"A fraction of the bikes produced have exhibited the issue" Where are you getting your data? How are all of these bikes ridden? Do really know either answer? And since the M8 when cooled and idled can recover from a sumped condition, how many M8 owners have sumped their bikes, and not reported it as they simply don't know what sumping is or feels like?? Ok, one more twist. How many M8 owners brought their bike in for sumping, but the dealer couldn't reproduce it because they idled it so they got the bike back? Do you really know?

I know this may seem like I am knocking you but honestly I am happy you ride you bike in a manner where you don't sump it. My advice, staying away from the condition where you are buzz down the highway at 75-80 for an hour or more, hit some hills, then drop it down a gear to pass a truck while going up hill and maintaining speed. You may be surprised what just might happen to your statistic. Peace....

 

Sump derangement syndrome. blah blah blah blah

 

It's more likely a smaller Fraction than Lizy Warren;s Native American Heritage. Place I go to said they had one and it was a stage 4. They are the 3rd largest dealer in the US.

.I've done 45 minutes at 95 plus temps, No issue.. 30 minute stints at the same speed. Again no issue. Ride the bike hard. Ride the bike easy. No Issue.

 

Personally I never dispute that someone 's bike runs well and as designed. I also don't dispute when someone shares a story that their new bike is defective. The fact that many 10's of thousands of bikes run as designed but many thousands also are defective still makes for an entirely unacceptable product. Someday the fanboys will need to wake up. The more they shout "there is no issue with the M8" just because THEIR bike is fine, the longer the issues will persist and the greater the decline of a once great company.

Face it, HD has significant design and/or manufacturing issues with the M8. The longer the fanboyz keep cheering blindly, the more likely we are to see an 8th, 9th and 10th consecutive year of Harley sales declines as former loyal customers throw up their hands in frustration and seek out better alternatives. And that will be a tragedy from my perspective.

Blind loyalty and silence will NOT result in better designed and more competitively priced motorcycles coming from the MoCo.

 

As a recent retiree from a small Harley Davidson franchise in Australia that has not had a sumping bike come through the workshop, I have an opinion.
Working and communicating with franchises in Australia that share information,I have an informed opinion.
Sumping does happen,we've had it here in Australia though the number is less than 20 bikes total as of DEC 18.
The TSB 1450 is one of hundreds of e-documents sent to franchises, we don't see a TSB unless that particular problem had surfaced at our dealership.
I would be looking at what factory a bike was built in if I had an interest in this problem.I have no interest in this problem.
I will respond to civil communications only or not at all.
Peace be with thee.

 

That's the only way we ride, and frankly, harder than that. Mostly 2-up. Lots of triple digit heat. Long cross country rides. Never a hint of sump. Our 2018 RGU has had a couple of minor problems, but sumping isn't one of them. If we couldn't ride the bike like this, ie normally, we'd get rid of it.

 

Welcome mate and thank you for some informed commentary. Less than 20 makes it a pretty low percentage and it’s good to hear that from the horse’s mouth. It’s just not something I’ve been concerned with and with this type of info I think you’ve put it to bed - for me at least.

 

Bruce, You have proven on this forum many times you know your **** about HD's, so I have a serious question for you. Are you saying you don't believe your M8 bike is capable of sumping under the right condition? And outside that small fraction, none of those other M8's are capable of sumping?

 

I think Max is just sharing his experience.
Heatwave say's his HDF mailbox is full of sumpers that don't post... Hmmm !
I believe there is an issue but not as bad as some would want you to believe.

 

I have just crossed 17,500 miles in a year. I ride my bike in a manner that might be termed "aggressive". I just got back from doing pretty much exactly what you describe, except that the speeds were generally 85+ (as in Texas we have highways with speed limits of usually at least 75, frequently 80, and in some cases 85). I went through the hill country aggressively. I rode the "three sisters", I am not confessing to having experimented with the top speed of the bike (which appears to be limited to 120 mph), I usually very aggressively accelerate when passing, usually dropping at least a gear if not two. When in the corners I'm rarely below 4,000 RPM and I bounce off the rev limiter like a basketball being dribbled. I don't go 10/10 on public roadways, I think folks who do that are epic douchebags, I ride completely safely and don't do anything aggressive when there are cars or other bikes (or cows) around. I don't treat the public roadways as my private racetrack, but I also don't putt around at 10mph under the speed limit either. And I don't go bar hopping, I ride long days, 8 to 12 hours per day. I don't take a lot of breaks, so -- I'll ride 75 for a couple of hours, pull into a gas station and refill my tiny 3.5-gallon tank without even getting off the bike, and pull out for another two-hour 75mph stint. Not the slightest hint of sumping, or any other problem, in 17,500 miles.

This is not to say sumping doesn't exist; of course it does. This is only to refute the notion of those who think that all the M8s out there are sumping and "you just haven't pushed it hard enough" ... well, I think I've pushed mine harder than approximately 95% of HD riders, and it doesn't sump. Next week I'm taking the bike for a track day. If it was ever going to sump, roaring around a racetrack at full throttle and redline should do it. We'll see.

I do not have, and would not have if you paid me, a Harley Stage IV kit on my bike; I think the Stage IV is disproportionately represented in sumping reports. I do not have, and would not have if you paid me, a CVO with a Stage IV; that seems to be the genesis of a grossly disproportionate number of sumping reports.