M8 issues rare ?

[Admiral Akbar]

I stated a while back that the best thing you can do is practice buyer beware. If you buy one and simply tool around on it, you may never see any issues. But then when the TC went from a five piece to a three piece crank, 2002 or 2003, and there were issues with crank twist, I doubt that many sales people ever knew what was what. And guys that tooled around on them probably never had any crank issues.

I would also bet that 80% of the sales force at HD changes jobs frequently. You have some guys that make a career at HD and do know the bikes, but that isn't the majority.

I'm surprised FSG didn't correct you on this..

[Thermodyne]

Talked to salesman at 3 different Dealers today. None of them knew of the problem and acted like I didn't know wtf I was talking about. Asked each of them if they ever read this forum or any other forum. All of them said no. 

I am convinced that dealer salesmen don't know about anything technical about what they are selling. Paint colors and accessories they can help with, but don't ask them about the doohickey that keeps breaking.

Even when Gonenorth bought his BMW. He wanted a CB radio so we can communicate on the fly and wanted it all integrated with the factory sound system, no problem the dealer said. Once they installed the CB it was decided that they couldn't do it. Gonenorth and I did some research and got it hooked up. We may as well have installed it ourselves as we had to tear into the bike so far.

They talk about what they are trained to talk about.  And they are trained to deflect any questions about reliability.  Ever shop for a car and notice that you get pretty much the same spiel from each dealer.  They point you at the good bells and whistles and avoid the stuff that is lacking. 

When the M8 first came out they were all starting the scooters on the floor and showing how smooth they were.  Till they started running rough from all the cold starts and no road time.  Well duh.  That's what salesmen know.

[BigT]

I know the mechanic at my local dealership. He does most of the motor work and dyno tuning. They have not seen sumping issues as of yet.

[badcooky]

Same here ,I've known the salesman at my local Hd shop for over forty years ,his son is the mechanic there ,they've had no sumping or transfer issues but they have seen the memos from the MOFOCO.

[Fat11Lo]

I think the biggest problem is the help at HD dealers, I stop in mine fairly often and rarely see the same people. There are some exceptions and those are the ones I rely on when I need something.

Bought a CVO Street Glide back in June and when we dropped it off for 1000 mile service there were probably 4 or 5 techs that were wrapping up for the day and they came out to look at our bike as the service writer was checking it in. None of them looked like they could pass for over 25 years old, doesn't mean they're not smart guys, but have to question their experience. I have been a mechanic for almost 30 years now and I know you have to get experience somewhere, but to have an entire shop full of young techs doesn't appeal to me. Our local dealerships are run more like a retail business than a service based business and their permanent "Now Hiring, no experience necessary" signs reflect the help they do have. The other thing is from what I understand they don't pay these guys very well either, so once they do get some experience and knowledge they are gone.

I asked about the oil pump issues, they told me of one instance at their downtown location, happened on a road test after the 1000 mile service. Funny thing is I met the guy that owns that bike on a ride earlier this year, he said they took care of it, replaced the entire engine without a fuss. I asked about the transfer issue, they had never heard of it. I explained what I have read about and I asked that my transmission fluid level as well as primary be checked before they were drained. They did report back to me that the trans was down to the top of the add mark, but couldn't tell if the primary was overfilled, at least they attempted to address my concern.

I have worked for dealerships in my career and have never seen a model change come without issues. I think Harley's biggest problem is a lack of education and experience on a dealership level and these people are not "equipped" to deal with customers that have issues especially ones that have some background knowledge. The owners of these dealerships are more concerned with new bike sales and would rather their employees be out on social media drumming up sales than pay for the time to educate them to service customer's properly.

When was the last time you were in any type of dealership and seen an award on the wall for best customer service? I've seen them for #1 in sales