When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
When I had my Evo I knew exactly how to take care of it and did it all. This new bike is way too complicated for me and I find at my age I have no desire to deal with it. Not only that but it seems like the bike fights me at every turn and even the most routine service tasks seem to be designed to frustrate the owner and force you to take the bike to the dealer.
Sad fact is I just dont like my 19 Heritage well enough to be willing to deal with all that.
What's really f**ked up is after 40 plus years being an avid harley mechanic I feel the same way about my 17 Road King. While it's a great bike it's a pain in the *** to do anything serious with it mechanically, just getting to the battery is a wrestling match. As you say at this age I'm getting less than inclined to deal with it past trivial stuff.
What's really f**ked up is after 40 plus years being an avid harley mechanic I feel the same way about my 17 Road King. While it's a great bike it's a pain in the *** to do anything serious with it mechanically, just getting to the battery is a wrestling match. As you say at this age I'm getting less than inclined to deal with it past trivial stuff.
One reason I buy Harley is easy to work on.
Originally Posted by mmancuso
This.
ABS has nothing to do with the hydraulics of your brakes. It's nothing but a system that applies and controls braking more finely and consistently than a person can. If it fails 100%, you're left with brakes as they would be if you never had ABS.
Pedal all the way to the floor? I'd be asking where all of the brake fluid went? Moisture content? Water does not compress, so I'm assuming that they're saying that above a certain water content, the brake system's seals fail.
I got to think it was a brake failure due to fluid. Not abs. That is what makes sense to me.
I never saw when was last time he rode it. Though it's not that old even if he didn't. What I would like to really know about, how were the brakes working earlier in day, and far he got that day. I think these are important questions that have not been answeted.
If the OP has had the bike for "10 months," and he's done 10,000 miles with it, then he's a regular rider.
My HD has ABS, (much to my shagrin.)
Thinking about removing the unit, and drilling a straight thru pathway for the fluid, then replacing. This way, the ECU/PCM or any other tattle tale electronics won't see that it's been bypassed or removed. I don't want/like CEL's.
I don't mind that things are getting more complex because the flip side is they also require less attention. My F150 needing an oil change every 10,000+ miles and a rotation is tough to argue with. I need a bore scope to find the turbos but I don't care because they don't need service. I would rather have that than a clunky old F100 with an oil leaking straight six that couldn't pull a sick ***** off a toilet. Growing pains aside, the M8 is better in every measurable way to anything before it and we have technology to thank for that.
If the OP has had the bike for "10 months," and he's done 10,000 miles with it, then he's a regular rider.
My HD has ABS, (much to my shagrin.)
Thinking about removing the unit, and drilling a straight thru pathway for the fluid, then replacing. This way, the ECU/PCM or any other tattle tale electronics won't see that it's been bypassed or removed. I don't want/like CEL's.
But, I DO want brakes everytime I want them...
You could bypass it with hard lines or even have flex lines made to go around it and leave the ECU part on the bike, use the HCU as a door stop in your garage.
What's really f**ked up is after 40 plus years being an avid harley mechanic I feel the same way about my 17 Road King. While it's a great bike it's a pain in the *** to do anything serious with it mechanically, just getting to the battery is a wrestling match. As you say at this age I'm getting less than inclined to deal with it past trivial stuff.
I think Harley's engineers haven't figured out just where the fine line between "clever" and "stupid" is located yet.
Parts of what the dealership said ( as relayed by the OP) makes little sense. Maybe the OP can clarify? " First, the rear brakes were completely and utterly gone. The Front brake had about 10% (estimated obviously, but yeah.)"
I'm assuming by "gone" that means pad wear..So in 10K miles, the rear pads are worn to almost nothing as well as the front? I'd need to see those pads if it were me. Second, even IF the pads were worn bad, and assuming your brake fluid level wasn't so low that you actually had air in the system now, as long as it wasnt metal backing plate contacting the rotors, youd still have stopping power since the fluid takes up the space created by pad wear. The dealer is suggesting the lack of stopping force was due to the water in the system (5%)??
I may be wrong but if the pads were so worn as to prevent normal braking force being applied, the ABS wouldn't activate because the wheel speed sensors would never "see" the wheel stop . I dont think the OP is wrong, I am saying the dealership is nuts.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.