Ouch!
I
love my bike. This morning, I rode it down to Orlando Harley-Davidson for its 25,000 mile service. The brakes need adjusting, it needs a new rear tire, and I told them I wanted synthetic oil. Who knows what else they do for this service mark?
Fortunately, it doesn’t cost me much. I already have a four-year prepaid service plan for this maintenance, including oil & tires. Sure, I pay a little bit to upgrade the oil to synthetic, and I still have to pay labor to mount the tire. Overall, it’s not so bad. On top of all that, they give me a free rental so I can ride home. That beats hanging around the dealership from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm.
About 4:00 pm, I got a call from Kim in the service department. I figured my bike was ready to pickup, but something in her voice sounded hesitant. The thought running through my head was, “What have you done to my bike?”
Well, they wrecked it. Not terribly, and the mechanic is OK. After doing all the work, they take the bikes out for a short ride to make sure everything feels right. He didn’t get far when a car pulled out in front of him while he was making a left-hand turn.
Lucky for him (and my bike) that this happened at a slow speed; he figures about 5 mph. Still, it messed up a fork, bent the brake roter, and dented my front fender.
Orlando Harley-Davidson is taking care of all the damage. I would expect that much, but it’s nice to hear them offer it on the phone without being prodded.
I can pick up my bike tomorrow morning about 10:00 am, but it’ll still have a dent in the fender. They have to order a new fender and have it painted to match my bike’s color. That takes about two weeks, and then I bring the bike over to have the fender replaced. I’d feel kind of dorky riding around with a dented fender. Maybe I’ll put a band-aid on it.
Part of me wondered if the mechanic was a bit careless, but it doesn’t matter. The damage isn’t that bad, the dealer will take care of it, and there’s not a damn thing I could change. It just sucks to have someone bang up your ride.