I have heard some horror stories regarding local dealers, so I just wanted to see how everyone else felt about their local dealer, Harley Davidson, or whatever you ride.

My local dealer, Zion Harley Davidson, in Washington, Utah is just great!  They really take care of their customers in every way.  The sales staff is great, the service staff is great, and the management seems to really appreciate their customers.  They have cook-outs most every weekend during riding season, and lately have been adding more events.

I have dealt with 2 different Honda dealers in this area. One in Crystal Lake, IL. There they acted very put out to sell me parts or give me an estimate on repairs. Didn't seem they wanted me to come back, so I won't. The other one over in Lake Villa, IL has always been very helpful and seemed happy to help me out, even with the smallest detail.

I used to love our Santa Cruz Harley Davidson Dealer...Everyone was great from the owner right down to the receptionist.  But I am sorry to say they closed last fall.  The letter we got from the owner blamed it mostly on tough economic times, but also put some of the blame on the H-D company, saying they were just not as caring of their customers anymore.

I have been forced to ride to the Morgan Hill dealership now, but haven't really established an opinion yet.  I only go there when I need parts or service, where I used to go to the Santa Cruz dealership just to hand out

I usually trade my bike after 15,000 miles; so I tend to ride metric and anyways the dealer I go to is great for getting the best deal within 250 mile radius. However, their service department really sucks, wouldn't take my grandkid's little red wagon there to get serviced. I just put 500 miles on my new bike and got a self taping screw in the rear tire. So, I call around to all the metric shops in my area and to include the dealer where I got the bike and no one could or seem to not to want to help me out. They all said it would be at least 2 weeks to get my tire in. I was going on a bike vacation in 2 days when his happened. So my last call was to our local "hold on to your hat" Harley Davidson dealer. Told the nice gal on duty of my plight, she made a few phone calls and call me back and had me bring my bike in monday morning first thing. I was in and out less than 1 hour. The show room was great and shop was professional and very clean and organized. Highland Harley Davidson in LaVale Maryland, I believe they deserve a little recognition.

Wiebler's Harley Davidson in Davenport, Iowa has bent over backwards to help with the purchasing and delivery of my bikes. The have a great sales staff, parts personnel and their service department is there when you need them, if you have any questions just see the service manager and he will get you the answer. Just thought they deserve a mention.

Currently we have a great little Mom & Pop Dealership in Uniontown, PA. called Cerini's National Road Harley-Davidson. For me there is no other. They have always teated me like family and anything done to the bike was handled swiftly. Recently though, I found out they will be closing their doors. The truth? They can't compete against the big corporate dealers anymore. Their the oldest dealer in PA, where their known for their quick service and friendly relationships. Today, dealers are trying to out do each other for our patronage. But all those free hotdogs, free music and parties will have to be paid for...By us. So hold on to your hats.

I agree Jump, the people a Zion H-D are great.  Always get good service from friendly people.

Quick story about them.  Two years ago I had a buddy riding from San Diego, CA heading to Sturgis.  He was coming by to have lunch on his way through.  He go in a little later than planned and when he arrived he told me about a funny noise on the bike.  We shot over to Zion Harley, the service guy took it for a quick spin and immediately realized the drive belt had a big chunk missing.  It was 5 minutes before closing and they said to leave it and they would fix it first thing in the morning.  He really wanted to be on the road by like 6am to get back on schedule and told the service writter this.  He checked with the service manager and without hesitation he asked one of the mechanics if he would mind staying to change the belt.  The service manager stayed too, guess he had to lock up.

You just don't see that kind of customer service anymore.
 

Best dealerships that I have had business with is Sound H-D in Marysville, and Adventure Motorsports in Monroe. Both go out of their way to greet you and make you feel welcome, no matter what you ride.

My local dealer Orlando Harley Davidson is great. They have 4 or 5 dealerships in the area, but the one I frequent the most is the East store on Lake Underhill Road. They have a great team at all their stores and really care about their customers. They have regular events at all of the dealerships, open houses, lunches, etc. It's a great place just to hang out at on Saturday an meet a lot of other riders. Thanks Orlando H-D for being so good to your customers!

I do have a question about the events that maybe one of the H-D dealers here can answer. I noticed that recently most dealers have increased the number of events at the HD dealerships, and many are having the same types of events, i.e. Women's Garage Party. Is this something that came from the Motor Company?

I have been to the Harley shop many of times with my husband, but now that I am a Harley Davidson Owner, our trip this weekend was much more fun for me. I took my first ride on major streets (about 20 miles on highway) this weekend. We rode over to Parkway Harley Davidson in Swannanoa, NC.

I wanted to add a few things to my new bike and the people there were great. They helped me find the parts that were for my Sportster and even helped in suggesting some more comfortable hand grips. The ones on my bike were these chrome and rubber grips that were way to big for my hands. I think I'll be spending a lot more time over there shopping for my bike and myself!

I went 30 miles to purchase my bike as opposed to buying it from the dealer who was across town from me.
I don't care for the local one and was willing to travel to make my purchase.Thedealer across town had the attitude that if you didn't look like ya were rich then you got no attention when on there showroom floor or at the parts counter.
The local dealer has since established a new manager (my dad's buddy) and I will go back and give em another chance.

mine is in aberdeen ,scotland ,its shirlaws on crown st aberdeen ,sales team are all a great bunch of guys ,both bike and clothing ,not so sure about the parts though put in my front brakes to get done ,took them more than a week to sort them ,still all good guys .

HDBeech - yeah Liberty is real close to me - they're pretty decent - they definately go out of there way for folks - The only trend that drives me crazy is they (and a few other local dealers) won't work on my 1994 FXSTS b/c it's "too old" - Not sure I understand that - it's an Evo which is only generation behind the newer models - anyways that's moy only gripe - other thant that, they're fantastic!

The Honda boys are a joke. they don't like it if you go out of town to get the bike. But for 3000.00 they going to have to like it. LOL

ha hijinx, Thanks for the shout out. Glad you had a great experience at our store. I would like to know though who told you we won't work on your 1997 springer. As I write this our service depy is loaded with 80's and 90's vintage Harleys, as well as some full blown customs. We will work on just about any modern HD, but the deal is we can't menue price the services or repairs the same as current models. The reason for that is we don't know what we will find when we open up a 15 or 20 year old HD. Some of these bikes have had a very hard life with many owners.

Great news!!  I had called awhile back (2 years or so) and was told that  (don't recall who but it was in service) - totally understand about not being able to menu the prices!  well once again you guys do a bang up job!  glad to hear I can bring the springer in for work!!  Thx!!!

Cowboy Harley in Beaumont is a true STEALERSHIP. Best I ever dealt with was Abernathy in Union City, Tn. Had a breakdown and Tootie, the owner, rode himself to go get a part and had a mechanic come in on Sunday to finish my sled up. Coil and labor was $139. First class guys up there.

Great to come across people who are willing to go the extra mile to get you back in the wind. How long ago was that as that type of service and price seem to be few and far between nowadays?!

Couple of years ago but Tootie still owns it. I talked to him 2-3 months ago.

There are two dealerships in the South of Ireland, one in Waterford and one in Dublin.
They are both great and you get treated like family at both.

Not having a bike yet i go to alot of different shops quite often. all the H-D shops i have been to are Very friendly and seam to want to help but Salesmen on the other hand are a different story ( in my experence as of yet), Part salesmen are friendly and very helpful. Living in Valdosta, GA. Only one Honda & Kawasaki Dealer but their prices are crazy for what i could get an H-D Sportster 1200 Custom. The Suzuki Dealership was a mom and pop shop now they closed to just do motorcycle work on them.

But ty fxrdude for the info in Mobile, AL. i have not headed over that direction yet but will make a point to ASAP.
As a Former Airborne Combat Engineer (SAPPER) i got to talk to another US Army Vet.

I live in Findlay, Ohio. 20 miles west is a dealr that was rude to my wife when she didn't exactly word her inquiry with the proper parts terminology. Then rude to us both when we rode in to talk face to face. Acted like we had really wasted their time. 20 miles east is Thiels Wheels in Upper Sandusky. Day one they spent an extraordinary amount of time with my very undecisive wife about new riding gloves. She didn't buy any. Day two we showed up, they smiled big and dug in to help her and we bought a bunch ($400 worth) of HD Foo-foo clothing for the wifey. WHAT a difference 40 miles makes!!!! When I can't get it local, it's Theils Wheels for us!!!