That former Wisconsin state senator that had the million mile Harley had a new dresser with a hitch that carried two flags and his repair was denied by MoCo as they were large poles and flags which had a large amount of drag. I don't recall if it was a clutch or transmission issue.

By the way they don't "void the warranty" they deny the claim. Warranties are only voided on a totaled out bike that is rebuilt. If you have an infotainment problem and have a trailer hitch the radio would be fixed.

 

Dave Zien. It was a trike, and they denied warranty on the clutch.

http://jalopnik.com/harley-denied-th...but-1584531157

In the article a Harley spokesman is quoted saying it wasn't a Harley part and he wasn't using the trike for its intended use.

"When you alter a motorcycle with noncompliant products, that does impact your ability to make a warranty claim," Blankenheim said. "We have a right to protect our product. And (Zien) isn't using our product for the purpose for which it was designed."

Eta: I met Dave earlier this year in my travels back from York PA. Good old timer. He gave me an apache tear. Said he gives one to everyone he meets. He was on the trike. Still flying those big old flags. He lost a leg in an accident on his bike while in Florida. That's why he's on a trike now.

 

I doubt that a trailer produces any more drag on the drive-train than a fat *** passenger that weighs north of 200 lbs and a fat *** driver that weighs close to or over 300. This is an old thread, but always interesting. I've never pulled a trailer, but personally I would be more concerned about it's effect on the handling, braking, and overall safety of the bike than whimpering about additional stress it imparts on the drive-train.

As for the Mag-Moss act, I can tell most of you have never paid an attorney.

 

I couldn't agree more. I find most who wave the MM act like a battle flag, are just beating their gums. They have no experience of a hard fought court battle, while their toy sits broken waiting for someone to fix it, or they pony up the dollars to fix it and hope to be reimbursed.


I've been down that path, the owner of the dealer wasn't impressed with the mention of the MM act. He just stated to take whatever course of action I felt necessary. They dropped a dime to the MoCo about me installing a set of SE255 cams in a Triglide. They told the MoCo an authorized HD dealer didn't install them and they couldn't troubleshoot the problem it was there for, because I had tampered with it. The MoCo flagged the powertrain warranty and it stayed flagged. In the end it was a bad O2 sensor the sorry excuse for mechanics couldn't troubleshoot.

 

The MM Act does not apply in this situation.

This concept of your warranty "being voided" is nonsense. The warranty on a bike that isn't totaled is never "voided", except in the new situation of a 2017 or later bike being tuned with a non-EPA/CARB tuner module. That WILL void your powertrain warranty.

What happens if you come in with a burned up clutch, and the bike has a trailer hitch on it, is that your warranty claim for the clutch will be denied. Your warranty is not void, your warranty is fully intact, and if something else breaks on the bike, and it's not related to towing a trailer, that warranty claim will be paid.

As my service manager said: "For crying out loud, if you have a trailer hitch on the bike, and you're bringing it in for some kind of problem, take the hitch off before you bring it in".

Sounds like a plan to me.

 

i'm quite sure that the army of lawyers that hd has on their payroll have checked over the language that is used in the owner's manuals. and the manual says that the warranty can be 'voided' in all or part. see attached.

removing the trailer hitch may be an option if your local, but who uses their trailer only locally? what happens if you're 1000's of miles from home?

 

"...may be voided...see your dealer for details...", which is exactly what I explained in my post. My dealer will not deny a warranty claim, as long as you don't back him into a corner. If you're on the road, you're at the mercy of that local dealer. If he chooses to deny a powertrain warranty claim because you have a trailer hitch on the bike, you're screwed.

The part that everybody keeps ignoring is that "denying a warranty claim" IS NOT THE SAME AS "voiding the warranty".

The lawyers also wrote the part about how to break in your new engine, even though the engine is fully broken in when it leaves the factory. The Owners Manual telling you to ride slow isn't about breaking in the motor, it's about breaking in the new owner.

If you put a trailer hitch on your bike, and the BOOM Infotainment System fails, it's going to be fixed under warranty.

 

i'm in agreement with you, you're at the mercy of the dealer, whether it be your local or one that you have to use on the road. i'm just saying that a lot of people have said the same as you, 'to void a warranty, bike has to be salvaged', does not jive with what hd says in their owners manual, 'all or part may be voided...' . it doesn't say, warranty will be denied, it says 'void'.

 

H-D's are not broken in at the factory. When they come off the line they are placed on a roller and run through the gears and the various controls checked. It takes less than two minutes. There have been videos of that check being done in the past.

That would hardly count as one heat cycle.