I need a more comfortable seat.
My pipes aren't loud enough.
My handlebars aren't comfortable.
I want a luggage rack that looks good.
I want a brighter headlight.
I want more comfortable handgrips.
I want more horsepower.
Relativity. I know that all of us at one time or another has asked ourselves if we're being short-changed in the "fit" department. It's all relative. It's one of those needs that takes a special skill to satisfy. Or, somtimes it takes a magician. We all have complaints about parts guys. I'm a parts guy and I have complaints about me! One day I feel all diplomatic and shit and I'll spend all day with you out in the parking lot trying seat/bar combinations, exhaust set-ups, or windshield heights. Or in the middle of an open house, if you ask me which saddlebags look best on your Dyna I might dismiss you like a street corner wino. It's all relative.
The best way to get what you want is to know what you want. If you don't, ask questions. We love questions, but be prepared for a few questions yourself.
I once had to research a paint code for a customer who refused to tell me his VIN!! He said "why do you need the VIN?" So I replied, "I don't. Because I don't want to sell you the paint anyway." and I walked away.
This was an extreme case, but I was trying to illustrate the impossibility of helping someone who won't meet you half way.
I would like to use this thread to encourage all things parts related. Whether it's a bitch about a poor customer service experience or a warranty that went bad. I'd like to hear about how you feel as customers dealing with a parts guy. I was once offered a job by moco as a parts manager trainer (I had to turn it down because of family obligations) and I've never been in a position to gather feedback like this forum.
What I'd really like to know is:
How do you feel about your local parts department? What would you do if you were the boss? Let's not discuss pricing.
When you walk into the shop looking for a part, what do you expect?
If you were going to build the perfect parts guy, what would you do to make him that way?
I'd like to think that one day, I'll accept that job. And I won't forget your input!
A heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter, you'll become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there wrapped up in a trap of your very own chain of sorrow.
-John Prine
For myself, when I walk into the parts department, all I want is the attention of a parts person. I have my parts numbers, I know what I want, and only want someone to fill my order. I have done the research, I know what I want, and am trying to lessen the problems of the parts guy, and provide all thats necessary to find what I want. Because, if Im at the parts counter, it mean I coulndt find what I wanted online, or need the part ASAP.
Simple and easy!
A drug person can learn to handle such things as seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth. But no one should be asked to deal with this trip.
I'd like to find a parts guy who is also somewhat of a tech who can answer the questions above what is written in the parts catalog. Also, I dislike the guys who are really short with me who won't spend a couple of minutes to try to understand my wants/needs and try to help with a suggestion instead of waiting for me to give them a part number to type into the computer.
Man, this one comes in two flavors for me -
Sometimes I've done all the research and know exactly what I want/need and am happy just to have someone pull and sell me the part.
Other times, I may have done some research and either (a) couldn't find what I was looking for or found something kinda like what I want, but not quite. In that case, I want a sounding board - someone that is tech savvy and know his (or her) way around the bike and knows what options might be out there that I hadn't considered. In this case, I'm more than happy to provide you with as much info as you need to help me get where I'm going. And if you can't figure it out right away, don't try to sell me the "close enough" part just to get rid of me - tell me straight up, "Gosh, I'd like to help you, but let me think about it overnight" or "let me talk it over with some other folks here" - I got no problem in this situation waiting - remember, it's my money and I wanna make the best choice. But, if you ask for some time to do some research, then do it and actually call me back with options or suggestions.
And if ya could make the parts person about 5'5" blonde or brunette with bigand no dick....well, even better!
Actually, one of the best parts desk folks at my local dealer is a tiny little girl, but she knows her way around the Evo and Twinkie engines! (She's also a certified MoCo mechanic)
Stapp's Ironical Paradox: "The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle."
After i bought my Road King last year, i wanted to buy the additional driving lights. I had the RK Custom, which it doesn't come on from the factory. I asked about the custom brackets. The salesman sold me the traditional bracket with the bar in the front and told me I'd have to upgrade later to the custom brackets, because they don't have everything, just the brackets.
Later I found out all I had to buy was the custom brackets and my choice of bulbs. So I wasted money. Definately didn't get my money back on eBay.
Chances are, I know what I want before I go in there. But if I impulsively buy the digital thermometer for my touring bike and the thing won't fit if you have the chrome oil cover, then I want to be told that up front.
Here is my $0.02. -> I basically feel the people they hire for parts aren't enthusiastic about motorcycles, or at least enthusiastic about Harleys. They should be over selling motor clothes. These guys, to me anyway, are simply people that retrieve parts from the shelves you, the customer, don't have access to. That's it.
And most of my experience has been that the part person doesn't know what the part does or how it interacts. I can't tell you how many time I've had to wait because the parts person had to go over to service to see how a part interacts/perfoms/functions.
I've learned to avoid the parts department on open houses. Sort of urcks me because this is they only time they offer discounts now. I don't know why a dealer whould have an open house and have only two people working behind the counter.
So, I feel the dealer needs to hire motorcycle enthusiasts and train them on the parts they sell, and appropriately staff the counter on special function days.
I've rectified the problem for me. Since my dealer reduced the HOG member discount, and the independant shop I bought my second bike from offers a straight (no card programs or anything) 10% discount as long as I own the bike, I'm buying from them from now on. My independant here in Raleigh has a girl behind the counter that knows more about bike and parts than I will ever know. If I come to the counter and tell her I want to buy SuperTrapp CrackPipes, she'll ask me wht bike this is going on and what exactly I am looking for. She'll say, 'You know you'll lose low end torque with those pipes." Or she'll say, "You know what pipes look better on that bike".
I appreciate that sort of enthusiasm and expertise, and well, so do my parts dollars. This is the first time I've ever bitched about parts service. I don't do that, I just change where I buy. To me the dealer isn't responsible for good service, I'm responsible if I keep coming back and rewarding that sort of service.
Mungo
The parts guys at the dealer closest to me run the gamut frm dumb as a pup to one that is pretty sharp.
I only really have one complaint. I wish they would acknowledge the fact that there are other parts and other ways to do things than just MOCO parts and ways.
I get tired of hearing their speeches on Race Tuner vs Power Commander for example. These guys at this dealership really have attitude about it and it gets old.
I suppose that might be asking too much since they are at a HD dealership and need to support their product. But really, over the years, what has been modified more than Harley Davidsons?
I just don't need to 'tude...
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
my two cents being completely new to HD:
All my life I have been buying metric and you pay your money and walk out with a bike and maybe add a pipe or something.
I buy a RK and they give me a parts encylopedia with two extra supplements and say what do you want to add? Holy crap. The guy I bought the bike off of was the parts guy at Kane's and thank god. He was so helpfull to a newbie like me. Suggesting what would look good, what wouldn't and don't buy this it is crap. Also no problem suggesting non-Harley bits. Greatly appreciated. Now I did get a lot of help from another parts guy at a different dealership (take a bow Kagan), and stole lots off ideas of of his bike.
Without either of these guys I would have been fucked. Picture Bradd Pitt in Seven bending over on the desk...'this is us'.
I am used to dealing with stressed out metric parts guys assuming you know everything. If you don't they tell you to look it up on the net and say next!
oh yeah,
I need some pipes that are really loud, but not too loud to bother my neighbours if you know what I mean...
<_<
The only dealer I've dealt with is Van Nuys Harley. As I've posted before, they got a young guy who obviously just fills his days by standing behind the counter. He couldn't even be bothered to find the right sparkplugs for me. However, the rest of the parts guys (all 4 of them) are top notch. They ask me questions every time I come in. They want to know what I'm doing with the part, and they make sure it's the right one. Plus, one of the guys went WAY out of the way to help me with my "fix it" ticket, and it didn't make the store one cent. He just did it to help out a biker.
I'm not planning on going anywhere else.
Most of the time I know my part numbers when I go into the dealership to buy something. I always have to double check the part to make sure I was given the correct part if the counter help has to look it up. If there is a smartass behind the counter I will go to his/her manager for help. I spend way too much money at the dealership to be treated with disrepect. I can also understand that working with the public can be trying at times when your in a sales postion. If I am friendly and ask a question I expect a friendly answer no matter how bad a day the parts guy is having. The owner of the dealership or parts house would be very upset if he/she found out that his staff is running off potential dollars because the salesperson did not want to be bother with another idiot question. There is a dealership in Dallas that I will never walk into again and will discourage anyone else interested in going there simply due to the rude staff. They don't need the money.
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