A trailer hitch.

 

Common sense would tell you that a dealer would not install anything that would void the warranty. Yet it has happened. And the owner's manual says that it can.

Here's a crazy idea. The warranty contains no information pertaining to specific parts. But does say that aftermarket parts may void your warranty. Not very specific but most likely a pretty fair scare tactic.

Hearing from others about what grief harley has given then may be the only specifics we can get. Which is why I asked.

 

True that

 

If you navigate yourself to this forum, its over. Your warranty is automatically void.

 

 

I've read numerous posts saying that aftermarket exhaust will void your warranty. UNLESS....the dealer installs it. Even then it can void your warranty if it's not SE parts. So now I'm forced to buy the overpriced stuff the dealer has that I could find cheaper on the internet? Also, I have to pay them to install it when I could easily do it myself. I'm regretting purchasing my bike now.

 

Here's what WILL void your warranty:
1) tuning your bike with ANY tuner other than the Screaming Eagle Pro Street Tuner. That includes having your bike Dyno tuned by someone who uses any tuner other than the aforementioned. It does not matter if the dealer does it or not -- if a non-EPA-compliant tuner flashes your bike, your power train warranty is gone.
2) Installing a trailer hitch.
3) Installing "off-road only" or race/competition parts. Which is probably 80% of the aftermarket go-fast parts out there. If you search around you can find air cleaners and exhausts that are EPA compliant and CARB certified replacement parts; those should not affect the warranty. But if it says "not legal for street use" then yeah, it is a warranty voider.
4) Racing

There are some instances where Harley may choose to honor a warranty claim anyway, but if you violate the terms of the warranty agreement they are under no obligation to extend warranty coverage.

The general rule on aftermarket stuff is: if it can be proven that the aftermarket parts caused the failure of a warranty-covered part, then Harley does not have to honor any warranty claim for that situation.

However, there are some immediate irrevocable things like using an aftermarket tuner that mean the warranty is immediately voided. Putting in performance upgrades that defeat federal emissions regulations is another.

Then there are mods that put stresses on the bike it was never designed to handle. Look up the story of the guy who got his warranty voided for mounting big flags on his bike. That is similar to the trailer hitch or sidecar situation, or changing the rake of the forks or using a car tire or other such mods: if they subject the bike to forces and stresses it was not engineered to accommodate, they may void the warranty. Other examples might be if you mounted a whole lot of accessory lights that put excess strain on the electrical system: if that caused battery or charging system failures, those would likely not be warrantied.

In the end, very few specific warrany-voiding events are spelled out in the warranty. They don't want to get caught in a game of "well, you didn't say I couldn't"... There's no way they could foresee the multitude of ways that people will modify their bikes. So they put in general categories, like "if you make it illegal to operate on the roads of the jurisdiction it is registered in, then the warranty is void".

 

It's my understanding that even if you install the cruise control hard parts yourself, enabling the system still has to be done by a dealer.

 

So since I paid $$$ for the extended warranty, I should probably only use the squawking chicken parts...and have the dealer install them. Its crazy that even the dealer offers aftermarket parts, it doesn't make sense that the dealer can install them but it still void the warranty.

 

Just remember the dealers are a franchise not the company, HD will void your warranty and only HD can do that. It's that franchise job to sell you whatever they can to get the deal done,see how this game is played.Unless that dealer is gonna follow you on all your cross country trips his opinion is worthless.With that being said do what gives "you" piece of mind.