Our Bitter, Sweet Harley Experience
By Ronnie Scheller
Marysville, Kansas
It was the end of October. My wife, Carla, was recovering from back surgery. Carla was now able to ride on the back of my 2007 Harley Davidson Sportster. Although before the operation it had gotten so she could not ride at all because of the pain incurred. She had ridden several 200 to 300 mile days in the last couple of weeks and the back was fine.
I had not been able to ride down to the Ozarks, this year, for several reasons, but since going down twice last fall I had wanted to show the country and sights to Carla. All of the stars were now aligned for the trip south. I am retired, Carla has another few weeks before she will go back to work and the weather was still decent. It was 11:30 on Friday night, Halloween; we decided to leave the next morning.
After a trip to the bank and giving it time to warm up to 40 degrees we were off to warmer weather. After we got south of Topeka we stopped, took off the facemasks and put on the lighter gloves. Next we made a planned 30-minute stop at an aging uncle of Carla’s in Caney Kansas. Chaney is a small town on the Kansas, Oklahoma border and by the time we left it had warmed up considerably. We had planned on spending the night in Grove, OK which was about 150 miles down the road. The two lane highways made the ride a pleasure and the lakes in east Oklahoma may be the destination for a trip next year. Sunday morning in Grove the temperatures were low 60’s. The ride over into Arkansas was great and Carla could start to see what I had been so keen on last year.
Somewhere along the way Saturday afternoon the Sportster developed a ticking noise and I thought maybe the valves might need to be adjusted.
Now I have to explain a little history on the bike. The hunt for a new motorcycle started after I took a 400 Kawasaki in on trade for a riding lawnmower that I had for sale. This was the end of June 2006 and our OLD motorcycle club had just celebrated its 50-year reunion and invited some of us OLD members to a picnic. I had not owned a scoot for 28 years but the memories were always there. Anyhow I rode the 400 Kaw to work everyday knowing I would like to have a Big Bike again. About that time The Patriot Guard was getting some attention in the news and I thought their cause was admirable. In August our local American Legion and a couple of bikers were organizing the Legion Riders Post 163. I signed up for the Legion Riders and decided to get a new bike. I started looking for a Harley Sportster. That is the only bike I wanted, a Harley Sportster. The first Sportster I saw was at City Cycle Sales in Junction City, Kansas. It was an Orange XL50, 50th Anniversary Model. I was told there would only be 2000 made, 1000 orange ones and 1000 black ones. Each dealer would get two and only two. The black one for Junction City was scheduled to be shipped from the factory Oct. 27, in about 7 weeks. I looked at bikes at 5 Harley dealerships in three states and ended up back in Junction City to order the Black One. That was the second week of Sept. and I was able to pick up the bike Nov. 4, 2006. It was #1673 of 2000. That was a Saturday. The next Saturday I had it back for the 1000 service. The scoot is now 2 years less two days old and has over 72,000 miles on it.
We have seen Eureka Springs, Arkansas and ridden Highways 62, 7 and 123 and back on 7. The ticking in the motor is getting louder. We have gone 250 miles so far today and it’s about 120 miles to Hot Springs where we want to spend the night. The scenery was like the pictures you see on calendars or paintings. The autumn leaves are beautiful but the noise is getting louder and more of a knock now than a tick. First thing in Hot Springs we find the Harley dealer. Landers Harley, on the main drag, nice new building and the sign says they will be open at 8 in the morning. We hole up at the Comfort Inn and park next to a neat Custom Street Bob and a really slick Street Glide. Later we met the owners Dave and Alison from Tennessee; they end up being as nice as their bikes, really nice people and true bikers.
Monday morning at 7:30 we are at the Service Dept. door so the motor will be cooled off by 8. The next person there is Jim, the General Manager, he introduces himself and says the Service Dept. should be open shortly. Five minutes later Jim comes back out and says there’s coffee on and there are some donuts in there to. By the time we got into the showroom and got a couple of Diet Pepsi’s the service and parts door opened. It was Monday morning and the service manage was lining up the days work for his shop. As soon as I walked in he ask if he could help me. After I told him I had a noise in my motor and it was the last day of warranty he assigned Chris to help me. Chris was the top tech person and he went outside with me and as soon as I started the Sportster Chris told me to shut it off. Chris said, “I will push it inside and let you know what I come up with”.
It was Monday and they were busy but Chris was able to stay on my bike. About 9AM here comes Dave and Alison to check out the Hot Springs Harley dealer before they head back to Memphis. Dave got a bulb for Alison’s right rear turn signal. After we changed the bulb and it still didn’t work we found out the wire had been worn in two by the tire. Dave decided to have it fixed by the dealer. About 10 Chris was taking the motor apart and checking everything as he took it off. Everything was good so far. About 11 Chris was putting in new lifters hoping the one that leaked a little was the culprit. About noon Dave, Alison, Carla and I were sitting at one of the picnic tables outside of the shop when Becky, the Finance and Insurance manager came out for a smoke. We were talking to Becky about our bike and things were not looking to good and we may have to spend another night in Hot Springs. After Becky found out it was the last day of our warranty she immediately reminded us of the Extended Harley Warranty that provides lodging and rental car payments for anyone stuck out on the road. Since this was the last day to get the Extended Warranty, and we wanted it, Becky got started writing that up. By 1 o’clock Chris had decided our problem was in the lower end and he had started tearing it down. About 2 he found out the problem was a rod bearing and Landon, the service manager was talking to Harley to see for sure what parts to order. We were definitely going to spend the night and started lining up an appointment with Enterprise Car Rental.
Dave and Alison were ready to take off for Memphis and we said our goodbyes and realized we would probably never see them again. They were super people, fun to talk to, and even though they were the same age as our kids we did have a lot in common besides our love to ride. Dave was leaving with a tire that was pretty worn as he had used more rubber on the Arkansas twisties than he had planned on.
Carla and I were in Becky’s office and my phone rang. It was Dave. They had gone 3 miles and he had hit something in the road and blown a rear tire. OK, we send a service truck to get Dave’s bike back to Landers Harley for a new tire. Within an hour we are all back at the picnic table discussing things we forgot to talk about earlier. By 3 o’clock Carla and I had gone across the street to Enterprise and picked up a 2009 Caravan with 3900 miles on it. The way it turned out Harley will pay for it for 10 days. We go back to Landers to sit with the Dave and Alison. By 4 Dave’s tire is ready to go and they have decided to put a new tire on Alison’s bike because she has abused hers on the twisties too. By now it will be after dark before they get back to Memphis and the new tire is also a good safety precaution. Landon said the Harley Davidson people are having some kind of meeting to see what they are going to do about my bike and parts. Brian, salesman for Landers, enters the picture and says maybe we should just trade the old bike on a new one. The money they wanted was ridicules, naturally I told Brian no trade. By 5 Dave and Alison had left again and Carla and I had no reason to stay at the Harley shop. Landon would know more tomorrow but for now all he could say was that Harley would fix the motor and that there would be NO charge. We ate at IHOP and went back to Comfort Inn and got our old room back for another night. We had plenty of time to look back on the day and thank God for Harley Davidson and their warranty. We knew they were going to make sure we got back on the road as soon as possible. Everyone was working for us, we could tell.
Tuesday morning we get back to Landers about 8:30 or 9. Chris is putting my motor back together. Harley is going to send out a brand new motor and the old motor will be sent back in the shipping crate the new one came in. Landon said the Harley people would like to look inside the motor with 72,354 miles on it in two years. I did forget to mention Frontier Harley in Lincoln, Nebraska serviced this bike every 2500 miles. Synthetic Harley Oil was used from day one. City Cycle Sales Junction City did the 1000-mile and 5000-mile service.
The scooter will be tied up for a week or 10 days. I look up Brian and start asking about getting another bike without a trade. Since Carla and I thought our next bike would be a Softail Heritage or Dyna Lower Rider we looked at those bikes. My eyes kept going back to a Softail Custom. Something about the mini apes, the king/queen seat and the narrow 3” front wheel plus the Vivid Black paint. Vivid Black is the color of the Sportster and I know black bikes are FASTER. Brian said take it for a ride. I knew it only had 3 miles on it so I said you going to let me demo a bike off of the floor? He said sure, get your helmet. I said could I take Carla? Yup, get your helmet. (I had to borrow a helmet since our route was planned through non-helmet states. KS, OK and AR) The test ride was first, about 5 miles on the cities back streets then 5 miles on Central, Hot Springs main street. I was impressed and Carla liked being on a Queen Seat. We went back to the Van and got our sweatshirts before we hit the Interstate. Ten miles out and 10 miles back was enough to sit down and talk. The $2000 worth of accessories tossed in was enough to make the deal. We spent the next two hours with Becky and the parts guys while the boys in the back were setting up the new bike. We couldn’t find saddlebags in stock that would fit on the Softail Custom so we decided to keep the Van to haul our stuff home. We would go home after a couple day stay in Oklahoma City with friends. We left Hot Springs about 4PM, Nov. 4th. Two years after leaving Junction City with our first Harley. The 500-mile break-in period was up the next day in Oklahoma City. The 2 lane roads we took where perfect for the motor break-in. We stopped at Harley shops in Fort Smith, AR, Oklahoma City and Edmond, OK. All were friendly and offered some good, can’t resist specials. Now we also hit Wichita, Salina and Junction City Kansas dealers on the way home from OKC.
Thursday on the way home I called Landon to see how the Sportster was doing. Landon said Harley was building a motor especially for me. It would have a Buell bottom end and be built heavier than the stock Sportster motor.
I have got the Sportster back now. The motor was sent complete with new transmission and even a new clutch cable attached. The serial number is the same as my original.
The Motor Company has proven to me to be a world-class manufacturer with outstanding business practices and a work force that cannot be beat. Landers Harley Davidson in Hot Springs has employees ranging from the GM to the sales and service departments who meet the highest standards possible.
The Harley Davidson Motor Company and Landers Harley Davidson of Hot Springs, Arkansas have made our bitter experience on the road ALMOST sweet. Without their commitment and understanding this experience would have been pure HELL!
Ronnie and Carla Scheller
Marysville, Kansas
2007 Sportster XL502009 Softail FXSTC
