WHEW WHAT A RIDE TODAY
Around 10:50am rode the bike out of Leesburg and went to East Gate Cincy (beautiful ride up there) to get a new back tire and found I needed new back brakes (or would need them soon enough). Left there and headed to the farm stopping in Dry Ridge KY for some Skyline and gas and then on through Sadieville, KY to the Farm by 4:30 to do some fence work and hang a gate then around the back roads back home by 8:15 PM. Didn't intend for the farm work to take so long but it sure did... lol OH well I have been slacking on that for a couple of years and mom and dad have been great to us.
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Now, why might you ask did I use East Gate Harley that is about 80 miles from my home over Man O War Harley Davidson in Lexington that is only about 25 miles from home?
Well I have given them chance after chance after chance. Their sales people assume you are poor if you come in there wearing office attire (except the day I drove my $48k truck and they kissed my arse...lol) But to hell with that. It should not matter. They have an EXCELLENT parts department but their service departments is hit and miss. They have a girl working there that really knows her way around Buell’s but my bad list for them got longer and longer and longer.
Every time I got my rear tire replaced I noticed it was not long after that my exhaust would rattle. I never really made the connection till later which I will elaborate further down.
I had an issue with the bike shutting off on me with a loud pop and at times not even able to get it started again. Took it in and found out it was just the intake hose was dry rotted and that was the issue. They told me they replaced it (and CHARGED me for it) but then just 2 days later it did it again and I took it back. I must have got a different tech that did not know it was just in since they told me the hose was old and needed replaced. I just grinned and said ok go for it and bring me the old one so I could see it. They did and when they went to ring me up I let the advisor know I was just in before and that I had paid for a new one already and that it was not good that someone was trying to charge me for another. They zeroed the bill and let it be...
Not long after that I noticed that something just looked weird on my bike. Later I figured out the intake cowl was missing and I let them know about that and they said someone else must have worked on the bike and left it off. I let them know they were the only ones that had touched the bike in over a year and I even had a picture from 3 months before that just happened to show it was in place then. They replaced it without cost after MANY MANY calls and e-mails to get their attention.
At the same time I got a new back tire and what would you know but the exhaust came up a week or so broken again... HMMM
Earlier this year I got the exhaust welded again for the third time by a reputable custom welding shop in Lexington and THIS time when I took it in to get a new back tire I made a point to tell them it seemed that my exhaust was getting damaged every time I have had them switch out the back tire. (They were already ODD with me from the intake incident) This time however I made the advisor check the exhaust before they worked on the bike and he made sure it was on good and there were no issues with it. I said I was pretty sure they were jacking the bike up from the bottom and were popping the bottom bracket of the exhaust in the process and also cracking the bend as well. I let them know in my Buell service manual it stated there was a special setup to jack them up and keep from damaging the exhaust. They said they knew and they shrugged it off like I was crazy but stated they would be careful with it and went about their work. They made some jokes about it and I just told them this time it was their baby to deal with.
Then they changed my back tire... I got on the bike and was 20' from pulling out of the parking lot and RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE. I immediately turned around and took it back to the department and showed them and THEN they try to tell me the last weld job was not a good one bla bla bla. (funny they did not say that BEFORE they worked on it when they checked it out.) Anyway some guy from the department said he would weld it up and he got a few NASTY spot welds on it and brought it out and told me the welder ran out of gas but that it was good enough. There was slag everywhere and the bend (flange) was cracked but I just said the hell with it as I was done dealing with their smart a$$ looks on their faces like I was in the wrong and I left. (I guess I should have raised a stink but most of you know how it is when you have had a long work week and you just want to get home).
Anyway I rode it for 2 days and on the second day the weld the Man O War Harley guy did on the back bracket came COMPLETEY off and the exhaust was just hanging by the front bolts. I limped my way home and I had my neighbor (who built and owns the semi famous pulling truck Desperado) weld it for me and he said this time it was bad enough that he was pretty sure this was the last time it could be welded. He did a pretty good job on it IMO but I knew I did not feel like buying a new exhaust for my bike just yet so today that is why my bike went to East Gate Harley. But not before I did send the GM at Man O War Harley an e-mail and let him know of the issues. I never got a reply and since I did not get a very good response from the service advisor PLUS the fact that I just felt out of place around them and just did not trust them anymore no response from the GM and M.O.W Harley was the final straw. When my back tire started wearing thin last month I called a few Harley shops around Cincy and East Gate ended up on top of the list.
They were great on the phone and even better in person. EVERY person in that shop went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and that I had anything I needed. I met the General Manager I guess 4 or 5 times while I was in there and did not even know it since he was just like everyone else. He never said who he was but someone else pointed him out when I commented to him that everyone was super friendly and not in a fake way. He said it was a family shop and that was why and that is when he pointed him out.
So not only did I have a BEAUTIFUL ride up, I didn't even feel bad about dropping $271 in their shop today and after the 80+ mile ride back home I never heard a rattle one. Everything looked great.
Since I know MANY of you have Harleys I wanted to share this with you. If you are on your way south to the Lake and are too far south of East Gate try pushing on a little further to the shop in London as my brother in law said thus far they have not been a bad shop either but for me I doubt I will EVER be back to Man O War Harley unless the GM of that store makes up for it and there is no weirdness from the staff.
The Lake Gang was busy 
Missed ya! 