It just seems wrong to me...

I picked up a small screw (supply your own joke here) in one of the
tires on my Harley the other day. (Ok, it was the rear tire, continue
the joke...) I noticed it the next morning because the tire was about
half flat. Since I have spoked wheels, my tires have tubes. The tire
wasn't completely flat so, the actual hole in the tube must have been
quite small. The air pressure held it against the inside of the tire
to keep the pressure in.
Well, I took that tire off my bike and had my wife drop it off at
the dealer on her way to work. She works within eye-sight of the
dealer in Allen Texas.
I get a call from my wife. It seems the dealer no longer repairs
tires. They only replace them. I thought she had mis-quoted them.
But, no, it was true. They do not repair tires anymore. I checked
and the same is true for the Yamaha dealer in Plano. I did find a
place that will repair tires. I don't want this to seem like an ad
for them so I'll leave their name out. We can take that off-line.
Well, I called Harley-Davidson's customer support to find out whether
it was a company policy or the dealer's. Turns out Harley-Davidson is
officially neutral on this. So it is the dealer's choice.
The local dealer is doing a magic trick. They are turning an
inexpensive repair (relatively speaking) into an expensive replace.
I've had this bike since 1982 and have patched the tubes with a
bicycle repair kit and driven the tire till the tread went away with
no problem. And I was not opposed to putting in a new tube.
It seems a shame to throw away such a resouce just so a dealer can
make a few extra bucks. (Actually quite a few extra.) I sure hope
there is another dealer nearby that is not so greedy.

Robert

 

I would try and locate an independent shop that would remove the tire,
check the inside of the tire for problems, install a new tube, and mount
and balance it for me. I would then ride by the other dealer and offer
him a "KMA" speech. It's been my experience that most big name dealers
are only interested in the bottom line and how far they can push it.
Once you find a competent and honest independent give him all your
business thereby helping him stay in business so you don't have to go
back to the big name dealer for another "BOHICA".
YMMV
SKooter

 

Right or wrong, denying a tire repair is not an uncommon
occurrence from many dealers, Harley or metric.

Conversely, as Bum says, it's inversely common to find
that most independent shops gladly repair tires.

I'm not sure that the denial motive is a new tire sale, al-
though it doesn't hurt. I think the dealers feel like they
can/will have a potential liability should something go
wrong later, and you are injured/killed. The dealers have,
or are perceived to have, sizable investments in their
facilities. For a wrongful death litigation, chasing some
deep pockets, a financial link to the dealers manufacturer
would most certainly be tried as well.

I suspect that the manufacturers/dealers have an unwri-
tten code that the risk just does not justify the measly
reward, regardless of what Harley corporate told you.

 

~>New txmoto'er. Robert said in part: ''It seems a shame to throw
away such a resouce just so a dealer can make a few extra bucks.
(Actually quite a few extra.)   I sure hope there is another dealer
nearby that is not so greedy.     Robert)

==well to me it's a serious decision to repair/patch/whatever, a tire on
a twoWheeled vehicle.
I completely understand any MC Dealer's point of view.
That's what they do, is: ''wheel and deal'' in Motorcycles.
One repaired tire on a Four-wheeled vehicle is common, but not too
common on 2wheelers. (We only have 2 wheels slapping the pavement?)
Thanks Robert for coming out of the ''Lurkers'' closet, and actually
posting a good topic.
Hope you hang around, on 'txmoto, 'cause you can learnnnnn some stuff on
this great group. <g> MrJayT=