Took my 2007 CVO Ultra in for service at my local Harley dealer and mentioned that I had a chirping sound coming from the left rear. I told them that I had sprayed silicone on the rubber muffler grommets but that didn't stop the chirp so I asked them to see if they could find the cause. In about 20 minutes they took me into the shop and told me my chirping was caused by a loose belt. The loose belt was the result of a damaged axle that was caused by my IDS being installed incorrectly. According to the service manager, when the IDS was installed, a spacer was left out that caused movement on the axle. I had the IDS installed two years ago at a different Harley dealer because my dealer didn't have the part in stock (the 2007s didn't have IDS but H-D sold a retrofit specifically for the 2007 touring models). I asked why this wasn't noticed when I had two rear tires installed by my dealer and I was told that when the rear wheel is pulled, there is no way to see if the spacer is present or not. I'm curious. Has anyone else had this issue with their 2007 touring bikes when retrofitted with the Harley IDS?

 

The only issue I know of thus far with the IDS is some have had bearing failures. If it were me, I'd take the matter up with the installing dealer and see if you can recoup the money you are paying for the damages.

 

Good luck. Probably not going to happen, although I would try it too.

 

That is complete BS. I can see no way you could do a tire change and not notice the missing spacer. I think this one is on the dealer doing the tire changes.

Did he say if it was the spacer contained within the IDS housing or if it was the one other side?

 

The 5 mounting bolts shear. I have posted several threads where I have picked up bikes on the side of the road (riding by them than got my trailer) with the IDS pulley spinning and the bike not going anywhere.

I do not sell the bolts but I would suggest in R&R the IDS and replace the HD OEM MOCO bolts (5) with more expensive ones made in the USA. I wish you all would read it as I do not wish to meet you with my trailer. No, I do not charge for that as I have had the favor returned over again several times when I was broken down. I also do not try and do this type of mechanical work. Do with this information what you like.

PS: On the last unhappy camper I loaded up went right to Palm Beach HD 561-659-4131, www.harleyofpalmbeach.com, hdofpalmbeach@aol.com
where there was 3 other motorcycles with the same problem. The wheel and IDS was ruined as was the bikers Sunday as well as mine. The MOCO paid for everything under warranty.

 

I'd bet money that those bolts sheared BECAUSE the bearing failed.

 

I agree, and they could even be the ones who lost the spacer, not the dealer who did the original install of the IDS. OTOH, since IDS on '07's probably doesn't involve a majority of bikes, I could see a tech not expecting to see that second small spacer between the IDS pulley and hub, as there is only the larger (but different) outside spacer on a stock setup.

I can't see omitting the larger outside spacer. Wouldn't the pulley walk right off the hub in this case? If so, it would make lots of commotion and you would lose power to the wheel. OTOH if the smaller spacer was omitted it would cause the pulley to walk to the inside and possibly make contact with the hub, which is what may have been the source of the chirping noises the OP was hearing.

 

I would assume it would have to be the inside spacer as doing a tire change, you wouldn't have to remove the bowl where the rubber isolators are contained. There is no way they could not notice the outside spacer as it falls out when the tire is removed. If it was the outside that was missing, then yes it would have had to have been whomever removed the tire didn't put it back on.

 

It was the spacer on the inside. My question is, if this is a loose spacer wouldn't it fall out when the axle is pulled? I agree with you that the tire changer caused the problem, but I can't prove it. I can't imagine the tech who installed the IDS to disregard a spacer that was included with the kit. Other than the bolts, there's only five pieces to the kit.
Besides, I rode the bike for two years before the problem occured. In that time, I had two rear tire changes; the last one being about 3,000 miles ago.

 

Inside spacer will not fall out when tire changed. Only the outside spacer. The bowl remains attached to the wheel during tire changes, only the sprocket on top of the bowl would be taken off.