motorcycles.

[biglou]

My Streetglide gave me a lot of trouble, experiencing frequent hiccups during rides. Despite taking it to five different Harley service dealers, none of them could pinpoint the problem. Frustrated with the situation, I decided to trade it in for an Indian motorcycle. Since then, I've been riding my Indian for over three years, covering more than 40, 000 miles without encountering any issues. I will never purchase another Harley Davidson again.

[wolfiemx]

20 year old here, picked up my first Harley Davidson sportster not too long ago, I was stocked for getting my first bike and it would’ve been a Harley too! So I ended up getting one from a private seller because that’s the smartest thing you could buy that’s used and worth your money. I had the bike serviced on my first week just so I can check everything out and which they told me that I needed and oil filter change+ tires were looking old so they needed to be replaced. I ended up telling them to only service the oil which costed me $120 which I didn’t mind paying if that’s what it’ll take me to ride the bike until the next service. So 2 months go by and I decide to let one of my friends test ride the bike as long as they would pay for the fixes. They’ve agreed. So they ride it and everything was fine until they decide to park the bike without putting the stand down which naturally made the bike drop. No big deal just minor scratches on the clutch, shifter got bent. So we decided to estimate the fixes on the higher side and settled on $600 max to repair any damages. Dropped the bike at the dealer, got it checked out for $240 “crazy right?” came back to a $3000 work order listing all of the damages on which $1600 were estimated labor work. I flipped out on the guy, asking him how would a 20 year old be able to handle these unrealistic prices and he did nothing but nod and agree on how these prices were expensive but that’s how Harley is, so I left the dealer. Sold my bike for profit on Facebook market place and switched to ninja Kawasaki. Then you’d wonder why only old geezers end up buying Harley’s and why the youngin are staying away from such an iconic brand. Fix your damn service department Harley.

[BobEtherington]

Came from Australia where I had owned over 10 Harley’s started on a shovel head, thought our dealerships were bad, came here to the US brought myself a Harley, after services found loose nuts etc on my bike then had new tire fitted. On the way home heard some squealing noise, got home, the smell of metal was bad. Got my torque wrench out, they had the rear axle not 60 ft lbs tighter than what it should have been, went back the dealership denied all wrong doing, spoke to owner, no luck there, sold my Harley and will never buy another one again. Do enjoy riding them but dealerships have ruined them for me.

[spacetruckin]

The best feature about HD is that they are really simple to work on. Super basic machines. Get a factory service manual and take your time. There are a million videos on here that cover every job possible if you're a visual learner like myself.

[rickydrone]

Amen brother!!
Been riding HD since 1977.
I have seen my local dealership turn into something unrecognizable from years ago.
It used to be a family atmosphere where you knew everyone and they knew you. It has totally evolved into a corporate money grabbing venture for reasons you stated.
I was blessed because my personal friend was their long time head mechanic. He would do work on the side at his home garage. This was done on a hush-hush basis among a small group of people who were friends. The reason being, so the dealership would not find out.
Bottom line was the work being done was easily 50% cheaper.

Really sad because the long time supporters of HD cannot even afford to purchase them anymore.

[selleys]

had a Pan Am and my god what an absolute nightmare that was...battery ran flat numerous times. suspension locked out.. couldnt start, error codes repeatedly going into crawl mode, dealer told me there was an ungrade for the charging and starting costing me 2.7k out of my own pocket... i binned it and bought a Super Tenere instead..zero problems

[csj]

Being a working man myself that isn't a millionaire, I learned how to do the service on my bike myself, so nobody puts me over a barrel. Hope you fare better wherever you end up making your next purchase.

[smshelix]

Excellent video!! I have owned approximately 20 bikes. I’m 51. I have heard this exact same thing from many Harley owners. Everything you said about Harley is true. They just take their customers for granted. I’m glad that Indian is giving people a choice if they want a American made bike.

[johnjohnson]

My Goldwing came with all the bells and whistles stock and has never needed anything but oil changes in the first 85, 000 miles.

[rayezell]

Purchased my last motorcycle in 2007 when I turned 50 years old. I am still riding that same bike today at the age of 67. So, for 17 years I have been riding my 2007 Kawasaki 1600 Nomad. I have changed the oil, bought new batteries and replaced the tires throughout my ownership period. Taken trips to the mountains and to Mississippi several times. Other than waiting on new tires to be installed on my bike, it has never been in the shop. Almost forgot, I had to replace the clutch rod oil seal a few weeks back which I replaced myself. It has basically been maintenance free and reliable.

Back in 2007, when I was shopping to purchase a motorcycle, I went to the Harley dealerships and tried very hard to convince myself to purchase one. The biggest hurdle for me was the crazy purchase price of their motorcycles. Then, I talked with people who rode Harleys and listened to their stories. I was shocked that a motorcycle that cost more than a lot of cars was so unreliable. Shockingly, I had Harley riders tell me I had more bike than they did. Wow! Maybe they were just helping me to feel better about my Nomad purchase. Don't know.

At any rate, I couldn't get over the sticker price 17 years ago and still can't today. However, I love the sound of that Harley engine roaring down the road.