Posted on 05/29/2014 1:29:39 AM PDT by kingattax
As a former politician, Dave Zien has built a reputation for defending motorcyclists' rights – as well as cruising the country with patriotic flags hanging off the back of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle for millions of miles.
So it came as something of a shock when Harley rejected a warranty repair Zien sought for a broken clutch on a new Harley trike — citing his flags as the real cause. Zien, who bought the bike new in March, has voiced his displeasure throughout the biker community, telling Fox News that Harley-Davidson informed him he was "blocked" because of his flag displays, and can "never get any warranty work" for seven years.
Harley-Davidson responded to the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee, stating that Zien's warranty is still valid, but that it denied this claim due to the the "terrific drag (the flags create) on the engine and transmission." The company also says that the flag mounts used were not Harley products, which played a part in the claim's denial, despite Zien arguing that a registered Harley dealer installed the mounts.
Zien, aged 64, served as a U.S. marine in Vietnam in the late '60s, prior to joining the Wisconsin State Senate between 1993 and 2006. His stint in the senate brought him some local recognition, but it was his full-size flags – including a 3-foot-by-5-foot American flag – waving proudly from behind his Harley that ensured an avid following of bikers.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...
Maybe the guy ought to have a Chinese flag instead of a US flaag.
Harley sells flag mounts, sells bikes converted to trikes, services bikes that have been third-party converted to trikes, and their rider base is widely known to contain a lot of really heavy men. All of these put significant strain on drivetrains. If they didn’t think their bikes’ drivetrains could handle the addition of two flags (another common addition due to the “Rolling Thunder” crowd), they wouldn’t sell kits to mount said flags, nor would they have anything to do with trike modifications or overweight riders.
how many iterations does this make now?
Im kinda fond of the 101 series myself - '28 to '31
“Stupid. The bad publicity will cost Harley a lot more than fixing the guys clutch.”
Harley should take a page from truck manufacturers play book and offer a towing package. I’ve noticed a need as these guys not only mount flags the pull trailers and themselves and passengers which by appearances can sometimes be a load.....
HD = most money for the least bike.
You are correct.
Previously they only offered after-market trike conversions from the dealership and the individual *dealership* covered the bike itself, under warranty, not Harley.
Now, they have “Harley trikes” which are still after-market kits but they have “branded” the kits with their name and they theoretically warranty.
[it was Lehman, the Canadian company but they’ve switched yet again]
For almost $40K, you don’t get near the trike that we build for half that cost.
You are paying for the name.
Lots of our riding buddies have huge flags on their two-wheelers and have never had any “flag drag issues” other than the bike wiggling around in high crosswinds.
This should be a total non-issue with a trike.
Not the first time I have heard of this kind of thing. The company considers this an “alteration”. They do the same thing with trailer hitches. If you attach a hitch and tow a trailer with your HD, the warranty is invalidated. The dealer itself has a lot to do with how things work out. Does the trike rider have a relationship with the dealer? Some HD owners do not bring their bike back for maintenance, ever. Others, like me, bring it back for extended warranty matters. I suspect there is more to this story. How difficult would it be to unbolt the flag mounts before bringing the trike in for service?
if the flags can take out a clutch what does that say about Harley??
The engine is to powerful for the rest of the drive train?
It does not compute.
and that is why I have a goldwing ;) Most bike (GL1100) least money (35 bucks at an auction)..
It has a trailer hitch on it, and 104,000 miles. Still works great.
This makes no sense at all.
I attended Rolling Thunder nine years running, and hundreds of bikes were adorned in this manner. Many times, Willie. G. Davidson was a guest speaker and one would think that if the flags were bad for the bikes, he would have said something!
Of course, that was years ago, before you-know-who came into office, and by his very satanic presence, has poisoned everything that is decent in America.
You-know-what flows downhill.
And seeps into everything.
They consider putting on decent pipes an alteration.
We give back the stock parts so people can swap back out the trike kit for warranty repairs, if they need them.
There’s a way around everything...:)
Your logic is correct!
Harley Davidson should know by now that owning an H-D is considered a patriotic act among its riders, eschewing brands like Honda, Yamaha, etc.. which aren't considered "real bikes" because they're rice burners.
Telling this guy they won't honor his warranty because he flew a flag behind it (and didn't use HD mounts, btw --- that's in the story) has got to be one of the WORST customer service examples I've seen in a long time.
HD makes flag mounts for their bikes. Really? Saying he didn't use THEIRS and flew the flag behind his bike is reason to deny his claim? WOW.
BTW: anyone who suggests that HD riders will switch to Polaris because "it's still American made" really doesn't have a clue what they're talking about. Have you actually ridden a "Victory" motorcycle? STEAMING PILE OF CRAP. (Rode it -- HATED it.) No HD rider in their right mind will switch to a Victory motorcycle.
SHhhhhh! (Everybody will want one!)
I got a GL1200 with 60,000 on the clock for just a little over $2,000. This is it’s third season. I put on a new set of Pirellis last year and soldered that pesky lead junction on the charging system.
Other than that, a lot of bike for a very small price.
Drag from a flag fragged the transmission?
Harleys must have a hard time going up hills.
The driver should have bought the optional Harley “flag waver” transmission.
something is not right here.
Harley does not build a trike.
adding a separate trike kit and putting extra weight on the clutch probably did him in.
Given the number of flags on bikes, this does not pass the smell test.
that is what this politician is counting on. a free clutch on his “do you know who I am” card.
converting to a trike with an aftermarket kit can ‘t be good for a clutch designed for one wheel and drive belt on a much much shorter axil.
the flag argument is 100% BS by this politician.
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