I don't know about bike dealers but have witnessed auto dealers that have over used their warranty's and had to have everything warranty wise approved by manufacturer prior to work being done.
Rooster,
Right on the money. One thing the manufacturer's never fail to do is hire plenty of statisticians and accountants. Things like warranty expense are sliced and diced a hundred different ways, with one of the measureables being a dealer's ranking within his group. A warranty expense ranking significantly above average will put the dealer on the prior approval list. This can be set up to include all warranty repairs, or just specific types of repairs such as paint, engines, etc., depending on the circumstances.
In the old days we used this system punitively, since everyone assumed the dealer was just stealing from the manufacturer. Nowdays we are a little smarter, and realize that the cause could be something like lack of properly trained people and poor diagnostics, rather than outright thievery. Either way, it costs the company money and the customer a lot of aggravation.
Jerry