Definitely respect that, I bought for the same reason, and do the same for maintenance. I wish I did as much riding as you!

Oh and I'm 29... half your age lol.

 

you got plenty of time..wish I was 29 again!

 

Got the call yesterday that everything checked out. Very small failure in the head gasket, and it wasn't for very long: no noticeable defects in any other components. First Extended Service Corp. (DiscountESP) pulled through again!

 

WTB the oil cooler fan. Fan only is preferred since that’s all I need. PN 26800095
Also looking for the Cool Flow fan for street glide PN 26800120

 

Picked up my bike today after the head gasket repair and it's running strong. The only damn thing I can't figure out is why it vibrates so much while in gear... I'm cruising at 70 mph and it's dang near rattling my teeth (pretty much any speed but mostly noticeable above 65 mph). I pull in the clutch lever and the vibration goes away. In some other threads, I've read causes ranging from transmission gears to engine mounts to exhaust installation technique.

 

U turn and return....

 

That's what I ended up doing - returned it tonight. I initially picked up the bike during lunch, rode back to work on interstate at 70-75 mph in 6th (~3k RPM) and my feet were vibrating off the footboards. Pulled in the clutch lever, let off the throttle, and the vibration went away. This was not occurring prior to the head gasket work. Why would that repair cause this? IDK. Something is either loose (like the saddlebags that were only finger tight! nearly lost them), the exhaust might be installed improperly (I've had vibration before that was caused by this), or an engine mount is not aligned how it needs to be. Throughout the RPM range, I noticed extreme vibration with the clutch lever pulled in and engine revving at ~1800 RPM and ~3000 RPM.

Timms HD is going to ride it first thing in the morning and see if they feel anything "unusual". I don't know if they'll do any poking around after that.

 

Stopped by Timm's HD again after work and the Service Writer (SW) said the tech test rode the bike and thought it felt fine. SW wants to ride it now and voice an opinion. They're keeping it another night. Things like steering head adjustment and loose parts came up in the conversation. SW said, "steering head should be checked every 10,000 miles." I've had my bike into a different dealer previously while under warranty for my bike veering to the left and that dealer said nothing was wrong. I've done a swing test a time or two and it was within spec. I also mentioned that the service manual does not mention "checking the steering heads every 10,000 miles," but rather repacking the bearings every 25,000 miles. SW said they check the adjustment (i.e. swing test) every 10k there at Timm's. I'll check mine here in a couple weeks during the 20k service.

 

FWIW:

 

be interesting to hear what they come back with..but you know your bike better than anyone, looks like you've had it over 2 years, and if it's repeatable, and this just manifested itself after getting back from them..well they ain't got a pot to **** in stating its fine and they weren't responsible..not a fan of coincidences..hope they take it serious

"The only damn thing I can't figure out is why it vibrates so much while in gear... I'm cruising at 70 mph and it's dang near rattling my teeth (pretty much any speed but mostly noticeable above 65 mph). I pull in the clutch lever and the vibration goes away. In some other threads, I've read causes ranging from transmission gears to engine mounts to exhaust installation technique."