I am trying to find something more than hear-say on the warranties with the 2017 bikes. I'm hearing a lot of different stories depending on who I talk to about it.

Best I've been able to gather is the fine print of it does allow them to void any warranty of the powertrain if you change anything to any aspect of the powertrain. Such as slip-ons, full exhaust, tuners, ect. Meaning a set of slip-ons could void the warranty on the valve springs if they wanted to get crappy about it. Things like tuners leave a foot print that can be found by a technician, so it's not like you can just put it back to factory without hoping they miss a detail.

And it seems to be something that comes down to the mood of the dealer of weather or not they choose to void things. It sort of reminds me of a cop being able to give you a ticket for jay-walking but weather or not that actually happens is another story.





Anyone have the clear cut information on this? Thanks

 

the only answer is, nobody knows with all certainty. Tons of conjecture and speculation and opinion. Maybe a couple of cases of third cousins twice removed, sister-in-laws deadbeat boyfriends buddy on the washrack heard about a warranty void, but how many first person experiences are there here? A couple I guess, I forget.

 

Sorry man, but you're not going to get clear-cut on this. This warranty crap seems more like a Dodge vs Ford vs GM argument. Every dealer is different, which is helpful...until the MoCo has to send someone out to inspect what is wrong with your bike.

There have been a few threads about this, and so far there has not been a black and white answer. I do know my personal experience so far:

Exhaust tips turned from black to purple (SE street cannons that were on the bike when I bought it new). MoCo received the claim w/ pictures of my tips from my dealer, then instructed the dealer to send photos of the bike w/ intake back to the tips in the photograph in order to consider the warranty claim. That was just to warranty tips on a bike that was only a few months old at the time, and all "aftermarket" parts are SE and dealer installed.

Sorry for the rant.

 

How good of a relationship do you have with your dealership? Are you sure?
Personal friends with the owner? This helps a lot.
Or, you can do anything and everything to your bike with the knowledge that your warranty is history. Don't laugh, many do this in Calif. They don't care at all about the warranty. If it breaks, they rebuild it with better/stronger parts.

 

Technically, the dealer does not offer, grant or deny the manufacturers powertrain warranty. Only HD does that.

For concrete information on the warranty... Here is what appears to be the warranty text...

https://www.southsideharley.com/fcki...20Warranty.pdf

For further amplifying information, HD's Consent Decree...

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production...avidson-cd.pdf

Reading tip: If you find items ambiguous or perhaps open to interpretation - assume the correct meaning/interpretation does not work out in your favor.

 

I just got off the phone with my purchasing dealer to talk about this exact topic. The short answer I got for my 2017 was they wont deny warranty if you have exhaust/intake/tuner on your bike (stage 1), anything deeper (cams, stage 2) the MoCo might if they have to send someone to investigate, but chances are in your favor if the dealer installed the stage 2 parts.

Again, that's just what I was told. Your mileage may vary.

 

Let me reiterate...

When it comes to what your dealer says... It's kind of, sort of, like that old adage "Live by the sword. Die by the sword."

 

I would want that on paper.

 

It all boils down to this; if there is something wrong with your vehicle, and you submit a claim for a warrantable component, they would have to prove that any other component you changed or installed is the cause of its failure.

I've been working in dealerships for the past 25 years, the dealership has no control over your claim. It's up to the MOCO to approve or deny any coverage of parts and labor.
That being said, sometimes, a really loyal customer may have his claim written in a way that the manufacturer will cover the issue, even if it was caused by the customer and was completely unwarrantable.
Just saying.

 

A PC 5 tuner doesn't leave an imprint on the ECM.