Harley-Davidson announced today a new contest for women riders called, "Get Down to Daytona", in which women can submit videos about their greatest motorcycle mentor story for a chance to win an expense paid road trip from Atlanta to Daytona Bike Week with Karen Davidson, great-granddaughter of William A. Davidson, one of the Company's founders.

To enter the contest, a female rider needs to create a 90 second or less video highlighting their greatest motorcycle mentor story. The video is a chance for a woman to thank her mentor for helping her start her motorcycle journey, improve her riding skills or try new challenges on a motorcycle.

Videos should be submitted to www.harley-davidson.com/womensride and will be accepted until 6 p.m. CST November 15, 2007. To be eligible, women must have received their motorcycle license after November 14, 2005 and must own a Harley-Davidson or Buell motorcycle.

Six finalists will be chosen and posted to www.harley-davidson.com/womensride on November 26, 2007. Online viewer voting will begin at this time and the last day to vote will be December 10.

Once the voting period has ended, three "Get Down to Daytona" winners will be announced December 14, 2007. These lucky ladies as well as one guest each will receive an expense paid road trip from Atlanta to Daytona in March 2008 as well as three nights stay in Daytona, just in time for Bike Week.

Here's how to enter:

Log on to www.harley-davidson.com/womensride and click on the "Get Down to Daytona '08" link. Submit a 90-second or less video describing how your mentor helped you improve your confidence and riding skills. Also describe what riding means to you.

Labels: Biggs Harley Davidson, Daytona Beach Bike Week, Women Riders

Yesterday Ox and I and my wife rode down to Biggs Harley. Biggs is a Harley dealership in San Marcos, CA. We didn't have anything to do, so I suggested riding down there just to look at bikes.

We got there, and sure enough there were lots of shiny new Harleys with signs on them saying "Please Sit On Me".

However, I saw this used 2005 Ultra Classic, with 3,500 miles on it, black cherry paint, all stock. They had it priced for $19,600. If you remember last October, I wrote that I wanted to buy a touring bike, and couldn't make up mind between a Harley or Yamaha. Well, I still hadn't made up my mind, and I was getting impatient with myself.

I sat on the bike, and then my wife got up on the back. She really found it comfortable, claiming the passenger seat was wider than the one on my Road Star, and really enjoyed the large backrest on the tour pack (and mini arm-rests too). The rider seat felt pretty good, perhaps being a used bike.

I was sold. Well actually, we've sat on Ultras and Electras before, as well as the Yamaha Venture and Tour Deluxe. But I guess it was a combination of her telling me that this was very comfortable, plus the fact that I needed to get serious about buying one, plus it was a color that I really liked, plus we had saved up a bunch of money to afford one, and that my feet could touch the ground on this thing (short legs!)

I confirmed with her again that she felt comfortable, even asking her if she thought it was more comfortable than sitting on the Road Star. "Oh yes", she replied. And that's really why I set about to buy a touring bike, so that she could be as comfortable as possible. I've learned that a having a woman on back complaining about her sore butt and sore knees almost ruins a good day of riding. Plus, she keeps falling asleep after a meal, and I feel better with her having the wide back support on the tour pack.

So I talked to a sales guy, and he ran down the numbers for me. But I couldn't buy the bike right then. Remember, I rode my Road Star there, and I couldn't ride two bikes back home. So, the three of us headed home and planned to come back in Ox's truck. While at home, my wife and I rechecked the balance in our savings and checking, and yup, we had saved up enough money.

We got back to Biggs, and I told the sales guy I was going to write a check for the full amount. "No way" he said. They don't accept personal checks over $5,000 dollars, only cashier's checks. Or at least if they did, they would have to hold the bike for 10 days until the check cleared. I couldn't believe it! Any car dealership will take a personal check for the whole amount. Heck, when I bought my Road Star, they took a check for the whole amount as well.

Ox mentioned that I could use my Bank debit card instead, because then it would automatically debit my account. However, Biggs also said "No way", because they consider that a credit card and that they don't do charges over $5,000.

Then they said I could finance the bike through Harley, and then pay off the balance in a few days, to avoid interest. So we talked about that, and soon discovered that when financing a bike, Biggs won't let me ride it off the lot unless I had full coverage on the bike. Well, I couldn't call my agent because it was a holiday weekend (MLK day). But they said their "preferred agent" could hook me up right now. I said "No way". I want MY agent.

The only thing we could do was put some money down as a deposit, and have them hold the bike until Tuesday. Then I could go to the bank and get a cashier's check for the full amount. And so that's the plan.

So, tomorrow I plan to be riding a 2005 Ultra Classic down the freeway. I was disappointed that Biggs wouldn't take a personal check. Maybe all Harley dealers are like this? I dunno. At least not all Yamaha dealers are like that. I wonder if it's a conspiracy to get people to finance through Harley!

Labels: Bad Customer Service, Biggs Harley Davidson, California Harley Davidson Dealerships