I think I just had a minor stroke. I hadn't heard back from the dealer in a few days after they told me they had to replace some seals or gaskets in the intake, which was what I expected. They quoted me $300+, and I said go ahead. That was Thursday. Today the guy who calls me starts off with "I have some bad news..." I never could've imagined it would be this bad! Now I know they're the $tealer, but they do very good work, and have a great reputation albeit expensive, so I have no reason to believe they're being dishonest.

He said after they did the work it still wasn't running right so they did a compression test and one cylinder was down almost 20%, and the other almost 40%. They suspect the valves are bent. My options (as I understand them): Have them tear both down to examine the problem, examine and probably replace the valves they suspect are bent (how the f**k does that happen?), rebuild it and hope for the best. The other option is replacing the heads to avoid the tear down, examination, fix and rebuild. Either one is gonna run me over $2,000, but the replacing is the safer bet. This was my understanding, which may be off a bit, but the one thing I did understand quite clearly is I'm screwed.

It wasn't that bad before I sprayed WD40 on the intake manifold to see if a leak was indicated. Shortly after I did this the bike started coughing and popping, and not wanting to go anywhere, but I managed to get it home. Then the next day I attempted to get it to the dealer when after about a mile it started doing the same, even worse, and I opted for a tow. Did I cause this major damage by riding it this way?

 

Holy Crap! $2000 for new heads! that is ridiculous! I would have them rebuilt. It isn't that hard of a job. AND make sure they show you the bent valves! Maybe take the heads to an indy and have them done and just let HD install them.
Hell, I got new pistons, headwork, the heads rebuilt , the cylinders trued, bored .10 over and new rings for a little over $1,000 at Zippers this past winter. That also included the entire gasket kit. Of course I did the install myself.

I would also ask for an explanation as to how the valves got bent.

What was it doing before the WD40? What made you suspect a leak?

 

They told me it would be cheaper to buy new ones than it would be to pay for the labor of a rebuild. We're not at that point yet though. I authorized them to tear it down, but nothing further. I'm f**ked either way, but we'll see what they say after they've looked at it.

Before this, for about 6 weeks it was occasionally making a pssst sound out of the air cleaner. At first just when it was cold but then more often. From what others said it was a leak somewhere in the intake, and that's what the dealer said to. But after they did that work, it was running terribly so they did a compression test and both cylinders were way off, which they said would be the valves being off. I don't think they f**ked anything up, I think I did somehow, I'm just not sure how. It was just annoying at first with the momentary hiccup/power loss, then after I sprayed a touch of WD40 on the manifold to see if it would die or the idle would change it rode fine for about 30 minutes then was completely f**ked, dying and popping like crazy.

Needless to say I've started drinking already.....

 

Send your heads to NRHS.

 

what is that?

 

NRHS.

 

Yeah, this.

I had a complete 1200 conversion (Jugs, Pistons, and Heads) as well as a full dyno tune for $1,300.....

 

it would cost the same labor to pull the heads and replace then ether way.. there is no way a valve job costs the same as new heads..have them pulled,napa autoparts has a machine shop,they charge $30-40 a head(i have taken several sets of HD heads there)..have the stealer put them back on..minus the R&R,thats $80 compared to at least a grand for new heads..something really doesn't add up.i think your dealer doesn't know how to rebuild a head.there is only 2 valves in there,a set of v8 car heads wouldn't cost anywhere near that much.if i was you, i would take the bike to an indy..they will tear down,send the heads out,and reassemble for $300-500 tops..as soon as the dealer charges you,then calls back for more money because they misdiagnosed it the first time,that is a red flag to get a refund and take the bike somewhere else..they shouldn't charge you for a repair that didn't fix the problem.they misdiagnosed it,its there problem

 

Some Dealers are in need of money and will do what they got to ... to get money. Find a good wrench that is not working for HD. Interview him, talk to people that he did work on their bike, and when you find him use him. HD where I live charges 75 bucks a hour to work on bikes. My wrench charges 90 a hour. HD was going to charge me 75 buck to change each tire and 248 to put new brakes on my bike totaling 398 just in labor. My wrench charged me 70.00 labor to do the same job and his brakes were just has good as HD made by the same people but cost 65.00 less tires were 100 less. My wrench charges the actual time he works not what the book says for each individual job.

Dont be cheated and dont think HD is looking out for your best interest. If they were they would have made the bottom end of the 96 motor with better bearings and at least as good as the 88" motor.

HD is going to loose a lot of brand loyalty when the 96" motors start getting high mileage.

 

Wow for 2000+ you're well on your way to just buying a new motor. I'd have to be really impressed with their work to pull the trigger on that heinous quote.