[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by amitkb

The Two Rivers HD dealership generously offered to pay me back the full price of the bike if I upgraded to an Iron at Rs. 3 lakhs extra cost. I refused since I was done with biking and HD. I wanted all my money back. In October 2016, after a long, futile, and one-way fight in which HD India simply did not respond to my emails, Harley-Davidson won a pusillanimous victory and I gave up and sold the bike back to the dealership at a huge loss.

I leave it up to you guys to draw your own conclusions. I hope to put this sordid chapter in my life behind me. Down with Harley Davidson!!!

Amit

Hey Amit,

Really sad to hear your story with HD. If you recall I had mentioned to you almost at the beginning of your thread to sell off your bike and take a vacation with the money. This is not to rub it in brother, just a statement.

This is coming from a guy who bought a brand new manual Civic and within two months realized it was a pain in the ass because I also own a automatic City. No way was I going to "get used" to driving a manual in this horrendous traffic as I was spoilt by the convienience of an automatic. It was an extremely stupid move to say the least . There were loads of suggestions saying keep it "you will get used to it", "you will lose money" etc etc. I was dead sure I would never get used to it, so sold it and bought another Civic but an automatic one which is with me to this day. My point being, once you are sure some object is stealing your peace of mind and not doing you any good, get rid of the thing. Who cares what people think, they are going to talk anyways. Do what you want as you only live once.

Anyways, its great that you finally bought peace of mind by selling off your bike which was stealing that besides of the nuisance. Now take your time before deciding whether you want to get back to biking or not.

Be cool and have fun.

Cheers

[NiInJa]

I am not sad after reading this ! Its always better to get out of a relationship as early as possible if its not working out
After reading your story, I have made up my mind that I'll never get a street 750 HD. Quality issues seem to be a big problem especially for what price you pay.

I would still say that don't give up biking, who knows there is something better ahead ?

[gthang]

Originally Posted by amitkb

I refused since I was done with biking and HD. I wanted all my money back.

You USED a bike for several months, during which time you took the effort to bad mouth the bike, the company and the dealership (not counting the fanboys) on social media, and now that you feel that you are done with it, you want ALL your money back? Strange sense of reality and entitlement.

Originally Posted by amitkb

like putting lipstick on a pig, me thinks.
Amit

You should have a chat with the beautician who did that.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by amitkb

I leave it up to you guys to draw your own conclusions. I hope to put this sordid chapter in my life behind me. Down with Harley Davidson!!!

I agree that HD don't deserve another chance after the experience you've had with them but I do think you should give motorcycling a second chance.

This experience will have made you much more cognizant of what you want from a bike and I'm pretty sure that with the right bike, you'll discover that magic again which a car simply cannot give you.

[Spark]

Originally Posted by amitkb

My only interest is in informing people about the downsides in my own small way. I could have been much more flowery in my prose, but I chose to write simply and from the heart. I also know I have probably shot the resale value down, but if at least one person does not make the mistake I have made, then I am redeemed. After all, that is what TBHP is all about, right?

.. It is for my fellow TBHPians that I am writing this, so they can at least ask the right questions before they buy the bike.

As the previous posters have noted, it really took a lot of guts to put this out there, but after reading GTO's post and your question, I am really beginning to wonder if it was worth it...

Amit

Read this tread off-late and sorry to hear your experience with HD.

Meant to convey ..THANKS for putting down your opinion, time and passion to help fellow members make more informed decisions. We all find ourselves caught-up in frenzy, investing heavily on rides we love that its not long before buyer's remorse sets-in. Thanks again for reminding us.

Spark.

[amitkb]

Originally Posted by gthang

You USED a bike for several months, during which time you took the effort to bad mouth the bike, the company and the dealership (not counting the fanboys) on social media, and now that you feel that you are done with it, you want ALL your money back? Strange sense of reality and entitlement...

I asked for my money back because it was proven I was sold a rotten lemon. Only in India can HD sell trash, treat customers unfairly, and get away with it, so yeah, please accept my sincerest apologies that my sense of reality is a bit off key...

On a related note, I choose to continue to practice stoic restraint...

Amit

[gthang]

Originally Posted by amitkb

I asked for my money back because it was proven I was sold a rotten lemon.

Amit

Food for thought: excessive locking up of rear wheels without pulling in the clutch can lead to same failure as yours.

What makes a vehicle a lemon? And really curious to know what a rotten lemon is.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by amitkb

Terminal Update
The Two Rivers HD dealership generously offered to pay me back the full price of the bike if I upgraded to an Iron at Rs. 3 lakhs extra cost. I refused since I was done with biking and HD. I wanted all my money back. In October 2016, after a long, futile, and one-way fight in which HD India simply did not respond to my emails, Harley-Davidson won a pusillanimous victory and I gave up and sold the bike back to the dealership at a huge loss.

Glad that your suffering has ended! But maybe you should have taken up the offer on the Iron and then sell that bike off in 6 months? It would have still been a loss but not a huge one possibly.

In any case: this thread is going to be a warning for many potential Harley owners. Good luck with your next purchase

[Nissan1180]

Congratulations on letting the bike go. I feel you should have done it sooner.
I'm not too much into bikes. I like them because they look good and sound good. However, the lack of safety is a big turn-off. That's why I never bought one.
I'm surprised that there are members on this forum who believe it is okay for a company to sell you a lemon because it is their 'entry level' product.
No. It is not okay.
There's a basic level of QC that a company is expected to maintain. A Splendor which costs 10% of what you paid lasts for more than 100,000 km without a major intervention. If you face a gear failure so soon, it points to a serious issue in the quality of the parts used. I'm also surprised that the response from the company has been so shoddy. It shows how much they care about customers here. I'm also sad that people still believe that it is the customer's fault that this happened- it doesn't work that way. The company is charging more than 5 Lakhs for this product - they are not giving it away for free. No amount of 'brand value' can pay off for the fact that the bike left him stranded on the road.
Hopefully people would insulate their judgement from the halo of the brand value in the future and purchase products that are reliable, safe and less troublesome to own. Thanks.

[motorhead16]

Harley Davidson is nothing more than an overly glorified version of Royal Enfield. The service/reliability is equally horrible for both companies.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by motorhead16

Harley Davidson is nothing more than an overly glorified version of Royal Enfield. The service/reliability is equally horrible for both companies.

You should probably have said that "you feel" or it's"your opinion" as a preamble to your statement.

Else someone like me could ask you to back that statement with some evidence.

Cheers

Ride Safe

[balenopower]

Originally Posted by motorhead16

Harley Davidson is nothing more than an overly glorified version of Royal Enfield. The service/reliability is equally horrible for both companies.

I know its a forum and one is entitled to opinions but I guess this post is a one without a head or a tail.

Originally Posted by gthang

Food for thought: excessive locking up of rear wheels without pulling in the clutch can lead to same failure as yours.

What makes a vehicle a lemon? And really curious to know what a rotten lemon is.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

Im guessing you know he was locking up the rear wheels without pulling the clutch? or you're saying its impossible for this to happen without someone being stupid with the motorcycle and that HD's are indestructible.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by gthang

You should probably have said that "you feel" or it's"your opinion" as a preamble to your statement.

Else someone like me could ask you to back that statement with some evidence.

Cheers

Ride Safe

When someone writes something without any evidence (web links etc) as you put it, it is obviously the writers opinion.

Well done Amit for the thread and decision to sell off the bike.

For the sake of clarity, everything stated above is my opinion

Cheers

[grazd]

@Amit,
This is a wonderful series of posts, kudos to you for sharing honestly and putting your thoughts together so well (even though they may be unpalatable to people feel their loyalties lie with HD.) It takes a lot of courage to put it up on a forum where there is chance of being attacked by folks who disagree with your views. However, barring few exceptions, it is nice to see that the dialogue was civil and cordial.

@Saran,
Many thanks for sharing your experiences, it was insightful and funny!

As a neutral observer, it is interesting for me to note the kinds of discomfort that superbikers are willing to put up with: overheating, fishtailing, poor ergonomics etc. It shows their passion for biking I guess.
(I personally would find these issues, unacceptable to deal with, even in a 125cc commuter bike. )

But maybe the biking community can come together to demand that these products are engineered keeping INDIAN conditions in mind, such as bad roads, heavy stop-n-go traffic, lack of parking etc.
Looks like it is already beginning to happen!
https://www.rushlane.com/harley-davi...-12215062.html

Maybe that is an impossibility and the very nature of big motorbikes is incompatible with such mundane necessities, but one can always hope! RE has been trying to address some of these issues in their own way, with mixed success.
I wonder, though, how how some big MNCs - HD, Ducati, Triumph, Kawasaki, Benneli - are doing that. (Or are they counting on branding to sell their stuff?) I am sure they have superb engineering teams to rely on, if there are stories of how they modify their products to tackle the indian market, I would love to read those.

[shridhar.s.i]

Originally Posted by amitkb

My only interest is in informing people about the downsides in my own small way. I could have been much more flowery in my prose, but I chose to write simply and from the heart. I also know I have probably shot the resale value down, but if at least one person does not make the mistake I have made, then I am redeemed. After all, that is what TBHP is all about, right?

Amit

Consider yourself redeemed sir, after reading the content of this thread, I am not buying HD for sure

I am a HD fanboy, but a friend of mine owns a HD Iron and is not specifically happy about it. While road presence is good and it is a head turner for sure, still the riding dynamics, ergonomics are not spot on.

I personally believe higher CC bikes do heat up a lot, so the "TANDOOR" effect will be there. Even my Royal enfield thunderbird 350 becomes a mini gas stove when I am riding in bumper to bumper traffic.

And charging 40k for headlamps, 5k for extenders is a ripoff

On a lighter note, i really can not believe one would buy a HD for a trip to get milk daily