Team-BHP - Harley Davidson appoints dealers across India

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrariKSA (Post 1903116)

On enquiring at the event for bikes being imported can be serviced at the local dealer, I got a polite answer "bike's sold by dealer will only be serviced".

That seems quite silly and a little unfair. They should be as customer friendly as possible and facilitate servicing of existing harleys to the extent they can.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axe77 (Post 2017018)

That seems quite silly and a little unfair. They should be as customer friendly as possible and facilitate servicing of existing harleys to the extent they can.

HD India does not want to touch those motorcycles that have come non genuine way; probably the Govt likes that too. Isn't it the same practice carried out by Jap big bikes too?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axe77 (Post 2017018)

That seems quite silly and a little unfair. They should be as customer friendly as possible and facilitate servicing of existing harleys to the extent they can.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee (Post 2017135)

HD India does not want to touch those motorcycles that have come non genuine way; probably the Govt likes that too. Isn't it the same practice carried out by Jap big bikes too?

Why not? A Harley is a Harley, irrespective of where it was bought from. Harley Davidson - as an organisation - is obligated to provide support to all Harleys, even the grey market pieces.

If they don't, they are really stupid. For one, that's an additional source of income. Second, it further strengthens the goodwill in India. Third, more customer visits usually lead to more (indirect) sales.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 2018431)

I only wish this happens.

A Harley could be a Harley, fine, but the sourcing is more important as Harley had to convince the Govt a lot to open up the market for them. Probably they're doing back a favor to Govt; again, this is only my assumption & could be partially right.

As of now there're no positive news from any of the dealers that they will support any of the existing HD's. Somewhere I also remember reading that there were only about 45 HD totally across India & this was the statement given at the time of inaugural speech.

But this is India, anything can happen, there's always a back door policy.

GTO i have spoken to the officials about the service as i own a harley.they said they wont service anything other than what has been sold here with an indian invoice.they said they had pressure from DRI officials.
i told them what would the mercedes owners do if mercedes would have thought of the same thing in 1990's.but i am sure over a period of time they would have no choice but to service the existing bikes.
If they don't, they are really stupid. For one, that's an additional source of income. Second, it further strengthens the goodwill in India. Third, more customer visits usually lead to more (indirect) sales.[/quote]

I can understand why they wouldn't be willing to service grey market bikes. There are legal ramifications to operate a service center. There are situations where accidents/fatalities on road have resulted in the manufacturer/dealership/service centers becoming defendants in the legal proceedings initiated by the victim's kin. In light of these situations it is not entirely unfair on HD's part to have a hands-off approach to grey market imports that have questionable origin and have been assembled and serviced locally by mechanics without proper tooling.

This isn't about HD being fair/unfair - it is clearly a case of protecting their interests from a legal angle. It also encourages people to purchase legal bikes through dealerships.

That said, I have seen grey-market bikes being serviced at Yamaha and Suzuki service centers so at the end of the day it is a matter of who you know and how well you know them.

Thats strange and mean, HD was mustering details of each and every HD owner in the country before they started their boot camp series last year. In fact most of the city show rides that Harley sponsored had imports in their convoy. To say that they are not going to service bikes that were imported will not go down too well with the limited HoG community this country has.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nandishpal

i am sure over a period of time they would have no choice but to service the existing bikes

This is exactly what I was trying to convey too. Things will take it owns time to ripe. But until then - there's always a back door policy :)

Going to be a contrarian here in predicting that HD will not have it easy in India. They sell the brand and the bikes are way too heavy and too expensive for Indian conditions for being the admission price to the club. City driving - Indian city driving - on a HD is a painful experience to my thinking, based on the one time I took one out for a spin. The bike design is a typical US of A philosophy of big is beautiful, as is loads of chrome, as in the case of American cars of the heyday of these cars, as compared to the ones made in Europe or in Japan for the non US markets. Reliability would not be near the Japanese CBUs for both build quality and technology reasons. And that gets to be compounded by the lack of service infrastructure to support long distance travelers.
I don't want to say more or I would be flamed, time will tell.

Read this piece of news about Harley Davidson in Chandigarh..

Having pampered himself with a whopping Rs.19 lakh ($42,000) Harley-Davidson, Chandigarh businessman Simranjeet Gill had hoped for a cruiser of a ride. But little did he know that the US company did not have permission from the transport authorities in Chandigarh to be registered.

Read more here:
Chandigarh says no to Harleys, bumpy ride for owner

I had also seen another thread where it said Ducati & Harley are having problems registering their bikes in Bangalore. Very strange that I have seen Harleys & other grey market imports running on regular KA plates in bangalore, whereas the legal imports are having this new challenge!

If these official importers have indeed applied for the required permits from the concerned transport department, is there anything the RTI Act can help in this situation??

Its not fair that the customers have to go thru this nightmare. Besides, one BIG lesson for new customers- Not a great idea to run on temporary plates. Better wait for the proper registration and then take delivery.

^^^ +1; and that's the status for several months now. Even their website is proud to show 4 dealers on the front page except BLR.

I'm very sure they accept bookings, not sure if they've delivered motorcycles. I hope they should be opening sometime soon & if any insights as what is causing the delay to open the dealership is highly appreciated from someone.

PS - Srini, did you know HD is looking out for dealerships in Chennai & Coimbatore?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrini78 (Post 2143790)

Everytime I visit www.harley-davidson.in
it says BLR dealer is yet to open...
Is BLR dealership up & runnin or is it still comin up?

I read on another forum they have put up the HD logos and are giving the final touches to the interior of the showroom on Lavelle Road.