So I always heard a Harley owner spends most of his riding time fixin his ride.Here is my first full day on my recently purchased "97 Super Glide.I got it to my weekend retreat upstate NY last Friday.Had to leave it there so I could take my wife and car home.It needed a front tire so today I got a ride upstate and took it to a local guy today,he was fantastic,by the way.So he changes the tire real quick,good price and so on.I leave there and go to the local DMV to get my plates.On the way,after it got good and hot,local road,lots of red lights, I cant shift down to first.After it cooled down for an hour and a half,it seems to be okay.I call the mechanic I just met that morning and he says bring it back,they'll take a look at it.They open the inspection cover on the primary and he tells me its just a connecting rod for the shifter that passes thru the primary case,the bushing has a lot of crud,the bike sat for a couple of years on and off for the last 13 as my friend who sold it to me had a couple of major surgeries.Anyway he said when the bike got hot,the bushing was binding.Took it off cleaned it out good and I'm back in business.I ride it around locally to get it good and hot and all is fine.He charged me less than $50,did it immediately even tho he had a half dozen other bikes on lifts in his shop with 2 full time guys working.The guy is top shelf,I found a great mechanic.If you are in NY and need a good guy,see Zacks V-Twins in Hyde Park,hope its okay to plug,but I was really impressed with this guy.So now the fun begins,as soon as I get on the highway to head home,I get to 3rd gear and boom,the primary chain explodes,cracking the inside primary cover.If nothing else inside is busted,its gonna be a $500 to $700 nut,depending on if he has a used cover.Is this what I got to look forward to?I was really hoping all that folklore about Harley's breaking down died with AMF.Sorry for the long winded post,but its been a long first day.This bike,by the way has only 9751 miles on it,was owned by a personal friend and well maintained,has all the records.I guess things can only get better,huh.

 

any vehicle that sits for extended intervals needs a complete once over before being used on a daily basis, all hoses replaced, spark plugs, fluids in every hole. If you didn't at least do that minimum before riding, I don't know what to say. my 09 has over 9000 miles on it no problems whatsoever, but I know that if I park it for a year on a concrete pad and don't do anything that in 12 months it could have problems regardless that I do all my maintenance at the dealer at all prescribed intervals.

 

You could always buy a Honda. You can not expect to buy a 1997 bike that has very few miles on it and hit the rode with no problems. You really need to have someone go completely through the bike or expect it to have problems. Parts deteriorate from just sitting up. I am sure you will soon have a few oils seals leaking as well. So a 1997 bike with 9751 miles on it is probably going to give you more problems than a 2009 bike with 20000 miles on it.

 

dont buy a honda, they sound like doo doo

but i hate to hear u had a crappy day, it will get better

 

When I bought a Harley I went in knowing I would have to wrench on it. My bike required almost $500 in parts to update a known problem.
Mine is an 06 twin Cam 6 spd with 17k miles.
If you have a 97 Evo powered machine the good news is that you can get most anything off of ebay cheap,and the engines are bulletproof. Dont get bummed out and jump ship, but dont think you wont ever have to work on it again either. You can get a Primo Rivera enclosed belt drive and not even replace the cracked case as they dont take any oil. Or a open belt drive and eliminate all that oem Primary stuff with new way cooler stuff.
Checkout BDL and Primo Rivera and see your options before you replace stock stuff.

 

ghostrider69 Thanks a classy avatar!!

 

It was serviced at a dealership in May of this year.My buddy was going to ride this year and had the dealer do a complete service before he blew his knee out again,he had to have surgery in June and will need a knee replacement after he recovers from this.Thats why he sold it to me,he didnt want it to sit another two seasons.Yeah,I know all the implications of a bike in this condition,just a bad day.

 

Did the guy who cleaned your bushings take off the primary? If so is there oil in the primary?

 

My bet is one or several of the primary chain links were seized due to lack of use. I don't know of a brand on the planet that would be immune to that. Too bad your indie didn't think of or feel that when he found the frozen bushings.

 

He didnt remove the primary cover,I tod him if he thought it needed fresh oil to do it and take a look at the internals,but when he opened the inspection cover he immediately saw it was fresh oil and saw the the binding connecting rod issue.If he opened it up I think he would have noticed any links that may have been seized.I cant fault him for not noticing,remember,he was kind of doing this "on the fly" as a favor to me,who he just met that morning.I did indicate that my main issue was getting the bike the 120 miles back home that day,I had no other ride available.Although the bike wasnt ridden much since 1999,he did start it fairly regularly,but only put about 2500 miles on it since his problems began in '99.I do understand that a rarely used bike will exhibit some problems,like seals leaking oil and I expect that,but I didnt expect the entire primary to dump on my left foot all at once.Oh well,I just hope its just one of those oddities.I did ask him today about converting to an internal belt,but he thinks that will cost more and he says contrary to what I experienced the chain in this engine,and this engine in general is very reliable.