Tapered head bearings need little preload if any. Mine where too tight when I got it years ago. I did the 30K look which I will never do again.
Set the fall away at the minimum. Bike handling felt like power steering. No longer clunky, tight and wonder filling from over correction.
You can steer by a butt or shoulder shift.

 

I took the bike in and talked to the service manager about the issue. I stopped by the next day and talked to the service technician that was working on my bike. He said he took it for a ride and let go of the bars. He said that he knew what I was talking about. He said that he was going to check the wheel bearing and the neck bearing. So I left him to his work. They called me and said that the bike was ready. Service manager said bearings all checked good so they put a new tire on it and it no longer has the problem. They covered the tire and labor under warranty and I rode it home. I only live about 10 miles away but didn't have any symptoms in that distance. If I can get some time before the hurricane weather I will run it on some winding roads and check it out.
Manager said that a belt had probably broken in the tire.

 

I had a 2010 Fatboy. For the better part of a year it kept handling poorly.
I went to HD service several times and asked them to test ride it. Repeatedly was told they adjusted neck bearing. Problem still existed.
It became progressively worse. The 4th time I said I'm not riding this like this. There's a problem. And its loose on the highway.

They took it back and came out 40 min later and asked me to come back and look at the bike. The rear bearing was destroyed.
10 min later came back and showed me the front. Same damn condition. I reminded them this had been going on since under warranty.
Also, that it did not start handling poorly until they put 2 new tires on it, which by the way were already 1/2 worn in a short period.
They told me what the bill would be.
Here's my opinion. And it's happened to others.
They didn't put anti-seize on the axles and beat them in and screwed the wheel bearings. When I asked if they used anti-seize, they replied not necessary.
The handling problem happened right after replacing tires. And yes the tires were balanced and no issues.
Not bad mouthing techs, but this shouldn't of happened, And it took 4 visits to diagnose. And they should have not charged me and signed off on warranty repair under those circumstances. The neck bearing as fine and adjusted correctly.

 

That sounds like a raw deal. I would have probably made a scene when they said that I had to pay for something that they should have fixed. When they said anti seize was not necessary I would have someone else do it or do it myself. Pretty crappy service dept you had to deal with.

 

Its more than likely that the bearing were installed wrong at the factory. Also wheel bearings of the time did not have enough grease inside. It is sad that they missed the wheel bearings tho. It was a common issue.

 

I don't believe it was a factory issue, because the bike handled great prior to having 2 new tires installed. The problem occurred from then on. And after checking tires and adjusting neck bearing several times with no improvement, something else should have been considered to be the culprit. The handling issue was severe.
I've been riding these things 40 years and severe is harsh for me.

 

Well it sucks that the guys didn't find the wheel bearing issues during the tire changes. One thing that need to be checked for sure. You've been riding for over 40 years and couldn't tell that he bearings were bad?

 

The bearings were fine prior to tire change. And that's why brought it to service 4 x and they maintained it was a neck bearing adjustment.
They said they checked the wheel bearings. Obviously until 4th time.
This is why I believe they were damaged when removing and installing axle during the tire replacement. No issues until after that.

 

Mistakes are made by trained people. I took my 09 to a different dealer to tune as the dyno had been down at my dealer for months.
I even showed the service manager the bike started up first bump and starter was 3 weeks old prior to tune.
They brought the bike out 2 hrs later and the service manager said it wouldn't start and needed a new starter. It just kept cranking.
I reminded him it started fine before the tune and the starter was new. Told him it appeared the timing was off. He said no, the tech new what he was doing. Asked what I wanted to do. I said get it right or put the base tune back in from the other dealer,
35 min later brought the bike back out. 3 employees stood there smiling with their arms crossed. Manager said it was back to original tune, smiling said go ahead and try to start it. I walked over, bumped the starter one time and it fired right up. Everyone walked inside. Refunded my payment.

Not badmouthing everyone, but mistakes are made. I make them. I pay for mine.

 

Sounds like either side didn't know what was going on.. Not sure how you screw up a bearing because it didn't have any antisleeze. Now if the guy had somehow misaligned the axle and managed to beat on the inner race enough to damage it..