drod .....

Was you dealer referring to the 5th gear whining noise or the clatter?

What dealer do you use? As of this afternoon, my dealer in Tampa (owns 3 large dealerships) continues with the MoCo line that the whining is normal. I specifically inquired as to whether MoCo had sent any dealer advisories as to any upcoming tranny modifications and they said no.

 

Glad to hear that. I guess our feed back does mean something.

 

I am sorry, my post wasn't clear. Yes about the trans clatter. The service manager recieved a notice last Thursday. It DIDN'T say there was a update now, but there WOULD BE a update coming for the touring trans problem. I guess something to tell the customer for now. HD should just call guMrunner for the answer, he knows everything.

 

CT DUKE,thx for the info,My 07 has just started this unusual noise,not the whine either.Once its hot the noise begins but not all the time.Noise is apparent above say 2500 to 3200.No one seems to what to acknowledge this.Its good to hear that the MOCO is moving on this.

 

I traded my '05 Road King in on an '07 Road King which I picked up last Friday. The first time I hit 5th gear, I heard the "rocks in the tranny" sound. I now have over 600 miles on the bike and the sound isn't getting any better. I've noticed the same thing that some others in this forum have and that is that the problem doesn't really start until the bike is heated up. For those of you who think this is a problem with lugging the motor, you're wrong! My '05 never made any nioses like this no matter the rpm. This is not user error! There is a problem with this bike! I hope that Harley is working on this and will come up with a fix soon, because this niose really takes away alot of the enjoyment of riding this bike. I talked to the service manager at the dealership about this problem the day after I picked up the bike. I specifically asked him if anyone else had reported having noise in fifth gear and he said no. After reading all the entries in this thread, I'm going to talk to him again tomorrow and he better have a different story. Thanks to everyone for sharing your information. It'll make it easier to stand firm when I talk to the service manager.

I'm telling everyone I know not to consider buying an '07 until Harley addreses this problem.

 

I believe most dealers are saying the same thing hoping a fix will come before word spreads further.I think the 5th gear whine is tranny related but not the can rattle now.Id be curious to know from customer service just how many calls theyve gotten on this.Noises like this can travel from elsewhere and seem like its tranny related.Im starting to lean towards primary.Like I said mine isnt constant as of yet.A few more miles might be another story.

 

I'm just amazed that something this widespread can happen. Makes me think that H-D did much of their testing on the softails and the difference in the Touring, maybe the rubber mount motor, causing differences they never expected.

Just goes to show you, the old adage of don't buy the first year, holds. With all the in production improvements H-D tends to put in place maybe 3-4 years before buying makes more sense.

 

As I posted before I test rode an 07 Ultra and I was thinking along the same lines that it may be the primary because I could not hear any noise of the right side whatsoever but all on the left, but you know how noise can travel, as for the idea of the only testing being done on softails the real testing was done on rubber mount 06 Dyna's of which I happen to own and do not have the 5th gear rattle, noticed noise the first long ride when new but I do not really hear anything abnormal now. Being 5th gear is a straight cut gear it would lead me to believe that it is a major player in the noise problem on the Ultra's I also at first thought it could be in the tuning because it did seem to help my Streetbob when properly tuned but I have since changed my mind on that after test riding one. I spoke with my dealer yesterday and he said the first day they rode the bike they called HD and asked what was going on with the noise and he says they are aware of the problem and working on it, He also said the noise was a lot worse when new, bike now has 6500+ miles on it which he himself has put on about 3500 and the service manager the rest. It's bad now, I can't imagine how bad it must have been when new. He would answer my questions but sure didn't seem to want to surrender any info on his own. I contemplated cancelling my order on my 07 but have decided to see it through, it is scheduled for delivery in Nov. so I hope they have a fix by then. my bet is on the compensator. The whine I could live with but the clatter is unacceptable. Good luck guys and keep posting.

 

The whine is nothing, I can easy live with it. S&S gear drive in my last bike was louder. It is the clatter that is totally unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable. I have had my bike for 5 weeks. The last 2 weeks it has just sit in the garage. I don't even ride the rattling pile of dung!

 

I think your dealer's thoughts are a little bit late, screw that, alot late!! Give him this website and tell him to monitor it. I did that with my dealer and they were amazed at the number of complaints. They also used it when talking to the HD Rep about how it is or can effect their business. As for me, I'm 300+ miles from home for the birth of my new grandson (I'll get him on a Harley someday). But when I return it is time for the 1000 mile checkup and I'm going to request an immediate fix or all my money back. I wish I had the money to buy a billboard (spent it all on this *$&#) ultra) for a month and tell everyone passing to come to this forum. I love Harleys but my patience is running real thin on this problem. I picked mine up on 8/2, paid cash that I had been saving up (for too long) and been bitching every since.