My '98 Electraglide has over 63,000 trouble free miles on it with no issues that I had to takeit back to the dealer to correct. My '07 Ultra has 10,000 miles witha couple of issues (not counting the major one of 5th gear noise) whichno H-D dealer has corrected. Ipurchased from Black Hills H-D during the Sturgis Rally last year. Since I live in the Kansas City area I took it to Gail's last fall to correct a 30 mph low speed wobble and a Tour Pak latch that does not stay latched during riding. After leaving the bike for a couple of days, I was told it was "Good to Go". It was some time before I could ride it because of weather, but as you can guess, nothing was corrected. Wobble still there and latch not fixed. Since that time, the latch was opened a couple of times without incident. But a couple of times, the one latch has come loose and then I would hit a bump in the road that was rough enoughto cause the other latch to let thelid of the Tour Pak to come loose. Now this seems innocuous, except when you are in a cross wind which causes the lid to open and act like a sail. I thought I was going to go over. I will address these problems this year with the selling dealersince I am writing this from Deadwood. As I have stated in other threads, I do not have objectional noise except in 5th gear. To me it sounds like the engine wants to come apart and to me it is "knocking", not clattering. I will not describe these noises any longer as clattering, since that to me does not give these noises the respect they deserve. So I do very little riding in 5th. I either upshift to 6th or downshift to 4th. Ridiculous.I checked the overall gear ratiosbetween my '98 and the '07 and they are almost identical thru 5th. My logic when buying the '07 was that the 6 speed tranny had been out for a year and the O2 sensor ECM system hadalso been out a year, so it was not a first year change. With the larger engine and anticipated increase in low end torque, this should have been the ultimate cruising machine. So it was logical in mymind that it wouldrequire even less shifting than the '98 which I can cruise around at 1500 rpm all day long. Since the gear ratiosthru 5thwere essentially the same, it would ride like the '98 and 5th would be used most of the time with 6th to be used on the highways. This would be true if it weren't for the noises that are intolerable. I have changed the oils like so many others, but the noise will not goaway. I have had the download installed. After reading many of the posts, I almost feel fortunate that my noise is not as bad as some. Just to make sure I was not being overly objectional, a couple of weeks ago I took my otherbikes out for a ride. '95 Honda ACE- never a problem with very smooth shifting.'98 EG - forgot how quiet it was -it felt like a new bike. Wife's '03 Heritage Classic - no tach, but pulls from low rpm's and you know when you have to down shift and no noise. Have been riding for 45 years. As a mechanical engineer, I believe that H-D does not know what is causing the noise and it is not a single component. This in itself is incompetence, but as I haveseen in other industries, as companies grow, competence in the engineering staff decreases. It becomes more bureaucratic. They may eventually get it solved (or may already), but public companies are not governed by the the engineering department. The "bean counters", marketeers, and the legal departments havemuch more input. Shame, becauseH-D has always been an icon of robustness and longevity with a characteer all its own. May be crude compared to others, but typically was not going to self destruct. I have more

 

1000 miles on my 07 fatboy...whine in 5th gearis there butnot obnoxious...getting use to the 6 spd has conditioned me to adjust how I control the throttle and clutch...not as clunky...its all under warranty and I have to trust the shop thats working on it...just had my 500 mile checkup and things are good...I enjoy every mile...and I sure like my bike...

 

ftlee

I came back on Rte 95, but traffic was heavy that Sunday which allowed a lot of varying of speed and slow speed at times. I've heard the "don't go over 55" in the past. The manual doesn't say anything about a specific speed, it relates more to rpm's.
First 50 miles, stay below 4000 rpm, no lugging of engine...Up to 500 miles, vary engine speed, avoid steady engine speed fo rlong periods, engine speed up to 5000 rpm's in any gear is permissable...Drive slowly, avoid fast starts until engine has warmed up....Avoid hard braking, brakes need to brake-in by moderate use for first 200 miles.
Can't say that I followed all that to the letter, but bike seems to be running sweet other than the 5th gear clatter/knocking(whatever the key word is to get it fixed), and the definite heat between the legs compared to my 90 Heritage.
If the dealer in Manassas will allow a test ride, I'd do that first and check out 5th gear.

 

ftlee

If you're anywhere near HDOfMd in Elkridge, they did have a test ride fleet, but I never took advantage. I think the closest to an Ultra, was the EGlide without the trunk, but it should ride close to the same. It just won't be the exact bike your looking to buy, so you still might get stuck with a 5th gear clatter box and heat mobile[:'(]
As someone on the forum stated, I also ride mine more like a 4 speed for now. I only venture towards 5th gear over 60mph. It's a shame, but still under 3000 rpms up to 60 in 4th gear.

 

After reading the entire thread I have decided not to purchase an 08 tourer.

I really feel for all you bikers,

My 03 had me worried with 20,000 miles on the odo. Put in a gear drive setup with an Andrews cam. Happier than Hell and no more worries about the H-D disaster of a cam chain tensioner!!

Good luck to all of you on your quest fora fix.

 

Okay I am just stumped my clattering bucket of bolts stopped clattering after the 5k service. WTF: Asked the dealer if they did anything and they said no just the 5K service. I don't know this thing is just blowing my mind?????

 

C'mon. Your teasin. Do you still have the 5th gear whine?

 

buttman1000,

Ya done good. Congrats!

I did the same thing and ended up getting a sweet little '82 FXE that I can actually afford and that I love to ride, plus I do all the work on it myself.Yesterday, aguy at a gas station who was on his way to Sturgis on a late model tourer offered me $10,000 for itand he seemed dead-serious. I said thanks but no thanks. That was almost twice what I just paid for it too! I'm thinking that the resale values on the 5 speeds and earlier bikes are gonna start creeping back up.

Keep the rubber down & the metal up,

John

 

FX4,

Maybe they've figured out a fix & they didit without telling you to avoid admitting there was a problem in the first place??

Just a thought.

John

 

Same here FX. I have 16,000 mi on my rkc 07. just had sert (with dyno tune) airbox and pipes done. Put 600 mi on it over weekend and it is a different bike. The noise(clatter is gone and the tranny whine is almost none existent. Really has me wondering what else they did even though they claim nothing. The pipes aren't much louder than stock so it isn't being covered up by that, and they didn't screw with the oil at all.
the dyno however shows a 14/1 air mix now and they wouldn't show me the stock fuel air mix.and with the stock pip[es they can't cause the probes won't go in.

something is up here
hp increased about 8 and torque about 10.
I'm stumped as well
also guarenteed not to effect warranty i bought.
guess I'll see if this is real and lasting over the next few days