Complaint Review: High Desert Harley Davidson Harley Davidson Inc

I purchased a new, top of the line, 2007 Harley davidson ultra classic last month in (July 2007). On the ride home, I hit bumper to bumper traffic. The bike produced so much heat from the rear cylinder and exhaust that I received second degree burns to both legs. I returned the bike to High Desert Harley Davidson to complain. I was told it was "normal". Everytime I try to ride the bike, I get second degree burns and the motor pings and suffers from pre ignition. I was back to the dealership constantly.

Then I started calling the Harley Factory. The customer service reps all told me I should wear heavier clothing to protect myself more. That yes, there was a heating problem but that Harley planned no fixes. I told them that I had a $22,000.00 paperweight parked in my garage because I could not ride it, and that Harley seemed to be saying "thanks for the money, now go away". They just said they were sorry I felt that way and that there was nothing more that could be done.

I have been advised by numerous sources, including employees at the dealership, customer service reps at the Harley Davidson Factory, several technical support sights online as well as other customers, that Harley designed the new 2007 96ci motors to run so lean at idle ( fuel air mix is 14.7:1) that is is causing extreme heat resulting in burns to the riders legs.

Further, that the motor runs so lean that it "pings" and suffers from pre igniton when warmed up and ridden. With heat being the number one enemy of air cooled motors, this high heat is causing long term damage to the motors. I even copied articles about the problem and some after market modifications that were being offered and took it in to the service manager at the dealership. I dropped them off for him and talked to him later about it. He said " oh yes, I know all about that, but I couldn't tell you that the company knew it already or what the problem was".

I have made repeated phone calls to the Harley davidson factory, spoken with numerous customer service reps there, and have been informed that Harley is, and has been aware of the problem but plans no repairs at this time to resolve the issue. I mailed a certfied letter to the factory reporting the problem and asking for help to fix the bike so it can be ridden safely. I received a phone call from a rep named Sean Soliski. you could tell that sean was reading a prepared statement from the company.

In his "statement" he said that the heating problem was not severe enough to cause worry. I explained that I had second degree burns each time I rode the bike. He was at a loss for an answer, but re read the statement. During our conversation, I continued explaining that I was getting measured heat at the rear cylinder in excess of 790 - 800 degrees and 6 inches down the rear exhaust that was in excess of 800 degree's ( that's as high as my thermo couple can read). That meant that heat was less than 6 inches from my legs.

At the end of our fruitless conversation, I asked him to answer a straight question, man to man. I asked him if it was his bike, what he would do to fix the problem. His reply was that he would replace the stock exhausts, install a high volume air filter, a "race tuner" to adjust the fuel air mix to the injectors, a cooling fan, and an oil cooler. These changes would make the bike run richer, this would make the engine run cooler, the addition of the cooling fan and oil cooler would also reduce engine heat as well. I checked, this would run me in excess of $1800.00 to do myself.

The service rep at High desert called and told me that they had a new download that would make my bike run cooler. It was called a "parade mode" and in essence, when the engine started getting hot at idle, it causes the rear cylinder to stop firing and act as an air pump to help cool the motor. I had them do the download. It causes the rear cylinder to cut out as he said, which means it's running on one cylinder (rough and jumpy) but it did not stop the heat.

After more phone calls and visits to the dealership and the factory, I was told to buy heavier clothing to ride in and that I should, at my expense, take the steps previously mentioned and replace the exhausts and install the other equipment. When I explained that even if I could afford it, it was not my responsiblity to fix the problem, it was Harleys. The lady laughed at me and said she did not agree.

I arranged a meeting between myself, the service manager (Shane) and the owner (Dave). During this meeting I explained to the owner what was happening, showed him a couple of the many photos of the burns to my legs and asked for his help.

The owner surprised me. He immediatley sided with me. With me sitting there, he called the factory rep, but got her voice mail. He left her a very strong message. In it he stated that I was a valued customer ( I have purchased 4 bikes from him) that I had personal injuries, that I had 41 years of riding experience and had owned many (26) motorcycles and knew what was right and wrong with the motors, that there was a problem, what the problem was and that he wanted it taken care of. He said he did not care what it took, that I had a very good legal case that would cost a lot of money to defend, that he would cooperate in any way but that he wanted it resolved.

Within 4 minutes, the factory rep called back. Dave again told her that he wanted the problem taken care and told her that if we needed to replace the pipes, do the race tuner, oil cooler or whatever, it should be done.
The factory rep said she knew of another rep that had taken care of the problem for a customer. She was going to call him and find out what he had done. ( she already knew about the problem from other sources)

After the phone call, Dave brough up on his own what I had been thinking, that they should extend my warranty to cover the probable damage caused by the high heat to the motor too.

I left the meeting feeling that it was getting resolved. But started thinking that I didn't even know what my oil temps were on the motor. I was told it should be around 230 F degrees F. I bought a digital oil temp gauge from the dealership, installed it and rode the bike till it started getting hot again. I checked, and on the digital gauge, it showed my oil temps from 275 to 300 degrees. Thats when the heat from the motor caused the new gauge to fail.

The next day the service manager called to tell me that the factory rep authorized him to install "heat wrap" on the exhausts, new saddle shields to block the heat ( the first set I had installed to try to help, melted from the heat) and some "and vents on the fairing" I told him that vents on the fairing would not cool the motor when sitting in traffic or at idle and that his suggestions would only tend to hide the problem and not stop it. I was willing to try, as we had a charity ride for the MDA in a couple of days and I had already missed several events, and had pre paid for the MDA ride. He promised the bike would be ready.

one day before the ride, he said the bike was ready. I went to pick it up, and only then did he inform me that the factory rep would only authorize him the wrap right side exhaust and just 4-6" of the left (which was the worst side). He had no idea why.

I rode the bike towards home. I hit heavy traffic about 3 blocks from the dealership. I burned my left leg right same as before. I turned back to the dealership, hit a long light, the heat wrap lived up to it's name, heated up, and became very hot on my right leg as well.

I returned to the dealership and tossed my keys to the service rep, and asked for the owner. I was informed he was out of town for a week. I left my bike there after telling him I would not accept it back until 100% repaired, not just let them try to hide the problem, that he owed me the $50.00 fee for the ride I had to miss the next day and left. I returned home and took another photo of the burns to add to my collection.

I am at this time still awaiting the owners return and trying to talk to the factory again. I have since learned that this problem is extensive and involves a lot of very unhappy new owners. Even an employee of the dealership who just bought a new '07 and had the same problem. He is having all the work done on his bike that I suggested ( he gets the stuff at an employee discount of course) including changing to new exhausts, new hi volume air intake, a race tuner to reset the fuel air mix, a cooling fan and an oil cooler. Lucky him.

I'd welcome input from any other owners affected with this problem, as well as anyone who would like to start a class action lawsuit against HD to contact me thru this site.

Randy c
idaho city, Idaho
U.S.A.

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