You know what's even more amazing than this all talk about 2007 transmission problems?

The fact thatone of the guys in the Greensboro Harley Davidson service department ordered an 07 Street Glide the same week as I did (a few weeks ago). I even talked with him about our similar bikes and he was telling me how he has a local powder coater and he plans to black it out.

Well, I guess he doesn't read this thread....

...or was that just another ploy by the moco to throw this thread off track??

 

I've been complaining about the noise in my '07 RK Custom since the day I drove it home. I know there are those on this forum who'd like us to stop complaining and just "enjoy the ride,"be sure we're shifting at the right rpm--or try different transmission fluids. I've been watching this forum since day 1 on the '07 chatter and am amazed at the endless stream of indifference coming from riders who don't have the same noise. We all know if yourode 10 of the same model/year bikes back to back they'd all behave just a little bit differently, and I'm sure this noise is the same--I've read threads from some saying they have no such problem, some on other '07 models have it worse, others not at all.The thing is, those of us who did lay out our 20 grand or whatever we ended up paying for these bikes believed in this legendary name. If we're anything alike at all, we either had friends with Harley's or were fans for a long time for various reasons. Yes, we knew about the tinkering and all the funny little noises and we accepted that all that heavy metal, chrome and the unmistakable sound of these beautiful machines would have to be maintained. What we weren't ready for was to encounter this terrible chatter when we shifted into 5th. We just wanted to know that for our money, the noises we heard were intentional or created by us--not some design flaw. I've complained, read articles, talked to mechanics at several dealerships and managers as well. So far I've not heard of any fix to this other than dropping a few grand on a Baker.

The real reason I'm posting today is to say that my local dealer replaced my transmission oil with Shockproof at it's 2500 mile service about a month ago. Two weeks ago, I called them to tell them I'm now hearing chatter in 4th gear. They asked what fluid I was running and when I said I had the Redline in it, I was told that in mid-June HD issued a memo to it's service teams and management that if anything other than HD's product was put in the transmission, it will void the warranty. I explained that the fluid was replaced by their shop and they scheduled the bike in to replace the fluid with theirs. The service manager said that if any tranny parts were sent to HD at this point, the first thing they look for is evidence of a non HD product on the metal. He said that one of the things that makes the Redline so effective is it's ability to permeate the metal in the tranny, and this would leave "evidence" that the MoCo would find. He said even with flushing it out and replacing it with HD's fluid, it would only emulsify the Shockproof to a certain degree and they'd still find it. Sounds like a CSI episode.

So I'm wondering if anyone else out there going through this transmission drama has heard about this, and to solicit some feedback on the efficacy of HD's crackdown on use of non-HD product to the extent of voiding warranty. I'm also wondering if any of you with this issue have heard anything coming out of your 4th gear like I have.

One last thing: the service manager told me that they have put a lot of Baker's in the '07's, and that they end up having to go back and repair the Bakers more often than the HD tranny's. Something to think about, or at the very least to really research before you take the leap.




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No dealer or manufacture can make you use their brand or any specific brand of anything, as long asthe product, what ever the brand your using,meets minimal manufacturesrequirements. That's like GM requiring me to use their oil in my truck. I would have asked your dealer for a copy of theservice bulletin, sounds like someone is blowing smoke here, or else HD is trying to weasel out of what they believe to be impending failures, due to their manufactures defect. I use HD synthetic and I have the clatter in all gears, as well as neutral, and keeps getting worse,so I don't think their brand of oil or any brand of oil that you may be usingis going to make a difference in wear/tear or the longevity of these bikes machinery. Besides, if yours, mine or anyone's tranny fails, and we are not using HD brands, HD would have to prove that failure resulted due to a specific brand of oil or product that was being used. Most of thefluids that all of us use,i.e. Mobil 1 - Amsoil - Redline etc. in these bikes come with a high endorsements, as well as exceeding HD's brands,and I doubt that they would put up with HD's propaganda, especially with HD making accusations that their oil caused the failure.However, HD due to their already "Manufactures Defect", is just looking for a way to get out of anyrestitution to it's customer base,because of the clatter wagons they have created and sold them. But from all the clatter wagons I've heard, failure is around the corner, and willl happen no matter what oil we are using,and HD will have to fess-up once and for all!

 

I purchased a 2007 SG in March 2007 and have a little over 11,000 miles on it (almost 50 milesone way to work five days a week).The whine in 5 gear is slightly noticable butit isn't a problem. This is by far the finest Harley I have ever owned. It easily cruises at 85 to 90 in sixth gear and I have no compaints. Maybe the factory improved them in the later part of the year.

 

Guys like you prove our point exactly. HD says the clatter in the 07's is normal, but your bike has only a slight whine, no clatter, now is that normal if only some do and some don't. The fact is HD screwed up some of these bikes, and so far is unwilling to correct things. Glad you got one of the so-called good ones!

 

You bring up a good point--and I eluded to it in my earlier posting. I have heard from many riders on the later '07 models that the noise is less noticeable, or not noticed at all. Mine was from an "earlier" batch--I can't recall the date of manufacture off the top of my head but have it lying around somewhere. It might be good for some of us to compare dates of manufacture and post them.

 

I've heard that the clatter is present in all dates of build, but morenoticeable in the earlier builds. Which may also be evidence that HD, later on in their manufacturing discovereda screw-up in their builds, and corrected for it - somewhat. That's one reason I've always said that this clatter thing is due to poor tolerance and/or build techniques, that mainly came earlier in their build dates.My build date is September 06 and the bike is the wost clatter wagon I have ever heard. Think people are mad now, just wait till the clatter migrates into all the gears like mine! Constant clatter, clatter, clatter and HD keeps saying it's normal and that they all do it!

 

I'VE GOT A 2007 FLHRC AND IT CLATTERS BAD IN 3RD 4TH 5TH AND 6TH GEARS. WHEN IT IS COOL, ITS DOESN'T CLATTER BUT AS SOON AS IT WARMS UP IT STARTS INCREASING IN THE CLATTER NOISE. MINE CLATTERED FROM DAY 1. ASKED M.O.C.O. ABOUT THE NOISE AND OF COURSE THEY SAID THAT IT WOULD NOT AFTER THE BREAK-IN. GOT ONLY 2800 MILES ON IT, AND I CAN'T HARDLY STAND TO RIDE IT. RID MY 7300 DOLLAR 1997 HONDA 1100 SHADOW MOST OF THE TIME AROUNGD TOWN SO PEOPLE DON'T ASK ME WHAT THAT SOUND IS COMING FROM MY HARLEY. I DONT CARE IF I HAVE TO PAY FOR A FIX AS LONG AS I CAN RIDE THIS 20000 DOLLAR PEICE OF JUNK. I'VE THEY FOUND A FIX YET?

 

HAVE THEY FOUND A FIX YET. BY THE WAY I BOUGHT THIS CHATTER KING CLASSIC, AFTER SAVING FOR TEN YEARS, IN OCT. 2006.

 

I really don'tlook atthe the clatter noise as some impending failure, nor am I waiting for something to break to get to HD.The issue here is notif the tranny/engine last 10 miles or 100,000 miles, the noise itself is the issue, as well as a defect that MOCO should correct. Do you really think that HD built these bikes with the intention of making them clatter? Do you really think MOCO said the customers are going tolike this clatter noise? I think NOT. The noise unintentionally developed and was discovered aftermanyfinished production, thus MOCO dumped them on the market anyway to try to re-coop their investment, hoping the customers, due to the HD name, would accept such trash. Had the clatter been intentional, they all would be clattering. I see this scam in my business all the time, it's called a "Manufacturer's Defect" and manufacturer's will sometimes go to great extremes, even lying about their own test results, saying " we tested the product and found nothing wrong"to avoid their responsibility to warranty, and their customer base, for the all American dollar. The many that are complaining about this clatternoise shouldsignal MOCO, that the 07's aren't right. Still, MOCO persists that the noise is normal, as loud as it may be in many, and as un-noticeable as it is in others, what jerks! If this noise was in most auto makers product, there would have been a massive recall already happening. No, I don't think the issue here is how long the machinery will last, the issue is this obnoxious noise that NO ONE LIKES!