HBarlow
Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
I see comments and questions about whether and how the Honda Warranty or Extended Warranty may or may not pay for repairs. I can share an educational experience with the Honda Extended Warranty on a high-mileage Goldwing.
Please forgive the long story.
In January 20111 I bought a new 2010 Honda Goldwing. Factory warranty was 36 months, unlimited miles. I anticipated riding a lot and bought the four year extended warranty. I was retired and loved that Goldwing and began riding it as often as I could. I became almost fanatical.
The first required service was due at 4k miles which rolled around very quickly. When I took it to my local dealer the smart young service writer warned me that the service would cost me $400 - $500 and told me about the dealer's service agreement. It was $1500, full parts and service for all required maintenance, for 36 months. A degree in mathematics was not required to see the advantage in that so I went up front and bought it. The service was free.
The Goldwing tech was a great mechanic. He actually had an aerospace engineering degree and had worked for several years in a high tech in Austin, TX. . He was extremely knowledgeable of Goldwings, very meticulous, a highly respected motorcycle mechanic. He did all Goldwing service. That dealership had a maintenance schedule for Goldwings that required service every 4k miles, more frequently than the Honda official schedule. I followed it because it was free. The dealership serviced my Goldwing every 4k miles of it's life at no cost to me.
Fast forward almost four years to October of 2014. My Goldwing had traveled all 48 contiguous states, a trans-Canada trip BC to NS, had been to San Diego sveral times, to FL, to New England, all over the US many times, and had 93,xxx miles on the odometer. Routine maintenance only. never a problem . . . until this one.
One afternoon in my nearby small town of Crosbyton, TXI I started the engine, put it in neutral, and pressed the starter button down to back out of a parking place. It worked normally. I drove out, got on the highway, ran up to highway speed, and pressed the cruise control SET button. Cruise control would not engage. When i got home, jockeyed it into it's parking space, and electric reverse wouldn't work.
Early the following Tuesday morning I rode it to the Honda dealer and explained the problem. I knew the Goldwing tech very well by that time and considered him a personal friend. Over the next SIX WEEKs I became very familiar with with the Honda warranty. The GW tech was busy and the service writer, by that time, was a millennial twit, iPhone commando, whom I didn't like even a little bit so my Wing was not first in line. When the tech would get to it he would work through the wiring diagrams until he identified the suspected part and he had to call the Honda Service manager in Honda HQ in Los Angeles to discuss his findings. My local tech would spend 30 minutes or more on the phone with the decision maker in LA who had to authorize shipping a part if the Honda warranty was paying. If the dealership ordered the part, they and the customer would pay. The part would arrive in several days, the service writer twit would assign the work, and the GW tech would install the new part and test the Wing. The problem persisteed. This continued for six full weeks as each step was repeated.
Goldiwings use the electric starter motor to reverse the motorcycle. The engine must be running, at idle, in neutral, and the START button pressed. That circuit has several relays in a row to answer each question: 1)motor running?, 2) gearshift in neutral?, 3) start button pressed? The same circuit was somehow connected with the cruise control but I've forgotten the details now.
The point was Honda covered the full price of all parts and labor to repair this failure on a Goldwing with 93,xxx miles. The bill was well over $1000 if I remember correctly. But Honda Corp has a strenuous approval procedure in place to ensure they don't pay for neglect, abuse, modifications, or owner-caused damage. The fact that my GW tech was well known and respected, could "speak the Honda language" with the Honda factory rep, and my GW tech knew my Goldwing and me very well because he had serviced it every 4k miles since it was new worked in my favor.
Goldwings are wonderful machines. That yellow Goldwing gave me a lifetime of memories in four years. The photos below are just a hint. Photo 1 was taken on the north side (UP) of the Mackinac Straits with the Mackinac Bridge in the Background. #2 was at one of the locks along the Wellington Canal in Canada, #3 was at the Dossin Maritime Museum on Belle Isle Detroit, MI, #4 was with my Mini-Mate camper in tow, leaving my old farmhouse in barren Crosby County, Texas, #5 was down tow San Diego on SD Bay,#6 was taken on the "tail of the Dragon" in TN,I don't recall, and #8 was entering Ontario on a ride around Lake Superior. I have lots of photos but most of them are in my mind. You can't take away the memroes.
Please forgive the long story.
In January 20111 I bought a new 2010 Honda Goldwing. Factory warranty was 36 months, unlimited miles. I anticipated riding a lot and bought the four year extended warranty. I was retired and loved that Goldwing and began riding it as often as I could. I became almost fanatical.
The first required service was due at 4k miles which rolled around very quickly. When I took it to my local dealer the smart young service writer warned me that the service would cost me $400 - $500 and told me about the dealer's service agreement. It was $1500, full parts and service for all required maintenance, for 36 months. A degree in mathematics was not required to see the advantage in that so I went up front and bought it. The service was free.
The Goldwing tech was a great mechanic. He actually had an aerospace engineering degree and had worked for several years in a high tech in Austin, TX. . He was extremely knowledgeable of Goldwings, very meticulous, a highly respected motorcycle mechanic. He did all Goldwing service. That dealership had a maintenance schedule for Goldwings that required service every 4k miles, more frequently than the Honda official schedule. I followed it because it was free. The dealership serviced my Goldwing every 4k miles of it's life at no cost to me.
Fast forward almost four years to October of 2014. My Goldwing had traveled all 48 contiguous states, a trans-Canada trip BC to NS, had been to San Diego sveral times, to FL, to New England, all over the US many times, and had 93,xxx miles on the odometer. Routine maintenance only. never a problem . . . until this one.
One afternoon in my nearby small town of Crosbyton, TXI I started the engine, put it in neutral, and pressed the starter button down to back out of a parking place. It worked normally. I drove out, got on the highway, ran up to highway speed, and pressed the cruise control SET button. Cruise control would not engage. When i got home, jockeyed it into it's parking space, and electric reverse wouldn't work.
Early the following Tuesday morning I rode it to the Honda dealer and explained the problem. I knew the Goldwing tech very well by that time and considered him a personal friend. Over the next SIX WEEKs I became very familiar with with the Honda warranty. The GW tech was busy and the service writer, by that time, was a millennial twit, iPhone commando, whom I didn't like even a little bit so my Wing was not first in line. When the tech would get to it he would work through the wiring diagrams until he identified the suspected part and he had to call the Honda Service manager in Honda HQ in Los Angeles to discuss his findings. My local tech would spend 30 minutes or more on the phone with the decision maker in LA who had to authorize shipping a part if the Honda warranty was paying. If the dealership ordered the part, they and the customer would pay. The part would arrive in several days, the service writer twit would assign the work, and the GW tech would install the new part and test the Wing. The problem persisteed. This continued for six full weeks as each step was repeated.
Goldiwings use the electric starter motor to reverse the motorcycle. The engine must be running, at idle, in neutral, and the START button pressed. That circuit has several relays in a row to answer each question: 1)motor running?, 2) gearshift in neutral?, 3) start button pressed? The same circuit was somehow connected with the cruise control but I've forgotten the details now.
The point was Honda covered the full price of all parts and labor to repair this failure on a Goldwing with 93,xxx miles. The bill was well over $1000 if I remember correctly. But Honda Corp has a strenuous approval procedure in place to ensure they don't pay for neglect, abuse, modifications, or owner-caused damage. The fact that my GW tech was well known and respected, could "speak the Honda language" with the Honda factory rep, and my GW tech knew my Goldwing and me very well because he had serviced it every 4k miles since it was new worked in my favor.
Goldwings are wonderful machines. That yellow Goldwing gave me a lifetime of memories in four years. The photos below are just a hint. Photo 1 was taken on the north side (UP) of the Mackinac Straits with the Mackinac Bridge in the Background. #2 was at one of the locks along the Wellington Canal in Canada, #3 was at the Dossin Maritime Museum on Belle Isle Detroit, MI, #4 was with my Mini-Mate camper in tow, leaving my old farmhouse in barren Crosby County, Texas, #5 was down tow San Diego on SD Bay,#6 was taken on the "tail of the Dragon" in TN,I don't recall, and #8 was entering Ontario on a ride around Lake Superior. I have lots of photos but most of them are in my mind. You can't take away the memroes.
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