Bloom Not Off This Rose in Florida
It is kind of fun to resurrect this thread with an event that seemingly flies in the face of the thought that the Harley M8 Tri Glide's rep has been tarnished such that most of us would not consider buying one. Ahem, I bought one this past week and picked it up yesterday while doing some work on my mother-in-law's home in Port Charlotte.
It had just a few miles on it (15) when the o-ring build issue showed up from those July early motors. The owner reportedly being a very experienced Harley owner shut it down and called for a tow. The original purchaser decided not to keep the trike and reportedly got a FW. Not sure if they got the M8-engined FW or went with a 103-engined 2016? The dealership is quite discreet with personal customer information due to confidentiality issues but let me know enough to be very pleased with the deal without violating a customer's trust or specific info.
The bike was repaired at the dealership and when I walked in last week, it had 98 miles on it. I had been thinking about taking a test hop on an M8 powered Tri Glide and the sales manager told my salesman that they were willing to blow the bike out the day I walked in. What timing. So, I went on a very diverse 20 mile ride and was immediately taken by what a different machine this was with the M8 engine, the change in front fork action, etc. In a nutshell, its performance was significantly better than my pristine 2016 that had about 15k miles on it.
The salesman was very low-key but experienced and the sales manager at Bert's Black Widow Harley was a hoot to work with. They are in the business of selling fun and everything about the dealership throughout the entire staff appeared geared to help customers have fun. They even serve three different kinds of beer on tap every hour that the dealership is open and have Saturday and Sunday concerts. They also have what appeared to be a very healthy beginner motorcycle course offered by HD dealers.
Long story shortened, they gave me a terrific price for my 2016 and sold the used 2017 at a very favorable price. Essentially, I couldn't pass up the deal because I had been thinking that it would be nice if the motor was really that good that I would eventually upgrade to what will be Harley's flagship motor for the foreseeable future.
I trailered my 2016 to the dealership in Port Charlotte, Florida and showed up first thing Monday morning with my 2016 and the service department ready to swap out various parts like HD adjustable backrest that I had added to the trike for an agreed amount (extremely reasonable). What has been told to me is that Bert took over an 11-year dealership in August of this year and reportedly BWH has sold more used Harleys than anybody in the country for the time that it has been under new ownership. They are both fun and aggressive in meeting the needs of the customer while maintaining what I think will be terrific viability moving forward.
It seemed like just about every person working there is well versed in customer relations and is eager to help solve whatever problems or concerns the customer has. It was a really delightful buying experience and now I am looking forward to exploring the new facets of this very nice piece of machinery in the M8 TGU. So, win, lose or draw, the bloom is certainly not off the rose for me. I did purchase a 5-year ESP to insure piece of mind whatever comes my way with the trike.
It seems to me like Harley has been working very hard to keep their customers happy and I am not worried in the least that they will not do whatever it takes to keep this trike humming. p.s. I was going to stay an extra day and ride around the interior countryside of South Florida but the day I picked up the trike (December 19), the thermometer was pegging at 90 degrees in the afternoon and I didn't feel like riding in such hot weather on a new trike.
So, I brought it home to North Florida and it will be back in the mid to upper 70's in a couple of days and that will give me a chance to wash/wax the trike before I continue the break-in process. I do plan to change the oil and filter after 500 miles are on the clock just for piece of mind.