Good Dealer / Bad Dealer

[pit0rz]

:!: My apologies if this has been beaten to death in the past, search results didn't yield anything...
I'm looking for info on the 3 nearest dealers to me, 85 to 140 miles depending.  Any good or bad experiences to report with service or parts / accessories.  The 3 I'm interested in are:
Ed's Service | Hyde Park, NY | 845-454-6210
Rockwell Cycle | Ft. Montgomery, NY | 845-446-3834
Destiny Motorsports | Syracuse, NY | 315-484-7433
Unfortunately there aren't any Triumph shops closeby so if I have to travel for good service, so be it.  Hopefully this thread can become a good repository of dealer info from the view of us, the customers.

[abruzzi]

Cant say anything about NY dealers, but I can say:

PJs in Albuquerque NM: very good

Performance Cycle in Tucson AZ: bad. They sold me a tank bag that had a slash in it, then proceeded to blame me for it.

Geof

[Stretch]

Atlanta Triumph / Ducati:  Very Good.

About a year ago, I was riding with warped front rotors, so I called to make an appointment to have it done before the warranty ran out later that month.

They were booked solid for almost another month, but they told me it would be okay, since I called before the bike's warranty expired.  This is for an unseen warranty claim, for a bike I bought used in another state, and a customer they had never seen before.  Classy.

I also ordered the off-road muffler and scheduled the off-road tune along with the rotor swap.

Sure enough, a month later I call to make sure we're still on, and everything's ready for me.

Living two hours away and not having a ride home, they did all the work that day and let me wait on it.  I'm sure I annoyed the hell out of everybody that worked up front (I didn't go into the shop), but they were very polite and patient with my questions and stories.

The only bump was that I also ended up needing rear brake pads, and they were out.

I had my bike back in about five hours, and the deal was exactly as they said it would be... warranteed rotors, even though the bike's warranty had expired a couple weeks earlier.

They even called me later that week to ask how the bike was doing, and if I was happy with their service.

A very good shop.  I wish they weren't a two-hour ride from me.

Fortunately, a fellow that used to be one of the big wheels there opened a Ducati dealer here in town, so I have adopted 'NPR Ducati' as my local shop, since Paul knows Triumphs from his previous experience in Atlanta.  They're a good bunch of folks as well.

[McGuiver]

Hey Steve.....I can personally vouch for Destiny, in Syracuse. I live about an hour from them, andI bought a bike on E-Bay, and called them for some tech. advise etc. on the phone. They spent a LOT of time on the phone with me, and even sent me a rubber grommet in the mail for FREE, just because I needed it to make a repair on this bike that THEY DIDN"T sell to me! And then the mechanic called me on the phone to appologise that it took him so long to mail it to me, as he had surgery on his wrist the day after we spoke........I was so impressed that I went up there to personally see the place, and although it is small, they have a bunch of bikes, and clothing, and were very accomidating. (my wife was shopping at the nearby mall, so I was there a LONG time) I ended up buying some accessories that were ordered, and mailed to my house about a week later. They didn't have a lot of accessories in stock, but I think they just don't have the space to shelve them all. One of the sales people told me that they were looking into moving to a larger building, and also told me that they had sold enough bikes last year to be in the upper 1/3rd of all Triumph dealers in the US..........says something is being done right. I would definately recommend them!!!!!!!!!  :D

[pit0rz]

Thanks guys, just the kind of information I think is absolutely invaluable.  Not just for me, but all of us so keep the reports coming!  This could wind up being a very valuable thread as all of our mounts age...  Thanks for the heads up on Destiny in Syracuse.  Sounds like they are the folks for me.  I heard (off list) that Ed's in Hyde Park wasn't too good (although I have no personal experience with them) and my one dealing with Rockwell Cycle was for a turn signal for the Tigger.  They sold me the wrong one (which I didn't realize until I was home, 2 hours away) so I had to cob it up to fit.

[TigerOwner]

When in Alaska stop by "The Motorcycle Shop" in Anchorage.  They are the only Triumph dealer in the state.  They also carry BMW, KTM and Kawaski.  Don is the owner and has been involved in the industry for more years then he will admit.  Great bunch of people all around.

Locals trying to get service during the riding/tourist season is next to impossible.  Riders from the Lower 48 get priority so local riders have to wait.  If he could hire more service people this would be eliminated but since the riding season is so short, hard to keep good people around all year (just my opinion).

If your up here and need riding gear you HAVE TO check out Alaska Leathers.  No parts (but they will let you change your oil and have tires waiting for you) but Barb is the true definition of Customer Service.

Bottom line, both will take care of you.

[ThreePutt]

When in Alaska stop by "The Motorcycle Shop" in Anchorage.  They are the only Triumph dealer in the state.  They also carry BMW, KTM and Kawaski.  Don is the owner and has been involved in the industry for more years then he will admit.  Great bunch of people all around.

Locals trying to get service during the riding/tourist season is next to impossible.  Riders from the Lower 48 get priority so local riders have to wait.  If he could hire more service people this would be eliminated but since the riding season is so short, hard to keep good people around all year (just my opinion).

If your up here and need riding gear you HAVE TO check out Alaska Leathers.  No parts (but they will let you change your oil and have tires waiting for you) but Barb is the true definition of Customer Service.

Bottom line, both will take care of you.

I'm planning a trip to Alaska in 09.  Maybe you could play tour guide. Very glad to know there's a good dealer, if we run into problems.

[Stretch]

TigerOwner, sorry I didn't know you last summer... we'd have taken you to The Moose's Tooth for a pizza-n-beer binge.  8)

Alaska Rider Tours in Anchorage offers free camping for motorcyclists, right behind their shop.  The local HD dealer, House of Harley-Davidson, is right next door, and the two places conspire to offer campers 24-hour access to men's and women's restrooms with showers (which are in the House of HD building).

Very good folks at that dealer... not brand-conscious snobs like so many HD types elsewhere.

Barb at Alaska Leather is one hell of a nice lady.

Every motorcyclist I met in AK was a gracious host... true goodwill ambassadors.  Other riders can learn a lot from Alaska's motorcyclists.

Alaska Ride Report:  http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,11

.

[John Stenhouse]

Stretch, amazing ride report. That's where I'm going this summer! Hopefully by Tiger but riding up from Vancouver. Will post the photos if I make it back in one piece.

[Stretch]

Thanks!  We had a huge time, as you can see.

I would recommend getting on Adventure Rider's 'Alaska' regional forum and start up conversations with riders there in the area.  

http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=68

I had been chit-chatting back and forth with a few of them there, and RocDoc and I bumped into four of them our first two days there.  Great folks.