dealer surprised me--again

[slider]

had a little vibration    could feel in the bars during turns.Took to my dealer Heartland Honda  in springdale  ArK.for a check up. they Took the bumblee bee right in,and within 30 minutes the tech came out  and told me what he found,U-joint getting sloppy..I told him they may have trouble getting one---he said" let me worry about that".anyway I also found out that the tech specializes in Valks and has worked on them for years.They ordered the parts,washed the bee and shined her up,and rolledher out to me..took about an hour.They didnt charge me for the checkup but did a full service while in the shop so that may be the reason.These people are motorcycle people..they all ride..Anyway I was very impressed again with the service and how they treat their customers,I am not in anyway attached to the company..Just passsing along a Good dealer with good techs in case some one needs one.

[FLAVALK]

That's great to hear but very surprising. I've only had bad luck both times that I took my bike to a dealer. Most don't even know a Valkyrie when they see one.

[MacDragon]

Always a pleasure to find a good one in the sea of stealerships...

[John Schmidt]

Springdale is about 40 miles from Eureka Springs, keep it in mind for next summer's InZane.

[Jess from VA]

This affirms my theory........ you don't look for a dealer, you look for a mechanic.

After boycotting the largest metric dealer in NoVA (two dealerships) for 15 years, I discovered one of the dealerships now has a lead tech who absolutely knows what he is doing with a Valkyrie.  I still take in all my parts and tires, and only deal with the tech, no one else.   I am trying to do all my own work these days, but not always possible.

[Spirited-6]

Always a pleasure to find a good one in the sea of stealerships...

DITTO !

[Ice]

Thats always encouraging to hear that there are good dealerships still out there. Mine here in Winchester is top notch too, small but expert in service and advice, will help any way they can. Last year had an issue with the Valk upon starting that it sounded like a valve was stuck or something brought it by and they had the bike for almost a week trying to recreate the problem, in the end they poured some Lucas Gas treatment in the tank ran it checked it problem solved, had some bad gas (probably because of E-10) and when I asked what I owed them the answer was Nothing, we fixed nothing, we broke nothing, you owe nothing, and with a smile I got on the Valk and went for a ride... these guys are always great to work with and when they say the bike will be ready at whatever time its always ready.. they also match tire prices you find it cheaper thats what you pay, their great..

[slider]

sounds like we both got lucky in finding a great dealer.I have noticed  that their mechanics are just a likely to be talking to the scooter they are working on as  they are to one of the guys in the shop.

[old2soon]

Good dealer report. And every last one of us knows the good reports are far and few between. Thanks loads. Really-i need something Springdale Ar ain't all that far from where i live. Lord knows i've had my issues with the one closest to me. Again-thanks on good dealer report. RIDE SAFE.

[Momz]

It isn't just Dealerships that are bad. I stopped today at an indepentent M/C shop for a set of front brake pads. They normally stock OEM Honda parts as this is an exclusive GoldWing repair facility.

I was told that they can only sell me EBC Sintered pads. As the OEMs for 97-98 Valkyries used pads that were specific to those years only.

Then they go on to tell me that they don't quite understand why, as Valkyries are just GoldWings without the plastic bodywork. I asked if they'd worked on any Valks lately? I was told they had just added a Trike kit to one today and it looked a bit different than the GW Trike kit, but it was almost identical.

I won't be doing business with them in the forseeable future.