just to disarm everyone, I believe that the drive belt which has kevlar in and is pretty tight transfers harmonics back thru the drivetrain and also receives same chains tend to disapate harmonics. I,built and run drag cars and have a real affliction with stroker motors V-twins ain't called milwaukee vibraters for nothing stack up your clearance/tolerances and there you have it straight cut and helical gears each have their own attractions. straight cut gears have lash tolerances due to heat expansion helixcal gears have issues with side loading/pattern issues. add labor,costs lack of work ethics economical woes price of energy bad management. hence yadda yadda yadda. thanks for listening I am just extremly pleased with my results! Wife too I love to go riding with her it makes our life complete!!

 

I firmly believe there was/is no problem with the '07 FLx driveline. Some folks obviously are less-than-ecstatic about it, however. HD probably modified the cush drive they'd been using on the VRODs and stuck it on the '08s so everyone would STFU. They've offered it at a reasonable price as a retrofit so now the discontented '07 owners have no more reason to bellyache.

To expect they'd be willing to recall all the '07 baggers and install the unit free of charge is ludicrous. Following that reasoning, they'd have to recall all the TC88s and install 96s, then all the Evos and install TC88s in them, etc. They make improvements, or at least changes, in the model lines from time to time and they are under no compulsion to retrofit anything as a result.

The cush drive is a real and viable "fix" when it comes to lessening the shock loads on everything within the driveline. Maybe if there were a questionable situation within the '07s it would be money ahead for HD to call all of them back and have the sprockets installed on them. Don't think for a minute the bean-counters in Milwaukee haven't done the math. If they do a recall then all those who've cried "design defect" will prove justified without a doubt. If they don't do a recall, that won't necessarily imply there aren't defects in the design/implementation; it could also mean the math doesn't work out and it will be cheaper to handle them on a piecemeal basis. I don't think there's a defect.

My sister-in-law's sister back in Switzerland related to me once how she'd had to drive a Ferrari F40 home from Italy to their uncle's dealership. She hated it. It rode rough and made a lot of mechanical noise. I wonder how many of the owners complained that their $500,000 car wasn't up to snuff.

 

Oh there are and the problems and solutions are well documented and known at this point. There are at least four separate issues. Two of them have been extensively written up in American Iron.

1. Transmission slop
2. Cam timing issues.
3. Too weak compensator - IDS is fixing this.
4. Crank run out out of spec.

 

Well IF (and I say IF) the moco did develop this so called cush drive
to get people to STFU as you say, and it does indeed eliminate the clatter
then they should offer it free of charge as a retrofit to fix the problem they undoubtedly know exists for free under a warranty or service bulletin.
If I had an 07 that clatters as they claim, I would push for that or I'd sell the dang thing and get something older. But not newer, I wouldn't be putting more money in their pockets.
But I got an 06, hurt their pocketbook enough and they will come around.

 

You know the drawback to principals is that you can't eat em' or ride em'

 

I just ordered one from Zanotti HD for 198.00 buck's. What the heck, if it make's a great running bike just that much better, I think it's money well spent. I'm taking a small gamble however because I'm running custom wheel's and it seem's this unit doesn't fit on all wheel's. I'll keep yea posted. Putt

 

Here, read away - https://www.hdforums.com/forumid_263/tt.htm I hope you have all weekend. I'm not going to waste time debating this issue. Number one post on this board is in this section. Lots of dumped 07s and lots of people working real hard to figure out what is going on with these bikes.

 

Congrats Dave. Mine is on order!!

 

What is the "Cush Drive"... please explain.

 

FX4 - you just made my argument with your statement:

If indeed there is something "wrong" then HD should fix it. I know, I know, the economics aren't there to do so, and the demand for HD's isn't softening, so they wont fix a problem unless it is a safety issue. Bottom line is this "fix" will make HD and the dealers installing them a sh!tload of money. I am not telling anyone not to go ahead and install the IDS, as all of us spend our money in the way we wish, but in this case I see HD's little bean counters jumping up and down for joy.