Over the past few months we have seen some of our customers, in an effort to save money, going to shops posing as shops with Harley-Davidson certified technicians.
With the yearly changes in technology Harley requires our techs to be factory-certified every 2-5 years to stay current with new models. Our techs must be certified in chassis, electrical, and diagnostics plus have 5 years of dealership experience at an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer before they can be called a master of technologies. What this means for you is that if your bike was built in the last 2-5 years the person posing as certified doesn’t really know too much about your bike. Beware!!
These shops, while cheaper, are not the place to take your $20,000 investment. These shops do not offer factory-trained technicians who are up-to-date on the latest tech tips, service bulletins, recalls, and product updates. These shops do not have access to the computer technology that the factory sends out to all of their dealers. They can afford to charge a lower rate to service your bike because they don’t pay to go to the factory to get proper training. They also are most likely not using genuine Harley-Davidson parts and oils to service your bike.
Because of the cheaper parts the likeliness that you are going to have something go wrong increases. Use only Harley-Davidson approved parts and accessories. Use of other manufacturers' performance parts may void your warranty. Genuine Harley-Davidson parts are tested for the use on your motorcycle. Insist that your dealer uses only Genuine replacement parts to keep your Harley-Davidson motorcycle and it's warranty in tact.
We have seen the work that some of these independent shops perform, which is the reason that I’ve written this article. We have seen custom handlebar jobs come in because the other shop that would do it cheaper used butt connectors and electrical tape to wire the handlebars; also brake lines and clutch cables that are so tight you could play a pretty good rendition of "Stairway to Heaven" on them; turn signals that only work part of the time because they chose to use pieces of wire lying around that are not long enough, or they don’t have a good connection; throttle cables that get into a bind when you turn the handlebars all the way to the stop. The last thing you want to happen when you twist the throttle is to have it stick and take off uncontrollably, possibly causing an accident. We have also seen a number of bikes come in and the nuts and bolts don’t match because the tech stripped one out and didn’t have the correct one to put back in its place.
We don’t think your $20,000 investment should look like some kid was working on it and just used what he had lying around to fix it. Harley-Davidson dealerships have all the specialty tools, manuals, and computers to fix your bike the correct way. Every dealer invests a lot of money into sending their techs to school to learn the newest electronics and changes that the factory has made since the previous model year. They also spend a lot of money on specialty tools that are only offered to dealers and not the general public. One of these tools is called the Digital Technician, a laptop computer that the dealers buy from Harley and that is already loaded with all kinds of electrical diagnostic tests and troubleshooting guides. This tool help the tech resolve electrical and drivability problems, and they also check for any recalls or updates the factory has released.
So, in short, there are several reasons to take your bike to an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer instead of some guy who has not been Harley-certified and doesn’t have the specialty tools needed to fix your bike the correct way. And we will bet that he won’t guarantee his work like a Harley dealer will.
