My Experience with 'Harley Davidson'

Prologue:
It all began with a test ride. I was a bit dicey on street750 or Iron883. Primarily I loved the look of street 750 than iron883 so I decided to test drive both the machines.
Street 750 was available for test ride but Iron 883 was not. So I did the test drive & found Street 750 very appealing.
When I checked about the availability of both I was told that Street 750 can be delivered in 4-5 days post complete payment & Iron 883 would have 4 mnths waiting approx.
Hence I decided to go for Street 750 & paid the initial booking amount. There was a couple of weeks delay from my side to gather the full payment since I had to sell my Honda CBR.
When I was ready with full payment I got an answer that the waiting period has been extended & no precise date can be committed.
Still I felt Ok because I was quite impressed with Street 750 during the test ride. I was chasing the sales person almost everyday for the delivery date & he assured me that he will deliver ASAP.
He worked really hard & delivered to me in 10-12 days.

Delivery Day:
Couple of days before I called him & asked him to deliver it to me right away since that day was very important to me. He was convinced & delivered it to me at my home since the date was very important
When I got the delivery it was full of dirt since its raining here.I washed it myself so that it looks new.
Upon my small maiden ride I found that the right signal light is not functioning & this was the first surprise that I did not expect from Harley.
After couple of hours I was about to take my wife for a short ride & I discovered that there is a big new surprise waiting for me, rear flat tire That too in just 20 kms!!! Luckily I was having a air pump at my home so i filled the air & took it to a tire shop to inspect exactly where the puncture is. I was expecting a nail in the tire which can be rectified easily with puncture repair kit but the air was leaking from the neck of the tire valve which can be fixed by HD service center only!!!
There were couple of more surprises which my brother discovered; one was that the HD logo on the right side of the tank is not fitted properly & its peeling out and the second that there is a click sound(cannot express the exact sound) comming from the steering column a similar to what comes from if you have broken bearings

Today:
Finally after few calls to the showroom guys they asked me to call HD assistance to get the bike pickup since its totally immobile due to flat tire.
They have now picked up the bike & there is no response yet from the service guys on when will I get my bike back!!!

Its just 48 Hrs of ownership & I'm totally dissapointed with the experience that I had with 'Harley Davidson'.
I have really started feeling that I have made a wrong decision & should have gone for bonnie instead.

My brother was also planning to go for Street 750 & was about to pay for booking but with such an experience he has decided to wait & see the improvement or go for bonnie.

!!!Truly Disappointed & feeling cheated!!!

This is all very unusual and weird. For example anyone should have been able to fix the valve stem problem. It's not like this is rocket science.


The other problems also seem strange as I've heard of no other reports that are similar to your experience. Where are you located?


BTW A Sportster (883/1200) and the Street (500/750) are completely different motorcycles and really can't be compared to each other. While you didn't get a chance to ride the 883 it would have been completely different than the Street.

wow that sucks
hopefully if you do plan on sticking with the brand and this bike, that you don't have to go through anything as crazy again.

Actually anyone could have fixed it but the HD service guys insisted me to not fix it outside & also the tire shop were i could reach with flat tire did not have that particular valve which is fitted in HD. Here in Mumbai the valves are bit different which are available locally.


The other problems are really strange & I was also surprised! I'm located in Mumbai, India.

I totally agree with you but probably i did not get a chance to ride them hence i dont know their charm

i think there is difference in the build quality of india & US.

Yes it would have,...it will shake your guts out !

I used to believe this... now I'm not so sure.

How can it be a different quality for the same model bike and that too is Harley!! If it was confirmed matter to me, wouldn't have bought my street 750 in June 2014 from India, Cochin show room.

With my 30-days of riding the Street 750 complete (to make sure nothing would break before I tear it apart) I got back on my XL50 Sportster yesterday and that was the first thing I noticed before I even moved one foot. VIBRATION It is virtually non-existant on the Street but very evident with the Sportster.


Of course the vibrations of the 45 degree pushrod Harley engine is one of it's most endearing factors. I loved getting back on the Sportster that had sat neglected in the garage for a month.


But there is no dispute that the Street and the Sportster are completely different motorcycles in virtually all respects.

Two different assembly plants and workers. The turn signal and valve stem problems could have been and probably were a simple assembly issue. Poor assembly leads to problems and even Harley USA had this problem in the late 1970's.

There could be different suppliers for the parts as well. While the engineering design and specifications can be the same the actual manufacture and assembly by different suppliers can affect the final product.