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[rayz1951]

A friend of mine has a Electraglide Std. with 15,000 miles.  He took it in to the dealer because he felt something at the rear of the bike, they told him it was probably the brakes.  They took it for a test drive and found it was something more serious, the wheel bearing was bad.  When they went to take it apart they found  the race welded to the hub of the wheel.  They told him he needed a new rear wheel because the bearing, going bad damaged the wheel hub..  He has the extended service plan with tire and wheel coverage, but that does not cover this issue.  So, he had to pay for a new wheel, discounted of course, even though the problem with the bearing caused the damage to the wheel, the ESP does NOT cover this type of damage. He's pissed.  He went on several sites and found many other people had the similar problem with wheel bearings. He wrote customer service a letter, no reply.  This happened Labor Day weekend.

I know he does not abuse the bike, rides conservativly and hardly ever in the rain, in other words, baby's it.  I told him he should call customer service and really make a complaint!

Ray Z

[Twolanerider]

I don't have a copy of the service contract here so can't read the specific language that would have disallowed wheel coverage.  So am curious why that coverage was disallowed.  Sounds like an obvious mechanical failure (that was covered) with obvious and expected collateral damage.  What language (Jim, or anyone else that works with these things regularly) in the service agreement denies that coverage?  Or did the guy just get screwed out of the cost of a wheel?

[mjb765]

I don't have a copy of the service contract here so can't read the specific language that would have disallowed wheel coverage.  So am curious why that coverage was disallowed.  Sounds like an obvious mechanical failure (that was covered) with obvious and expected collateral damage.  What language (Jim, or anyone else that works with these things regularly) in the service agreement denies that coverage?  Or did the guy just get screwed out of the cost of a wheel?

I can't see why failure of a covered item and any damage it caused is not being covered.  Tire and wheel coverage even covers damage caused by the owner hitting a pothole which is not a defect or mechanical failure......why would it deny this???

[Twolanerider]

I can't see why failure of a covered item and any damage it caused is not being covered.  Tire and wheel coverage even covers damage caused by the owner hitting a pothole which is not a defect or mechanical failure......why would it deny this???

 

My thoughts also MJ.  It doesn't seem logical.  Having said that; without knowing the specific language of the agreement logic may not matter. 

It sounds like he's getting screwed.  Question is whether or not he's getting screwed within the terms of the service agreement or if he's just getting royally screwed without lube because someone is trying to get away with something.

[djkak]

The early Tire & Wheel contracts only covered road hazard damage to the wheel, not mechanical damaged resulting from a failed wheel bearing. The later contracts have since been changed to cover this mechanical damage. The language in both contracts is very clear.

The contract language update was not retroactive and CNA’s administration of the early contracts did not change with the update. This means that folks holding the early contract that experience this type of failure must get “out of policy” coverage from Harley, not CNA for the damaged wheel. This process would normally be seamless, but since the wheel has already been charged to the Customer, that transaction must be reversed.

My experience with this specific issue is that obtaining out of policy coverage from H-D is a given. Since there is no contractual obligation to take care of the wheel, the challenge will be reversing the wheel transaction. I would begin by contacting the person that sold the ESP contract and asking them to take a swing at mopping this up. This could get a little sticky if the selling Dealer and the repairing Dealer are not the same, otherwise this shouldn’t be real difficult.

[Twolanerider]

The early Tire & Wheel contracts only covered road hazard damage to the wheel, not mechanical damaged resulting from a failed wheel bearing. The later contracts have since been changed to cover this mechanical damage. The language in both contracts is very clear.

Thanks DJ.  The circumstances suggested something as you described was likely going on.  Verification eases the curiosity.

[mjb765]

The early Tire & Wheel contracts only covered road hazard damage to the wheel, not mechanical damaged resulting from a failed wheel bearing. The later contracts have since been changed to cover this mechanical damage. The language in both contracts is very clear.

The contract language update was not retroactive and CNA’s administration of the early contracts did not change with the update. This means that folks holding the early contract that experience this type of failure must get “out of policy” coverage from Harley, not CNA for the damaged wheel. This process would normally be seamless, but since the wheel has already been charged to the Customer, that transaction must be reversed.

My experience with this specific issue is that obtaining out of policy coverage from H-D is a given. Since there is no contractual obligation to take care of the wheel, the challenge will be reversing the wheel transaction. I would begin by contacting the person that sold the ESP contract and asking them to take a swing at mopping this up. This could get a little sticky if the selling Dealer and the repairing Dealer are not the same, otherwise this shouldn’t be real difficult.

Question.....how far back is "the early" contracts?

[djkak]

Question.....how far back is "the early" contracts?

I don't know specifically. The contract is pretty clear on it.

[Twolanerider]

Question.....how far back is "the early" contracts?

That is the obvious question MJ and I started to remark that the guy with the problem couldn't have had his too long as the story only put 15k miles on the bike.  Then I realized the brain fart and that, for some, that's several years riding.

[rayz1951]

My feeling is it's mechanicl failure, pure and simple.  The extended warranty should, IMHO, cover this.  He's been riding a couple of years so this should not have happened, unless HD used some poor quality parts, which is probably the case.  The repair was done at a different dealer than where he purchased the bike, for convience reasons. No matter which dealer you take it to, however, the ESP should be honnored, for mechanical failure.   

[grc]

My feeling is it's mechanicl failure, pure and simple.  The extended warranty should, IMHO, cover this.  He's been riding a couple of years so this should not have happened, unless HD used some poor quality parts, which is probably the case.  The repair was done at a different dealer than where he purchased the bike, for convience reasons. No matter which dealer you take it to, however, the ESP should be honnored, for mechanical failure.   

I agree, if the wheel bearings fail and cause damage to other parts, those other parts should be covered as well.  And that is the way it works with a real manufacturer's warranty.  However, as noted by djkak previously, when you get involved with extended service plans you have to look at the actual contract to determine exactly what they will and will not cover, and it has nothing to do with right or wrong or liability or any of that other stuff a manufacturer has to consider.  An ESP is similar to an insurance policy, where there are specific coverages and specific exclusions spelled out in the policy/contract.  Your friend needs to haul out his copy of his contract and review it, and if necessary actually call the administrator of the ESP for clarification.  I'd never trust this sort of thing to the dealership employee's word. 

Folks need to never forget that the ESP is not an extension of the factory warranty, and they can't assume the coverage will be the same as the factory warranty.  It would be best if people actually read and understood the contract before they plopped down their money, but hardly any I've ever encountered actually read any of it.  Take the word of the salesman, throw the cost onto the contract, don't think about it until you actually need to use it.  That is the typical way it works in the real world.


Jerry

[rayz1951]

Thanks, I'll pass that along to my friend Jim.

Ray Z