Saw my local independent had to send an 09 bagger owner away because they did not have the diagnostic tools to avoid throwing parts at an issue he was having. The guy refuses to use the local Harley dealership and will instead have his bike towed 40 miles away to another dealer who has a great reputation.

The Independent mechanic is a Veteran Harley Mechanic and advised me to buy pre EFI if I don't want to have to go to the dealer for ECM services. Apparently the troubleshooting SW (if even available to Independents) is thousands and thousands of dollars and the hardware the same. He said Harley has no wholesale price availability on parts for Independent shops. I understand HD wants ALL the money and is under no obligation to provide anything to Independents. But are you really attached to the dealership that deep with the newer bikes?

Do all of you have Harley Service contracts? Who does your ECM work? Can they download and flash the ECM?

The reason I am asking is I have been looking at some bikes and since (by his word) because of low mileage riders it take years to get long term reliability numbers out of a new design...would it be better to stick with 2002-2004 model years. Found some good low mileage bikes those
years.

Trying to find my way through the modern day Harley maze.........or haze as it were since I decided I would prefer a Harley over a Victory ( since I already have a good Yamaha and the Victory for all intents and purposes would be a lateral move except for 30 more HP. Not impressed with the dealership here either.

 

Don't know what you mean about problems with EFI or ECM. I have '03 FLHTCUI with 110K. Never had an issue. For the miles I ride and the Elevation changes I encounter (over 10,000 ft) I'll stick with EFI.

 

This shop can't diagnose a problem? Then they make up some billshit to save face?

I would not spend a nickel at that shop. Its a fuel injected v-twin, not rocket science. Any mechanic worth their salt can fix an ECM issue.

 

I might buy minor stuff at the indie 45 miles from me but I don't care about them messing with my bike. I'll leave that to the dealership.

 

I could understand if the guy was having issues with ABS because only Harley has the necessary equipment to reset it. As far as ECM goes though that doesn't seem like a legit reason since even a Power Vision can read diagnostic codes and reflash the ECM. I've gone to my local indy to talk about getting bars done on my Lo and they didn't bat an eye at having to do the wiring with the newer bike and it's newer Canbus (spelling?) wiring system. Given that the ECM is really such a small part of the bike I don't feel like I'm all that welded to the local HD dealer even if the ECM was something only they could fix.

 

I didn't see it that way.

You can bet I will take my bike there with that kind of honesty and they did not charge the guy a thing for his time when he realized there were a few possible solutions but did not want to buy all of them and play poke and hope. Bullshitting the guy would be replacing CPS sensors and all kinds of things blindly.

This guy worked at the local HD dealership for 15 years and left last year. He said he COULD fix it but only by throwing parts at it. Apparently there is diagnostic hardware and software HD mechanics at the dealerships use to find a specific cause of an issue. I thought it was pretty cool he simply did not throw parts at a problem and told the guy to go to the dealership where they had the right diagnostics, He would know. he worked there.
We can all read OBD codes from a Scan Gauge but even car dealers have much more in depth diagnostic gear that can pin point an issue(s)

If I was tied to my local HD dealer for service I would not think of buying a Harley. Guys here go 50 miles away for service.

I 'm curious.....Are you a shop mechanic at Harley?

I will ask him for more details when i see him again. I am more than sure he would have fixed it if he could pin point the issue. I cannot imagine they would turn away business to a regular customer.

 

I don't work at Harley or in that segment. I also do all my own work on my fuel injected Harley.

I have yet to have a problem I could not diagnose or fix. And I am not a mechanic.

There is no way in hell I would have any shop or dealer work on my bike is they could no even diagnose the problem. This Indy couldn't figure out the root cause of the problem. Period.

Any guy with tools can fix it eventually by replacing parts. That is not a mark if a good mechanic.

If the can work on Honda they can work on HD. ECM is ECM .

 

Sell 9 midgets and get your Victory.

 

And miss being in the "cool" group with the likes of you? Not a chance...we're stickin together.

 

The only credit I'll give the guy is knowing he would be in over his head. Any halfway descent tech should be able to fix anything on these bikes. I do all my own work and it would be a rare occasion for me to take it to any shop. There are plenty good indies out there and time at a shop means absolutely nothing. Telling you to buy pre EFI means the guy is limited to what he can work on. Probably changed oil for fifthteen years.