we were sitting around talking last night and the question came up to as why HD does not address the problems with their touring bikes ? are they that greedy or just don't care ?

wheel bearings
compensators
shifting flywheels
left side engine case bearing
beathers slobbering oil
the updates for the boom systems
and many other problems

we were thinking if what a really great bike harley's would be if they fixed these issues. i wouldn't ride anything else, but it seems the newer they get the more cheap crap they are installing on them. HD if you are listening , FIX THIS **** ! or more customers may move on.

 

I don't have those problems, besides where would YOU move? Harley invented big touring bikes, they are king of the road. Harley is very popular in my area, don't see many other big touring bikes on the road, I think they have a good handle on it.

 

Anything good to say? Move on and enjoy your new Yamaha!

 

I agree on the front wheel bearings but you can change them cheap at every tire change.

The other problems you have listed are brought on by modifications. I bet most with stock bikes have few if any issues.

I was complaining to my dad once who was a service writer for a car dealership about my BMW spending a lot of time in the shop. He told me, you bought a high performance vehicle, get used to it.

HD also knows that a majority of their bikes rarely see any real mileage anyway and become garage queens. Notice all the posts that think that anything over 10,000 miles is high mileage? I have a new co worker that asked about my bike that I ride every day. He started telling my about how much he loves his 02 Fat Boy. Then he told me he's got over 2,100 miles on it. He crapped his pants when I told him my 08 had 122,000 and my 13 had 31,000.

 

Once again I feel left out. I don't have any of those problems.

 

Me three .......

 

All of the ones I had /have are fixed! Lucky me I guess.

 

Had a friend who bought a brand new Ducati Diavel, it was leaking oil within two months...

 

i'm on my 7th hd. never have I had any of those problems with the exception of the breather bolts on my sportster leaking after I did a se stage 1. I knew it was going to happen, so I wasn't upset about it, took it as a response to what I did. I alleviated the problem by sticking a maxi pad in the bottom of my ham can. changed it out at every oil change.

otherwise, I've had a couple of problems that were taken care of during warranty, but nothing that I've read that would be considered 'chronic'.

 

It's easy to sit and chat about the seemingly never ending problems with HD, and sometimes this forum supports that even with newer bikes. BMW ranks worst with HD a notch ahead in reliability. Each brand has issues, and evidently Harley has a few more, like 50% more than Yamaha which was rated 1st on the slide.
But, I do enjoy my bike(s), and when stuff goes wrong, well, it's time to learn and if within your abilities...fix it.

What does irritate me though is Harley's ever so sensitive electronics. BAS, TSSM, etc., simple things that when they fail, leave you stranded. That irritating oil drip? Won't strand you.
Those two things mentioned seem to be aplenty yes, and could they be improved upon...most likely. But they're issues I have contended with as an HD owner, and that's just the way it is. Sometimes I wished the MoCo would just eliminate those irritants as they seem items born to fail for my money. But modern technologies exist for a reason I guess, and they're not going backwards at this point.

My '02 has been good to me. TSSM has failed once....went with the TSM after that...fuel gauge failed in 11K miles...replaced. Not too bad in my opinion.