I think alot of valid points are being made on both sides. For a long time all I ever wanted was a Harley Davidson, I rode some Jap bikes while I could not afford to own my dream machine which was always a H-D. When I was finally in the position to own one I forked over the cash and rode off very happy with my FLHSTCI..........then I took a trip from Cleveland to Boston on it. Unmodifieds other than a race tuner and some pipes, it was the least powerful of any bike I owned previously. I had a hard time making it up some mountain roads. With the throttle nailed I could get up to 65 mph......only if I downshifted to 4th as 5th would slow me down to about 45mph. I was extremely dissapointed in my Raven and knew it was gonna cost me some more big money to bring up the power to rideable.....mind you not a rocket ship just rideable. I made the decision to take a3 thousand dollar hit on selling it to buy a different bike. Still intent on owning an H-D I baught my CVO. I am happy with it and love it for what it is. First problem I ever really had was the fender......six months later H-D got around to getting me my fender. SO I am happy again. The next thing that happens is I notice some chrome peeling off my mirrors. I am told by the fine folks who handle warranty claims that the peeling chrome is due to " Elemental Damage" there is not a problem with the chrome , you just let it get wet..........UMM sure ok, so noone told me the bike could not get wet......thats retarded. Lots of folks know what I went through with getting the bike frame replaced and all was good in that area....they took care of me very well. Until the second time I rode it since it got home from the shop the clutch slipped and burnt up by the time I got it home. Turns out that this had nothing to do with the fact they just basically rebuilt my bike on the new frame..............but its a WEAR item. IN 18 years of motorcycling I burnt out two clutches in my life..........this being the second. The first one was on an old Suzuki with 40 thousand miles on it and me being stupid doing a burn out. My bike had just over 3 thousand miles on it when the CVO clutch gave way.which buy the way I had no problems with before new frame. So they soaked me for another 610 dollars. I am over all this and I am very happy with my cruiser.
So this takes us up to date. The signifigant other and I decide we would like to have a touring bike for those longer trips. SO the first place we head to is good old H-D naturally. First dealership we go to , which we have spent thousands of dollars at ...noone seems to want to sell a bike. Cannot even flag down a salesman. When I do and ask how much it runs for the one on the floor we are interested in he tells me " probably more than you can afford"...........ok he must have no idea that the bike outside in the lot I drove up on is about 10 grand more than this one and it's paid for............so ok. That still was not why I did not buy the Ultra. Looking at that 88incher pushing out 65 ponies at best I thought back on that trip on the heritage...........so now I realize if I buy an HD touring bike its gonna have to be a CVO or at least have as much money in it as a CVO to pull my fat ass around.
I decide I am going to look at it with an open mind and do some research. I looked at the Venture ...........hated it.it looked as cheap as it was. I looked at the BMW........nice bike , lots of features but just felt wierd to sit on...no other explanation I can give would explain it any better.........it was just ODD ergonomically speaking.
One day we are bored and with no place to ride to I say lets go look at the Goldwing. WE pull into Honda......greeted by everyone in the place as soon as we walk in the door. They did not attack us like salesmen they were just very friendly, even complimented me on my Harley. I walk over to one of these Hondas and say to myself ......man thats alot of plastic not really digging it at all. Then I start asking about what it has to offer with one of the managers there. He shows me the 06 Goldwing and then talks about the 1800cc six in it pumping 120 ponies of water cooled dependable power. OK thats great I think. Then he shows me the 6 disk changer, the CB, the adjustable headlight, the adjustable preload ( controlled by a button not a spanner wrench) the heated grips, the heated seat, the foglights, etc etc etc. so I sit down and start talking price........well he asks what my budget is, and I let him know I am not prepared to buy a Wing just curious.he pulls out a left over 05 with all the chit I want and its 5 grand less than the same 06 I am looking at, I see no difference between bikes other than color and the one he shows me has a spoiler on the rear deck. He tells me the price and I almost fall out.......16,900 out the door, I say knock a grand off and we have a deal...........I wrote a check and own it today. I was upset with myself all night long not believing I baught a Honda. I mean even all my clothes say HD on them, this computer room is covered with HD stuff, throws, clocks lights models etc........The next day they deliver my new Wing at my job..........been smiling since. Now I have a bike to go park with others and enjoy the culture with and another one that rides MUCH better and has more power for less than half the price. DO I love my HD any less..............hell no! DO I ride it less..........ABSOLUTELY! If HD had treated me like one of their best customers, wich I believe I am having baught 4 of them in 2005.they probably would have earned yet another bike sale...........but due to how I have been treated by them........while I will not ever be without an HD in my garage, I now have a Honda too and I never thought I would see that day! As a salesman in the auto industry I even applied for a job selling HDs they turned me down for some reason, well I have a job now selling Yamaha , Suzuki, and Kawasaki. Nice bikes, great prices, more power.
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Topic: MOCO needs to take notice (Read 9850 times)