Okay, my XL1200N Nightster is about a month old, has 833 miles on it, and it blew up on the way to work. The last few times I've gotten gas, it would stumble a bit on restart, but I thought it was just from gas pressure or something in the tank. Today, it started right up, but when I was idling around the gas station, it started tocut out and stumble, and when I tried to feather the gas to get it to keep running, it started puking a LOT of smoke out of the pipes, and even some from around the engine area (no idea where that came from... intake?). It eventually crapped out all the way, and I got it towed home.

Here's the complication: While I'm sure the warrantee would normally cover it no prob, and I even bought a few years of the extended warrantee, my bike isn't bone stock. I put on the Screaming Eagle stage 1 intake, Cycle Shack slip-ons, and the ECM download from the stealership. What I'm worried about, is that the local stealership where I bought it told me shortly after buying it that I'd HAVE to do the full race/dyno tune and fuel controller if I wanted to run the Cycle Shacks. They said it was because they had less restriction and would run leaner than the SE's, and I'd burn my engine up if I ran them with the regular ECM download. Well, from asking around on here, and from other stealerships, they're full of it. I went to a different stealership to get my ECM download done, and they said that my local stealership was just trying to sell dyno time, and that I'd be fine with just the download.

So, while I honestly believe that my stage 1 didn't cause my engine to blow up, I'm next to positive my local stealership is going to try and pull the "we told you so" card and void the warrantee. Can they do this? Will I be more likely to get it fixed under warrantee at the other stealership that did the ECM download? (It would cost a bit to tow it way up there). I'm not sure what I'm more of, pissed that my new bike with less than 900 miles on it blew up, or scared that they won't fix it.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm scared. Advice please???

 

I hope the part about the Cycle Shacks is untrue. I'm running them without and ac or remap.

If it really turns out to be a problem for you, you could throw a pair of SE2's on for the warranty work. Thet couldnt prove a thing.

 

I guess I could always throw on some used SE's, since that's what all the stealerships recommend for the intake and ECM download I have, but still, I'm worried that they'd decline the warrantee work just because it isn't stock. I know that 75% of the Harleys out there are modified, with a stage 1 at least, but that isn't really comforting right now...

 

If I was the dealer I wouldn't cover any warrenty where after market parts were added.



So put the old parts on and pray.

 

The funny thing is, if the dealer does the mods, the warranty will be honored. Go figure.

 

Do you know that for sure? If so, I might be okay. I didn't do the intake and exhaust, but I did the ECM download there, which they recommended for what I already had.

 

Thats what my dealer told me. Even the parts warranty is affected if they dont do the install. They install = 2 year warranty. Self install = 90 days.

 

I can't answer your question for you, but if you CALL and explain what you just posted to the dealership that did the work, they should be able to tell you straight up. I think that if ANY business can't guarantee its own work (factory warranty or not), then it's not worth going to again. If it's another issue that caused your engine to "give up the ghost", then it should be covered by the warranty. At any rate, I think it should be fixed free of charge (excluding towing costs). Call before you tow it to the farther dealer that did the work. After you get the bike up there, and it's determined that they screwed up, politely ask about reimbursement for towing charges, expecting "no" as an answer. There's always a possibility they could say "yes". If it's a different problem, then I don't see where they would pay towing.

I've got zero experience with this...I'm just going on what I think are solid business practices. It's simply my opinion of what they SHOULD do, not what they WILL do. Good luck with it, and I hope you're back on the road SOON!

Teek

 

Absolutely. Hope it all goes well for you.

 

First of all.........Pull the spark plugs and give em a good luck........Do they show signs of excessive overheating ? If your motors problem is heat related......Your plugs will SURELY show the signs of excessive heat in the cylinders.....Also look at your oil.......Show signs of being excessively DARK ?
Its very possible your problem may not have come from overheating.....Other things may have caused your problem.