I stayed away from Harley's for 44 years because of quality concerns but took the risk and have a 2009 FXDC. Love the M/C. Looks great, reasonable ride, enough power for the way I usually ride etc. Had some issues, rear brake can moan really loudly at times but I have attributed that to the fact that I live on a rock road so this is probably due to dust. The thing that really concerns me is that I noticed that the rear wheel is getting rust pits after only two months of use. Not just a few but all the way around the inner rim just below the spokes and also around a majority of the spoke dimples. The bike does not get wet except for cleaning and then only for a short time. Is this a normal issue with wheel chrome or is this a defect? Imput would be helpful since I'm thinking this wheel should be replaced. Thanks

 

Mine rusted within 3 months and when I complained to the stealer he said it was because I live near the coast!
Couldn't be bothered to fight about it so powdered the rims and fitted stainless spokes.
Also replaced all the motor bolts as they corrode nicely as well

 

My wheel did not rust, but the spokes have. If I clean them and keep them waxed it seems to help, but honestly I am not real happy with the chrome plating. Maybe rocks from the road are popping up and putting scratches in the plating.

I just had my rear wheel and spokes powder coated because I was tired of having to scrub and polish them to keep the rust away.

My rear brake moaned for a long time, turned out I had a bearing going bad. The dealer told me my drive belt was out of adjustment and that was what was causing it. After I replaced the tire and bearings the moan went away.

 

If you are still using the factory sintered iron brake pads, they are not helping you in terms of preventing rust. The brake dust will help promote rust on the rims and other areas. Look at some of the newer pads like those from Lyndall or others. They will also out perform the factory pads in stopping ability. I changed to the Lyndall Z-Pads to get away from the brake dust and squeal that the stockers had in abundance. The improved braking performance was a bonus.

 

they are steel spokes... they suck that is the plan and simple truth. they will oxidize and rust unless you keep a heavy coat of wax on them... your tires see much more moisture than the rest of the bike jsut in road grime alone... where do you store your bike? on carpet or not? concrete sweats and will release moisture up... store your bike on some carpet and that will take care of the issue... in the winter i cover them and put charchole on the seat as well to help absorb the moisture in the air

 

WELL...I have to agree - on my 07 Street Bob - I'm not too pleased with the wheels, the tree's or the heads...I've seen rusting on the wheels and on the other parts, you can see the deterioration taking place...fortunately, I plan on powdercoating all of these parts to black in the winter time - but I agree - this is unsat. My 2001 Road King had not a single issue on the wheels or elsewhere (except for a nick in the handlebars that rusted - but those were aftermarket bars anyway).

I've gone into the showroom and seen what I think are terrible finishes that are showing signs of deterioration - on BRAND NEW BIKES. Obviously the materials & makeup of the metals will change from batch to batch by manufacturers - especially over several years time (2001 to 2007) - but this is more than that. Something big has changed over time. Or, maybe its a model specific thing...cuz, come to think of it, I haven't seen any issues on the softail or touring models - just the dyna's...there is definitely a quality difference.

 

one of the 1st things i did was replace the stock steel spokes with stainless... last about 10x's longer and look way better!

 

my mags arent rusting hehehe

 

the only problem ive seen is the brake dust screwing up my spokes...

 

Same issue with the spokes rusting, and it ain,t lack of care, some friends have older Harleys with no issues . I wonder where the MOCO get their spokes? In the UK at least the price of bikes/Harleys has in real terms come down, makes you wonder if costs, quality of materials has come down. The ally casings, and forks (Showa) don,t look to have the same quality as older models.
I,m gonna do what others have done and replace spokes etc with stainless or powdercoat.