On The Road Dealers

[DIGGER]

Any of you guys had GOOD or BAD experiences from dealers while traveling?

Overall when traveling I have had good experiences when needing a dealer while on out of town trips.    Only bad experience I have had was when I was riding a 10 yr old BMW K100 (1000cc) I went up Pikes Peak and pressure built up in my gas tank and blew out the gasket on my gas tank and several days I found gas fumes constantly in my face and finally decided something needed to happen.     Sidetracked to a Denver BMW dealer and found that he had a new gas cap in stock.    I tried to replace myself in parking lot  but didn't have correct tools.    I asked the dealer that I was from Houston and I would pay the normal rate if he could put it on  and he said it would be a week before he could get too it.    I again told him I was on the road and really need the gas cap replaced and would pay a premium price to have the gas cap replaced .  He flat told me that he was going to take care of his local customers first before helping someone on the road.     It was late afternoon so I saw on of the mechanics and asked him if he would replace the gas cap after he got off work and he said yes and told me to wait in a strip center parking lot next door.     When he got off work he came over and replaced it for me.       When I got home I wrote a negative article about the dealer in Denver and posted it in the National BMW magazine.

[Bighead]

Everytime I have needed a dealer on a trip I have had good luck. Always put to the front of the line and got the problem solved and out the door.
At least in your experience the manager may have been an ass but the mechanic was a stand up guy.

[J.Mencalice]

Heck, I had the LOCAL Honda dealer's service manager tell me that tbey wouldn't work on my 1980 Gold Wing or the Valkyrie.  "We only service what we sell." was his reply.   So, I bring my bikes to an independent mechanic.  Some dealers are just buttheads.

[hubcapsc]

The Murfreesboro honda shop was so good to me
one rainy Friday afternoon, that I almost wish I
lived in Murfreesboro...



-Mike "2200 miles on that tire..."

[Bigwolf]

-Mike "2200 miles on that tire..."

Mike,
Were you doing long burnouts with that tire?!  Or was it just a few burn outs and a lot of straight up interstate riding?  That thing doesn’t even look touched except for middle of the tread.

Bigwolf

[cookiedough]

The nearest Honda/Yamaha dealership in Madison WI will not even let you test ride crotch rocket bikes new or used without buying it first supposedly having a say 3 day grace period (or something like that) to return it getting your full money back, supposedly, did not find out.

So, I can test drive a yamaha VMAX or 25K new goldwing, which is near or just as fast as any 600-1400cc sport bike, but not a crotch rocket?  Idiots!   

Their service dept. is not much better either when asked about servicing older bikes say 20 years old 1999ish year or older,  they said NOT really interested in messing with older cycles and servicing them. 

Am sure they have gotten burnt on someone taking a croch rocket out for a joy ride and wrecking it or taken in an older bike for service only to find out it was more work that needed fixing, but that turned me off from doing any business with them in sales or service, although have bought parts from them a few times. 

[bentwrench]

MR motorcycle in Henderson,NC.They're close to the Blue ridge Parkway and have helped me out twice with new  tires when I couldn't repair it myself.Prices were fair,service was excellent.

[..]

MR motorcycle in Henderson,NC.They're close to the Blue ridge Parkway and have helped me out twice with new  tires when I couldn't repair it myself.Prices where fair,service was excellent.

M&R are helpful. Their street address is in Asehville on Hendersonville Rd.
https://mr-motorcycle.com/

Schroeder of Hendersonville are good as well.
https://schroaders.com/

I add good dealer phone numbers to my phone.

[Oss]

Near Johnson City was Ken's Cycles. Had great experience with them
Sadly Ken is going thru either dementia or alz. now   Charliemac had turned me on to him  and he was right  Ken was a stand up guy

Out in Wyoming had a dealer unfreeze my seized front right caliper for me no chargem but they had no front brake pads  Something was stuck in the caliper. So I went over the big horn mountains just using the rear brake all the way to Powell WY. as if I touched that front brake it would be stuck again.  Steve Tiffany met me in Powell ( near Cody ) with brake pads that he bought in Billings MT and we tried to get the brake calipers fixed with some success.  Ended up with new rotors when I got home.  Moral, do your own brakes so you know they are done right and clean those boots real fine.

The opposite experience in desmoines. That Sat afternoon they closed immediately after taking my bike in and I had to rent a car to get to spearfish  And the bill for tire - mounting was absurd but no choice for me.

Best service on the road tho was stopping at BigBF's  in Phoenix on the way to GOTF.  The man knows Valkyries

[hubcapsc]

Mike,
Were you doing long burnouts with that tire?!

I only learned this later...

When my 2014 Valkyrie arrived at the dealer I bought it
from, it had a flat rear tire in the crate. The dealer found
out it would take him a month to get another tire from Honda,
so he installed a tire that he had on hand. It was a 190 instead
of a 180, and it was not for a 750lb bike...

-Mike "the dealer made good later..."

[DIGGER]

Best on the road dealer experience I ever had was in 1971.   Not a lot of motorcycles traveled long distance in those days.    I had had my Kawasaki 500cc H1 3 cylinder 2 stroke for about 6 months and decided to take my first long distance trip from Houston to the Grand Canyon. I loaded up my bike and headed out.   Went to the GC and on the way back started having chain and sprocket problems plus my rear tire was getting worn.   I stayed in Albuquerque that night and next morning early I started out to find a Kawasaki dealer.  At a red light an old man on a vintage restored BMW pulled up next to me and seeing all my travel gear on the bike he asked where I was headed.  Told him I had been to the GC and was on way back but was having some chain and sprocket problems and was needing a rear tire and asked if he knew where there was a Kawasaki dealer.    He grinned a big old smile and said "Kawasaki dealer?  Yeah,   there is one just down the street here......I own it.   Follow me."   I followed him to his dealership and as we were pulling into the service area they were just opening the roll up door and he motioned me to pull in.   We got off our bikes and the old man told his crew "This man is a rolling advertisement......I want everyone to stop what you are doing and get this man a chain, sprocket and rear tire and back on the road as quick as you can."   Went inside the showroom and the old guy went behind the counter and gave me a Kawasaki Shirt with his dealership logo on the back.  I was rolling in less than an hr.    I'll never forget that big smile the guy had.

[bentwrench]

MR motorcycle in Henderson,NC.They're close to the Blue ridge Parkway and have helped me out twice with new  tires when I couldn't repair it myself.Prices where fair,service was excellent.

M&R are helpful. Their street address is in Asehville on Hendersonville Rd.
https://mr-motorcycle.com/

Schroeder of Hendersonville are good as well.
https://schroaders.com/

I add good dealer phone numbers to my phone.


Thanks, It was dumb luck the first time I found them.
Adding those numbers to your phone is a great idea.

[Bigwolf]

Mike,
Were you doing long burnouts with that tire?!

I only learned this later...

When my 2014 Valkyrie arrived at the dealer I bought it
from, it had a flat rear tire in the crate. The dealer found
out it would take him a month to get another tire from Honda,
so he installed a tire that he had on hand. It was a 190 instead
of a 180, and it was not for a 750lb bike...

-Mike "the dealer made good later..."

That explains it.  Wow! That sounds a little scary.  Riding the fire out of a bike with an under rated tire on it.  Glad you got it fixed and had no mishap in the meantime.

Bigwolf