I keep hearing the term IDS for the fifth gear whine. What is IDS???

 

Isolated Drive System. It is basically a rubberized drive system that is standard on'08 and '09 Touring models, but can be retro-fitted onto at least '07 Touring models.

 

IDS = Isolated Drive System. In 2008 the rear drive sprocket on the wheels was given a rubber isolation system to reduce the driveline shock to the transmission. Harley developed this after the 2007 six speed trannys received many complaints about driveline racket. It worked very well and is easily retrofitted to a 2007.

 

MONKISH published this post, 09/2007;

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I am sending this to MOCO. If there is any 07 rider that has had this issue and has not addressed it with them, you can send me an e-mail to joefindell@bellsouth.net and i will print it and send it in with this letter. Please include your name, bike and prodution date. I will send entire package on 9/14/07 depending on responses recieved.

If you do not agree, that is ok. But I thought i would give those who wanted an outlet the chance to be heard.

This letter has been edited and reworded based on commentson original posting. Thanks for the input. It will now be sent via e-mail to the VP of customer service.

I recently purchased my first Harley Davidson. I have been wanting one for a long time and finally decided to bite the bullet. It was a 2007 FLHX and was purchased from Tilley’s Harley Davidson in Statesville, NC. A good experience and a great bike except for the weak fairing brackets that have all been replaced and reinforced by myself and or my local dealer where I get my service done. All is good and I am loving life.
We then decided to purchase my wife a bike since she had ridden before and had now gotten the fever again. We went to Curley’s Harley Davidson in Winston Salem, NC this time since it is only 3 minuets from my home and we have been getting our service done there. I figured I would not price shop over a few hundred dollars and give them my business this time. We bought a new 2007 FLHRC and happily rode it home. The wife is loving life now and we are 2 happy campers.
The reason for writing is we are very unhappy with the engine noise coming from the FLHRC. It just plain sounds like crap. It is like a box of rocks when it is at idle and when going down the road. It seems to be worse when it gets warmed up and it is not a sound consistent with all 2007 models. My FLHX has 8500 miles on it and sounds nothing like the FLHRC.

I did take it to Curley’s and they addressed the noise by doing something with the compensator nut. It seemed to make a difference at first but it has not helped in the long run. It actually seems to be getting worse.
I was on a ride over Labor Day when all this came to a head. My brother in-law was riding the FLHRC when we pulled up to a stop light about an hour or so into the ride. He looked over at me and said “what the **** is up with this bike, it sounds like ****” He has been riding for over 15 yrs and they have all been Harleys. I have no doubt he knows what sounds normal.

I read a motorcycle forum on the internet called HDForums.com. It has been a great place to share experiences and learn from others. This topic has been discussed in great depth with several different opinions on how to resolve the problem. The most recent one is the Isolated Drive System that has been added to the touring line as a stock item for 2008. With this information and the Labor Day experience on my mind, I decided to get some more input from my local dealer.

I went to Curley’s on 9/7/07 and discussed the issue with the service department. The answer I got was pretty close to what I expected based on the experiences from other 2007 owners on the forum. “Some bikes are just plain noisier than others.[/b]” Well that is just plain crap and it is defiantly not what the service department should tell someone who just spent $18,000 on a motorcycle of any kind. They did inform me that they installed an IDS on the bike of a local Harley Davidson Representative.

It would seem to me that it would have been in the best interest of the company to acknowledge the problem that is clearly in some of the 2007 bikes. You sh
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It's mostly to quiet down the "tumbling rocks" sound from the tranny, and to a certain degree, the 5th gear "whine". If you don't have the rocks sound, you probably don't even need the IDS. It's for '07 ONLY (it's STOCK on '08's and '09's), and not all '07's have that problem. Mine doesn't sound like rocks ... it whines in 5th but that's ok. I just turn up the tunes. It also helps if you don't lug your engine ...