Really? So you think this is all B.S.? I've got an SGS with only 3K miles that says different. My primary oil is turning red from the Redline Tranny fluid that keeps transferring, and this is the 2nd time I've had to pull extra oil out of the primary.

 

I thought that they just overfilled the primary after my 1K service (at the 2K mark), but I drained the tranny, put in Redline, and lowered the level in the primary, and at 3K miles the tranny was down, and the primary was tinted red and the level was back to being too high. There are too many people having this problem for it to be just an isolated problem - it's endemic in the M8 as shipped, or should I say the M8 coupled transmissions.

 

I think you'd have a hard time finding 100 people on this board that do. Do I think it's BS? Duh... one is one too many and they should fix/ replace the ones that do transfer period end of story.

mine does not transfer anything, yet, but I'm sure it's a major pain in the *** for the ones that do and I would raise hell if mine did.

Bringing a $25k + "top of the line cutting edge marvel" bike for fluid check every 1k is plain asinine.
I had sued BMW under the federal breach of warranty law for a car they couldn't fix, they huffed and puffed and settled out of court once they realized I wasn't playing. Having a good case helped bend them of course and this fluid transfer BS should be a slam dunk case.

 

I agree there are too many people having the problem for it to be an isolated problem but there are also some indicators out there that its not every single 2017 M8 out there...

Mine doesn't do it and I've specifically put it on the dyno to repeat the high rpm tests where some of the early problems showed up. I've seen one other bike dynod and it didn't have the problem either. Those are first hand knowledge with tests. I've also helped talk to other local M8 owners, let them know about the issue. For seven of them I've also helped do services and measure their fluid levels.

On top of all that, the SM at my local dealership is a very good friend of mine - we served in the military together and I've known him and trusted him a lot longer than he's been at the dealership. He wouldn't lie to me and he says they've only seen two bikes come in with complaints and they just started the dye test on those two. (FWIW its not a small dealership: it's a three location chain that does a good volume business).

On top of the personal experience I really do believe that if the problem was happening to a majority of 2017 M8s we'd have seen one self destruct a tranny or overfill a primary to the point of clutch problems by now. I think I'm a fairly normal rider and before I heard of this migration issue I might check my transmission fluid once maybe twice on a new purchase and then I'd probably forget about until the next fluid change.

Finally, I think if it really was a problem with all the bikes they could've found the cause of the problem by now.

Having said all that it REALLY pisses me off that this is happening at all! They should be treating the guys who have bad bikes much, much better. This whole situation doesn't say good things about the MoCo and I've found myself looking at Indians a lot harder than I used to.

 

The strange thing to me is;

Why don't ALL of them do it?
Weren't all of the parts and bikes made on the same assembly lines?

 

Just remember that there’s been members that didn’t have transfer until after they had 5000 miles on their bikes and then it showed up; and some had transfer and then it stopped. Not wishing anyone bad luck, but until the cause is isolated and a remedy is developed I think anyone with an M8 could be subject to transfer. As to why they don’t all do it, it could be that what causes the transfer is a number of things that must occur at the same time. Eliminate one and there’s no transfer. Again, just conjecture.

 

I know for a fact mine is doing it. Well I know at least my trans oil keeps dropping. Have yet to check the primary to see if it's there but I assume that's where it's gone.

 

a question that came to mind for me that I haven't seen anywhere.

are there any police departments out there that have bought into M8 models? I would be curious if any fleet managers are experiencing this problem.

 

I really want to buy a new Road Glide, but this and the sumping problem are putting me off.

I'm thinking the transfer issue is likely to be present in every hydraulic clutch M8 if the bike is ridden hard with RPMs up.

I'm also sure that most owners would never have any idea this issue exists and am pretty darned sure the dealers are not going to go out of their way to let owners know the fluid levels are out of whack when serviced.

Really want one of these bikes, but not the problems that go with 'em, and I am a fairly aggressive rider; I'm sure mine would do the transfer.

I'd probably retrofit a cable clutch, but then the warranty issue....

 

Moco Tech at Dealer guarantees a fix. He said that Harley left out the "baffle on the hydraulic clutches since 2014. The baffle he is talking about,is the oil slinger at the through out bearing.