Breakdown recovery

D3V!L

After having the most bizarre morning on the phone I thought I'd share my experience.

A small fuel leak has taken my Harley off the road. Depending on which keyboard warrior you ask it should be an easy job to fix but the only place with parts at the moment is a dealer in Waterford and I'm in Dublin.

Fast forward to this morning when I call Axa recovery through Principal. They tell me they dont have an operator in my area to collect it (North Co.Dublin) , not just at the moment , in general but this was only after I went through the rigmarole of setting up the collection with them and arranging it with the shop.

I get on to HD who I have extended warranty with and after speaking to their CS department, warranty claims department and then I got a number for their breakdown recovery. I call the breakdown recovery , my phone tells me its the midlands before it connects. Then the phone gets answered "Hello, Harley Davidson recovery, XXXX speaking". ITS THE SAME F*CKING lady from earlier when I called Axa. After I asked her was she the same person, she tells me no bother and she'll get someone out to collect the bike within 60 minutes. !! :eek:

listermint

Lol. No keyboard warrior implies they live their live on keyboard and have no experience. I've spent the last month rebuilding half my bike.

I still maintain those o rings can be swapped by anyone including you with no impact on warranty because you can't tell if theyre swapped or not.

.did you not have a ducati go up in flames with full dealership service on it. By qualified dealer mechanics under warranty work.


Just askin

Blanchy90

I'm in north co. Dublin and Principal have towed the bike 3 times for me with no issues

D3V!L

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I'm in north co. Dublin and Principal have towed the bike 3 times for me with no issues

Thanks for that. Can I ask what bikes they were ? I'm speaking to them soon about it.

Blanchy90

I had my 900 Triumph sprint taken on a flatbed

Then another time my 125 Bullit hero couldn't go on the flatbed due to the steering lock being stuck on and I was in work so couldn't help lift it. The truck left and two lads came back with a van a bit later.

And again the Bullit broke down and they took it on the flatbed

D3V!L

Blanchy90 wrote: »

I had my 900 Triumph sprint taken on a flatbed

Then another time my 125 Bullit hero couldn't go on the flatbed due to the steering lock being stuck on and I was in work so couldn't help lift it. The truck left and two lads came back with a van a bit later.

And again the Bullit broke down and they took it on the flatbed

Can you remember which company they used ?

Blanchy90

D3V!L wrote: »

Can you remember which company they used ?

I can't remember who it was but I checked there and the phone number is the same as they have on the website now. The last tow I got was 13 November from whitehall, the previous 2 tows were from kinsealy

Sir Galahad

I've an 1150 adventure and the battery passed away while I was on my daily commute. I rang Principal's rescue number and they got AXA to call me. I told them it was a motorcycle and asked for a truck with a bike dolly/trailer. 90 minutes later a flatbed rescue truck with a car on the back turned up looking for the "BMW One series car" :mad:. I explained that I had specified that I wanted a bike trailer, he was very apologetic and showed med me his tablet with the text message from the base. He took the car off the flat bed and put my bike up. Then he put the car back on the spectacle frame and towed it behind us. AXA ended up sending me a cheque for €150 as an apology for the cock up.

rock22

D3V!L wrote: »

After having the most bizarre morning on the phone I thought I'd share my experience.

A small fuel leak has taken my Harley off the road. .

Fast forward to this morning when I call Axa recovery through Principal. They tell me they dont have an operator in my area to collect it (North Co.Dublin)….
:

IS the bike at your usual location?
I don't think Principal breakdown assist would cover this scenario. It is designed to assist you while on a journey.

Sir Galahad

rock22 wrote: »

IS the bike at your usual location?
I don't think Principal breakdown assist would cover this scenario. It is designed to assist you while on a journey.

I had them recover my bike from my home two years ago due to a suspected clutch issue.

Sir Galahad

AXA ? ? They will fix / pay up straight away. As I said they gave me cheque for being late. My driver did tell me that most recovery drivers have a dolly for bikes but don't like to assemble it due to lazyness.

H_Lime

D3V!L wrote: »

Yep AXA, hopefully they do. I priced up the parts and I'm looking at a grand without labour.

Ouch, what does she need?

colm_c

Had the same issue years ago with damaged bike after being on a recovery truck.

They paid out for the damage, no fuss.

I think it's luck of the draw of who you get, some lads are very careful especially with bikes, others just do whatever is easiest.

blade1

Reimbursed or not, I wouldn't be happy with that standard of service.

H_Lime

Yeah it's very "that'll do" without much thought given. I'd be wary of a truck like this picking up a bike of mine after reading this.
Devil, honest question....considering the cash outlay for this bike are you happy with it in terms of reliability and suitability for the role you intended?
If you were to sell it tomo how much would the 3500k have cost you?

H_Lime

D3V!L wrote: »

Strangely enough had this conversation with my wife this morning. She's a biker too and a HD owner but neither of us are brand loyal. I haven't gotten any value out of it since I bought it. Most of my milage has been up and down to Waterford to get stuff fixed. Smiles per mile on HD's are high and I love the back to basics ride but there hasn't been enough of them and so far it hasn't proven itself to me.

I'm sitting down later to work out the financial side of it. AIB have given me a 3 month break in repayments so it'll help me make up my mind.

I see mention of Ducati in your past ownership, what other bikes have you owned?

H_Lime

D3V!L wrote: »

All them

For "commuting and utilitarian duties" why not consider something with a proven reliability record and have a HD or Ducati for leisure/pleasure?
That's not to suggest they can't do that but there is better prospects.
An old gn250 with a 45l top box would cost you 1500 euro and will return superb mpg and reliability whisking you to and from your work.
Spend the rest you save on on something that gets you drooling.

H_Lime

https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/suzuki-marauder-gz-250/24547390

H_Lime

https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/gs-500/24623996
Probably similar real world performance to the Harley but a much cheaper prospect and more reliable than your current one perhaps.

H_Lime

D3V!L wrote: »

Lads come on, I have standards !!

As we're now clearly joking you won't mind me saying your standards could be interpretated as, "it must be..."

A, overpriced
B, underperforming
C, unreliable.

Take a gs500
A, cheap
B, 500cc and will do anything required of your hd
C, reliable

You won't have to deal with Hd Dublin or Hd Waterford. It will start go and stop when you tell it to and you could service it in your sleep:D

Anyway, what do I know, but I do know that that ittle o ring sure has caused you a lot of bother!

H_Lime

https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/2006-kawasaki-er-5-a2-low-mileage-very-clean/24565678
I saw this just now and thought of you.

Japcati2020

Just get yourself some AA cover.
Because no bike is bulletproof
Simples.