Dealer issues

[DBLEBOGGIE]

Has anyone had your goldwing dealer refuse to work on your bike after having ROADSMITH kit installed? My dealer said they will not work on trikes and questioned if the warranty would cover the work. It's a 2018 tour and reverse would not engage. They finally repaired it but it was not a situation I want to deal with again. They adjusted the cable (5hrs) not experienced on this generation.

[rhino 2]

Has anyone had your goldwing dealer refuse to work on your bike after having ROADSMITH kit installed? My dealer said they will not work on trikes and questioned if the warranty would cover the work. It's a 2018 tour and reverse would not ingauge. They finally repaired it but it was not a situation I wat to deal with again. They adjusted the cable (5hrs) not experienced on this generation.

Butch......Welcome to Trike-Talk........About the dealers I've heard that some dealers [Honda] won't work on them,While Others will only work on the Goldwing/Bike part......Who installed the kit...??

[cScjhb]

The factory Honda dealers around here won't work on any bike that is more than 10 years old regardless of model, trike, or not. Fortunately there are lots of good independent shops. I have found the independents to be more knowledgeable and less expensive than the factory guys..... Jim

[Gorilla]

Butch there are a lot of dealers that take that position. there are others that do not mind. It's their call because Honda does not support the trike mods. See if there is a Honda dealer around you that is a little more on board with trikes.

[Bubber]

I was once told by a local dealer that they don't work on any bike after a certain age. We had a lively discussion about Honda building throw away bike and that any Harley dealer will work on any year Harley no matter what.

Then he tells me that this isn't a debate. Basically go away we ain't working on the bike.

I called Honda America at the time and pissed and moaned as loud and as long as I could. I asked if Honda made throw away motorcycle because they dealers wouldn't work on them. That sparked another round of pissing and moaning.

Honda America called the dealer and fought with them for awhile. after about two days I got a call from the dealer and they said they had a local guy that worked on older bikes and that I could take it there. I told him he could shove it and that was the last time I would ever do business with them or buy another Honda based on this whole go around with getting them to work on their own product.

Well I was a raving lunatic at the time and I meant it. I never did do business with that dealer ever again.

But I did recently buy a trike.

I just could not get over their shitty attitude about working on their own product. After reading some of the horror stories about the quality of the Honda mechanics I am glad to never have had done any business with them at that time.

[stacebg]

Wow- Sounds like You have a lot of anger inside of you -- And You don't need to swear in your postings either

wow is right..... u r offended by "shitty"? lol

[stacebg]

I was once told by a local dealer that they don't work on any bike after a certain age. We had a lively discussion about Honda building throw away bike and that any Harley dealer will work on any year Harley no matter what.

Then he tells me that this isn't a debate. Basically go away we ain't working on the bike.

I called Honda America at the time and pissed and moaned as loud and as long as I could. I asked if Honda made throw away motorcycle because they dealers wouldn't work on them. That sparked another round of pissing and moaning.

Honda America called the dealer and fought with them for awhile. after about two days I got a call from the dealer and they said they had a local guy that worked on older bikes and that I could take it there. I told him he could shove it and that was the last time I would ever do business with them or buy another Honda based on this whole go around with getting them to work on their own product.

Well I was a raving lunatic at the time and I meant it. I never did do business with that dealer ever again.

But I did recently buy a trike.

I just could not get over their shitty attitude about working on their own product. After reading some of the horror stories about the quality of the Honda mechanics I am glad to never have had done any business with them at that time.

"any Harley dealer will work on any year Harley no matter what."

absolutely not true!!

"after about two days I got a call from the dealer and they said they had a local guy that worked on older bikes and that I could take it there."

if you needed work done why would you not take it to the local guy?

[Burnerboy]

I believe that the dealership was actually being nice (honest)of them to offer you another mechanic's name to service your trike...

I stopped using my nearest dealership, when they charged me $100.00 to replace a right low beam bulb (I purchased two brand new bikes from them)

I got lucky cause my wife hands r small, so she can just reach in there and replace that bulb w/o any problems... (I got big hands) so when my second bulb blew, in she went ~n~ replaced it w/any difficulties', after U tube'n it on her I pad...

Ronnie

11/14/22

[rhino 2]

I believe that the dealership was actually being nice (honest)of them to offer you another mechanic's name to service your trike...

I stopped using my nearest dealership, when they charged me $100.00 to replace a right low beam bulb (I purchased two brand new bikes from them)

I got lucky cause my wife hands r small, so she can just reach in there and replace that bulb w/o any problems... (I got big hands) so when my second bulb blew, in she went ~n~ replaced it w/any difficulties', after U tube'n it on her I pad...

Ronnie

When a customer of mine would say why did you charge me so much for such a simple job.....I would respond with ..You pay me for what i know and not only for the job ...

[Papa Zook]

Has anyone had your goldwing dealer refuse to work on your bike after having ROADSMITH kit installed? My dealer said they will not work on trikes and questioned if the warranty would cover the work. It's a 2018 tour and reverse would not engage. They finally repaired it but it was not a situation I wat to deal with again. They adjusted the cable (5hrs) not experienced on this generation.

5 hours labor to adjust the reverse cable? This is a 15-20 min job.

[rhino 2]

5 hours labor to adjust the reverse cable? This is a 15-20 min job.

Some dealers think they know too much....And then try to charge for their lack of knowledge .

[Their time consuming mistakes]....

[3W-lonerider]

this may sound strange but i can understand the dealers position on older bikes.

and here is why.

as anything mechanical ages, screws bolts and plastic get harder to remove. say you take a bike in to have the water pump replaced and 2 out of the 4 bolts break off in the engine.then the bolts have to be drilled and re taped. hence it just made a 2 hour job into a 6 hour job. the customer is going to rant and rave about having to pay the bill.

i deal with it on a daily basis working on equipment. you can quote 2 hours labor based on past experience with the job then the problems start happening and it takes 4 hours instead.

also say some plastic has to be removed and because it has become brittle over the years and it breaks. who is gonna pay for it. your going to expect the dealer to since they broke it.

i drove one day to a guys house 200 miles away to work on his bike. told him how long it would take to do the job. was told everything was factory on it.

well when i got there i found all kinds of after market parts that had to be removed and in removing those aftermarket parts to get to what needed worked on 3 bolts broke in the head.

had to spend 3 hours carefully drilling them out and retaping the head. raised my price another 100 dollars and he was pissed. that was the last time i went to a persons house to work on any bike.. i understand the customers point of view and i understand the dealers point. as far as not wanting to work on the honda side of the bike if its triked. i say is rediculas if its warranty items.

but as far as working on older bikes. it is best to find an independent shop. most independent shops are guys that used to work for the dealers and decided to go on their own because the dealer wouldn't pay them anymore for their expertise and hired new people at the same rate of pay that the experienced techs are making.

[rhino 2]

this may sound strange but i can understand the dealers position on older bikes.

and here is why.

as anything mechanical ages, screws bolts and plastic get harder to remove. say you take a bike in to have the water pump replaced and 2 out of the 4 bolts break off in the engine.then the bolts have to be drilled and re taped. hence it just made a 2 hour job into a 6 hour job. the customer is going to rant and rave about having to pay the bill.

i deal with it on a daily basis working on equipment. you can quote 2 hours labor based on past experience with the job then the problems start happening and it takes 4 hours instead.

also say some plastic has to be removed and because it has become brittle over the years and it breaks. who is gonna pay for it. your going to expect the dealer to since they broke it.

i drove one day to a guys house 200 miles away to work on his bike. told him how long it would take to do the job. was told everything was factory on it.

well when i got there i found all kinds of after market parts that had to be removed and in removing those aftermarket parts to get to what needed worked on 3 bolts broke in the head.

had to spend 3 hours carefully drilling them out and retaping the head. raised my price another 100 dollars and he was pissed. that was the last time i went to a persons house to work on any bike.. i understand the customers point of view and i understand the dealers point. as far as not wanting to work on the honda side of the bike if its triked. i say is rediculas if its warranty items.

but as far as working on older bikes. it is best to find an independent shop. most independent shops are guys that used to work for the dealers and decided to go on their own because the dealer wouldn't pay them anymore for their expertise and hired new people at the same rate of pay that the experienced techs are making.

Just my experience but…

Anyone that complains about dealers and or mechanics

should open up their own business and deal with the public for a while and then let me know how it works out for them. I’ve done that for 40 years… the vast majority of my customers very happy and understanding ..But then when a problem arose that was beyond my control and then I had to charge a little extra.. ..

[3W-lonerider]

Just my experience but…

Anyone that complains about dealers and or mechanics

should open up their own business and deal with the public for a while and then let me know how it works out for them. I’ve done that for 40 years… the vast majority of my customers very happy and understanding ..But then when a problem arose that was beyond my control and then I had to charge a little extra.. ..

i totally agree, those that have never turned a wrench have no clue the headaches that can come up when turning wrenches. been turning wrenches for 43 years. can't say iv'e seen it all but i have delt with all kinds of customers.

[Jack Klarich]

i totally agree, those that have never turned a wrench have no clue the headaches that can come up when turning wrenches. been turning wrenches for 43 years. can't say iv'e seen it all but i have delt with all kinds of customers.

Like you I have turned wrenches all my life, just when I thought I saw it all BAM there it is staring at me, I like a challenge, I learn from them

I have had one bad customer for every 10 good ones, pretty good odds IMO

[Burnerboy]

I'm in the HVAC business and operate my own company (I work for myself now) YEP you'd be surprised how many folks have fits when the cost of job goes higher.............I always invite the customer to come down to the basement and actually watch what I do to their heating system, to fix it properly, (especially if they had another company in earlier that screwed it up)............BUT it does help to actually have the customer actually see what I have done to their heating/cooling unit to make it work correctly...........This keeps the complaining down a bit........

Ronnie

11/24/22

[tinner12002]

Has anyone had your goldwing dealer refuse to work on your bike after having ROADSMITH kit installed? My dealer said they will not work on trikes and questioned if the warranty would cover the work. It's a 2018 tour and reverse would not engage. They finally repaired it but it was not a situation I wat to deal with again. They adjusted the cable (5hrs) not experienced on this generation.

Not Honda but I've had my local Harley dealer refuse to work on my converted Harley with a Roadsmith kit.