a guy mentioned of a new memo out about using anythin but HD oils voids waty...
so what that is tellin me,, HD now knows us problem bikes are using heavy oils,,thus knowing something will puke soon,,, and they can simply clear themselves of remaining warnty issues....
dont look good fellas,,,,, I'm trading for a 08,,,,

 

I have a new 07 and have not had noise issues so far, I do believe it is possible that there were transmission spec changes due to the problems stated here with the earlier bikes. I also think HD should at least offer the isolation drive system for all 07 owners installed for free and for those that can show a true transmission issue a free upgrade.

That said, I also think some of the people suggesting HD should install a free Baker transmission in their bikes are FOS.

 

This post is sort of a copy of my other post on this subject, but the subject weighs heavily on me. When I received my 07 Classic last Sept, it clattered atrociously, and I got the same dealer line: it's normal, will quiet with miles, you don't know how to ride, they'll come up with a fix just ride it, etc. I changed fluids and initially advocated Amsoil Severe Gear and said it quieted it some, and it did, during my intial honeymoon period with the thing. I wanted this thing to work out. I now have over 2900 miles on this thing. I have since stepwise upped the tranny fluid viscosity by experiments with various brands and blends to the point where now the bike is slightly harder to shift when cold but shifts normally when warmed up [for what it's worth, my current blend is 26 oz Torco 85W-140 RGO Racing Gear Oil + 6 oz Torco MPZ Assembly Lube]. I would not advocate any more experimentation with fluids, we're chasing a useless path - it will still clatter when warmed up. 1-4 are silky quiet and acceptable. If it were compensator related or any other fault it would do it in all gears. This is just a screwed up transmission gear design, pure and simple.

This is new to me, I had no idea HD would do something like this - I've owned their products a long time, and mostly until now it has been a path of product improvement year-to-year. I still naively want to try to keep this thing and not sell it yet. The hard clear reality is that this thing is the first new HD that I have ever bought that was WORSE than my previous bike. You have to ride the thing like walking on eggshells, carefully avoiding speeds and gears to stay out of that damned racket. These bikes have lost the ability to just enjoyably "putt" around.

This is just a screwed up 5th & 6th gear tolerance issue. Too loose bore/shaft and/or fouled-up tooth mesh tolerances. That's all it is. Just a ****-poor bad-quality product that they won't stand behind, a symptom of a company that has become fat and arrogant from profit and is rotting from within. I don't know about you guys, but I have to take ethics training in my job - an effort to turn America around from the dirty business-as-usual. The way the MoCo is handling this stinks ethically. Again - rotten from within.

This rear wheel rubber shock absorber won't do a damned thing. Totally worthless fix for an unrelated problem, designed to defer your discontent. Don't buy it.

 

Well said. I've suspected all along this is a tolerance issue, if it were not, and the clatter noise was by design,they'd all be clattering away. Like you, I purchased my bike last September, and the build date is September as well. I could be wrong, but it seems the earlier builds are doing the most clattering. Could it be that MOCO made some adjustments, but only after a bunch of these got out the door defective, and that's why they're not fixing things; to many to fix and to costly? That would mean a new tranny for every one that clatters to make things right, and I seriously doubt HD will ever do that. Mine has clattered from day one, and just keeps getting worse with the clatter now migrating to all the gears. Vibration has increased as well around 2800-3200, will vibrate your teeth loose.

 

My Ultra was built in May '07 and I'd bet it's just as noisy as some of your earlier build dates.

 

Maybe it's the build date on the tranny and not the bike production date thatmakes a differencewhich ones are noisy. These trannys are probably built by another company, and are just kept on a shelf till needed. Maybe there is a bad lot floating around, and HD don't know which lot is bad. But the batch appears to be so massive that HD don't want to deal with it; to big and to expensive for recall.

 

just so we are all on the same page,,,, My prob. is ,,,,,, after 1 hr. on a 5 hour trip,
for example, with wife on board,, cruiesing along in 5th,can't use 6th around here,,
(I hear whine, clatter at low rpms ,,yes) my prob... is 5th chatter,,,more like cheeeeater,
metal scraping , almost need earplug sounds I put up with for the next 4 hours??

spend whole time thinkin,, aint gonna make it home,, shes gonna puke,,,, lock up???
now how enjoyable is that???


If I jump on it right now,,,, everything is great..... ride all day,shes gonna blow!!!!

 

Same here, don't know if your going to make it home or not. That's the very reason we have canceled our vacationand any long distance rides, at least until HD gets this thing right. It's not only the if and when the bike breaks down, it's this ear banging clatter we can't stand as well, and vibration between 2800-3200 is unbearable. The clatter is so bad that even with the radio blasting we can still hear the clatter noise, and mine is in all gears now. People around town now call my Ultra Clatter a weed eater, what an embarrassment this has turned out to be!

 

Time to startboycotting the day the 08 modelsare released. No more bike, chrome, accessories, clothing or anything else associated with HD purchases, until they fix this mess. It always works, get in their wallets and see how fast these issues get resolved. There is enough of us now that have been scammed by MOCO, that can make a big difference inHD product sales. Lets get it started with all the negative campaigning that we can dish-out about MOCO, and their shysters. Quit feeling sorrow for HD and ween yourself from the Harley name, this is what's feeding MOCO and iskeeping them from standing behind their products, they are still counting on HD loyalty from it's customer base, even though they have screwed many of them. Simple solution for a big problem;if no one buys from HD, they don't sell, and if they don't sell, they are out of business, how much simpler can it get? Not only will HD not make money, but we will save money from not buying. But you can bet HD will be fixing lots of bikes before it's over with.

 

This forums new server really sucks keep getting a no network error message!
But anyway no more new HD's here. Not unless the moco fixes their crap
and stops treatings us like morons.