Harley warranty and trailer hitches

[nytriker]

I am very fortunate in that I have an EXCELLENT dealer located in Jamestown, NY where I go.

Oldmsocko, I use the same dealer. Purchased my 2011 TG from them. Great folks. Recently, I asked about pulling a trailer and they recommended Bushtec. Also, said they can order and install the hitch for me.

 

[TheBobs]

Too bad we couldn't start a thread, like the Trike Dyno Locations thread, that we could use to share a dealer who is sympathetic to folks towing and wouldn't rat us out to big MOCO. It would be nice on a long road trip to know where those dealers were, but those dealers probably don't want this type of info to be public anyway.

 

[GARYD]

After dealing with Motorcycle companies, auto manufactures and the people who made my favorite blender!!! I have decided that Warranties don't mean poop! Sometimes they will fix your toy and sometimes they won't.. some companies work hard to void your warranty and some bend over backwards to take care of you.

I had Honda treat me like a king once and another time kick me so hard to the curb that I bought a Yamaha or two. Harley is run by Lawyers and corporate types ( just like all large OEM ) now and when ever there is a board of directors there is a need to show a profit. Profit can kill customer service like raid kills ants in my back yard.

I have found it best to pick a good shop and take it from there. Also remember for every good complaint about warranty there are 3 bogus ones and I have found that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. In other words be nice to the warranty person or the person helping you out..if they are on your side you'll get much further than with out them.

Couldn't have said it better. ThumbUp ThumbUp ThumbUp

 

[grapenuts]

I just posted this on another 'trailer hitch' thread, but I thought I'd repeat it here. Looked up the Gross Vehicle Capacity of a Tri, it is 1700 pounds. Wet weight is 1191 pounds. That leaves about 500# for driver, passanger, and whatever gear you want to tote around in the trunk and trailer.
Good Luck

Actually, Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is the total weight of the vehicle plus passengers, luggage and tongue weight only of whatever it is you're towing. So it's very easy to stay within the 1700 lb limit. In fact by taking stuff off the bike and putting it in a trailer it is easier to stay under the limit. Most cars & trucks also list a maximum towing capacity but obviously the MoCo didn't include this.

 

[TheBobs]

Actually, Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is the total weight of the vehicle plus passengers, luggage and tongue weight only of whatever it is you're towing. So it's very easy to stay within the 1700 lb limit. In fact by taking stuff off the bike and putting it in a trailer it is easier to stay under the limit. Most cars & trucks also list a maximum towing capacity but obviously the MoCo didn't include this.

+1, only the tongue weight of the trailer counts towards the total.

 

[screwball]

Aren't we saying the same thing?? 1700 Gross, minus the weight of the bike (wet) leaves about 509 pounds for everything else. My butt, dressed is very close to 300#. Most of the members here ride 2 up, so combined with wife they probably weigh as much as me alone, some others maybe more. Harley doesn't publish a Max Tow rate, because they don't rate their bikes / trikes for towing anything. I've seen LOTS of tri's towing a trailer, from some very custom ones to very basic home brew. None have ever said they had a problem with towing, or warranty stuff. BUT if you ran in with a burned clutch, or a smoked motor with a trailer hitch installed, there COULD be a problem. If I were a dealer I wouldn't much care, the Moco is going to pay me to do the work, Voiding a warranty wouldn't put any money in my pocket if you chose to go somewhere else.

 

[TheBobs]

Aren't we saying the same thing?? 1700 Gross, minus the weight of the bike (wet) leaves about 509 pounds for everything else. My butt, dressed is very close to 300#. Most of the members here ride 2 up, so combined with wife they probably weigh as much as me alone, some others maybe more. Harley doesn't publish a Max Tow rate, because they don't rate their bikes / trikes for towing anything. I've seen LOTS of tri's towing a trailer, from some very custom ones to very basic home brew. None have ever said they had a problem with towing, or warranty stuff. BUT if you ran in with a burned clutch, or a smoked motor with a trailer hitch installed, there COULD be a problem. If I were a dealer I wouldn't much care, the Moco is going to pay me to do the work, Voiding a warranty wouldn't put any money in my pocket if you chose to go somewhere else.

Ya, I think we are. Here's the way I itemized it for my roll-a-home:
GVWR = 1,700
-1,191 wet weight
- 390 2 up total weight
- 50 cargo on bike
- 30 Roll-a-Home tongue weight
39 lbs to spare. More if cargo is shifted to the trailer and balanced to keep tongue weight at 30 lbs.

Yep, we are saying the same thing!

 

[seabiz]

I was looking at a 2009 TriGlide still under warranty in Oregon. It came up in the discussion that the owner had installed a trailer hitch to hold a cooler. The dealer told me the hitch would void the existing warranty and prevent me from extending it if I were to purchase this trike. The dealer told me I could take it off and I would probably be fine as far as future warranty work.

 

[STG246]

Warranty, schmarranty, are you going to let someone tell you what you can do with your own bike? I've been pulling a Bushtec trailer since I got my trike in '09. I have to physically turn my head and look over my shoulder when traveling down the road to make sure it's still following me - it's that unnoticeable.

I drove into the dealership shortly after I put the hitch on and the service manager spotted it right away. He got down on his knees and looked under the bike and said "You put a hitch on, huh?" I replied "Yep. What do you think Harley put those two big pieces of flat iron under the box for anyway, if not for a hitch?" His answer was "$hit, I don't know".

I bought this rig to enjoy it. I'm not waiting 2 or 5 years for the warranty to expire. At the end of your life you don't get those years back, you know?

Amen! When I bought my first Harley in 02 I was naive and got sucked into wasting my money on the street legal SE pipes, paying the dealer to install them, and other than an air cleaner I did no other mechanical mods until my warranty was up, because the dealer told me "I'd void the warranty" then I rode a bike like mine with a big bore kit etc and have regretted wasting the 5 years on a stock bike since, the new TG I just bought is getting aftermarket pipes, air cleaner, tuner, and when I save enough lunch money, a big bore kit...If it breaks, I'll deal with fixing it...


Ryan

 

[beautebiz]

Harley got sued BIG TIME and are now very gun shy! My dealer won't do it either: he will sell me the hitch, but won't install it.
It also voids all warranty items related to pulling the trailer, but not things like the radio, etc.'

 

[mcdonaldroadcapt]

I have one on my trike and took it into a new dealer to have grip warmers replaced. They did the work but new service manager turned me in. My extended service warranty was cancelled. I did receive a refund for all work done plus what was left on warranty. Harley is serious about this and will surely inforce until they come out with their own trailer at a jacked up price.

 

[Bikerbozo]

Harley got sued BIG TIME and are now very gun shy! My dealer won't do it either: he will sell me the hitch, but won't install it.
It also voids all warranty items related to pulling the trailer, but not things like the radio, etc.'

As long as you don't listen to radio while towing. Because then music is under extra strain. I really shouldn't give the HD lawyers ideas. :qpnmt: