November 1, 2003

Art Edwards

106 Yellow Wood Court

Collegeville, PA 19426

Ken Carr

Ken Carr Cycle Center

201 South Gulph Road

Unit C

King of Prussia, PA 19406

Dear Mr. Carr:

I’m writing to congratulate you on the apparent success of your dealership and of Honda of America in general. I say: “apparent” because it’s based on the assumption you must be doing OK since you don’t seem to see any need to accommodate requests from your customers.

I should point out that this observation is not limited to your dealership. Rather, it is the impression I’ve received from other Honda dealers in the area and from the phone representatives at Honda America. However, the following example is my experience with your dealership.

While visiting Ken Carr Cycle Center earlier today to pick up my current motorcycle from the service department, I had hoped to take a short ride with my wife on one of your demo Gold Wings. We recently returned from an 1800 mile trip on a Harley Electra-Glide Classic. We loved the Harley and hoped to get some idea of how it compares to a Gold Wing while our memory of the Harley was fresh. Your sales associate, Larry Briggs, asked whether I plan to buy one in the near future. Being an unusually honest person, I told him: “No, I don’t plan to buy in the next 6 to 12 months”. As a result my request to test-drive the bike was denied.

This occurred despite the fact that I had just spent $561 for service on my current motorcycle. In addition, I had to wait almost three weeks for the work to be completed because some of the parts needed were on backorder. Moreover, I wasn’t even notified the parts were on backorder. Instead, a week after I dropped the bike off, I began wondering about its status. When I called, I was told something to the effect of: “Oh yeah, sorry, those tires you wanted are back ordered until mid-November”. I guess no one thought I might be interested in opting for a different set of tires. A week later I called again to be told that my front brake cylinder needed rebuilding but the parts were (once again) backordered. I missed at least one beautiful weekend of Fall riding as a result.

It appears the consensus among those within Honda is that it should be automatically obvious that the Gold Wing is a better buy than the Electra-Glide. There really shouldn’t be any need to acquire first hand experience riding the two. At this point, I’m thinking there really isn’t any need either. When I am ready to buy, I think I might just head straight for the Harley dealership.

Anyway, best wishes for your continued success.

Yours truly,

Art Edwards