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After reading most of your site and agreeing with most of your opinions, after an email or two and an answer or two, I thought I'd share a gripe with ya, just in case you don't have enough of your own. It's a copy of a letter I sent to Harley Davidson and is self explanatory.
Dear Jim, (or whoever pre-reads your mail for you)
I should go ahead and warn ya right up front that this is a complaint letter, and I'll even apologize for sending it to you, but after receiving no response from my other notes, I thought I'd try one last time and talk a little higher up the ladder.
Before I start to rant-n-rave, let me make it clear that I love the motorcycles yall build, get along great with most folks that ride em, and have nothing but high praise for the people at Augusta Harley Davidson. But don't get too smug - the whining is about to start.
I took delivery of my first "off the showroom floor" Harley last summer. It's a Road King Classic and yep, I love it too. But… about 5 miles from the dealership, right smack-dab in the middle of my new bike reverie, I noticed a big ol ugly Phillips screw holding my dashboard on. "Now why" I asked myself "would Harley Davidson put that obnoxious looking screw there? My 97 Road King didn't have it." Hmmmmm, could it be that even after paying waaay more cause I wanted a genuine piece of American Made rolling iron, Harley Davidson was trying to "force" me to spend another seventy five bucks for chrome, just so I wouldn't have to stare at that screw?
Little did you know how stubborn ol Sam is. Instead of buying something to cover it, I started writing letters. Yall send me a survey, I'll send you a survey and a letter back. (By the way, I can answer most of your merchandising questions with - "I want to buy motorcycles, parts, and the occasional t-shirt from you. I don't want a Harley truck, a Harley weed-eater, and my wife doesn't need any genuine Harley maxi-pads."
Speaking of my wife, you just can't imagine the laughter I had to put up with over those letters. "Hon, you know they're not gonna answer hehe. Wasting your time babe. Haha, he's writing another one." I tell you something Jim, it kinda embarrassing to admit she was right.
So anyway, I put the whole "big ugly screw on my dash" thang behind me until… my free HOG membership ran out right before the big rally in Atlanta, and lil' darlin wanted to go to the HOG member's only Travis Tritt concert. So… I call yall up, give you the credit card info and Boom; I'm back in the family. Bout an hour later I had a bad feeling Jim. I called HOG back with a question. I'm a HOG member right? I can take my wife to the concert right? Sorry Sam, she's not a member, so she's not family, but hey, get that credit card out and we'll make her family real quick! I don't think so. Kinda reminds me of another business where they love ya if you pay em. I think they call that…uhm, oh yeah, a whorehouse.
Now I know you're in business to make money, and I don't begrudge you a bit for it. After all, that's the American way, but Jim…enough is enough. Stop designing motorcycles with chrome bait in mind and fire the SOB that came up with that idea. Let a HOG member bring a date to the events. Treat us like the family yall claim we are, and when the doctors and lawyers abandon you, just like they did with the station wagon and the mini-van, there may still be enough of us left to keep ya floatin, but right now, I'm feelin over-used and under-appreciated. Bet I'm not the only one either.
Well that about says it all, I feel a lot better getting it off my chest, and if you actually took the time to read this, I thank you for that. Enjoy that last HOG payment, cause it truly is my last.
Sam
P.S. Kuryakin makes a part to cover that big ol ugly screw. Know what they call it? "The piece that covers the ugly screw on Road King dashes"
Lemme know if the MoCo sends anything back, I'd be surprised. They got my last HOG membership years ago.
Muthuh  For Information, contact: Muthuh@Muthuh.com
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