So had nice weather here today & decided to ride up to Virginia just for fun(~1hr from my house). I'm enjoying the beautiful weather & scenery when all of a sudden the bike loses power, like it came out of gear or something. I pulled to the side of the road, engine still sounds like its running normally, so I shut it off to get off & check the bike over. Don't see anything obvious, but now it won't start. Nothing when I hit the start & a loud click when I let go of the start button.
So now I'm about an hour away from home & not sure what to do. I was about 5-6 miles from Danville, VA at the time & I knew they had a Harley Dealer, so I gave them a call first. They were ok at first, even saying that maybe they could sent their truck/trailer out to get me, then when they found out I had an EVO powered bike, it was like I had the plague. They said they didn't work on the "older stuff". No luck with AAA, they don't do motorcycles apparently. I called one of the local independant guys that had worked on my bike before that has a little shop in Rougemont, NC. He was actually out of town at a rally, but he ended up having his father-in-law come pick me up. Wow! really great people there at Widowmaker Custom Design and Repair!!! He's got my business from now on for sure.
The other really cool thing was that 8 different people stopped to offer help, most of which had bikes themselves or knew someone that did. Even a couple women stopped. That's awesome, the comraderie of bikers.Really cool to see people offer help to a complete stranger in today's world. Who said bikers were bad!
Sorry for the long rant! The only real negative thing other than the bike being broke for now is a new found frustration with HD Dealers. Are they all that way, i.e. not working on EVO era bikes? If so, that's insane & why do we tolerate that. I can't imagine Ford, Chevy, etc... saying sorry your car is 10 years old, we can't work on it. End rant!

 

If it is the bike in your photobucket, I was under the impression that the engine in a 2001 softtail is a Twin Cam and not an EVO. Right or wrong?

 

Wow, I can't believe a HD dealer would leave you stranded on the road. I sure hope you entered it in the worst dealers thread on this forum.
In '94 I broke down about 20 miles from the Canadian border in upstate NY. We were taking a day trip to Montreal from the Americade rally in Lake George. Not only did North End Harley in Plattsburgh come out to us, (30 miles each way) they gave us a big break on the price and offered us a vehicle (their truck) to use to go for lunch while waiting. (I declined) I recommend them to everyone.
By the way, what was the problem with the bike?

 

Our "preferred" dealer won't work on bikes over 10 years old, either. We found a good indy if needed. I haven't needed any work done, but my husband would probably try to fix it first. The dealer is usually more expensive, anyway.

It would be nice if they could have still towed you, and maybe recommend a local indy or two, since you were away from home.

 

Don't really blame the dealer. I DON'T work on EVOs either. That "OLD" chit. Jus' junk, it is.
What a sad state of affairs. HD Dealer turns away EVOs as "OLD".
Well, guess EVO owners are gonna find out what pan and shovel owners have known for years, How to wrench on 'em.

Sort of a hard way to find out there are decent ppl out there.

So, dead batt? Loose connection? Or no idea yet?

 

Mine's been rebuilt & it has an 80 inch Harley EVO in it now. Not sure as of yet what the problem is. At the shop for the moment & the owner is at a rally this weekend, so hopefully I'll find out what is going on this coming week. Can't say enough about how great they are at www.widowmakercdr.com that he sent his family member an hour away to come pick me up. Yeah, learning to wrench on it myself is definately on the agenda.

 

Just another good reason to support your local indies! It seems more and more these days that the HD dealers are just there to sell new bikes and motorclothes!!

Good luck with the repairs, hope its nothing serious.

 

AGREED! I found a great shop and will only let him work on my ride if I can help it. My dealership always struck me as a little shady

 

If my dealership did that too me, I promise ya I would NEVER call on them again! Chit I might even buy a HONDA or some other kinda JAP GLIDE.

 

AAA does pick up bikes if you have the correct level AAA coverage. I have AAA RV plus and that level of coverage includes bikes.

Dealers are getting like that...oh it's an EVO...well uh...no thanks.