Harley Davidson Mistake

[HuskyRider]

Decided to own my first HD in 55+years of riding. Bought a 2023 Fat Boy in April and within 50-miles the motor start making a loud tapping noise when warmed up above 1500 rpm's.
After months and another 900-miles the dealers service manager finally rode the bike for more than 50-feet and heard the noise. Well, they replaced both cylinders, pistons and heads, says it was caused by out of round pistons? Anyway, driving home from picking the bike up from the service department the noise is even worse now and neither the dealer or factory will return my calls.
So, I'm going to ride it till she blows but within my 100-mile radius of tow service coverage. Next week I'm going to visit the Yamaha dealer and get another FJR for my long rides.

 

[Oldjeep]

You must still have the stock exhaust on. You need to get some obnoxiously loud pipes to cover the Harley sounds

 

[BkerChuck]

Decided to own my first HD in 55+years of riding. Bought a 2023 Fat Boy in April and within 50-miles the motor start making aloud tapping noise when warmed up above 1500 rpm's.
After months and another 900-miles they finally rode the bike for more than 50-feet and heard the noise. Well, they replaced both cylinders, pistons and heads, says it was caused by out of round pistons? Anyway, driving home from picking the bike up from the service department the noise is even worse now and neither the dealer or factory will return my calls.
So, I'm going to ride it till she blows but within my 100-mile radius of tow service coverage. Next week I'm going to visit the Yamaha dealer and get another FJR for my long rides.

Several years back for a period of about 16 years I worked part time for a Harley dealership. I think one of the most egregious screw ups I saw was the new Sportster they sold, sadly to someone I knew, that was missing the base gasket for the rear cylinder. Major oil leak inside of the first 50 miles.

 

[HuskyRider]

You must still have the stock exhaust on. You need to get some obnoxiously loud pipes to cover the Harley sounds

Ordered a cheap set of loud pipes off Amazon..

 

[HuskyRider]

Several years back for a period of about 16 years I worked part time for a Harley dealership. I think one of the most egregious screw ups I saw was the new Sportster they sold, sadly to someone I knew, that was missing the base gasket for the rear cylinder. Major oil leak inside of the first 50 miles.

Well, they replaced the heads because of grooves in the rocker shafts, would make sense that a lack of lubrication caused the damage? But they said the factory instructed them to just replace the parts.
I would bet there's many new bikes with the same issue, but they're told it's just normal rocker noise.

 

[Diablo1]

If it still makes loud engine noises, then it’s likely tearing itself apart. It may not blow up, but wearing out prematurely. I’d drain the oil and send in a sample for analysis. The type and amount of metal in the oil may help pinpoint the problem area that needs to be fixed.

 

[RossKean]

If it still makes loud engine noises, then it’s likely tearing itself apart. It may not blow up, but wearing out prematurely. I’d drain the oil and send in a sample for analysis. The type and amount of metal in the oil may help pinpoint the problem area that needs to be fixed.

On the other hand, if it blows up, he can probably make them take it back and improve the budget situation for a new FJR.

 

[HuskyRider]

If it still makes loud engine noises, then it’s likely tearing itself apart. It may not blow up, but wearing out prematurely. I’d drain the oil and send in a sample for analysis. The type and amount of metal in the oil may help pinpoint the problem area that needs to be fixed.

I bought the 4-year extended warranty. These motors are identified as M8's, originally HD's racing motors but modified for street starting in 2018.
They have had four revisions to the oil pump since 2018 due to sumping issues. I would guess there is lot of bikes with my issue and they just think
the noises are normal for these air cooled v-twins.
It's been two-weeks and the HD factory, or my local dealer still won't return any of my numerous calls' or emails. I did contact a lemon law attorney.
and they need one more attempt to repair the problem before taking them to court.

 

[chazglenn3]

Every time i remotely think about buying a Harley I see something like this. Thankfully. I think a Triumph Rocket 3 would be cool...

 

[Oldjeep]

Every time i remotely think about buying a Harley I see something like this. Thankfully. I think a Triumph Rocket 3 would be cool...

I was super close to buying a Pan America this winter, finally a harley motor that made an acceptable amount of power. Unfortunately they seemed to need a couple more years to work out all the electrical glitches

 

[Bugnatr]

While visiting my independant mechanic who is really good and works on all makes of bikes I saw a HD in his shop. I asked him about HD quality and he went into a tirade about what crap the factory was turning out. Basically their quality control is the shits and he lets his HD clients know to expect the unexpected when chasing down a problem with their bike.

 

[audiowize]

I enjoy watching Kevin Baxter in YouTube, who regularly rebuilds Harley motors with well under 100,000 miles with pretty serious engine issues. He is very busy.

 

[Whooshka]

.........
It's been two-weeks and the HD factory, or my local dealer still won't return any of my numerous calls' or emails.......

I'd be walking into the dealership to let them know you mean business.

Even goes as far as to walk near every customer and shout to the salesman "Does this one have the same problem as my bike?"

 

[mshrout]

The way you describe the noise, it would appear it could be 2 things. either a lifter is not pumping up, or your camshaft lobe is toast, but if the lobe is chewed, it would make the noise all the time, regardless of RPM, which most likely would be the lifter. at certain RPM’s it works, but once it goes above 1500, it pumps down and causes pushrod clearance issues to rocker, which causes the Tappet Tappet noise you are most likely hearing, which may have caused the rocker scars they found. so sorry you are having these issues with a new bike and the warranty issues. Yes, the noise will continue and not resolve itself. Chevy is having some of the same issues on the 5.3 motor. you work around this Old school technology long enough and you should be able to pinpoint where the noise is coming from. If the lifter gets really sloppy (wont pump up at all) it will cause the pushrod to bend and then all hell breaks lose. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[HuskyRider]

Dealers service manager is calling in the district rep to hear the noise and come up with a solution. He believes there is an oil delivery problem and maybe a damaged cam. I won't settle for less than a new motor. You FJR riders consider yourself lucky, I know I was until a 18-year-old driver put me in the hospital; and totaled my 2008 @ over 100k miles.
As a retired master mechanic, they can't bs me like the average leather vest wearing poser, payback is on the horizon. And I did buy a new FJR, pick it up on Monday.

 

[art miller]

Your purchase of a new FJR is a wise one. If I were you I would insist the dealer take the bike back and refund you the invoice price.

 

[user 99198]

I was super close to buying a Pan America this winter, finally a harley motor that made an acceptable amount of power. Unfortunately they seemed to need a couple more years to work out all the electrical glitches

I thought the same way until I saw one at bike night this past Thursday. Everyone was leaving except for a Pan American that had a jumper pack on it. It STILL wouldn't start. F that! Jevers

 

[user 99198]

Dealers service manager is calling in the district rep to hear the noise and come up with a solution. He believes there is an oil delivery problem and maybe a damaged cam. I won't settle for less than a new motor. You FJR riders consider yourself lucky, I know I was until a 18-year-old driver put me in the hospital; and totaled my 2008 @ over 100k miles.
As a retired master mechanic, they can't bs me like the average leather vest wearing poser, payback is on the horizon. And I did buy a new FJR, pick it up on Monday.

I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune and I certainly hope that it turns out well for you. Let me tell you what happened to my buddy with his brand new 2018 Ultra Classic with 300 miles on it. He goes out to the garage to take it for a ride and notices a puddle of oil. He rode it to the dealer and they found that the oil was actually seeping through the engine case due to a bad casting. He told them that he wanted a new engine and HD said, nope, all you are getting are new engine cases! Can you imagine the labor in swapping out all of the internals?! He was not happy, hell, I'm even pissed! Jevers

 

[HuskyRider]

The service manager did admit that he heard the noise in the motor when his senior mechanic drove it into the shop. He said Harley would only approve replacing the damaged components. Just so disheartening to have these issues with such a beautiful bike. The wife and I planned many rides, but with her health issues I didn't want her to be stranded hours-days away from home.
Tomorrow I'll pick up the new FJR and start the outfitting and breaking in process. I sold my R1 after buying the Harley, that was a big mistake not to have two-bikes in the garage, live and learn.

 

[Oldjeep]

The service manager did admit that he heard the noise in the motor when his senior mechanic drove it into the shop. He said Harley would only approve replacing the damaged components. Just so disheartening to have these issues with such a beautiful bike. The wife and I planned many rides, but with her health issues I didn't want her to be stranded hours-days away from home.
Tomorrow I'll pick up the new FJR and start the outfitting and breaking in process. I sold my R1 after buying the Harley, that was a big mistake not to have two-bikes in the garage, live and learn.

Yes. 2 bike minimum. I have learned the importance of that after buying a Ducati and selling my fz1. Thankfully I have the FJR. That Ducati is one more problem away from becoming a MT-10 no matter how pretty it is.