Harley announces recall of 13,400 bikes

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Harley-Davidson Inc. issued a voluntary safety recall on 2006 model Dyna series motorcycles built between June 9 and Oct. 19 due to a transmission defect.

The company said late Tuesday the recall affects some 13,400 motorcycles and is expected to cost less than $5 million, which it will make reservations for in the fourth quarter.

Harley-Davidson also said it expects to meet its previously announced wholesale shipment target of 329,000 motorcycles for 2005.

The Milwaukee-based company said it will provide owners with free pickup and delivery and will make recall kits, which include three redesigned transmission components, available at dealerships starting the week of Dec. 12.

The defect may allow the motorcycles to go into a false neutral position even though the neutral indicator light is illuminated, it said.

"If that happens, the transmission could engage into first or second gear unexpectedly," Harley-Davidson spokesman Bob Klein said Wednesday.

advertising Two accidents related to the problem were reported, but none resulted in injury, Klein said.

The defect resulted from a design flaw in the six-speed transmission, which replaced the five-speed on the Dyna to make for a smoother ride at highway speeds and increase fuel efficiency, Klein said.

The redesign also resulted in a change to the front forks, chassis and a wider rear tire.

Shipments of the 2006 Dyna had been delayed but resumed after a change to production, he said.

Harley-Davidson shares rose $1.30, or 2.4 percent, to close at $55.77 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, amid a general gain in market prices on optimism over consumer spending this holiday season

 

I saw this on the news last week. At least HD is taking care of the problem and providing free pick up and delivery. Sorry to anyone this has affected.

 

This is the second problem (first recall) with the new 6-speed trannies...the first one being the 15,000 mile bearings. I hope they get the bugs worked out of these things before they stick them in the other lines of bikes. Also, has Victory had this much trouble with their 6-speeds? Just wondering..........

 

Thats what HD gets for trying to save mfg. costs by going to helical gears. Side thrust loads. Side thrust loads put a ton of wear on bearings. I had an argument in another forum with another forum member on the issues that helical gears present to bearings and other components in the transmission. I personally love the simple straight cut gears used on many current and older HD models. They may be a bit noisier(and its not like you can hear the gears whine with anything other than stock pipes anyway), but they have proven to be rock solid durable. Hopefully HD will be smart and keep the standard 5 speed and Screamin Eagle 6 speed transmissions in their lineup for years to come.

 

Helical cut gears are stronger than straight cuts. The neutral light problem has nothing to do with that.

 

Its a new design. They will get the bugs worked out. I have no worries.

Dynas RULE, and WGs kick a$$

 

Not worried here either. Just got my FXDI35 to the door of the shop before they found the recall....she will be in my arms soon!

Vin

 

heres some food for thought, it will cost approximately five million to do the recall. how much do you think it would cost to advertise the fact that harley is now selling stock bikes with six speed trannys? im sure alot more. it almost seems like an advertising ploy. i have a buddy that has the streetbob that is affected by the recall, and he hasnt had any probs yet. hes getting her fixed now, but still, makes you think...

 

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'm going to have to disagree. Straight cuts gears are used on massive torque motors (like in the 1000lbs range) because they can handle that torque while helical gears can't. On top of that you can abuse your straight cut gear tranny a lot more. Straight cut gears will handle misshifts much better. I have also heard that popping the clutch at the wrong time can damage a helical gear; not so with a straight cut gear.

Straight cuts gears like MegaHDMan mentioned are also more forgiving on the bearings and cases. The only reason helical cut gears are use are for smoother shifting and they don't suffer from gear whine.

 

The Bearing in question is the inner primary bearing. In a perfect world the final drive belt would exert a rearward force to be canceled by the primary chain's forward force. If you look at the shop manual it might cause you to wonder about oil deposited to the bearing, and or loading on the bearing itself. The other day you mentioned checking shaft wear while doing the Transmission recall repairs. Please have pictures. By now there are alot of curious Dyna owners.