I am sending this to MOCO. If there is any 07 rider that has had this issue and has not addressed it with them, you can send me an e-mail to joefindell@bellsouth.net and i will print it and send it in with this letter. Please include your name, bike and prodution date. I will send entire package on 9/14/07 depending on responses recieved.

If you do not agree, that is ok. But I thought i would give those who wanted an outlet the chance to be heard.

This letter has been edited and reworded based on commentson original posting. Thanks for the input. It will now be sent via e-mail to the VP of customer service.



I recently purchased my first Harley Davidson. I have been wanting one for a long time and finally decided to bite the bullet. It was a 2007 FLHX and was purchased from Tilley’s Harley Davidson in Statesville, NC. A good experience and a great bike except for the weak fairing brackets that have all been replaced and reinforced by myself and or my local dealer where I get my service done. All is good and I am loving life.
We then decided to purchase my wife a bike since she had ridden before and had now gotten the fever again. We went to Curley’s Harley Davidson in Winston Salem, NC this time since it is only 3 minuets from my home and we have been getting our service done there. I figured I would not price shop over a few hundred dollars and give them my business this time. We bought a new 2007 FLHRC and happily rode it home. The wife is loving life now and we are 2 happy campers.
The reason for writing is we are very unhappy with the engine noise coming from the FLHRC. It just plain sounds like crap. It is like a box of rocks when it is at idle and when going down the road. It seems to be worse when it gets warmed up and it is not a sound consistent with all 2007 models. My FLHX has 8500 miles on it and sounds nothing like the FLHRC.
I did take it to Curley’s and they addressed the noise by doing something with the compensator nut. It seemed to make a difference at first but it has not helped in the long run. It actually seems to be getting worse.
I was on a ride over Labor Day when all this came to a head. My brother in-law was riding the FLHRC when we pulled up to a stop light about an hour or so into the ride. He looked over at me and said “what the **** is up with this bike, it sounds like ****” He has been riding for over 15 yrs and they have all been Harleys. I have no doubt he knows what sounds normal.
I read a motorcycle forum on the internet called HDForums.com. It has been a great place to share experiences and learn from others. This topic has been discussed in great depth with several different opinions on how to resolve the problem. The most recent one is the Isolated Drive System that has been added to the touring line as a stock item for 2008. With this information and the Labor Day experience on my mind, I decided to get some more input from my local dealer.
I went to Curley’s on 9/7/07 and discussed the issue with the service department. The answer I got was pretty close to what I expected based on the experiences from other 2007 owners on the forum. “Some bikes are just plain noisier than others.[/b]” Well that is just plain crap and it is defiantly not what the service department should tell someone who just spent $18,000 on a motorcycle of any kind. They did inform me that they installed an IDS on the bike of a local Harley Davidson Representative.
It would seem to me that it would have been in the best interest of the company to acknowledge the problem that is clearly in some of the 2007 bikes. You sh

 

You should edit your private info out of this one online!

 

I dont think I would tell the MOCO that I was doing the install, if it were me.

Just my 2cents

 

I know whats gonna happen,,,, your gonna get the same coputer automated
reply that everyone else gets,,, and your letter will be emptied in the e-mail"Trash bin".
not tellin you to, not bother,, keep hammering them I say,
hope ya have good luck!
we gotta do somethin right?

 

I wish I was a lawyer (not really) as I would start a class-action law suit against the MOCO for these ’07 issues.

Any lawyers with a ’07 on the Forum?

 

Joe your message will probably be read before the snail mail makes it there.MRSR71,your post is exactly why the kit wasnt offered for free.Put the kit on and enjoy your bike again.Not many here would join in before this fix,less will now.We got them to listen,a fix was leaked to a few and passed on to others here,but its going to cost you.

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: bigreef

I am sending this to MOCO. If there is any 07 rider that has had this issue and has not addressed it with them, you can send me an e-mail to joefindell@bellsouth.net and i will print it and send it in with this letter. Please include your name, bike and prodution date. I will send entire package on 9/14/07 depending on responses recieved.

If you do not agree, that is ok. But I thought i would give those who wanted an outlet the chance to be heard.


To whom it may concern,

I recently purchased my first Harley Davidson which was a great day. I have been wanting one for a long time and finally decided to bite the bullet. It was a 2007 FLHX and was purchased from Tilley’s Harley Davidson in Statesville, NC. A good experience and a great bike except for the weak fairing brackets that have all been replaced and reinforced by myself and or my local dealer where I get my service done. All is good and I am loving life.

We decide to buy my wife a bike and we went to Curley’s Harley Davidson in Winston Salem, NC since it is 3 minuets from my home and we have been getting our service done there. I figured I would not price shop for a couple of hundred dollars or so and give them my business this time. We bought a new 2007 FLHRC and happily rode it home. The wife is loving life now and we are 2 happy campers.

Here is the problem….
The FLHRC just plain sounds like crap. It sounds like a box of rocks when it is at idle and when going down the road. It is worse when it gets warmed up and it is not a NORMAL sound. My FLHX does not make it and has not since I got it. I have 8500 miles on my bike and my wife has 2500 on hers.

Curley’s did something with the compensator nut and it has not helped. I just went back there on 9/6/07 and got the old statement, and I quote “some bikes are just noisier than others”. Well that is just plain crap.

I read a forum on the internet called HDForums.com and this topic has been discussed in great depth. Everyone has their own tolerance level of what they will or won’t deal with. Mine kind of came to an end this past weekend while we were out for a nice ride, we came up to a stop light and my brother in-law who was on the FLHRC looked at me and said, and I quote “what the hell is up with this damn bike, it sounds like ****”. Now he has been riding for about 15 yrs and they have all been Harleys and I have no doubt he knows what sounds NORMAL.

I would have no trouble with any of this if ALL 2007 bikes had this problem. But they don’t. The 2 bikes in my basement were built in 08/06 for the SG and 05/07 for RKC. Is this an indication of an assembly line problem?

Now we get to talk about the Isolated Drive System. Well, from what I am hearing on the forum, this is the answer. That’s all good except for the fact that now I have to buy the part to fix the bike, pay for the labor to put it on (unless I can do it myself, and I might add here that most people are because they’re tired of being screwed by the local dealer) to fix a problem that exists in SOME of the 2007 bikes. You know, THE ONES THAT ARE JUST A BIT LOUDER THAN OTHERS!
It would seem to me that it would have been in the best interest of the company to fix these bikes with a smile and say, and I quote…

“We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and we truly appreciate your loyalty to us and we look forward to being here for you in the many years to come. Ride safe and be careful.”

Is this asking to much from a company with your following and brand loyalty? You guys seem to be falling in line with the rest of corporate America and are only looking after the bottom line. Let me take this time to reassure you that you are making a lot of money. Last time I checked, I paid a pretty penny for the 2 bikes I got, and did so with a smile.

I AM NOT

 

Bigreef, I don't have your problem as I have a 2000. While my bike has it's own issues, as does every make and model, the transmission problem in the 07's appears to me to be more of a recall issue than a optional add-on. If the IDS is required to solve the problem, and has been made a part of the 08's (I may be wrong on this, but thought the 08's came with it installed), then the MOCO should be paying to take care of the 07's. Unfortunately, most corporations aren't swayed by individuals, and the mighty dollar tends to take precedence over doing what's right. Class action lawsuits don't usually do much either for the individual, only for the legal firm filing the suit. And, since the MOCO's already sold all of their 07's, they have nothing to lose by doing nothing to help you out. Only when they have a string of problems like this that cause their sales to begin failing significantly will they consider "doing the right thing" again. I wish you luck.

Tater

 

For alittle over 200 bucks and some of your time you could put all this to an end, no matter which way you may feel.Its just not worth the hassle.

 

I think a letter is worth it. I will be drafting my own when I have mine fixed or I get to my wits end. I have installed the IDS and it makes the bike bunches better but I still have an engine problem to contend with (luckily it is giving codes for proof).

There is no way the MoCo is not aware of the multitude of problems. They have already came out with a voluntary fix (torque smoothing download) without admitting a mechanical problem worthy of a official recall. So..... there is no reason to not buck up and take care of the rest of the issues. "The Customer is always right" is what will keep them in business. I can walk into any car dealer when my car is under warrantyand tell them my door panel rattles and they will fall all over themselves to fix it. I've walked into HD dealers and listed my problems and it took the 3rd dealer to even ride the damn thing before they said it was normal (the others said it was normal based on my description only).

I believe the MoCois in a precarious position. The "new" Harley riders that has been funding HD's ever expanding manufacturing is notbrand loyal. They (I) demand a quality product at a reasonable price. The 07s do not match either criteria.

I stay with HD because of the folks I have come to count as friends while riding my last 2 Harleys. If this were my first HD then I would not have kept this bike and put up with the BS and just sold it to some unsuspecting fool with HD "stars" in their eyes.

I have no respect for the MoCo. They have built a company "persona" based on hard working, free-living peoples, and then shat all over them.