Harley parts prices!

[Monkeyleg]

I've been riding motorcycles since I was old enough for a license in 1966. Big bikes, tiny bikes...in the end, it doesn't matter.

Anywho, I haven't been able to log the usual miles since 2001 because of health and money problems. Probably sounds familiar to a lot of folks.

I keep my '89 Springer (which I stole from the bank as a repo) in excellent condition. The bike and I have been all over the country, seen every great road, and been through every kind of weather. You name it, we've seen it.

This year, I see I need new tires. I'm not even venturing out on what's there.

Over the past maybe 15 or 20 years, I've taken the wheels off myself (save money) and take them in for new rubber. Last time was maybe two years ago. Cost for new tires, tubes, and balance: $365. It's been that price since I can remember. (P.S. I also do every other bit of repair myself, from tranny's to pistons to valves to belts, and everything in between. Better results, lower cost).

This week I took the wheels in for new tires, tubes and balance. Behold the new price: $475. A 27% increase in just a couple of years. On top of that, the service guy told me that, if I'd brought the whole bike in to have the wheels taken off and put back on, it would have cost an additional $130 for labor.

$130? I don't have a lift, but I can pull the wheels off and put them back on in about 1/2 hour. Plus, I don't scratch my bike, like every dealership seems to do when they get their hands on it.

While I'm waiting for the service guy to figure out how much to gouge me, I headed up to the parts counter to buy three--three!--cotter pins for the front brake caliper. Used to be that the HD dealer charged me about the same that I'd pay at the hardware store. IOW, maybe 25 cents each. Nope. Three cotter pins: $3.15.

Then the service guy has me take a look at the rear wheel. Even though I re-spoked it just a few years ago, the spokes are brittle, and the spoke holes are worn.

OK. For as long as I can remember, HD dealers always kept good used parts on hand. Some deep-pocket rider buys a new bike, tells them to take off the factory wheels, exhaust, headlight, footpegs, whatever. I could always get like-new parts for 1/2 price. I've bought exhaust systems and everything else on the cheap for years. Swap meets are great, too.

Well, not anymore. Mr. Bottom Line dealership owner has decided to eliminate the used parts. Not to mention all the good parts counter staff that helped riders like me keep our bikes going when the times were tough. I didn't even recognize anybody in Parts. Word I got is that the last single person I really knew in Parts quit out of disgust.

So, anyway, I walk out of the service department with a bill for $475 for two tires, and about $375 for a stock rear wheel.

All the while I'm standing there, I had to listen to some jerk bragging about how he's going to ride from Milwaukee to Indianapolis this summer. Whooweee! Talk about an Iron Butt ride!

On top of that, everything on this guy says "Harley Davidson." I didn't ask to see his underwear, though.

I know, I know. This has been going on for nearly twenty years. It's just that sometimes the HD phenomenon hits you smack in the face.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

[atek3]

get a ducati.

Just messing with you... then you'd have to deal a whole 'nother class of posers complaining about expensive valve adjustments.  Fortunatly 6k miles is a long amount of time when all you do is take the bike to and from the starbux (maybe its a san jose thing )

atek3

[Monkeyleg]

atek3, back in (what year was that?) I got a motel around the Monterey area, just in time for Laguna Seca. One of the Ducati race teams was staying at the same motel, and we spent a lot of time toying with our bikes and having dinner (burgers) together.

I can honestly say that I've never been with a bunch of riders who had no attitude. They had all ridden just about any bike made, and didn't put me down for my choice of ride.

No, it's the HD riders who have the attitude. More attitude than even Beemer riders.

Give me a Gold Wing rider any day. I've found that Gold Wing riders tend to be older, have ridden more brands, know what they want, and still believe in the fellowship of riders.

As for the new crop of HD riders with all the $$$ leathers and chrome, and no experience: get the hell out of my way!! I didn't ride from Wisconsin to Montana just to find you cheesebutts doing 10 mph in the mountain curvies! Pull over to the shoulder and act tough.

[Guest]

Bikes are going through a bit of a resurgence, particularly Harleys. A lot of the people getting into them are older guys that always wanted to ride when they were kids but never did. Deep pockets + new fad = price inflation. A friend of mine has been riding HD bikes his whole life, that poor dude can barely afford to buy parts these days. God help the highschool grad that wants to get a nice used bike, it aint going to be a Harley anymore with the prices that they are commanding now. Ultimately i think this will be bad for the company, the middle-aged guys are buying Harleys today because they are what people rode when they were kids, this next generation is growing up on Japanese bikes, and they arent going to be interested in shelling out the cash for a HD when they get older.

[dinosaur]

Why do you think they're called stealerships? I worked for a dealer back in the '80s during the transition from shovelheads to EVOs. Harleys weren't selling back then but every shovelhead we took in trade plus what we could pick up privately went overseas. They even took new bikes and put used speedos on them so they could be shipped as used.

Their are too many parts to stock. Don't want to pay big bucks for a part, buy new sailor, you can afford it with our 18% EZ pay credit plan.

There are plenty of wanna be's out there with more money than brains. The stealers put the real bikers to the curb years ago when the MoCo went public. Hence the new boutique showrooms, the untattooed "sales associates", the politically correct T shirts etc.

When I bought my first Harley if they didn't like you they'd throw you out through the front window.

The only thing I buy from a stealer is oil filters. I don't trust the aftermarket ones on my motor. Otherwise you can build a whole bike without using Harley parts. I bought my Wide Glide new 20 years ago and have no plans of ever getting another one.

You meet the nicest people on a Harley Feh!

[brimic]

My wife works at HD. Its a joke to them that HD actually stands for 'Hundred Dollars' because every part, accessory, etc is a multiple of of a hundred dollars.  

[atek3]

I can honestly say that I've never been with a bunch of riders who had no attitude. They had all ridden just about any bike made, and didn't put me down for my choice of ride.

different class of owners would be my guess.  Ducati's and 600 Supersports are the most popular bike to pose with around here.

atek3

[K Frame]

Harley and Rolling Rock are probably two of the most amazing marketing stories in existence today.

In both cases, image is everything, because the product isn't anything special.

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

Welcome to the new world of RUBs...rich urban bikers.

An old cheap coger like myself finds constant amusement with them.

Makes it tough to buy brand new stuff when you have to, though.

Regards,
Rabbit.

[cordex]

When I get another motorcycle I doubt it will be a Harley.  Can't afford anything with an HD logo on it.

I was at a friend's house messing around with my 1970 Honda trying to get it running again.  We'd replaced the oil in my bike a couple times and I asked about the oil changes on his Harley.  He told me that he had to take it to the dealership for oil changes and checkups or the warranty would be void.  Then he told me how much he had to pay for the checkups.

Harley Davidson is selling those bikes twice.

They're great bikes, I'm just not sure I would want to own one of my own unless I had money to burn.

[Strings]

Hmmm... to buy a Harley, or not?

 Spend WAAAY too much money to have a bike that's the same as every rich yuppie that wants to pretend he's tough? Somehow, I DON'T think so...

 If I'm buyin' a new bike, it'll be a Triumph or Beemer. In the meantime, my '76 Goldwing works just fine...

[Monkeyleg]

In my case, there was no way I was going to shell out $14K for a HD back in 1990. I had a used '85 Sportster (Roadster, officially) that I paid less than $3K for. I just wanted that Springer so bad, and the price was soooooo right. For a year or so later, everytime I'd stop in a dealership and mention where I got it, they'd say, "you got that bike!? We were going to buy it and mark it up, but you got it first!"

It isn't just the RUB's who don't know how to even change their oil. A few years back I'd stopped at the HD dealership in Green River, WY. There was a bunch of bad outlaw types there trying to replace the clutch on one of their bikes. The guy whose bike it was had it on the sidestand, and was trying to put the clutch plates back on. If you've ever replaced them on a Harley, you know that they'll fall back out if the bike is leaning to the left.

Anyway, I told the guy he should have his friend (sleeping in the shade) hold the bike so it leaned to the right.

"%#@ you," he said.

OK, fine.

Finally, after about sixteen tries, he told ol' slim to come hold the bike to the right.

He got the plates back in. I was about to tell him he'd put a part of the clutch in backwards, but then thought twice about it.

I walked away slowly so I could hear the racket, and hear the guy ask the service manager how long before the dealership would take to fix it.

[...has left the building.]

Jeeze. Makes the Victory line look better and better every day. My good friend just got a Victory Hammer. Amazing bike.

[Strings]

I've heard good things about Victory. A truely American made bike (and more worth the price than Harley)...

 When my dad owned the business I run, we tried doing parts for HD. They'd want to send in junk, get back gold, and pay nothing. In doing "samples" (which would average a couple hundred parts each time) for HD, my polishing shop (and the associated plating shop) lost a couple $100K. Needless to say, we don't TOUCH parts for the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company anymore...

 When I can afford to buy a new bike, it'll be a Triumph (feeling a SERIOUS lust for the Speedmaster)...

[Guest]

I usually buy tires from a discount house , pull the wheels and bring them to my local independent repair shop for mounting- they charge $25 per wheel to mount and balance. The tires cost about $100 (front) to $130 (rear).So under $300 gets me new skins.
  Harley Davidson is more akin to a religious cult that a MC company. The "buy American" crap really makes me hoot! Half their parts come from the east. And look at the tag on those leather jackets- Pakistan.
  Thankfully, most of the Harley riders around here are blessed free of the "atittude"!
 Altho I did have some rubbie desperately trying to keep up with our subaru wagon on a winding road the other day- the family was out for ice cream and he was a real bad-ass biker! We could tell from the tattoos an the pill helmet and the occ clone open piped chopper POS he was "riding" I have never seen a motorcycle go around a corner so slow in my life. Of course, after the bends he had to be a foot in back of us, so loud I had to cover my ears.  Thats OK, I know where he lives and one of these days I'll run into him when I am on the ZRX.  That will be fun!

[Monkeyleg]

shojimon, I recognize that type of rider. We have them all over the place here. When I tell them their drag pipes are reducing the horsepower by 10 HP, they say they don't care.

I was at a biker get-together that the Outlaws were running. There were a bunch of custom bikes there. One was lowered to just a couple of inches off the ground. I mentioned to one of the bad guy bikers that the lean angle couldn't be more than 10 degrees or so.

"What the _____ does that mean?" he said.

I told him that it meant that the rider couldn't lean into the turns as much, which means that the rider can't take turns very fast.

"Oh. That explains why this guy can't keep up with us."

Duh!

Thanks for the tip on the tires. Next time around the HD dealership isn't getting their $500 from me.

[Strings]

I still liked the HOG member I know. Layed down his anniversary edition Dyna, and scraped the heck out of his crash guard and some of the other shiny bits. Got something like $1500 from the insurance, and I told him I'd refinish them for half that. What did he do? Went and spent the whole wad on new parts at the Harley shop...

 Personally, I would NEVER buy a new Harley. Used, sure... but I will NEVER gove any money to the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Co...

[InfidelSerf]

I'll second the Ducati.. but I'm a bit biased  
As far as the no attitude.  Ducati's are somewhat like HDs in that they are trying to appeal to the mass market so they produced cheaper (M600) bikes to bring in more sales.
It used to be anyone who had a Ducati was a true motorcyclist gear head because noone knew what they were.  And the mystique was still there.
As far as the valves being harder to adjust I disagree.  I've adjusted the valves on many a 16V DOHC inline 4s and I'd say they are tougher to adjust than a desmoquatro.  You have to disassemble more to adjust them.  The desmo has just as many places to measure (twice as many lift points as the DOHC half the cylinders so same amount of lifter points. Half as many if you have a 2V) But I'm sure that is a matter of opinion. The only thing that makes it "tougher" is the time it takes to get the proper shim from a dealer.  Shim kits are expensive. So you have to measure and determine the shim needed when you are adjusting them, and just buy them one at a time as needed.

Mr. Bottom Line dealership owner has decided to eliminate the used parts.

I'd bet that has more to do with legal liability than profit motivation.

I'd say skip the dealer all together if you feel like your getting ripped off.
There are plenty of small shops that aren't official dealers that would take better care of you.
And if they are going to charge $1 for a cotter pin.  
Then try something like this http://www.e-fastener.com/

[Monkeyleg]

"And if they are going to charge $1 for a cotter pin.  
Then try something like this..."

Thanks for the link, but I have a hardware store right around the block that only charges ten to twenty-five cents for cotter pins.

Ducatti's are beautiful machines, but I've always been leery of Italian engineering. An engineer who gets the idea to put the motor in the middle of a car is either hung over, thinking about his paramour, or both.