Dave Zein is a former Wisconsin Senator. I've known him for over 30 years. First the Great story.
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/Sturgis_Museum_Historic_Feature_of_the_Month.aspx
Now how he is being treated by Harley Davidson Corp. I did not write this.
I would like to see every veteran, every patriot, every person who believes the flag is more than just nylon or canvas to respond to Harley-Davidson through letters to the company or comments to your local dealership, about your disappointment and dissatisfaction over the way they are treating Dave Zien's warranty issue. There is now some issue emerging that the clutch and some internal screws might have been the problem, not the flags and wind drag. Sadly, HD has steadfastly refused to respond to Dave's inquiries and only issued a statement to the media early on that the flags were the problem. Really? The only problem I see is HD's lack of customer service and disdain for anyone who questions warranty decisions or challenges engineering flaws. Read this letter from a marine who has outstanding qualifications in his resume and is sickened by HD's lack of consideration and refusal to respond other than that early media sound byte. Now is the time for true American spirit to take up the call to action and let HD know you are not satisfied with their answer and you demand proof that the wind drag caused Dave's problem.
"As the son of two WWII Veterans, a Marine Corps Veteran (68-72) and a long time Harley Davidson owner, I am saddened by an avalanche of moral corruption and cynicism of an American corporate icon. It is not the fact that an American presidential candidate refused to wear an American Flag Lapel Pin, or a First Lady who said she had never been proud of this Country or a First lady who at the 911 memorial openly stated ” All of this for a ****ed flag?” Politicians come and go, but it is the actions by an iconic corporation that highlight the degradation of American values.
On this Independence Day, Harley Davidson is marketing and touting its patriotism. So why is a 100% Disabled Marine Corps Combat Veteran who purchased a $35,000.00 2014 Harley Davidson Trike still fighting for his and all disabled riders independence? Former Wisconsin State Senator Dave Zien has been told by a technical supervisor at Harley in Milwaukee that the Harley Davidson Dealer installed modification to the transmission to accommodate his disability and the drag created by an American Flag on the rear of his Trike are unauthorized modifications voiding the warranty. Expressive conduct which is a clear and deliberate expression of Harley Davidson’s contempt for American Values.
Contending that an American Flag on the back of a new Trike contributes enough drag to damage a new HD transmission not only defies aerodynamic and mechanical engineering standards, it defies common sense. To tell a Marine Corps Veteran the American Flag is detrimental is tantamount to saying we don’t care about this Country.
On this Independence Day, it is important to remember that the flag is not “just simply another ‘idea’ or ‘point of view’ but the “visible symbol embodying our Nation.” The colors of the flag are symbolic: Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor, White symbolizes Purity and Innocence and Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice What makes this corporate decision more egregious than the Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson, (dismissing criminal charges for burning the American Flag), is that it is cowardly attack on Veterans. Harley Davidson survived only by the military purchases during WWII, and their success was and is grounded in Veterans almost mystical reverence to the HD brand. To those of us who served in the military, the American Flag is representative of every person who ever wore a military uniform and fought and died for freedom. For us the flag taps into forms of knowledge that lie below the level of articulate Reason.
Harley Davidson’s Leadership may all have Masters in Business Administration but an MBA does not give them a rubric, rule, or formula to understand that American Veteran’s, especially Marine Corps Veterans have a special moral cohesion derived from a unique circumstance, and that when it comes to our independence we do not surrender to ignorance, threats, or corporate bullying. HD does generously donate to the DAV, but then to deny a warranty claim because an HD dealer installed a modification allowing a disabled veteran to use the product is duplicitous. The injustice is then fueled by blaming the American Flag as an unauthorized modification. This is nothing short of stupidity.
Harley Davidson was contacted numerous times in efforts to resolve these issues. HD’s chosen tactic, lack of response, leadership inertia, timidity, complacency, hiding numerous engineering flaws the magnitude of which have not seen since Harley’s were manufactured by is a “bowling ball company” is deafening and betrays their PR rhetoric. Harley Davidson has proved itself a corporation, a corporation, just like the corporations that made the Dalkon Shields, thalidomide and Agent Orange. Obviously HD brand is aimed at Veteran’s, but only for their money and maintaining the establishment. That the American people don’t realize this is only too sad."
Semper Fi
Gere Unger
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/Sturgis_Museum_Historic_Feature_of_the_Month.aspx
Now how he is being treated by Harley Davidson Corp. I did not write this.
I would like to see every veteran, every patriot, every person who believes the flag is more than just nylon or canvas to respond to Harley-Davidson through letters to the company or comments to your local dealership, about your disappointment and dissatisfaction over the way they are treating Dave Zien's warranty issue. There is now some issue emerging that the clutch and some internal screws might have been the problem, not the flags and wind drag. Sadly, HD has steadfastly refused to respond to Dave's inquiries and only issued a statement to the media early on that the flags were the problem. Really? The only problem I see is HD's lack of customer service and disdain for anyone who questions warranty decisions or challenges engineering flaws. Read this letter from a marine who has outstanding qualifications in his resume and is sickened by HD's lack of consideration and refusal to respond other than that early media sound byte. Now is the time for true American spirit to take up the call to action and let HD know you are not satisfied with their answer and you demand proof that the wind drag caused Dave's problem.
"As the son of two WWII Veterans, a Marine Corps Veteran (68-72) and a long time Harley Davidson owner, I am saddened by an avalanche of moral corruption and cynicism of an American corporate icon. It is not the fact that an American presidential candidate refused to wear an American Flag Lapel Pin, or a First Lady who said she had never been proud of this Country or a First lady who at the 911 memorial openly stated ” All of this for a ****ed flag?” Politicians come and go, but it is the actions by an iconic corporation that highlight the degradation of American values.
On this Independence Day, Harley Davidson is marketing and touting its patriotism. So why is a 100% Disabled Marine Corps Combat Veteran who purchased a $35,000.00 2014 Harley Davidson Trike still fighting for his and all disabled riders independence? Former Wisconsin State Senator Dave Zien has been told by a technical supervisor at Harley in Milwaukee that the Harley Davidson Dealer installed modification to the transmission to accommodate his disability and the drag created by an American Flag on the rear of his Trike are unauthorized modifications voiding the warranty. Expressive conduct which is a clear and deliberate expression of Harley Davidson’s contempt for American Values.
Contending that an American Flag on the back of a new Trike contributes enough drag to damage a new HD transmission not only defies aerodynamic and mechanical engineering standards, it defies common sense. To tell a Marine Corps Veteran the American Flag is detrimental is tantamount to saying we don’t care about this Country.
On this Independence Day, it is important to remember that the flag is not “just simply another ‘idea’ or ‘point of view’ but the “visible symbol embodying our Nation.” The colors of the flag are symbolic: Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor, White symbolizes Purity and Innocence and Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice What makes this corporate decision more egregious than the Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson, (dismissing criminal charges for burning the American Flag), is that it is cowardly attack on Veterans. Harley Davidson survived only by the military purchases during WWII, and their success was and is grounded in Veterans almost mystical reverence to the HD brand. To those of us who served in the military, the American Flag is representative of every person who ever wore a military uniform and fought and died for freedom. For us the flag taps into forms of knowledge that lie below the level of articulate Reason.
Harley Davidson’s Leadership may all have Masters in Business Administration but an MBA does not give them a rubric, rule, or formula to understand that American Veteran’s, especially Marine Corps Veterans have a special moral cohesion derived from a unique circumstance, and that when it comes to our independence we do not surrender to ignorance, threats, or corporate bullying. HD does generously donate to the DAV, but then to deny a warranty claim because an HD dealer installed a modification allowing a disabled veteran to use the product is duplicitous. The injustice is then fueled by blaming the American Flag as an unauthorized modification. This is nothing short of stupidity.
Harley Davidson was contacted numerous times in efforts to resolve these issues. HD’s chosen tactic, lack of response, leadership inertia, timidity, complacency, hiding numerous engineering flaws the magnitude of which have not seen since Harley’s were manufactured by is a “bowling ball company” is deafening and betrays their PR rhetoric. Harley Davidson has proved itself a corporation, a corporation, just like the corporations that made the Dalkon Shields, thalidomide and Agent Orange. Obviously HD brand is aimed at Veteran’s, but only for their money and maintaining the establishment. That the American people don’t realize this is only too sad."
Semper Fi
Gere Unger
