I bought a 2009 Ultra from a local dealer last Nov. At the time it had 4200 miles, now it has 4600. Today I took the bike on its first "real" ride since I have owned it. I made a 70 mile trip on the highway averaging 70mph. About 10 miles from home on a back road I started hearing a real loud whining noise in 4th and 5th gears. All other gears seemed ok. I got home and checked the trans fluid and found the dipstick dry. I checked it on the kickstand, upright, and leaning to the right and all 3 times it was bone dry. I informed the dealer and they immediately came out and picked it up. My question is: will there be any long term issues with the trans if it did indeed was very low on fluid? Any advice about what I can expect as far as dealer/MoCo involvement would be appreciated.

 

With only 400 miles added it would be hard for the dealer not to take some major responsibility. I would think that they are fully serviced before going out the door and there should be a service record on it.

 

document everything for the future

 

I recently changed my tranny lube to redline. I removed exactly 1 quart of old lube and added exactly 1 quart of redline. with the bike standing vertically it doesn't register on the dip stick, I know there's a quart in there. Craig

 

Now that I'm home, I just checked my tranny level again, according to the book. With the same result. This wouldn't be the first time that there was an error in the service manual. I'd like to know what your dealer said and if anyone else has experienced this.
Craig

 

i dunno, i check my fluid levels according to the manual and it reads full.

i sure hope the dealer does the right thing and takes care of you.

 

I would certinally hope the dealer would take care of you. I just bought my 09 classic and the trans fluid was pink and frothy. I had the bike go through the dealer checklist,then bought a 1 year full extended warrenty. They had to replace my compensator , rotor assembly ,inner primary seal etc and all the fluids. They said they test drove it and all was great.Now i find that my tranny is noisy and shifts sloppy. Also the starter engagement sounded bad and it almost didnt start. The trans fluid is very hard to see if there is fluid in there.Thinking i need new tranny tune up or something

 

was your tranny fluid pink before the work you had done? if they changed all your fluids then more then likely they did the tranny also and put H-D sync 3 in it, which is hard to see. as far as your starter engagement if you still have the original battery you might have them do a load test on it, and clean the post up, more than likely you need a new one beings it's been 5 yrs. old and a weak battery will cause you problems.

 

Regardless of the final determination of the specific problem...your dealer should take care of 100% of the expenses! The bike should have gone through a complete service before it was ever rolled out the door! And if you damaged the tranny because the fluid level was too low...they should take can of future related issues, as well.

Good luck...

Steve

 

the tech who did the maintenance on it most likely didn't put the oil back in the trans. i picked up my new bike and rode it home and the trans oil didn't touch the dip stick. it had oil in it just not enough, straight from the factory.