2002 Harley-Davidson FLHRCI problems and owner complaints

CAMS ALWAYS IS VERY NOISY AND BELIEVE THEY WILL GO COMPLETELY OUT ANY DAY NOW POSSIBLY IN A CURVE, CAUSING SEVERE INJURY OR DEATH.

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THIS IS A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE SERVICE LIFE OF THE NEW TWIN CAM ENGINE'S BOTTOM END. THERE SEEMS TO BE A LARGE NUMBER OF CONNECTING ROD BEARING FAILURES ONCE THE BIKE HAS REACHED 40,000 MILES. MINE FAILED AT 68,000 MILES BUT I HAVE TALKED WITH ONE RIDER WHOSE BOTTOM END FAILED AT 43,000 MILES. HARLEY APPEARS TO HAVE CHANGED THE WAY THEY BUILD THE FLYWHEEL ASSEMBLIES. THEY ARE NO LONGER PUTTING AN INSERT IN THE CONNECTING RODS FOR THE BEARINGS TO RIDE ON. INSTEAD THEY ARE MERELY FLAME HARDENING THE AREA. ONCE THE HARDENING FAILS THE ENTIRE ASSEMB…

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CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE OCCURRED TWICE IN A NEW 2003 HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLE AT 3284 MILES AND AGAIN AT 7420 MILES. THE FIRST WAS DUE TO A CRACKED FLYWHEEL, WHICH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY, AND THE SECOND DUE TO A BROKEN OIL PUMP. THE CAUSE WAS DETERMINED BY AN ENGINEER'S MEASUREMENTS TO BE MIS-ALIGNED CRANKCASE, AND THE MANUFACTURER REFUSES TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE ENGINE. *LA

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NO SUMMARY

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WHILE RIDING MOTORCYCLE, CAM BEARING FAILED, CAUSING MOTORCYCLE TO COMPLETELY SHUTDOWN. DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *AK CONSUMER STATES THAT AFTER REPAIRS, ENGINE IS NOISY AND EXHIBITS AN OIL LEAK. *TT

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REAR BRAKE FAILURE, RIDING IN HIGH ALTITUDES. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AFTER RIDING THIS MOTORCYCLE 500+ MILES A DAY, AND TRAVELING THROUGH MOUNTAINS, THE REAR BRAKE WILL SUDDENLY NOT WORK, THE PEDAL JUST DROPS TO THE FLOORBOARD. AFTER SITTING FOR ABOUT 2 MIN. BRAKE OPERATION RETURNS TO NORMAL. I RETURNED THE BIKE TO 2 DIFFERENT HARLEY DEALERS IN MI. WHERE I LIVE. BOTH COULD NOT VERIFY THE PROBLEM AND NOTHING WAS DONE. I WROTE A LETTER TO HARLEY EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM AND THE DEALERS LACK OF CONCERN. ( I AM A PROFESSIONAL MECHANIC IN A CHRYSLER, JE…

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REAR BRAKE FAILURE DUE TO USE OF DOT 5 BREAK FLUID AT HIGH ALTITUDE IN HOT WEATHER. ON TRIP OVER SIERRAS ON JULY 16, 2006, I AND FOUR OTHERS HAD REAR BRAKE OR OTHER HYDRALIC FAILURE. *NM

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MY WIFE AND I WERE RIDING ON A 2005 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROAD KING CLASSIC WITHOUT ABS. WE WERE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON INTERSTATE 275 WHEN THE CAR IN FRONT OF US SLAMMED ON HIS BRAKES. WE LOST CONTROL OF THE BIKE AS WE ATTEMPTED TO RAPIDLY STOP AND AVOID HITTING HIM. I SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES. MY WIFE BROKE HER CLAVICLE, SCAPULA, AND MOST RIBS ON HER RIGHT SIDE. ALSO SUSTAINED A HEMOTHORAX AND PNEUMOTHORAX THAT REQUIRED 3 HOSPITALIZATIONS AND SURGERY TO INCLUDE PLATING OF HER RIBS. THIS ACCIDENT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED HAD THE BIKE BEEN EQUIPPE…

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MY 2002 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROAD KING CLASSIC HAS UNEXPECTEDLY SHUT DOWN ELECTRICALLY ON ME NOW THREE TIMES. I WAIT FOR ABOUT 2 MINUTES AND IT WILL RETURN. I THINK I HAVE ONE OF THEIR BAD MAIN CIRCUIT BREAKERS. FORTUNATELY, THE BIKE WAS STOPPED WHEN THESE INCIDENTS OCCURRED. *TR

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ON 7/19/2006 I PURCHASED ON NEW 2007 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROAD KING CLASSIC.. IT WAS DELIVERED ON JULY 20TH. ON AUGUST 5TH, WITH ABOUT 275 MILES ON THE ODOMETER, THE MOTORCYCLE COMPLETELY STALLED WHILE DRIVING WITH A PASSENGER IN TRAFFIC ON AN ARTERIAL ROADWAY. WE MANAGED TO PULL OVER TO THE CURB LANE. I CHECKED THE GAS TANK, WHICH WAS 2/3 FULL. I THEN SWITCHED OFF THE RUN SWITCH AND THE IGNITION SWITCH, TURNED THEM BACK ON AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE. AFTER ABOUT TWO MILES, THE ENGINE DIED AGAIN. I FOLLOWED THE SAME SEQUENCE AND THE BIKE RESTARTE…

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AFTER STORAGE MY HARLEY WAS HARD STARTING. AFTER SOME FRESH GAS THE BIKE BEGAN TO RUN. MAYBE A MONTH AFTER THIS GAS BEGAN SQUIRTING OUT OF THE TANK WHERE THE FUEL LINE AND THE RETURN LINE ARE ATTACHED. I SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE, CLEANED UP THE GAS AND REPEATED THE STARTUP. SAME THING. AS THE BIKE WAS JUST STARTED I DID NOT GET GASOLINE ON ME, ONLY ON THE ENGINE, TRANSMISSION AND RUNNING BOARD. THE ENGINE WAS COOL, I SHUT IT DOWN WITHOUT INCIDENT. I DISCUSSED WITH DEALER AND READ HARLEY MANUAL. THEY SPECULATED THAT SOMETHING WAS IN THE TA…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 HARLEY DAVIDSON FLHRCI. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH ATTEMPTING TO PARK, THE CONTACT NOTICED FUEL LEAKING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE FUEL TANK. THE CONTACT PERFORMED THE REPAIR WHICH CONSISTED OF REPLACING THE QUICK CONNECT COUPLING. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 6,800.

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SPOKE IN REAR WHEEL BROKE PUNCTURING INNER TUBE, CAUSING TIRE TO GO FLAT ON HIGHWAY AND CAUSING WOBBLY HANDLING. I TALKED TO PARTS MAN AT BLUE SPRING HARLEY DAVIDSON AND HE SAID I WOULD BE SURPRISED HOW MANY PEOPLE COME IN WITH BROKEN SPOKES. I ALSO KNOW ANOTHER GUY WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

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I WAS THE PROUD OWNER OF 2006 ROAD KING CLASSIC. I PAMPERED MY BIKE, HAD IT SERVICED BY THE HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALERSHIP, AND HAD IT FOR 2 YEARS. AFTER 5000 MILES, (HARDLY EXCESSIVE USE) A STRONG WOBBLE DEVELOP AND IT GOT WORSE AT ALMOST ANY SPEED. I TOOK THE BIKE TO BE CHECKED AT HACIENDA HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALERSHIP IN SCOTTSDALE AZ IN JUNE OF 2008 WHICH AT THE TIME THE SERVICE MANAGER SHOWED ME THE LOOSE REAR WHEEL SPOKES. MY CONCERN WAS NOT ONLY ABOUT THE WOBBLE BUT WOULD IT CAUSE AN ACCIDENT? THE MANAGER SUGGESTED TO REPLACE THE REAR WHEEL…

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THEY SAY,AT HARLEY-DAVIDSON THAT MY MOTORCYCLE HAS A ELECTICAL PROBLEM,AND SHOULD BE FIXED RIGHT AWAY.I CALLED MY DEALERSHIP THE VERY DAY I GOT MY RECALL LETTER,ON OR ABOUT 6/29/04.AT THIS TIME I WAS TOLD THEY WERE "WAITING ON PARTS"TRHAT WAS ABOUT TEN WEEKS AGO.....AT WHAT POINT AN TIME DO I GET SATISFACTION FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON AND T.S.I. MOTORCYCLE IN WILLIMANTIC CT. ????THE LETTER STATES "THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE A QUIT WHILE RIDING SITUATION,WHICH COULD OCCUR WITHOUT WARNING AND ULTIMATELY LEAD TO A CRASH,THERBY PRESENTING A RISK OF DEA…

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THE STOCK HORN ON MY 2003 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROAD KING CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE HAD BEEN ANEMIC AT BEST FROM NEW AND HAD PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WEAKER IN VOLUME AND NOW ONLY WORKS INTERMITTENTLY. THE DEALERS HAS CLAIMED THAT THE LOW VOLUME IS TYPICAL OF HD HORNS AND THAT, SINCE THE INTERMITTENT FAILURE OCCURRED AFTER THE 12 MONTH ORIGINAL WARRANTY, IT IS NOT A HD PROBLEM. THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN ACCIDENT YET. IF THERE IS, I MIGHT NOT BE AROUND TO COMPLAIN. *JB

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