Originally Posted by GFVIII

When I first read this, I thought it was a funny joke. As I read on, I see it is a real issue! I never would have thought a trailer hitch would void a warranty!!

Originally Posted by Tortoise98

When I got my 2017 CVO Liimited I knew the .................... Later I was told that every bike that comes in that is '17 or newer gets a visit from the digital technician to check for aftermarket tuner, regardless of what they are in for and they have had a few people get notified by the MOCO that they have voided the warranty. I'm pretty protective of my warranty since I ride 20k miles a year on average.

Originally Posted by Kyle Moore

and they also went after the diesel industry and sued EDGE for selling emissions defeating software, which scared all the other tuner manufacturers off.

Originally Posted by FatBob2018

I just read the warranties in the 2018 Softail owner's manual, and the EPA Consent Decree. There are crystal-clear and obvious examples of when Harley can and will void your warranty, including (yes) for slip-ons and tuners.

First, in the Consent Decree, the EPA actually REQUIRES Harley to void the warranty on any 2017-2020 motorcycle if there is any proof that a non-EPA-compliant tuner was used to tune the bike. Period. So if you use a FuelPak FP3, or a PowerVision, or have a dyno tuner tune your bike, then yes, your warranty is voided immediately. Harley has no choice in this, the EPA requires them to do it. You can only retain your warranty if the tuner used is EPA-compliant, and for now that looks like it's only the Screamin' Eagle Pro Street Tuner (SE PST). Any use of any other, non-EPA-compliant tuner = immediate voiding of warranty, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Second, regarding slip-ons and intakes and such: the specific clause of interest (in the 2018 Softail owner's manual warranty) is found under Exclusions, section 4. It says

So will a slip-on void your warranty? It certainly may, if it is an off-road or competition part. Which means installing something like (for example) certain Rinehart or Vance & Hines slip-ons which clearly say "For Off-Road Or Competition Use Only", can indeed void your warranty. On the other hand, a street-legal EPA-compliant slip-on such as (for example) the Street Cannons or the S&S Grand National mufflers, should not cause them to void the warranty. The exclusion specifically discusses off-road or competition parts. So if you're looking at a V&H O2 Naked air cleaner (which says it's not for street use) then yes, that may void your warranty. On the other hand, an Arlen Ness Big Sucker (which claims A.R.B. compliance) or an S&S Stealth intake or a Screamin' Eagle intake, those all claim CARB compliance and say that they're street legal. Because of that, they would appear to fall outside of this paragraph of exclusions. However, do be aware that there is a catch-all phrase in paragraph 4 that says "or has other unapproved modifications"; theoretically they could use that to get out of warrantying any bike that has had any non-factory modification so -- I'm not guaranteeing they WON'T void your warranty if you use street-legal non-Harley parts, I'm just saying that they definitely MAY void your warranty if you do use competition/off-road parts, and they MAY decide to void it anyway even for street-legal parts, although the P.R. fallout would be pretty bad if they did. My reading of it says that you are on solid ground to use Harley Screamin' Eagle parts, and I think the ground is solid enough to use street-legal parts to the point where I'm going to install the S&S Grand Nationals, and do not expect to encounter any warranty issue. Just: if you use non-street-legal parts, you should not be surprised to find your warranty voided. Common sense, really.

So if you want to keep your warranty intact, the rules of thumb to follow appear to be:
1) avoid any product that says "off-road only" or "not for street use". That includes intakes, slip-ons, headers, complete exhaust systems, camshafts, anything. My brief check of the Rineharts, V&H Short Shots, and Neighbor Haters show them as all "not for street use", so they're potential warranty voiders. There are some (like the Screamin' Eagle or the S&S Grand National) that do say they are 50-state legal, so you have to check with the manufacturer to know for sure.

2) only ever get tuned using a "compliant" tuner (which pretty much means the SE PST only). Any other tuning services or products (yes, including the very popular PowerVision, the FuelMoto maps, the V&H FP3 and its maps, and even your local performance shop's dyno tuner guy) all cause immediate voiding of the warranty. Note that it is possible that some of these products or services might come out with an EPA-compliant 50-state-legal version someday, at which point those would be safe to use and retain the warranty, but as of the time of this writing I think that the only tuning product or service that you're safe to use is the SE PST.

Originally Posted by SoCalHDMC

Well written ⬆️.

Originally Posted by teedoff65

Thanks guys for adhering to my request for keeping this threat ONLY for ppl that have had denied warranty claims.....

I think I'll start another one and make it a poll!

Originally Posted by <G Man>

Presumably, anyone who has a real story to tell will be someone who has never read any of this thread. The title still states your "purpose", so if someone comes along with a real example then maybe they will post it.


If you want to limit the answers that people can give, then do a poll, like you suggest. Then you wouldn't have to read what people are posting.


My bet is that as soon as someone has a warranty denied, they will immediately go to all of the bike forums and post a brand new thread bitching about it and likely not go looking for this thread to let you know.