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Took a nice long ride today. Went mostly to various bike shops. Saw the new Victory Vision(really big) and was talking to some salespeople at a couple a HD shops.
On my way home I stop for gas. Fill up but bike won't start. And I mean NOTHING! No clicking,no odometer,zilch. I checked connections on the starter,battery etc.. Nothin'.
So I call my friendly AAA Roadside Emergency number. On hold for 12 minutes listening to AAA commercials extolling the virtues of membership. I hang up and call the dealership. Luckily I was only about 3 miles away. They sent a truck and trailer and hauled me and the bike to the shop.
Oh,and before the truck arrived I tried AAA again. After about 10 minutes on hold I finally get to talk to someone. But since i don't have my bike insurance through them(they want about 3 times what other places want for the same coverage) they won't help. Hang up on the little ****. Nevermind I have two cars,my house and other things insured with them. ****'em. Ain't gonna be insured by them much longer.
Anyway at the dealer it seems my battery is dead. The bike is less than a year old with 3000 miles on it and the battery is dead. Obviously the charging system ain't working.[:@]
I hope the rest of my year ain't like this.[:-]
It sucks, but it happens. Harley's charging system has been a weak link for decades. They did us an injustice when they quit putting idiot lights on them 20+ years ago. At least my Ironhead has a light on it that tells me when she ain't charging.
I am going to try the ultra program through Harley with Road side Assistance. 49.95 two cars and two bikes covered. Better offer than AAA. I hear good about them I hear bad. I hear the same about AAA from you and others. Something is better than nothing but I do know 1 thing. Road Assistance from Harley answers the phone quick. I tried them several times just to see how hard it was to get someone.
I am sure glad at least one of my Harley's has full instrumentation.....the new Street Glide does have a volt gauge, and if it aint charging you will see a marked drop in voltage. Although part of my personal maintainance procedure's at every oil change is to manually check the charging system with a DVOM.
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My brother has an old low rider, he's having that trouble with it, not charging the battery. He plans to rip it apart and fix it in the spring, hope to ride with him once he gets it going. Or he could just buy a bunch of batteries and take short rides
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