Eaglerider report in USA

[Guest]

Report of my Eaglerider trip in USA.

I have decided to write this in English, because you might want to share this with Eaglerider

in USA and I might want to share it on Internet forums, depending on your reactions. Some

words used here might be un-American and more British and I apologise for that.

I set out to hire a Harley Davidson Trike at Eaglerider in LA for a week, the idea being to

ride in 2 days to Flagstaff Arizona over the motorway and ride back over Route 66 to Los Angeles.

Picking up the trike already was a disappointment: despite several confirmations with from ER

staff that I would get a Harley-Davidson Trike, I received a Honda Goldwing Trike and on my

protests about this the Eaglerider staff told me there was no HD trike available and I was

forced to take the Honda.

At this moment Eaglerider did not reimburse me for the $25 taxi ride from the airport as

was promised initially and when I later, on returning the trike remarked on this, I was just

ignored and I never received the money for this taxi ride.

The Honda trike was in very bad shape:

- the gearbox shifted very rough and very noisily.

- the trike had a slight pull to the right. You don't notice it at first but after hours on

the motorway (more about this later) it becomes very irritating, having to pull with your

left arm constantly.

- the trike did not have proper foot-boards but only the small foot-pegs. This is intolerable

for a long distance tourer and causes cramp in your upper-legs after hours on the motorway.

- initially the engine did run poor, but after making some revs that improved. I suspect the

trike was riden as a Harley: making not enough revs.

- the bodywork was marred by many scratches and the pre-ride check up was a long list of

these.

- the gas tank is very small, on the motorway I sometimes got less then 100 miles out of

a tank, which in the USA makes you very nervous as gas stations can be very far apart.

- at low speeds there is a squeaking sound coming from the bike, as if something is wrong

with drive belt rubbing against the chassis.

- a chromed cover on both side of the trike was loose and rattled during the ride, when I

pointed this out during the pre-ride inspection it was just ignored by the Eaglerider staff.

I left on Saturday, arrived in Flagstaff as planned on Sunday and started the return journey

on Monday.

By noon Monday I arrived in Kingman, visited the Route 66 visitors centre and tried to drive

away with the disk lock still on. The written instruction from Eaglerider

stipulate this lock should be used at all times, the trike has no alarm-system as we are

used to in Europe.

The lock smashed up the font left disk brake, which had to be renewed as it is far too

dangerous to ride with only the rear brake. So I limped the trike to the local Harley-

Davidson / Honda dealer in Kingman, as instructed by Eaglerider.

It took the HD-dealer about 2 hours to diagnose the situation, suggesting a possible repair

that afternoon. After some more waiting the message came the brake would need replacement

and parts needed to be ordered overnight, hopefully arriving Tuesday afternoon, but they

would call me in my hotel.

Tuesday morning I called back to Eaglerider to update them on the situation. Again no

reaction from them and no alternative suggestions were made (like renting a car or similar).

Tuesday afternoon the HD dealer did NOT call me as promised and I had to call them. The

parts had not arrived but would arrive Wednesday morning and they would call me next day to

pick me up from the hotel. So I was faced with an other night in a small town with no

transportation and nothing to do and nothing to see.

Wednesday morning again no call from HD dealer, nor from Eaglerider who could have checked

how things were going, but it seems nobody here is really interested in how you are doing,

it is all very superficial.

So, I had to call HD again and ask them to pick me up.

Expecting the trike repaired by now, the message came the parts did not arrive and could come

Wednesday afternoon. I desperation I now called Eaglerider where the guy on the phone did

not even know of the predicament I was in!!

That afternoon the parts finally arrive and after another 3 hours wait I could finally leave,

after having paid the hefty bill of $500 for the parts: Eaglerider never bothered to suggest

to the HD dealer to pay the bill and sort things out later.

Also I am convinced that had they given me a Harley Davidson, there would not have been any

delay, as HD parts are much easier available in the USA.

To add insult to injury, that afternoon a snow storm hit Kingman I was condemned to yet another

night in this hell hole.

Thursday morning I was running out of time to catch my plane Friday in LA, so all I could do

was hit the motorway again on the poor trike to get back and forget all about the Route 66 trip.

As Harley-Davidson parts are much more readily available then Honda parts, I am convinced the

brake would have been repaired on the spot if it was a Harley and threrefor the delay is

Eaglerider's fault, as they gave me a trike I did not want in the first place.

Friday I returned the trike to Eaglerider. Of course I explained my disappointment and asked

what they suggested to resolve the situation. Again Eaglerider staff just ignored my question.

Both the HD dealer in Kingman and the Eaglerider in LA seemed very insensitive and uninterested

in the experience of their customers.

What I would have expected from Eaglerider is an offer to refund the 3 days I could not use

the trike plus the $25 for the taxi when I arrived. While in Kingman they should have offered

alternative transportation, e.g. a rental car of get me a trike from Las Vegas, which is

not too far from Kingman.

Eaglerider could also have offered me a couple days of extra rental, to make at least something

of my trip. Now I spend $ 4000 for a week and all I saw was motorway on a poor trike and the

inside of a Harley dealer.

Eaglerider "rental conditions" mention an example where you say that: "in case a Honda bike was

booked and it is not available, then a suitable replacement is provided and a Harley-Davidson is

NOT a replacement in that case". Surely a Honda is not a suitable replacement for a Harley

either then. So you are violating your own rental conditions in my case.

Going back to the airport Eaglerider promised me a town-car to take me, but even this they

managed to mess up and after a long wait they took me in their own van, driven by an

Eaglerider employee and actually at this point I was so fed up with Eaglerider thatthe last

thing I wanted to see is one of them.

This is not even the end of the story. Of course I sent this report to Eaglerider for their

comments. After three weeks of me reminding them for a response, they finaly produced some

very silly answers, which led me to believe they had not read my report. When I asked "Did you

actually read my report?" the guy in charge admitted that he had not read it! He said he would

read it now and after three more weeks of reminding Eaglerider, they stopped reacting to my

emails all together, hoping it would just go away.

Conclusion: when you rent at Eaglerider, do not expect anything from them when things go wrong,

they are too incompetent for a normal reaction to adversity.

[hurtank]

what a shit trip tbh. im sure you'd probs have rather rented a 2 wheeler if that honda was as bad as it seems. it sucks when theres nothing you can do tbh

[trophyrider]

That was one of the things to do on my 50th birthday in 2012 but not anymore. Rented a motor home a year or so ago and did the Boston thing!! Excellent time had by me and the 'er indoors!!