so what do they do for you when you have a lifetime warranty issue?
Evan, we were talking about this last year. One side of one set of my purchased-new 440s blew out and leaked down. I had a Progressive rebuilt extra set of 440s on hand (which I traded a member here for some time ago), so I put those on.
I called Progressive on the warranty on my bad one(s), and got a young guy, who had to keep putting me on hold so he could be told what to say. First, he told me mine had to be bought new with a receipt, and I said I had that covered. Then he said they did not rebuild the 440s anymore, and I said I knew that too.
Then he said they now had
no shocks for the Honda Valkyrie, so they could not honor the warranty. I called BS and told him of the number of people here on VRCC, who soon after the 440s were discontinued (for both selling and rebuilding) were able to get Progressive to replace them, under lifetime warranty, with 444s (which mounted up fine) (a search on here bears that fact out, like at least a half dozen times). I told him that Progressive was the number one aftermarket shock source for all our Valkyries, and that thousands of VRCC members were depending on Progressive to honor their warranty.
He said that Progressive did not recommend 444s for the Valkyrie, that they did not fit the Valkyrie. I called BS again (again reminding him that a number of VRCC folks had got their 440 replaced with 444s, and others with no warranty issue had purchased them new, and they
all fit fine), and asked him to tell me
exactly why the 444s did not allegedly fit the Valkyrie. He put me on hold a long time, and came back and said he could not get me the answer, but he would find out and call me back the next day, and of course he never did.
I was pretty hot under the collar on this, especially because part of the high price of the 440s
was that lifetime warranty..... which everyone knows needed to be used eventually by
all 440 owners. They
all leak down, eventually. I also needed to route around through a ton of files and paperwork to try and find both of my purchased-new receipts for 440s (and have still not done this). The shocks on both my bikes are doing fine in the meantime, and this got put on the back burner ever since.
I still do not know why Progressive takes the position that 444s do not fit the Valkyrie. I have a vague memory that this may have something to do with the mount bushings and/or mount clearances. I recall the 440s came with a selection of bushings and you had to use the correct ones for a Valkyrie mount.
I cannot call back until I find my receipts (obviously if I can't, there's no use in any further argument).
I give you this background information so you are forewarned and ready to do battle, and look forward to hearing what they tell you.
Needless to say, if Progressive intends to sidestep a lifetime warranty on some minor fitment technicality, I will never do business with them again.
