Ok, I got the bike back today. Apparently, the rear tank mount bolt (the one under the seat) had been left out, so when I hit a bump, the tank would bounce up under the seat, hit the frame, and make the racket. I feel a little stupid because though I checked everything, it never occured to me to take off the seat and check that particular bolt. I just tried wiggling the tank by hand when I checked it. Being that it was held in place by the seat when stationary, it did not budge - unless of course, you hit a bump on the bike.

Still, not much in the way of putting the dealer high up on my confidence list, though I can understand how it might have been overlooked. Had I not had a warranty, this would have been an out of pocket indy repair at Rebel Customs down the road. I'll credit this as a lesson learned.

Oh well, nothing to see here (yet...), the bike seems fine now. Anyway, I'm back to cleaning up Ursula to her former state of shine. Thanks for the input here.

 

You were warned...

 

Gee, I wonder why it wouldn't occur to you to not assume a certified technician did his job and put everything back where it was supposed to go. I'm no mechanic but I do wrench a few things and one of the ways I check myself is to put every nut and bolt I remove in a specific spot and then make sure there is nothing still in the pile when I get done. If there is, I obviously missed something. You'd think that simple little method might occur to these guys as well.

Everyone is entitled to make a mistake now and then. But there is a repeated history, regardless of dealership or geographical location, of dealers charging top dollar for service and then idiotic things like this happening. Even if the nut and bolt were there and just loose, I would have taken it back and made them tighten just to be sure they know that I know that they screwed up, even though this particular f 'up didn't cost you your life.

While I'm on my soap box, I'll tell you what drove me away from the stealership service dept. I'm one of those fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you type of guys. When I took my bike in for its first service, just shy of 1000 miles, I was told when I made the appt. that it would take at least an hour and a half. The dealership is a little over an hour away. So I made the appt. for first thing in the morning and took a half a day off of work. I dropped the bike off and went over to the diner next door for something to eat. A half hour later my cell phone rang telling me my bike was done. I must have walked in with a WTF look on my face because the svc manager told me that they got done in a half hour because they weren't busy and triple teamed my bike. I still had a WTF look on my face because I looked down the service area and there was a bike in every bay with a technician working on each one. What they did was change my fluids and filter and charge me for a complete service.

Next time I take my bike in for some sort of recall. I get it back and later discover a circular patterned scratch going down my swingarm. It looked just like someone took an impact wrench and missed a bolt and ran it all the way down. I know I didn't do it and my bike stays locked in a barn when I'm not riding it. When I called the service manager about it, he replied that there was no way one of his guys did that without saying anything but "the customer is always right" so they would fix it for me anyway. Basically calling me a liar to my face without saying the word.

I've got a good indy that charges me more reasonably and does great work. That peace of mind is better than any factory warranty or service the dealer will ever give me.

 

First off it is highly unlikely that they split the cases and everything else that goes along with that in a day. (Friday and picked up Saturday). The spot you show with the arrow is likely just the case mating surfaces rubbing together and creating something that looks like a leak. In reality this is common to this mating surface and Harley has tried to address this issue by using various means to keep the surfaces more friction free. There is "NO" fluid or oil of any kind inside of the joint between the engine case and tranny where you pointed this out and again, this is a common complaint with many twin cam bikes. Initially people all thought it was a leak but it is not. I can't for the life of me figure out what gaskets they replaced. The guy who told you it was a sealant might be partially right in that they may have placed some type of selant between the tranny case and engine case where they bolt together in order to try and keep friction down? This may have been Harleys ultimate internal attempt at a fix and the technician associated this with your problem. This I don't know, its internal info. What you are seeing at the location you pointed out is very fine particulate from the friction of similar soft mating surfaces. Again I know Harley won't admit a problem but when they do resolve it and its not a safety issue, its called an UPGRADE. It is only corrected if the dealer feels like correcting it and if the customer squeeks loud enough. I'd be curious to see the materials and labor list on this or talk to the actual tech. I just don't think there is any way they split those cases. Your noise is probably associated with them pulling the tranny and associated parts in order to get to this mating surface. Rick

 

I can not believe they pulled that apart and got it back to you in a day I bet the mark comes back over time

 

I don't know if they really split the cases or not. For all I know, they just wiped their greasy hands all over my engine to make it look like they worked on it. The only thing I know for sure is that I did not give them any of my money, so if the service department is screwing over the dealership owner for fabricated warranty services; someone needs to unass their shop of theives and liars.

I'll be putting about 600 miles on it Wednesday/Thursday, so if there is any other problems with it, I'll be sure to find out. As long as it is running and not pouring oil, I am happy with it. When the warranty runs out in a week, I'll be using my local shop for any service needs I can't handle myself.

Thanks for the input and comments!

 

SERIOUSLY,would a reputable shop who wanted your future business return your bike too you with greasy handprints all over it?I agree with whoever said that they would just ignore a leak this minor.Don't get discouraged though you have a great bike and you will love it.

 

I worked alot to get the grey engine case clean, but once I was finished; I installed my new engine guard and took Ursula out for a good long ride most of the day Wednesday (260 or so miles). After leaving her in the garage overnight, I checked for leaks and found nothing. Bike runs like a top, and now that my Rush pipes are beginning to burn in, it sounds even better than before.

I am definately looking forward to doing more riding in the coming weeks, leading up to Charlie Maxwell in mid-September. Thanks again for your advice and comments.

 

Damn thats a long thread about an oil leak thats not really an oil leak. I need another beer. Glad you got it sorted out and your on the road.

 

my 07 leaks there 2 sometimes
I just clean it with soap and water

It has slowed down now a lot
I have 3200 miles