Some of you are still missing part of the big picture.

Have you looked at the economy lately?
Have you seen what is happening to HD Stock?(Or any other Stocks?)

What a dealer "stood behind" before, 6 months ago, three weeks ago etc, is SUBJECT TO CHANGE at the direction of MOCO and if MOCO says to them that they must crack down on EFI Mods then guess what, the dealers will turn another cheek to you and follow what MOCO wants. Certainly the dealers are not going to pay for warranty repairs out of their own pockets. The dealers are in worse financial shape then MOCO is and some dealers have already shut their doors for good. Times are tough and what flew yesterday, may likely not fly today. Tomorrow may be worse still! Besides, no dealers are putting in writing that 'they got your back" now are they. Know where that leaves you????? Hanging is suspense...

 

Bagman,
Its alot better now than in 06 when I bought my Rk, back then neither of these dealers were Power Commander dealers and the only answer I could get out of them was, and I quote "If you do those mods, its a real gray area as to if the warranty would cover a related repair" At least now since both are Power Commander dealers and both have their on dyno equipment, they are saying they will cover repairs under the warranty but they can't speak for any other dealer. I believe it all comes down to this, its a don't ask don't tell thing, some dealers (especially the ones who are also PC dealers don't ask me and therefore don't tell the MOCO when a bike has mods.

 

Just hope you never break down and need to visit an out of town or state dealer, because once it's recorded to MOCO, its over...
I'm sure what you say is true though, if you find the right dealers to work with..

 

I'm glad I'm so old that I just left the 07 stock, well almost. Just put a better flowing air filter on. Now the 2000 Sporty, that's another story...

 

In the January 2009 issue of "American iron" Magazine I read an article abou the 2007 and later CVO motors that also went on to reference the stock 96" motors too.

It reads:

"It appears that a number of 2007 CVO 110" engines are developing an oil leak on the back side of the rear cylinder, just below the exhaust port. Typically, this begins to occur between 2,000 and 6,000 miles. I've received reports of this malody also occuring on the stock TC96, although I've not personally seen one. Even if there are TC96 occurances, I feel they will be far less of an issue then with the 110s. (However, both the TC96 and CVO 110 are experiencing a flywheel scissoring problem.) More on this later"

This is just my opinion and everyone needs to balance the risk / reward thing for themselves when it comes to maintaining (or voiding) your warranty. As for me, when I read stuff like this it makes me glad that I myself decided to not put my warranty at risk. I can't afford major repairs out of pocket and especially since I paid extra for the extended warranty in the first place.

The article also noted this:
"CARB's latest requirements were updated in 2008, while EPA regulations will substantially tighten up in 2010."

Sounds to me like HD will probably make these motors all water cooled by the 2010 model year. Stricter requirements will force them to do that as they have stretched the envelope about as far as it will go with "air cooled"

Just something to think about.......

 

I went by the dealer today to get the delivery date for my new bike. While there I had the time to chat with the Service Manager. I asked him what it would cost for a complete engine replacement on an '09 Ultra. he said, ballpark, about $4500. So that is the risk if you were to completely blow your engine and lose all warranty coverage. That is not a little money, but it is not a fortune either.

If you are really sweating the warranty issue (SNS this seems to describe you, based on this and your Monster Ovals thread ) you can probably buy yourself some relief by taking $5K and putting it in one of the new 4% CDs that banks are offering (if you need to, put $150 a month away until you hit $5K then get the CD). You earn $200+ interest on your money and if you do ever have the worst case, you have the funds to get back on the road. If you don't need it, then put it towards the purchase of your next bike.

People have different tolerances for risk, for various reasons. Everyone can decide for themselves if that amount of risk is worth the extra performance, if all the factors combined and you blew an engine and the warranty did not cover it.

The Service Manager also told me that not covering a warrenty repair would be a pretty rare thing. Something like 80% of HDs are modified and to void the warranty for a given failure, there would have to be clear evidence that a given mod caused the failure. He says they work with the customers and try to not have that happen.

Finally, he told me that the ECM does not retain a code in memory that an aftermarket tuner was used.

This is just one guy at one dealership in CA, but he gave me the impression that he knew what he was doing.
Hope this is helpful.

 

Saturday, the cost and duration of that warranty may be limiting some of the pleasure you could get from your bike. Some folks are happy with less than 70 HP and 81 Lbs. of TQ.

 

my local stealer sent mother H~D pictures of my tow hitch and mother voided the rest of my warranty, funny I didn't own a trailer then but I do now.

 

tinkermc:
Why did you have a trailer hitch if you didn't own a trailer?
Why did dealer send a picture of your trailer hitch to HD?

Just curious.

 

First thing I "DO NOT" work for the MOCO. DO NOT. I do not want to mislead anyone.

I posted earlier the MOCO stance on the situation. I agree some 80% of bikes are modified and this is hardley ever and issue. I personally don't care what you have on your bike unless it interferes with us repairing a warranty issue. If we have faulty sensors and or runability and you have a PC, FP or whatever, we will take it off and repair your bike. If it can be tuned to remedy, I will suggest that. Remember this, the Dealers who make the claim that this will not void your warranty are not making the decision. My earlier post was how the MOCO stood. Chances are if you have productive Dealer that can diagnosis repairs will never have a problem. If he tells you a SERT will not void your warranty, tell to read the Warranty Guideline manual, SE Performance book and Emmission System Warranty regulations. I am not saying this "will" happen but it is defined in print and can. There can be warranty implication. I have dealt with the MOCO several times with Race Tuners and others that they worked with and didn't care. I just wanted everyone to know what is "stated." 99% of the time at my Dealreship, it never comes up.

As for the question about if I ride and what. I ride a 2005 Road King Custom with a Jim's 120. I have T-man 650 cams, Fueling support plate with Baisley by-pass, SERT that makes 130 horse. I rode about 8000 miles this year. I work six days a week and have two young kid's or I would ride more.