Brother Malvinder is finally a HOG.
After being an owner of several brands - Suzuki, Triumph, Honda, and what not - finally a Harley Davidson Breakout. Not going into the reason for a quick switch from his last buy, the guy remains a rider.
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| Distorted Joint - part of standard fitment as per Harley Chrome Advisor |
Last time I went to the newly renovated workshop of Himalayan Harley, I liked the way it was done up. It looked practical and very much job oriented. I passed my views onto Malvinder while he was making mind to purchase. However, it seems, my observation was not completely verified.
We opted to take delivery of BREAKOUT from the workshop, and I tagged along. Two accessories were ordered - Engine Guard and Side Plate Mount. The bike was ready on time, as we reached for inspection. Only visible to careful and keen eye - the proud owner to be, soon spotted that the side indicator and the mount kit did not have the exact fitment. There was a difference of a good 4 - 5mm.
Having experienced the replies of techs before, we summoned the man who so gladly advises on what accessories to go for. The advisor promptly defended the mismatch saying that this is how it is, that several other bikes had been fitted with the mount and all were a mismatch (its a different story that you noticed and others didn't)! We tried to give him a face saver that maybe its a wrong part; but the advisor was pretty sure that the part is correct and fitting is such only. It didn't come as a shocker to me, but I really cant say about Malvinder. At this point I would like to refer to the commercials involved - 11000 indian rupees for the side mount kit and around 1000 indian rupees for the faulty fitment.
We asked the techs to redo and see if we can make some sense of it. The guys kept filing and drilling for few hours before the verdict was out - SORRY. Keen on the side plate for the looks it gives to the rear, we decided to lump the differential 4 - 5mm. Yea.... so much for buying a Harley in India !
For now, we hope ride of the bike will make us ignore the distorted joint and forget defence of the Harley personnel. But c'mon Harley - seriously - you could do better !
1 comment:
Our horrifying experience with capital chapter.
Dear HD India Team
I really hope there is someone in the whole organisation who might have the time and take the pain to read through the entire mail including the trailing mail!
There were times when companies did not bother about the customer and all they were interested in was the Sales figure. People say times have changed and customers' voice is heard these days, management does come forward to help a disappointed customer but not at HD i can bet!
I had written a mail in the wee hours on Saturday and no one has even acknowledged it till today. I am sure you get a lot of hate mails and you guys have learnt giving a dime about it. Well here comes another one!
After the frustration of getting a 4 month old Display bike with scratched and incomplete accessories even after waiting for almost 2 months, it wasn't enough. I went for my first ride on my new bike with fellow HD riders on Sunday 01st November to Alwar and the ride was pretty decent after the disastrous buying experience but I have bought a Harley Davidson. On our way back, as we approached Mahipalpur and were maneuvering through traffic, I suddenly realized I have lost my Rear Brake. The pedal was dead free and it scared the living day light out of me as we were on the Expressway and I was doing about 80 km/hr. On the Intercom, I asked my friends to slowly pullover as I had lost my brakes. We got down and inspected the Brakes. No leaking fluid and everything looked in order. I bent down and saw the Locking Pin and nut that holds the Brake Pedal and Linkage had fallen off. I had got Forward Foot Controls installed before delivery and the Technician had done a brilliant job. Kudos! It is very encouraging for a new HD owner when his friends say "Welcome to HD" on such a catastrophic occurrence. I thank God that we were in City Limits and not on some highway doing higher speeds than what we were.
I am sure there are Standard Operating Procedures set in place for jobs undertaken at the Service Centre and if somebody can ask Capital Chapter about the protocol followed for the accessories added to my Bike, each and every documentation would say everything was done as per the textbook and all was found "OK". Can you please tell them, they are playing with lives of people by being this complacent at work? It is the couple of hours they spend on our bikes that can make the difference between life and death on the road.
I can bet that even a 50k bike would be less problematic than this. Just for your reference sake, in the 18 months that i owned a Kawasaki, I did not have to go back to the Service Centre once for any recurring issue once let alone any major component failure. Probably they understood what their job was or were serious towards what they did.
I demand a probe into the matter and seek help because I have spend 13.xx lakh of my hard earned money on what seems like some heavy pieces of metal bolted together and I do not want to take a hit selling it off in its first month.
I have lost all my trust, faith, confidence whatever one might call it in Harley Davidson, in the Indian subcontinent at least. If anyone at HD India has the shame to reply to this or take some action, I would still think it's only a handful of people ruining the reputation of HD and you are really wanting the riders to have an experience they can call "Brotherhood".
For record, I have attached a picture and video of the failed linkage connection.
A dejected, sad and disheartened HD Owner
Sumit Juneja
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