Harley denied the power train warranty for this guy's bike due to him having an American and Gadsden flag mounted to the back...



What do you guys think? I think it's a PR nightmare for them considering the guy is an ex-marine and a former state senator in Wisconsin.

Anyways, I know it's not a Honda, but pretty interesting none the less.

Freedom Files: Harley-Davidson Denies Rider’s Warranty Claim Because of Flags Mounted to His Motorcycle

 

I'm with HD. The load of the flag on the drivetrain caused the problem. It was not designed to take those load forces. HD cant be responsible for the abuse caused by the rider.

How long are their parts supposed to last anyway? After 23 years and a million miles (stated), I'd say it held up more than expected.

He needs to bite the bullet and pay for a replacement trans himself. This has nothing to do with the colors of the flag or his service.

 

Gotta agree with demon. And i say that as a vet of 2 wars.

 

The million miles are from a different bike - which is now in a museum at Sturgis. The bike in question has 15k miles - which HD gave him for donating the bike to the Sturgis museum (allegedly).

His service and the flags are an issue with the some of the customer demographic that is the base of H-D's sales. That's not going to sit well with some customers. The president of ABATE is telling people to be outraged over it. And the owner of the bike is a celebrity at different rallies (he does have one of his bikes in a museum after all). It's not good PR for Harley.

I know that flags add a lot of resistance, but he's been riding with flags like that for years on all of his bikes - without a problem. I can't imagine it'd cause a bigger load on the clutch than the trike kit itself does. From what I've looked up, Harley does not beef up the clutch/transmission for Trikes.

Motorcycle enthusiast claims Harley voided warranty over flags


The real question is - Is there something in the Harley Davidson Warranty that prohibits flag flying? That's where the real question is. In the article, a rep from H-D made a big deal about the flag mounts not being an authentic Harley part? Are there H-D specific flag fliers? If there are (which I'm willing to bet there are) - do they void a warranty?


Its their company - they can (and should) do what they want to do. If they have a legitimate claim on their hands however, they should fix it. If another rider has had his bike serviced under warranty while having also flown flags - they should fix this guy's bike too.

I know that I've seen plenty of flags behind Harleys going down the highway (even though I think it's a bad idea to fly flags behind a bike), so I'm not sure its correct that the entire issue is the flags. I didn't think H-D dealt with too many warranty issues. If this happens all the time though - then it's just a guy trying to make a big stink about nothing.

Either way - I feel bad for the PR lady considering there is another legitimate choice (Indian).

 

Ah, I read it wrong.

But still, if the flags caused the issue then I still agree with HD. Auto manufacturers void warranties all the time due to use of non factory parts. They must have a blanket policy towards them to cover their butts against everything that a person can do to screw up their vehicle and try to blame someone else for the problem.

 

Victory or Indian should pounce all over this and give him a spanking new bike for
his work, commitment & dedication to Veterans everywhere. These days, if you've
been following the media, they could sure do with more advocates and support !


Stupid PR move on HD's part imo

 

Bad PR all round. They should replace the trans and wave the Vet on his way with a smile, a handshake and a job well done attitude.

This, if pursued and maintained that it is the fault of the flags, will cost HD dearly.

Cheers, SB

 

If you happen to cross someone with a bit of internet savvy?

Quite alot apparently.

Grant Norman King | Buyer beware!

This might just be one of those cases where HD should just suck it up and minimize the damage rather than getting into one of those internet post fights where the Corporate will never win - regardless of the correctness or otherwise of their position.

 

I think it was a dealership mistake. I've worked on plenty of vehicles with and without factory warranty. Most are voided by some simple addition an owner makes that was not "factory installed" or installed by the dealership. That's where the discretion if the dealership comes into play. If you are after the customer for more money, you don't want it in warranty. Flare rate pay is higher plus parts cost. Makes good " financial" sense to claim warranty is voided. However, if the service manager would have just looked at the issue and not tried to get more money, then it would have brought more in the long run. A little good will goes a long way. They should have just fixed it. If everyone was after just the money, then every customer that came in with aftermarket rims, for example, that didn't purchase them at the dealership, would have no warranty on brakes speed sensors, traction control, transmissions, etc. That's the "technicality" to a warranty. Again it falls on the people doing the work and how big a dick they want to be. Everyone knows the warranty claim department is not going to be at every shop everyday so there's no way they would have known about the flags being or not being the cause unless some service manager was looking for a way to boost the bottom dollar.

 

Looks to me like Harley didn't do a cost-benefit analysis of the repair under warrantee vs. loss of revenue from bad PR.

Also, if you read the original article (Motorcycle enthusiast claims Harley voided warranty over flags) you will see that the transmission issue was a failed clutch....