Warranty questions

[Lone Rider]

Haven't purchased a trike as yet but have settled on a Roadsmith by The Trike Shop. Here's our dilemma.

We live in the Seattle area and there is only one conversion shop and they only do Lehmans. They do excellent work but we want an independant axel trike. So the conversion shop is about 850 miles away, give or take.

The bigger problem is the voiding of the warranty on a Harley if you trike it. I have talked to every H-D shop from Tacoma to Bellevue and the answer is almost word for word the same. If you trike a Harley you void the warranty.

Since I was entertaining the idea of an 09 Ultra I wouldn't feel real great sitting on three wheels with no warranty.

Here's my question. What are other trikers experiencing from their H-D dealers on the subject of waranties on triked Harleys? I know there are some dealers that will work under the table with some folks. But that doesn't seem to be the case in the PNW.

Appreciate any input. Really hate to invest close to $40,000.00 and be sitting in the dark on warranties.


Regards,

Long Rider

 

[katfish16]

You can buy one of the Harley trikes already done by Leman and Harley. That way U keep the warranty. Not the best answer in the world but about the only solution. The 850 miles would be a deal breaker for me. All the conversions are good but you are going to have some problems with any of them. 850 miles is not just around the corner.
Good luck

 

[FBTRIKE]

I agree with Katfish, If you want to keep the warranty intact your only real choice is a trike from Harley. Myself, I said to heck with the warranty and tore it apart with only 6 miles on it. But I do all my own work. The tri-glide just may be the way to go. Good luck let us know what you decide.

 

[saybel]

Long Rider
I don't know what the official policy is from Harley. I know the Harley dealer I go to would honor the warranty, as long as it wasn't associated with the trike conversion itself. It may depend on the dealer you choose.
As far as the Trike Shop warranty, I posted on your other thread, I hope this helps with your Trike Shop question.

 

[saybel]

We live in the Seattle area and there is only one conversion shop and they only do Lehmans. They do excellent work but we want an independant axel trike.

As stated above, Harley now offers the Tri-Glide, as you probably know it is a Lehman conversion, and therefore not an independent axle. I'm not saying Lehman is good or bad, but you stated, you want an independent axle. I know one of the several reasons I picked a Trike Shop conversion, Like you, is the independent axle.

 

[Ron H]

When I first started looking at having a trike conversion done, I was leaning toward the Trike Shop conversion, primarily due to the independent suspension. I ended up with a DFT conversion, thanks to its unique body style, independent suspension, and cavernous luggage space (9.7 cu ft). My conversion was done on my one year old FLHX. I chose to travel a bit farther to have a Harley dealer do the conversion. I figured (correctly) that if I had a Harley dealer do the conversion, he'd honor the remainder of my warranty. I considered a couple independent shops, but I felt the Harley dealer had more at stake reputationwise and therefore would do a better job.

Certainly the Tri-Glide's factory warranty is its greatest selling point. Good luck finding one in model year 2008, as I've heard they've sold a considerable number of model year 2009's production already. It doesn't make sense to convert a 2009 Ultra and literally throw away its warranty; maybe converting an 2007 or earlier Ultra is a wiser choice -- you'll save $6-7000 and you'll have the same warranty as a triked 2009 model -- none!