Oh I'm saying he is one, read all of his 10 posts.

 

It's just that you don't understand. The noise is so loud and unnerving that you can not stand to ride the bike. I am talking LOUD.

 

That bad huh?What is MOCO saying about it?

 

It's all about the buck. When/if sales slow down, they'll fix it. When there is enough forced buy backs (lemon law) it'll open some eyes. If you've got one that's a turd, don't back down. Force them to make it right !!!
It took Harley a long time to get a good rep (after the AMF years). I don't think they want to give it back to the imports. In 1999 and 2000 cam bearings and tensioners were failing left and right . . . but people we still standing in line to buy them . . . Is this that different????

 

Like my profile will tell you, I am not a Harley owner yet but I intend to be by March. I joined this forum so that I can get all the info I can to make a well informed buying decision. These posts are a perfect example of that and I'm very glad that they are here for me. Remember the days before PC's?

Anyway, I plan on buying a Deluxe and by what I'm reading, they don't seem to have the problem. Nevertheless, its still the same tranny so it make's me wonder what else it may be. I know some of you believe that it's a lugging issue but if that's the case wouldn't the sound go away as soon as you gain more RPM? From what I'm getting here, it doesn't.

Other suggestions I've heard on this site is to rent a bike and try it before you purchase it, or show up on demo days. The problem with that is that its not the actual bike that your purchasing. As a former car salesman, I'm used to the test drive before buying a car. Why does it seem that this is not how it works when buying a Harley. How come a customer putting out more that 20K for a bike should not be allowed to test ride the actual bike they plan to purchase. If a guy is serious enough and a deal is pretty much in the bag, why can't he take his bike for a ride before he signs the check?

I tell you, I am in love with the idea of being a Harley owner. You could even say I'm obsessed. My wife does. But, theres one thing that drives me crazy and that is the attitude I'm already sensing from the dealers. It's that "you should be priviledged to spend your money on one of these" attitude. The "pay what's on the sticker, even if we charge $2000 over MSRP, or get lost" way of dealing. I know that Harley's are a hot item but so is my money!

I'm really considering buying used and to hell with the warranty!

 

Well I only have about 140 miles on my '07 'Train, can't say I've experienced any 5th gear noise. It does seem to "clunk"
awfully hard when shifting into 1st.

I plan on buying the extended warranty soon so hopefully I'll have it paid off w/o having to spend money to fix it.

Mrbreeze I know how you feel about the dealer BS, I talked to the finance lady where I bought mine and told her to crunch my numbers. (I'd already talked to my bank) I got the feeling she didn't take me seriously, until I was approved by HD, then she tells me Harley requires 10%, she never mentioned that before. Anyhow we bought the bike that day, $19,030.38 later.

Get this, we didn't even get a free friggin T Shirt; and 28 miles down the road my headlight fell out!!

No such thing as dealer loyalty for me!

[IMG]local://upfiles/18203/D3BCD731016E47D4AD105CBE44C1B991.jpg[/IMG]

 

I'm going a different route Lifer. There's no financing in my future. I will be walking in with cash but when I asked the salesman the other week if cash talks, he pointed to the tag on the bike and told me that was the price. Bullcrap to that. I refuse to be a lay down customer. I long haul to our 4 western provinces and even some U.S states, so if I have to hit every dealer and load it in the back of my truck, I will. All I want is MSRP plus tax. The buck is not supposed to stop there. There's service, accesories and merchandise to be bought after the sale is done and I won't buy from or deal with a crook. That's why I say I'll buy used if I have to. Cash talks.

Anyway, to avoid highjacking this thread, cause I could really get going on this, I just wanted to put in my .02 cents and let everyone know that I'm glad that this forum is here for me. For you guys not having problems, that is great and I hope you ride problem free for a long time. The fact is, one of the great things about the forum is that you get to choose what you read and if you think people here are beating a dead horse then there's other threads to read. Hope I don't offend anyone when I say that but I like to shoot from the hip. If this thread help even 1 person like me from making a bad purchase decision then thats great! That's one of the great things about the internet, it puts the power back in the consumers hands.

I asked the salesman the other day, yes I'm in there alot, if he heard anything about these issues and he told me he hadn't but those types of things are usually things that the service department hears about. WOW... he must have been the captain of his high school dodge ball team! When I sold cars, I made it my job to know all about any issues my product had. So anyway, you can see why this forum is so valuable to us consumers. It seperates the buyers from the liars.

 

There's a dealer here in the bay area that will sell as much as 10 % off (real) MSRP, depending on model. They seem like straight shooters. I understand they have a good svc/dept too.

 

I too am sorry to hear that folks are having trouble with the new six speed tranny. I have an 05 softail deluxe, my first Harley. I thought my tranny was a little rough, lots of clunking through the gears. I pulled the primary, adjusted the chain, put in fresh oil, put in an easy clutch kit and it is 100% better. Not a fix for your problem, I know but I do believe you have to change the tranny oil more often and also experiment with different brands of oil.

I don't know why but some brands make a big difference in the noise levels. I have a friend who swears by Amzoil and Belray. He has been riding Harleys all his life, works in maintanence and seems to know what extends the life of the Harley engines.

So a suggestion might be to try changing oil more often during breakin, and trying some diffenent brands. It might help some. I hope so, until Harley sorts out the problem.

Baker six speeds cost $3,500 just for the tranny plus the install so I don't think that is any solution unless money is no object with you.

 

I really hope that when its time to get my bike that my "local" dealer will want to earn my business and deal with me even close to that way.

That is if we can get to the bottom of this tranny issue.