| Author | Message | ||
     Dmmblaze |
It started out looking like my battery was losing its juice. Hesitation upon initial start up which would sometimes reset the clock and trip meters. Other then that, the bike was running great. Took the bike in to the dealer Saturday to get a new battery under warranty and that's when they let me know the battery apparently is good and the VR is dying. They of course don't have the VR in stock but said they could check around Monday to see if someone close did after I balked at possibly waiting 10 business days for them to get the part from the mothership. I called around and verified the part is in stock at 3 relatively close dealerships and called Saint Paul to tell them in hopes of speeding things up since I had wanted to take a trip to Duluth Wed if this nice weather holds. They told me they would look in to it and get back to me. Well apparently their looking in to it consisted of ordering the part from Buell and telling me it will take 7 to 10 days to get to them. They said since it is a warranty issue Buell makes them get the part directly from the factory? Does that make any sense? By the time all is said and done I could be without my bike for 2 weeks. You would think they could have such a simple part shipped overnight from Buell if they have to go directly through them. Makes me wonder if I should try to get the bike over to the nearest wisconsin dealership that actually has the part. I am interested in hearing from other owners that have had warranty work done.. Does waiting for parts eat up weeks of your warranty? Dealers have to go directly through Buell even when a close by dealership has the part in stock? Why does it take so long to get parts delivered under warranty? Does the time my bike sits in the shop extend my warranty? I have already had my bike sit waiting for warranty service over the 4th of July for 12 days ruining a trip I had planned because it needed a simple break light switch. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
So I called New Richmond to verify they had the VR in stock. They are a little over an hours ride away and have 2 on their shelf. Was told they could have it fixed while I waited which would let me leave on my trip tomorrow. Called St. Paul and was told, sure I could take the bike but that I would then have to pay for them for the time it took to diagnose my problem and possibly something to cover the expense of the VR they ordered and now would no longer need. For some reason I thought you could have problems diagnosed at a dealer for free when your still under the original factory warranty. Apparently that's not the case. | ||
| Reepicheep |
May just be the 77 connector, the VR and battery may both be fine. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
That's what I was thinking too. I asked about it at St. Paul Harley where my bike is now and got a clueless look... Anyways, I am gonna pick up the bike today and get it in to New Richmond who has the VR instock so I can hopefully go on my trip tomorrow. I am assuming the new VR should have a new connector style that replaces the 77 right? I made a point of asking that the VR was the new part number and he assured me it was even though he at first didn't like my new number and quoted me the old one. I am wondering if I should be worried about them putting in the old model VR... hmm | ||
| Froggy |
Well, its only fair, they didn't complete the work so they can't get paid by the mothership, so you just expect them to eat the cost of ordering a VR and all the tech time? Also, even if they put an old VR on, the difference is only the connector, which many just remove anyway. | ||
| Ulykan |
For some reason I thought you could have problems diagnosed at a dealer for free when your still under the original factory warranty. Apparently that's not the case. I was under that assumption too but found out the hard way that it isn't true. If they find a problem then there may not be a diagnostic charge IF they fix it. Otherwise be prepared to pony up. Not right IMO but that's the way it works at my dealership too. Sad isn't it? | ||
| Dmmblaze |
..."Well, its only fair, they didn't complete the work so they can't get paid by the mothership, so you just expect them to eat the cost of ordering a VR and all the tech time?..." I understand that point of view. It would have been nice to be told up front though, especially since most business's do offer free estimates when it comes to work they will perform, why should warranty work be any different? I didn't buy the bike from a dealer with a new 2 year warranty thinking I would have to pay for diagnostics if they can't get the mothership to pay everytime the bike has a real issue. I was upfront from the get go on stating I did not want them to order a part if I could find one nearby and I did a lot of research before I brought the bike in in hopes of having a quick resolution (thought it was the battery since the connector and everything else looked fine). The tech time came to $50 bucks, when I said I was coming to pick up the bike anyways he offered to do a lil more checking on the part and call St. Croix. Anyways, he called back and said the bike will be ready to pick up with no charge since their "tech time" really didn't take much time at all. The right thing to do in my opinion... But I suppose I could have felt indebted to them for diagnosing my problem and missed my trip just so they can over bill the mothership for warranty work. My last job that took close to 2 weeks to perform, they handed me a bill forgetting it was covered under warranty, so when they re did it I noticed they then had a bill for twice as much to submit to Buell... | ||
| Red_chili |
The tech time came to $50 bucks, when I said I was coming to pick up the bike anyways he offered to do a lil more checking on the part and call St. Croix. Anyways, he called back and said the bike will be ready to pick up with no charge since their "tech time" really didn't take much time at all. The right thing to do in my opinion... But I suppose I could have felt indebted to them for diagnosing my problem... You could pay off that indebtedness with a sixpack of nice barleypop. Good etiquette. He could have charged you. | ||
| Tneall |
I've had my '08 XT back at Rt66 HD here in Tulsa to diagnose various problems and have never been charged, even if they could not find anything wrong. Although, last summer I did have to wait 3 plus weeks for a new exhaust valve actuator and that sort of torqued my jibbers. | ||
| Glen |
when my stock windsheild spiderwebbed on the freeway, it was a warranty repair and they called around and found one at another shop and had it shipped to them. Great Lakes Harley/Buell has always been good to me though.Knock on wood. Glen | ||
| Dmmblaze |
About to ride off to Duluth now that my bike is fixed. Stopped in to get some supplies and figured I should update my posting since my Voltage Regulator is fine like I initially thought. It was the battery all along which I insisted was the problem to St. Paul harley to no avail. Drove over to New Richmond WI from St. Paul MN this morning to get it in to them first thing. Started out as a nice refreshing ride at 29 degrees though it warmed up quick (I don't have the comfort kit). As I suspected all along, my battery was going. The tech could find nothing wrong with the VR and checked it thoroughly though the battery he said failed all his tests (as it did my various volt meter tests). Makes me wonder what the hell was going on at St. Paul harley. They should have had my problem fixed last weekend instead of trying to hold my bike hostage and then trying to get me to pay them a Tech time fee for bogus tech info. I will think more about it when I get back from Duluth and definitely talk to them about it. Here are some pic's I took on my wandering way home since it took much less time then I thought it would getting serviced at St. Croix.  Highway 65 in Sconnie seemed like death valley. Saw 3 deer and to many to count small animals that never were taught to look both ways before crossing a road. Don't know why I snapped the deer pic... seemed like all the carnage made me feel like I should acknowledge it and not forget how easy it is to become road kill. The other pic's are over looking St.Croix river where a bunch of burial mounds have had a fantastic view for thousands of years.   | ||
| Mnrider |
Glad your fixed up blaze. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Me too Mnrider, thanks. Bike has been starting and running great again. I am still pretty disappointed in St. Paul Harley for trying to get me to leave my bike there acting like it could die on the road at any moment because the VR was shot while saying my bad battery was fine. I need to call them now that I am back in town and give them an offer to explain before I rush to any judgment, though it is hard not to feel like they were less then honest, or if not that very incompetent. This past week has been great riding weather for mid to late November, it would have been a shame having my Uly tethered up at St. Paul Harley awaiting a part that was not needed and missing out on potentially my last opportunity of the year to take the Uly on a long road trip out of town. Funny thing is I was planning on storing both my Buells with them over the winter, now I am reorganizing the garage.... | ||
| Tastroman |
Am I missing something or are you riding that Uly in 29 degree weather without a windscreen? | ||
| Froggy |
Its not like the stock windscreen does much anyway.  | ||
| Panhead_dan |
When my local dealership did me a good turn once I brought then an ice chest full of cold Corona and a half dozen limes. I left it for them and picked up my ice chest a couple of weeks later. This may have been great for moral but sadly they shut down. I have no local dealership now which curiously doesn't seem to mater in view of current affairs. (no more Buell) | ||
| Metaldude |
Greetings fellow Minnesota rider! The last five weeks I've been driving my Uly into work every morning and only missed a few days because of rain (cold is one thing, but rain is another in my book). When I bought my Uly this fall, it had the same electrical issue as you and I immediately replaced the battery, did the #77 connector fix and changed the ground mount. All my electrical problems vanished. It would have been more illuminating to know which specific fix did the trick - but at least I was back and riding in no time. I've had good luck with Wild Prairie HD. They're the same outfit as St Paul HD - but their tech has been very good to my bike. First name is Chris, don't know the last name. He may be the same guy that worked on your bike, but I heard he only works out of Wild Prairie. Last time my bike was in their shop he broke my rubber battery strap but left me his channel lock under the seat. Maybe I'll bring it back and swap him for a new strap.... | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Windscreen's? Where we're going we don't need windscreen's.. To quote Dr. Brown.. or wait, was he talking about roads? hmm, some would say we don't need those either.. hehe Yeah Tastroman, I took the stock windscreen off and plugged the holes with some black plastic stoppers that blend right in. As Froggy alluded to, stock screen is worthless. I have never liked the look of windscreens on bikes. Wasted my time trying a 12" Cee Bailey's a bit ago since it doesn't look to bad compared to other screen's and I thought it would be good for cold weather riding. I didn't like it and have been riding windscreen free since and loving every minute. Seems like there is less buffeting against the wind now with no screen, which the bigger a screen is the more buffeting I would imagine... hmm, makes me think of sailing against the wind. Hello there Metaldude. I have been to wild prairie a few times to buy Buell gear St. Paul didn't have, nice place. A couple of the ladies behind the merchandise sales counter are pretty helpful. Never been serviced there though, what has your bike had done to it there? | ||
| Metaldude |
Wild Prairie rebuilt my whole engine. My front piston went completely kaput. I had flipped it the day after I bought it - not sure if that caused the kaput or if it had a manufacturing flaw when I got it. After the flip it had a bad knock so I monkeyed with it for a few weeks - thinking it was a bad motor mount, or bad timing. Finally brought it into Wild Prairie and they tore into it. By then the tranny fluid was full of silvery bits, the front piston and cylinder were very scored and oil had fouled the head. They replaced the entire bottom end, all bearings, new front piston and cylinder, lapped valves, blasted the head... I was very impressed with the quality. The rebuild is very solid (already 1,500 miles). They didn't have it for too long - maybe 2.5 weeks. I was pretty impressed with Chris. But doing a tear-down rebuild is different mindset than trouble-shooting and diagnostics. So it remains to be seen what job they can do next time I'm having a Uly gremlin in the electronics... | ||
| Dr_greg |
Man, you guys are way tougher than me! When my Laminar Lip came off a couple years ago on the way to a camping trip I thought I was gonna die from the windblast with only the stock screen. --Doc |
