Hi
I bought a 2015 Sportster 1200XL Forty-Eight, I bought this used from NYC where I used to live. I've had the bike for about 8 months and keep having absurd electrical issues. The most recent one left me stranded in the middle of PA. After bringing her closer to my new home and another HD dealership they uncovered even more issues - all quite strange on very young bike. The repairs are all covered under warranty but at this point I am skeptical and losing confidence in this bike. Even the techs have never seen something like this.

I put a large sum of money down on this and decided to finance the rest since I've never financed anything and thought it would reflect well on my credit - which is already excellent anyways. What I'm approaching now is the option to trade it in BUT I don't want to incur even more cost - I don't like owing money to any sort of institution I only did this because I was young and naive and wanted my bike. So what next? Do I trade it in for a newer model and end up paying more at the end of the day? Do I get a used bike? Do I wait and just see how many more things can go wrong with my current sporty? What would be my best/cheapest option?

 

Tough to say. They may repair everything under warranty and then the bike will be rock solid afterwards for a long time.

 

Not sure how many electrical gremlins can be on a sporty? not like you have a fairing with all the gizmos. have it fixed with a new harness & ride the hell outta it.

 

 

Keep the bike until the warranty is over. There is nothing wrong financing as long as you are a responsible person. Dont let the issues hamper your thoughts of HD. These bikes are solid, so Im not even sure why you are having electrical issues. Im not sure how lemon laws work in your area but generally if you had the same issue 3 times, you can generally have a case for the dealer buy the bike back from you. Financing is a great way to build credit especially if you are young and do not own any property.

 

What are some if the specific issues you are having?

 

 

Thanks for all the advice!

It's all slightly strange things, had odd battery issues over the winter, they replaced it. When I bought the bike the wire harness with my turn signals was out, they replaced it then about a month ago it burnt out again, when I brought it in to get the panel changed the second time they also said a wire to my break lights was bad and they had to replace that. When I was riding the right turn signal suddenly stopped working, then at a gas station the bike just wouldnt turn on, thought it was the fob but the alarm wasn't going off so I knew it recognized the fob. When I brought it in they said a wire had somehow been spliced and the battery was being overcharged so something was wrong with the charging system. Lots of strange things.

 

Cut your losses - dump it! If you use it for distance runs you sure as hell don't want a ride you can't rely on! Lots of good (really good - excellent?) used buys out there. Likely the previous owner had something to do with your gremlins? U need to become a discerning buyer.

 

My engineering .02 - They are fixing the symptoms but not diagnosing the cause. I can just about guarantee its 1 thing causing all of this...... Thats what happens when parts changers call themselves mechanics... Did you try going back to the selling dealer with the stack of repair orders and say. 'this bike blows, I want a ....'?