went from san antoinio to big bend/terlingua for the worlds longest poker run last weekend. 400 miles out there...poker run on saturday was 409 miles. bike starts acting up on the poker run, but make it to the finish. bike then breaks down on the way to the motel. call roadside assistance(AARP foremost). we can have a wrecker there at 7 a.m. sunday to take you to the nearest harley dealer. wrecker shows up at 9:30 sunday to take me to odessa harley-250 miles and it was the closet dealer. dealer is closed sunday and monday...wrecker wanted $800+ to take me on to san antonio. so we are stuck in odessa, texas on a sunday afternoon-dealer closed on monday. oil boom going on and no rooms in odessa/midland---rent a car and drive back to san antonio.
call dealer tuesday morning and tell him to make a key and repair the bike. i took the key with me after locking the front forks--not going to leave bike sitting at a dealership on the side of a busy interstate for 2 days. dealer says he cannot make a key...has to come from the moco...will take 5 days. so i overnite the key to him. talked to dealer a little while ago and the bike will be ready for pick-up thursday. so now i will drive 300 miles in the morning to get my bike and ride it back home in the afternoon.
insurance company and dealer in odessa did their part. the only way to get a key is from the moco and takes about 5 days is the part that really sucks. i had to e-mail the dealer the vin number before he could even order a key from the moco. seems like if i showed up with proper i.d. and a key that fits the bike when it is repaired should be enough.
oh yea, this is a 2012 e.g. classic with 4k on the clock. seems like the voltage regulators are failing on a lot of the new touring bikes...according to dealers and other owners i talked to.
the moco needs to think about a recall on the voltage regulators, require all dealers to have a key drop-box, and change the stupid-*** policy on keys. there is no excuse for having to wait 5 days to get a key. rant over.

 

well that kinda sucks DAN. Makes me appreciate my ironhead even more. I had a bad voltage reg. once and i charged up my battery before i left to go back home...aint got a key just use toggle switches and i killed the lights and rode about 175 miles back home.

Did you know what the problem was? You coulda done the same thing if you didnt mind a little snippy snip snip of the wires ............its just a 2012 it will be old in another 6 months anyway. btw you aint lieing about midland odessa...i hear you basically have to make a reservation at mcdonalds.Money to be made but no where to live.

 

Welcome to West Texas. Last time I rode that way I met a fellow at the lodge that had the same problem with a 95 Fatboy. He lucked out and broke down on a Friday morning. They fixed his bike before they closed for the night on Friday. West Texas is a bad place to break down.

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but at least it's over now.

 

This is why I'm getting a battery/charging gauge installed on my bike. Can never have too many gauges - they help you out in the long run

 

Why snip the wires?