The Worst Part Of Owning A Harley Davidson - Why I’ll Never Buy Another New Harley

Welcome to the cult. I was a member for 42 years. Wore the costumes and attended all the runs, parties and biker bar scenes. Hung out with some 1%ers. Bike week 17 years in a row. Couldn't get enough. Ruined my first marriage. She was right. It's all I cared about. I watched the decline as it happened. HD is a 100% different company than it was 40 years ago. I do all my own maintenance so that's not a problem. But I won't buy a new one as much as I'd like to have one. It's a rich man's motorcycle anymore. Not the same humble crowd at all.

Appreciate your honesty

If you get overcharged again, you should check with your Sheriffs office to see if they can help you retrieve your motorcycle. Don’t fight with them, just say you need to get the money bc you don’t want want them undoing the work. In my country/parish in Louisiana will meet you there and Harley can spend the money to sue you after. This way they can’t charge you storage fees during the dispute. Ask how I know, a mechanic wanted to charge me $11k to fix my 2007 Royal Enfield Bullet 500. So far, I’ve been able to do all the work myself.

Amen brother!!
Been riding HD since 1977.
I have seen my local dealership turn into something unrecognizable from years ago.
It used to be a family atmosphere where you knew everyone and they knew you. It has totally evolved into a corporate money grabbing venture for reasons you stated.
I was blessed because my personal friend was their long time head mechanic. He would do work on the side at his home garage. This was done on a hush-hush basis among a small group of people who were friends. The reason being, so the dealership would not find out.
Bottom line was the work being done was easily 50% cheaper.

Really sad because the long time supporters of HD cannot even afford to purchase them anymore.

Fucking right on that

Ouch... can't say I've had the same experience, but the only thing I've purchased from HD was a couple of closed-end rivets for my Evo (when I had it). Regrettably HD isn't the only folks doing this, have had similar with car dealers -- am strongly of the opinion that once you find a good wrench who you trust (whether dealership, indie or backyard...), do whatever it takes to keep them happy... I try to do my own minor maintenance (simple stuff; oil changes, bulbs, filters, brakes and the like...), but thankfully with well over 100K HD miles, haven't had to deal with one of the Harley palaces/boutiques/whatever -- hopefully my luck holds with my twin-cam...

I shut it off. I've heard guys like you piss and moan for decades. You do the same thing with your little SUV. I have 2 Harleys right now and a Kaw ZX14. If you can't afford the bike get rid of it.🥃🚬

Ya bro I agree with ya 100 percent after my Fatboy dies I'm done as well you hit it on the head it's bs

Many years ago I competed agains Harley Davidsons and found they were useless
I would hardly accept one as a gift, Well, I would accept it, sell it to whoever was fool enough to buy it and buy a decent bike. Perhaps a Honda or a Royal Enfield which is quite inexpensive and very practical

The open ended billing is UNACCEPTABLE! THEY RUN A MONOPOLY AND THEY KNOW IT. WE ARE AT THEIR MERCY ON PARTS. I WILL NEVER GO TO MY LOCAL DEALER EVER AGAIN FROM MY PAST EXPERIENCE AND RESPECTFUL NOT TO NAME THEM.

As a middle aged white guy. (blue collar tradesman) quit whining and find a reputable harley mechanic. It still won't be cheap, but nothing worth having is cheap. If you cant find one.. join H.O.G. or go to some bike rallies and ask around. Don't blame your issues on other people. Working on your own bike will give you great freedom.

I love your video and how correct you are, I'm a white guy baby boomer over 55 but the only thing is I don't have money, great video.

I think it's all dealerships. Harley davidson service contracts are one big RIP off. I hate going g to a harley shop. But if you do anything to it as far as up grades, you have to have them hook up to the computer to recalibrate I'm totally with you dude. Fuck harley davidson.

Thats exactly why i do all the work myself on my Street Glide! I have a local shop to run it on the dyno for me if needed! Like when i did my cams! Love the bikes but hate the stealership!

I have had major issues with Motto Guzzi after making a warranty claim which was denied within 4 days of owning my new bike.
The whole idea of having a new bike is the warranty.
The servicing costs were horrendous and now I use specialist independent mechanics and much cheaper and a far superior quality of work.

well when hd went woke for buttlight i took all 3 of my hd bikes 82 electraglide 79 sportster 2005 roadking all traded for a boss hoss w a 429 hemi fk hd and f j b

This is why I’m afraid to buy a motorcycle. Most used bikes near me are ragged out by the idiots who own them, and the companies you buy them from new, I’ve never heard a good thing about buying a brand new bike of ANY brand from a dealership

Sounds like a problem with your dealership. I have owned 4 Harleys and never had any problems like this with service. Yea all gear, helmets, clothing, etc… is overpriced as fuck because you are paying for the name, so I don’t buy it, but my service department has always been fair, friendly, and on time. Maybe I’m just lucky with my dealership.

Agreed, I do as much as I can, I also feel for the cost of a Harley, they could do better with internal engine parts..oil pumps, auto tensioner, etc..after market cN do it why can't Harley. Gotta baby them way too much.

Authentic Harley Experience. You knew what ya was buying when ya bought it. Buying the name not the bike.

500 you cheap ass lol

100 % true!! The one in Vegas is the same horrible shit

So you think that the capitalist economic system is not a fit for you and you would like a communist China resolution to lower your personal costs so you can live your dream. Whining about your inability to compete economically with other men, and to even mention skin tone and age group as the reason you cannot compete, identifies you a Democrat. Should some of us have more even more money taken out of our paychecks for economic equality? Life is competition for resources. Your Daddy should have told you. Get with the program. Stop embarrassing your wife and kids.

Lesson. Always ask for a service written quotation. Labour hours and parts. If they don't do it, go elsewhere. Thanks for your entertaining real angry #$@% words.

100% agree with you bud. I believe HD will start lowering their ridiculous prices because they know there's a new bad boy in town and I have seen alot of HD riders are shifting over to INDIAN. HD is not the only American made motorcycle anymore.

Buying a Harley is like sponsoring the Evil empire by buying a Death Star. Biden's got a knuckle head.

I had to stop riding in 2014 cause of health blah blah blah, so I am out of the loop, but my understanding is that HD is losing sales due to the shift in younger riders' taste towards faster bikes. It is moronic for HD to treat customers in such a shabby manner under any circumstances, much less when they are grasping for buyers. My old dealership, Rockville HD in Maryland, always treated its customers well back when I was riding. They had great staff and great mechanics. I hope that hasn't changed. --Old Guy

MAD AT THE WORLD ! TRY ANGER MANAGEMENT.

You were prepared to spend the $500 with no problem at all. Stop the world for an additional $200? It's not worth A stroke. Just give them the money and never go back. Very simple not worth losing your health over it.

You were prepared to spend the $500 with no problem at all. Stop the world for an additional $200? It's not worth A stroke. Just give them the money and never go back. Very simple not worth losing your health over it.

Why would anybody want to spend more money on Old technology that sucks? It only took one test drive for me to stick with what I've been driving. Honda or Yamaha, new only NO second hand problems.

I WILL NEVER OWN A HARLEY
ALL MY FRIENDS DO.
THEY WORK ON THERE BIKE'S TOGETHER !
THIS WAY THEY DONT GET RIPPED OFF.
SECONDLY IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBLY TO HAVE YOUR COPY OF THE RECEIPT SHOWING THAT YOU PAID. !
I KNOW BETTER, I OWN HONDA'S AND YAMAHA'S.
ENJOY YOUR OVERPRICED NIGHTMARE !

Sadly, your experience is shared daily by vehicle owners going into ANY dealership for service work. Ever go into a nice dealership and wonder who’s paying the rent in here? You are! They make a little bit on sales but they gotta pay commissions and stuff, so their policy is to get as much service hours as possible for profits…Too bad you got spoiled on Harley, don’t blame the bike tho. Just find you a wrench

This is why I sold my 2016 Fatboy Low S and went back to riding my Yamaha Roadstar. The maintenance costs are a fraction of a H-D.

Your biggest mistake was being too lazy (or ignorant) to do your own service. It's not difficult, you have an owners manual that tells you most of what you need to know. Buy the service manual and some basic tools and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.Your next mistake was not having copies of your sales contract with you when you went in to deal with particulars in the purchase of your bike. Are you really dumb enough to pay twice for what was paid for with the price of the bike? If you really are incapable of changing your handlebars, you probably don't belong on a motorcycle.

been there ...done that......NEVER AGAIN....Hogly Doodleson can go out of business for all I care.

👏🏽👏🏽

I do not know if it is nation wide or not, but the Harley Dealerships near me (Florida) the service department just told me they are going to raise their hourly tech prices to $199 an hour... Man am I in the wrong business (I.T)

Why didn’t you keep your paperwork that proved you paid in advance for everything?

i sometimes ride my 50 year old Moto Guzzi and can still buy every little nut and bolt

like riding the bikes hate the company, went in to my local dealer in UK asked for carb jets and an ignition module for my old bike(24 years old) they laughed and joked about it. My laugh is most things i can fix as it's carbed, you don't need to plug it in to a damn computer.

I think the only thing missing here is how do you really feel about corporate Harley? Lol. I'm beginning to think this is happening everywhere today not just with Harley. Sadly, it's a sign of the economic time. It's going to get much worse before it gets better!

Man that’s bad. Live in the UK, I know it’s a different brand but my BMW R18 first service was £154 all in, that’s by a main dealer. Next 6000 mile service is about £270. I asked while I was there. Think you are right about having your leg lifted.

I was a crotch rocket guy for years. Always joked that I'd never be old enough or fat enough to ride a Harley... but I'm just about there now! If I do go down the Harley road, I will do it a little different.

1) I'll never buy a brand new bike, of any make or model, again. There are plenty of "barely ridden" ones out there and you can get what you want and save thousands of dollars if you take your time and look.

2) I've known people who own Harleys and have seen what they deal with. I'm going to approach it like owning a horse. Horses are high maintenance. You do more maintenance than riding and if you don't enjoy doing the maintenance, it's just not worth owning the horse. The percentage of riding to maintenance is going to be better with a Harley than a horse... but the principle still stands.

Yeah the dealerships suck but so do HD motorcycles. I can't imagine why anyone buys these pieces of shit.

Stealerships all have a lube department for a reason .

Go to the beach and its too hot go home . Everybody want MADE IN USA but wants to pay MADE IN CHINA

This Video is absolutely the TRUTH about Harley now.

I have never had a Brand new anything, I don't go to dealerships ever and I will never buy any vehicle that i cannot disassemble and re assemble. LOL so this video is pretty funny to me, not that you got burnt man, that blows, it is funny to me though because I learned all this before I ever turned 17 years old. What i did was PAY ATTENTION. I never ignored an old man that wanted to tell me a story, I always listened to folks that were in a bind and wanted to share how they got there. I have a lot of bikes, I mean way more than most folks who don't have some kind of business that requires it. LOL they are old and jacked up, I pull them out and work on them and it is fun to me and makes me smile , whether it;s a old school thumper or a inline 4 , makes no difference. they all are a blast to me. I even have a collection of minis. LOL My reg ride for going up in the mountains and interstate is nearing 25 years old, has barely 75k on it and runs like a top. I love it. all together I have been scooting for 45 years/ , i didn't have a dad or some guru to teach me to be this way, when I got a bike i'd also find a manual, never throw out your tech manuals, don't give them away if you sell a bike, you never know when you will come across another one. i do not own a Harley. I like to buy cheap, repair and then ride and maintain and I have learned that there are a lot of bikes out there that will go for 100's of thousands of miles without ever braking down majorly, Harley doesn't ride high on that list. - my 99 GL only has 75k on it and it screams across the country Blaring Lynayrd Skynard and Led Zeppelin when I want to go somewhere. Cost? 2 grand, that was it. Riding legal pisses me off though. YIKES! I can't even imagine riding a bike that makes me mad. That would ruin it for me too I am sure. great video, I did like it.