While an occasional problem with any new product is to be expected it's a consistent pattern with Harley. Sure there's a number of design changes in the M8 but damn far from "new" by any measure. When you've been building V-Twin dry sump engines longer then most people on the planet have been alive you should be masters of the craft. Instead we get sumping, migrating transmission oil into the primary and engine oil running out of the air cleaner. The sad truth is while Harley's design group is pretty squared away their engineering talent is far below their competitors.

 

Well, insofar as I know, they've had issues with every upgrade since the evo. The evo was the best engine, period.

 

Evos sucked.. Best was the old 74 and 80 ci flathead..

 

The man knows the truth here!

 

my '78 1/2 Low Rider had a couple of assembly line mistakes , one of which would have cost me a new motor if it hadn't been covered by warranty when the problem made itself known . but the dealer fixed them both , no charge , and pretty quick and i never had another problem with the bike . back then the warranty in Canada was 6 months or 6000 miles , it's a lot longer now so i wouldn't worry about the M8 , HD will fix it .

 

Yep, the oil leaking, case warping, gear dropping AMF years. Those were the days. Although I did sell my '76 sportster for what I paid for it when I went to a 900 Kaw.

 

I remember the long chopper bikes when a knucklehead motor was a throw away nobody wanted them. Anyone with a lot of money would buy a new shovelhead just for the motor to put in a custom chopper frame. It was a cool time period. yeah I appreciate the AMF years. The new M8 reminds me of this time period...kinda weired?

 

When I read about people with their third or fourth M8 engine in their bike, it is pretty troubling, especially for what the asking price is.

Most of the troubles with the M8's seem to related to the oil pump and that makes me think, an oil pump is a very basic essential thing. We are not talking about trouble with an ignition module or something like that.

Sure, these problems are rare and it is being taken care of under warranty, but when it is happening to you after spending so much money on what is supposed to be a premium product, it sucks.

Every new engine design has problems in the first couple of years of production though and I figure by 2022 the problems will be ironed out.

The AMF bikes are reliable now because everything wrong with them has been fixed. People have a tendency to remember the good old days and forget about the bad old days.

I think the M8 is going to prove to be a good engine over the long term. It certainly is different though.

 

My '77 FX issues (those that I can remember):

Kick lever had a habit of breaking free about halfway thru the stroke. Result was a knee that finally put me on the ground rolling in pain. It was intermittent, and replacing a sector gear and ring gear never helped.

As mentioned, oil leaks. And not just the chain oiler. Fork seals, cylinder base gaskets, primary cover, crank seals, etc.

End of first season I pulled heads to check hard starting and found valves binding in guides. Dealer replaced guides and seats.

Random parts vibrated loose/fell off altogether. These included foot pegs, fender bolts, spokes, and probably others I've forgotten. Clutch cable failed at an intersection at a year and a half despite regular lubing.

Regular chain wear. Despite lube and adjustment I'd have to replace once a year. They kept developing tight spots I never could figure out. Peoria bearing got a lot of my business.

If traveling, bring along oil, master link, test light, full tool kit and bulbs. They had a habit of blinking out at the worst times...and if you couldn't diag/repair your scoot, God help you.

At least once a week I'd set aside a couple of hours to go over just about every nut and bolt on the bike. Loctite never did seem to help.

Not trying to paint a bleak picture here, a lot of what I experienced was shared by many others. Did my share of bitching and cussing, but would never have considered getting rid of it. I loved that big twin and rode it hard for three years. This story doesn't have a happy ending tho; 2 weeks after making the 36th and final payment it was stolen. I was living in a rough section of town and had no insurance. Remember sitting on the porch outside the house where I had an apartment and being numb while waiting for the cops to show up. It would be years before I could afford another, and I had this recurring dream where it would turn up in my parents garage. Then I'd wake up. I've tried over the years to forgive whoever did it, but part of me hopes they're already in hell.

Sorry. Rant over.

 

I have a '78 FXS that I bought new in the day and have been riding it for almost 40 years now. I've been all over the US and Canada on the machine.

I never had the sort of issues described in the previous post. The bike has never ever stranded me anywhere.



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