I work in the Insurance industry and I work with Government Agencies all the time regarding vehicle safety, recalls, bad business etc... There are a few that I have contacts with that I can reach out to if needed.

 

Yes.... A MOCO test rider flew out to ride my bike and I have been waiting a month and a half to hear back from him as he was reviewing the issue with MOCO engineers. MOCO has not released any documentation for the 09 frames concerning measurements, measuring procedures, offset etc.... From day 1 all 3 dealers I was working with told me they dont have anything on these frames.

I finally got a call back yesterday from MOCO and the Dealer advising they confirmed this bike is designed with Zero Offset.

Every bike I have built has Zero offset and most are getting away from that with the right side drive transmissions.

And No... LOL... Its not psychosomatic!... It might be something else that I am missing but I have discovered this on other bikes, confirmed it is "within specs" and let it be. On this bike it is not within specs and Id like to fix it.

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Not sure how you checked with a 2x4? The rear tire is wider than the front tire so you would need other tools to measure the gaps between the 2x4 and the front tire which would be about 2 inches. I measured mine off the face of the rotors after confirming the right rotor sits .008 further away from the wheel on one side vs the other.

ive checked other 09's and the are within .005 to .020 which to me is almost nothing. If my bike measured like that I would be happy.

 

Could it be as simple as Engine mounts? Have you tried loosing them and pulling the motor/trans/swingarm to the left and re tighten?

Reason I mention is because my 09 Ultra would not track, and it ended up being the mounts were out of whack which made the whole rear end skew to the right. They replaced the mounts and everything was better...

Also, I know this is crazy, but how about machining the spacers or something on the front? I know caliper alignment comes into play... just sayin.

lp

 

Obviously I am just venting and warning others who might like to check their own bikes and to let you know My Experience with MOCO.

Knowledge is Power so I just want to spread the word.

I have been waiting 3 months, and have gone through some crazy Sh*t and been pretty quiet about it giving them a chance to make it right.

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Yes I have thought of that I wrote about it above that the whole assy might be out of alignment. I saw one of your old posts about your motor mounts and ran into a guy who said he had the same problem.

I told MOCO and they said they have Never heard of Any motor mount issue effecting alignment.

I think that type of alignment issue would cause my wheel to be out of alignment meaning it would be crooked and pointing one direction or the other at an angle. My wheel is perfectly straight and parallel with the front wheel. Its just offset to one side. It would have to be several mounts all off the same amount to allow the whole assy to be shifted over evenly but it is possible.

Thank you for making sure I was aware of it and it will be on my list of things to check!

 

No problem. What I really meant was not just the front or back being out of whack, but the front AND back mounts both being pushed to the left with the engine in parallel with the front tire still. I'm not sure that is possible but heck something to think about.

Anyway, I'll not give you any crap about it being "normal" or "I never heard about it before, so it must not be true". My ordeal lasted 9 months and was pretty painful as the dealer just said I was crazy and all that BS. It was such a sore note with me that even after I got it fixed I just sold the bike anyway. I hated looking at it thinking about 10,000 miles with my *** hanging out to the left. Kinda pissed me off.

Good luck to you.

lp

 

No I really appreciate it. Thank You....

The thought of selling has already crossed my mind.

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Maybe I'm giving Harley too much slack here ... but my 09 Road King and its well known old school technology - like a push rods, air cooling, crappy shocks, crude frame, weak compensator, etc - has always handled poorly compared to my sport bikes and their well known leading edge technology.

One side of my Road King touches down before the other in curves - clearance being pretty limited anyway - but it does hold a straight line fairly well. I haven't checked, but it wouldn't surprise me if mine is off center too.

Unless you are experiencing serious/dangerous handling problems - for me - this is like comparing the handling of a bi-plane to a jet.

Just sell the dam thing and move on. It's cursed for you now anyway, and the next thing to go wrong with it is just waiting around the corner. I'm 99% certain, it will wind up in the hands of someone who will love it and never have a clue it's off center. I moved on from a couple of bikes that I couldn't get right, and was much happier for it.

I see your arguments, and understand your frustration, but I went in buying this, my second Harley knowing they have a long and well known history of quirks and problems.

Good luck no matter what you decide to do,
Murph

 

I'd look further into what LP said about motor mounts.
Make sure that's all perfect and if still rides bad,..... time to move on. Trade-in time.

As Damascus said, "It's cursed now". LOL Seriously, you don't wanna be chasing this thing forever. And obviously you aren't one to just forget about it and let it go.