- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by Clay Dowling.
Dealership Etiquette Question
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April 10, 2009 at 1:47 pm #2689wbsprudelsParticipant
Is it a bad idea to pull up to a Harley dealership on a Suzuki?
My first bike (which I still own but ride only rarely as I am trying to sell it) is a Buell Blast. I have developed a relationship with a number of the people at our local HD dealership, but I decided not to stop while on my Boulevard during a ride that took me right past it. I actually wanted to stop but didn’t feel up to the ribbing I expected to receive. Funny, but I have no reservations stopping at the Suzuki dealership on my Blast and have done so a couple of times.
Am I being unnecessarily paranoid? It’s definitely a phenomena I don’t even consider at car dealerships.
April 10, 2009 at 2:41 pm #17653megaspazParticipantWhat are you mumbling about? Stop on in at any bike dealership, on any bike you happen to be riding… I have no idea why you’re being so sensitive about this…
April 10, 2009 at 3:46 pm #17661Clay DowlingParticipantMost bikers aren’t too likely to turn up their nose at a customer just because he rides up on a bike from another manufacturer. A bike is a bike man. No matter what the make it’s better than a cage.
April 10, 2009 at 8:03 pm #17666wbsprudelsParticipantThanks…my sensitivity comes from seeing how folks have been treated at other forums when they state they are planning to change bikes from one maker to another. I guess it’s silly.
April 10, 2009 at 9:12 pm #17670Jay TParticipanttry to get you out on a test ride. That isn’t always a bad thing. You get to try out other rides. Kinda scary when you have to go home and say something like “Honey, I know we talked about not going into debt for a motorcycle, but…” If you are treated badly at that dealership, you just go to the HD dealership 20 miles down the road. Them things are like Walgreens and Wal-mart. They are everywhere and they ALL have help wanted signs in the window.
April 11, 2009 at 12:46 am #17680MunchParticipantI can understand what your talking about. I dunno if you grew up around the same thing or not… but I grew up around hard core blue collar southern Harley guys. These guys are from the school of hate due to previous wars etc. I had alot bored into me growing up about “etiquette”. I hesitate with any thought of riding my Vulcan up to the the Local HD dealer… though I chalked that up to my wallet giving me a warning. However as I took the Rider’s Edge course the “transplants” here thought it curious I refused to sit on the bikes. I then had to explain them the above with the extension of alot of guys I grew up around had the tune of ” You sit on another mans Harley you might as well sleep with his wife”. Silly as that sounds now back then those guys meant it. It’s something that hangs with me to this day. I still won’t sit on one …. even a new one… how messed up is that.
Oh well… that’s why I have my $8500 Vulcan 900 and not the $16,500 Fat Bob. So it works out for me in the end.
However I will join up with any string of HD riders in a heart beat, shoot the bull with them etc. Some how though… theres still that memory from way back when that keeps me cautious when it comes to the dealership. Alot of it is from the disgust I have for the people I grew up around.. I can still get my blood boiling if I think about it to hard…. just not looking to get around those idiotic types again. However … natural selection… ermm… biking accidents have taken out a couple of the guys I knew.April 14, 2009 at 7:12 pm #17759CandiceParticipantMakes me want to ride my Suzuki right over to the HD dealership right now and see what happens! I have to say that before I bought my current bike, I stopped by 2 HD dealerships to look and the one in Tinley Park, IL was really cool, the sales guy was really nice and helpful and actually gave me the number to a dealership that was not Harley because he didn’t have any 650cc or under that I was looking for. At the other HD dealership in Joliet, IL they didn’t even acknowledge my existence in their store. I wonder if it’s because I was with my brother and he was on a Yamaha??? Who knows, all I know is I would not go back to that one.
I say ride your Suzuki to the HD dealership and don’t even worry about it.
April 14, 2009 at 8:54 pm #17762Clay DowlingParticipantThere’s a big Honda dealership on the way home from work (this is probably a bad thing). There is always a salesman near the front door, ready to greet you. They’re polite, not pushy, and there is never a problem getting help. If you sit a bike, there will be somebody along pretty soon.
It’s a good thing there isn’t a HD or BMW dealership on the way home with a similar policy, because it would get a lot more expensive in a hurry.
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