Greetings all,

I am looking for opinions. I have a '17 Ultra Classic and took it in for its 10K check to Dealer X while I was on a road trip about 2K miles ago (3.5 months ago - yeah, I know, I'm not riding enough). A few weeks ago I noticed a leak. When I got to my local dealer, they discovered that three Derby cover bolts were missing and one was loose and the primary drain O-ring was loose. Every ride I take starts and ends with a mile on a dirt road. The local dealer says that there's no way that if these were properly reinstalled would they become loose. IMHO, Dealer X took a cavalier attitude when I called to inform them of what happened based on the subsequent local dealer involvement.

Curious about your take on this sitch?

Thanks.

 

Whoever did the service must have not tightened things up properly. No way they can "vibrate loose".

 

 

Shoddy work by a shoddy tech. Happens all the time and this is why a shiver at the thought of ever taking a bike to them.

 

+1 with shoddy work by a shoddy tech, a traveler on the road needing a 10K service. It would not bother me to identify dealer X so that those on the road can avoid their "services". Three out of five screws backing out and being lost on the road, if the primary drain "o" ring was loose the plug wasn't far behind. The torx screws I have on my primarys have a split lock washer, if you don't trust those put a small dab of blue loc-tite on the threads. When I'm going to be on a lengthy trip I change oil and primary fluid prior to leaving, just in case. My '13 Roadie can go 5K (service interval) between oil changes. Don't know the dealer, sad they treated you like that.

 

Properly torqued there's no way they could back out. Simply put, they weren't properly torqued.

 

Took it to Chuck's Deluxe, didn't you?

 

I had a similar experience about 11 years ago. I usually do my own maintenance and repairs, and have done so for the last 50 years. But in 2007 I bought a 05 Road King from a guy and the bike was still under warranty so I decided to take it to the dealer to have a leak on the inner primary fixed (for free) and for a 5000 mile service, which I had to pay for. I picked up the bike and headed out the next morning on a long distance road trip. Got to my buddies place in Westlake, CA (185 Mi) and I noticed a rattle every time I took off from a stop. When I got off to check I had 3 derby cover screws missing and the last 2 were loose. After spending almost $600.00 at the dealer I was pi$$ed off to say the least. I got right on the phone and stopped payment on my credit card and then gave the service manager a very firm but polite call (well at least I thought I was being polite) and told him what it would take to resolve the situation so they could get their money. They ended up having to give me a free complete fluid change and to detail my bike (and you can bet that I checked every nut and bolt over for tight before I left the dealer). By the way that was the 1st and last time I used a Harley Dealer for any work. The problem with Harley Dealers is that they usually only have 1 or 2 experienced mechanics, the rest they hire kids out of some place like MMI, some are good mechanics with a lot of promise and some are not. They don’t pay them very well so the ones that are good either go to work for someone else or start their own business. The bottom line is you never know who is working on your bike. My advice to you is if you don’t work on your own bike, Start. If you do work on your bike here’s what I do on my Fluid changes: Change fluids with the bike warmed up. Use new O-rings; you can buy them in bulk from an auto parts store for about the same price as buying them one at a time from Harley Dealers. Start all drain plugs plugs by hand and make sure you are not cross threaded. Torque all fasteners as per spec’s from a service manual. Use a torque wrench if you do not have the feel for doing it by hand. Or you can use my method, I use a dab of Teflon past on all of the drain plugs and just tighten them down till they are snug (oil and Trans drain plugs) for the primary drain plug be very careful you do not over tighten the plug or you will damage the threads and it will leak forever. On the primary plug I use a dab of Teflon paste and tighten until the plug just seats. The Teflon past will keep all of the plugs from working loose and seal the threads to keep them from leaking, and you will not run the possibility of over torqueing a plug and striping any of the aluminum threads.

One last thing for what it's worth, if you need to have work done on your bike that you are not comfortable doing yourself, find a good Indy Mechanic. They are usually way cheaper than the Harley Dealers and their work is much better.

 

I had a buddy who left the dealership after having a rear tire put on . The "tech' didn't install the spacer on the left side of the wheel resulting in my friend not even making it to the highway (which is a good thing ). Destroyed all kinds of parts and could have killed him. I bought a new 12 streeglide and rode 22 miles home with 20 pounds of air in the tires and the oil in the transmission not even touching the dipstick. Lazy *** dealer is the problem here. They are quick to take your cash though.
My younger brother got his new bike back from the dealer with damage all over it, marks in the paint and even a dent in the front fender. They made it right and when he went to pick it up they had dented the tank. His rear wheel spokes loosed up on him and they trued the wheel and it happend again, they did it again and you guessed it, it got loose again. He cut ties and took t to a different dealer and it was fixed for good that time. This was done all under warrenty. I just hate the thought of leaving my bike at one of these places.

Moral of story is service manual and learn to use it.

 

What he said, I have never had a derby cover come loose. I do my own service.
The guy/gal that did that should be fired.