So it's that time. The 10K. I make up a list of the 'Can't take it any more', 'Would you mind looking at...' and the 'Is this under warranty?'.
Take it in at 8 and told 'pick up at 5.'
Back at 5 and everything is fixed....RIGHT!!!
The steering fork adjustment and tourge(Thunk, Thunk at the smallest bump).
The tearing saddle bag gromment.
The flapping and slapping drive belt( and I thought my chain drive on my '82 drove me crazy).
The clutch adjustment.
The clutch cable adjustment.
The "chee-chee" exhaust leaks.
The throttle play.
The unexplained high revs at idle.
Even new plugs!!!!! (Those arn't due till 20K) Gasp!!
Is this a new bike??? The ol' switch a ro?
Nope! They actually did it right!
And these were issues I had at 5K that a test drive did'nt reveal, thus could'nt fix.
See what a 20% same store over year reduction in sales will do.
Cures that lacking customer retention practices and service does'nt it.
P.S. If your tired of you pants cuff catching on your heal shifter and you want more room there, there is a shifter eliminator by Karvorkian (sc). Under $40 and worth every penny.
Roll safe!

 

Same here. Bike was kind of F'd up after 10K check. Screws loose rough idle, squeeks, ect.

Either some mechanics don't know what their doing, or the whole 10K thing is scewed to get the dealer to make some money.

It appears they actualy skip a lot of the required maintenence, knowing full well you have no idea whether they performed the service or not. 4k miles after the service, my cables squeek and I know the cables should have been lubed.

Who knows.

 

Sorry, I can't tell, did they do it right or not?

 

Why would you put up with some of that "Can't take it" list without doing some of the simple adjustments yourself, or at least taking it in and having things fixed when they needed it?

 

Read his whole post. He's happy as a clam. They fixed everythng and made his cereal taste better.

 

Did read it. That's why I asked what I did.

An exhaust leak needs fixed immediately if it's at the head. Leaking at other places ain't so bad.

When you feel play in the throttle, you adjust it then, and not wait 'til a scheduled maintenance.

Notice excess play at the clutch lever? Adjust it then, not later.

Drive belt loose? Adjust it ASAP!

Front end clunking over even small bumps? Adjust it ASAP so you aren't hammering flat spots in the bearing races. Or so you don't find out it's gotten too loose when you hit a small bump at 70 mph and the front end does the tank-slapper routine.

Unexplained high idle - adjust it if it's a carbed model. Take it in and let them have a look-see if it's a fuelie model. Otherwise it may decide to go high when you're not at idle and in a tight spot.

I ain't knocking Tex in particular. Just making a point that even if you don't roll your own you need to take care of business, else it might take care of you.

 

Bought the bike used from a private seller. 2 years left on the warranty, but HD says they got to do the 10K service to keep warranty intact.

Always work on my own stuff, although I changed the oil for my first time a couple of weeks ago. Spilled oil all over the place when I removed the oil filter.
You are right though, the lore of Harley ownership is all about learning to fix the thing yourself. I think I have learned my lesson. If you take care of it, only manufacturing defects will show up during the initial 2 years of warranty. Do you really need that extended warranty?