Ive heard rumor where the auto chain tensioner are at fault. Open the primary and take a look, Ive had mine opened up to have a looks see. The chain tensioner is a pretty simple little device. Maybe your chain is loose and slapping around in there while at idle. Once you rev up the motor, the chain goes taught and noise goes away. Then again,it is possible that you do have a bad compensator. Take off the rear passenger board, driver floor board and the heel shifter, drain primary take out the allen screws. I can have mine off and on in about an hour.

 

Quote from rmsurveyors,

Regardless if there is a class action against MOCO or not, my attorney will be handling this issue for me. After a year of MOCO doing nothing to fix the 07 clatter wagons, I think it's time to show them that this issue is not going away, and thatsome people will not cower down to them. If we get our bikes fixed or not fixed, by way of the court system, wemorally have a victory, andMOCO will pay dearly in sales, as well as their reputation willhave been tarnished. It's kinda like the OJ thing, the whole world still knows the real truth regardless of who won or lost in court. To let MOCO and the world know we are serious about this issue lets all start by filing a complaint with the BBB, and other relevant agencies. Enough people filing with the BBB will start to get MOCO's attention, as well as make MOCO respond to the accusation/s. If MOCO say'sthe clatter is NORMAL then we can prove it's NOT NORMALwith the fact that NOT all the 07'sclatter. Also, there is certainly a roll that deception plays in this issue as well, we were never told by MOCO or it's representatives (Dealers)about the clatter noise prior to purchase, at least I wasn't made aware of any unusual noise/s. On the contrary, I was told by my dealer that the 07Ultramodels werethe most comfortable, smoothest, quietestbikes that MOCO had ever built, which has proved otherwise with, e.g. vibration, clatter, surging, overheat, none of which was I informed about before buying. Now lets get started doing more than just talking! The 08's are here and we need to put a damper in sales for MOCO.

Here's a link to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. I filed acomplaintand told them I feelmy transmission and drivetrain is defective. NHTSA has the ability to investigate and force companies to recall defective items. I'm sure enough of us complaining to the governmentcan't hurt. http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/

 

Too bad the jerks at the MOCO didn't leave the removable inspection plate on the primary cover for the chaintensioner like all of the bikes beforethe '06 Dyna's and all of the '07's. Just think how much easier and faster it would be. They probably saved .50 on each bike.

 

Hey All

I have read some posts prior to this post and only because of the other posts did I pay closer attention to the sounds of my bike on tonights ride. It's an 07 lowrider and right from the get go I thought there may be an issue with the noise coming from the engine area. I have 20+ years as a mechanic and have owned many bikes. This is my first Harley! To say that this particular thread is disheartening is an understatement! Last weekend was time for the first service and back to the dealer it went. Was asked if there was any issues and I said no because I sorta forgot about the noisey 5th gear during my ride to the dealership which is 1.5 hours away. I only have 1800 kms on the bike and it seems to be running great... except for this 5th gear thing. I know what lugging an engine is and it's definately not lugging @ 2500 rpm. But it definately is noisey when not under load and crusing. I have only read through randomly 6 - 8 pages but it seems the same thing is being echoed by many. With 50 + pages of concerns to this particular thread and issues, a suggestion for the more senior members of this thread is if theycould compile a pole reflecting the clatter \ chatter \ or otherwise situation this thread reflects and maybe summarize what has been reflected in this thread. 50+ pages is alot of reading and is going to take me a while to weed out and read with my dial up connection. I will be keeping an eye on this now!!!

Thanks
MC

 

 

It's a combination of a poorlydesigned auto tensioner, compensator, as well as poor engine and tranny tolerances that causes the noises. If the engine and tranny were properly assembled to manufactures specs the compensator and tensioner wouldn't be taking a ton of shocks. Also,if the compensator and tensioner were of good design quality they could take the shocks without making a ton of noise, as we are all hearing. If you listen close to the compensator you can hear the compensator bottoming out, and the chain rattling against the tensioner, and maybe hitting the primary housing as well. Bottom line, it's just poorly designed parts, and certainly sloppy assembly techniques combined, that make for a substandard, over rated$20,000.00 + bike. The long term remedy, stop buying from HD, and they will get their act straight - Keep buying from HD and HD will keep selling us substandard products, at inflated prices. We are the consumers, and as consumers we can get MOCO's attention real quick like, when we get into their purses. Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice shame on me!

 

I went ahead and added my complaint to the site cited previously:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/

The situation:

On a motorcycle, drivetrain failure at typical operating speeds could very well mean severe injury or death of the rider.
Abnormal heat or noise coming from the motorcycle's drivetrain are not issues to be ignored by a prudent rider or by the manufacturer of the motorcycle.

For example the drivetrain on my 2007 FLHTCU is excessively noisy when operated in 5th gear at normal RPMs. This implies excessive vibration and/or abnormal wear occuring somewhere within the system.
In addition, the drivetrain runs so hot as to present a burn hazard to the rider and passenger even when properly clothed. It is well known that excessive heat will contribute to longterm problems with any drivetrain, increasing the likelyhood of failure.

What Harley Davidson has done:

To date, the only half-hearted solution to these maladies offered by the Harley Davidson Motor Company has been the "torque smoothing download" which accomplished nothing when installed on my bike.

HD has asserted that the noise and heat are normal. On the contrary, many 2007 HD units do not have these issues, thus they are clearly NOT normal. They are certainly common problems, however.

Many owners have resorted to costly aftermarket solutions such as replacement gearsets and fuel managment systems all installed a their own expense. I essence, HD has offloaded their responisbilities onto their customers.

What HD should do:

HD should issue a recall.
HD should retrofit all affected 2007 models with the IDS rubbermount rear sprocket (now standard on the 2008 touring models) to reduce drivetrain vibration and wear.
They should also provide adjustments and/or modifications as needed to the fuel system to reduce drivetrain heat.
They should extend the warranty of all affected 2007 motorcycles appropriately.

 

Is it related to date of manufacture...I think that is key..

all the guys I know are either happy or oblivious to any noise, but mostly bought late in the year...the couple that bought early are not happy!

Was it the change from 06 to 07 models early on that saw the biggest issues; does anyone know conclusively??

 

Filed a complaint myself and will continue to do so where ever the news about MOCO will get published. Also,I'm seeing tons of left over 07's at the dealers, so maybe the negative publicity is starting to take effect. The dealer's are so desperate that they are trying to get the same price for an 07 as for the newly arrived 08's, they must think people don't know how to add and subtract. Lets keep it up until MOCO does what's right by it's customers. Be patient, the time will come when MOCO will haft to pay the fiddler.

 

Hi, MountainCat,

Not to hijack the thread I hope, but anyone with a slow internet connection can turn off all pictures and speed things up a lot when you just want to read a big thread like this.

In most versions of Internet Explorer it's:

Tools> Internet Options> Advanced> scroll down to Multimedia> then uncheck Show Pictures> click Apply> click OK.

PS To see any pic that seems important, just right-click your mouse on it and choose "show picture." There's a little red x or some icon which shows that a pic is missing.