I just bought an 09FLHRC 2 days ago. Brought it home and put 30 miles on it. It seems to vibrate while decelerating. It could almost be considered a shudder. I don't know if it is 1) Normal , 2) The cog drive belt on the wheel, 3) The rubber mounted motor, 4) A problem with the new isolated drive or 5) Something else. a) I hope it turns out to be normal. b) Can someone explain the isolated drive new for '09 that is supposed to dampen the 5th gear noise. Please understand this is my first Harley and I have very little exposure to the product..So I am ignorant of a lot.

 

well this may not be the same thing but , if your throttle is closed and your comeing to a stop at idle or close to it .your gonna feel the motor vibrateing . just as you do sitting at a light ... like i said this may not be what your feeling but i gave it a shot ... or are you useing your brakes at all could have alittle warpage in one of your rotors ...
keith

 

No. At 30-50 MPH when I let go of the throttle the bike vibrates. If I hold the throttle steady all is smooth and feels right. While accelerating, I feel a minor vibration from the torque of the motor. Like I said, my handicap here is my lack of experience with HD. I have been riding for over 21 years. (Finally made the move from metric). Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

 

When you take it in for service,have them check the torque on the fork stem.Thats a symtom of one that needs just a hair more.

 

o.k. there you go ..30-50 when i let go of the throttle it vibrates ...your throttle is closed and go down toward idle speed ...the motor in the touring bikes is a unbalance motor they smooth out as you give them throttle but below 2000-1500 they start to vibrate and once they get down to around 1000 they shake like a ***** in church ... mine does the same thing i notice it when im comeing to a stop as the motor approuches idle it starts to shake
keith

 

Thanks Keith. That makes me feel better. I was afraid to ride it these past few days. But I was leary of taking it to a dealer. I don't know what I'll do when I have to take it in. From what I am hearing, the Harley of today is not your Grandpas Harley. I have always done all of my own vehicle maintenance (be it car or motorcycle) except for tire changes. At least now I can go out and ride and get it broke in.

 

no problem my friend , im new to harleys to ,this is my first a 07 foad king classic , they are diffinitly different than the metrics crusers that ive been rideing .and some off there charactoristics to take some getting used to .but i feel the are a solid machine and no there not your daddys harley i think personally there better ive spoken to people on this forum that have 40k+ on there 07 already and theyve had no trouble and there are people lurking out there with 100k im sure so yea theyve got there issues but all and all i like the fell of a harley better than the jap bikes and im not so sure that the jap bikes are built any better ... plastic , chrome plated plastic , and more plastic .. as far as dealers go find a good one ,my local dealer im not real sure about ,but there one about 45 minutes away that seems to still care about the custumer ...
keith

 

For two new HD guys you did a good job of figuring it out. Based on your description, it sounds like you hit it right on the head. Just to be sure, you might have a tech or someone more experienced give it a ride just to make sure you are describing the right symptoms. Welcome to the HD world.

 

If I were you, I'd find a buddy or at least someone around, maybe at the dealership, who could take it for a quick spin. You get the low rpm vibration but if you're getting a shimmy at 50-60 mph, it seems like something might be amiss. It doesn't take a whole lot to warp the stock rotors. Could be a tire out of balance? Could be fork neck needs some more torque. If it was me and I didn't have any experience, I'd want to get it checked out to at least make sure it's safe to ride. May be nothing but then again may be something.

 

I'm having the exact same problem. Check this thread
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touring-models/277786-bad-handlebar-shake-on-2009-flhrc.html
Look at my last post for what I think my problem is.