How many of you truly trust your scoot? What I mean is this: Our car is an 05 Impala. So far we have racked up 45000 miles in just over 16 months, and have never even had so much as a hiccup out of it. Routine maintenance every 3500 miles, and a change of tires, and that has been it. In March, the wife (on a Tuesday) decided to go to Florida thta weekend. Did an oil change, and that was it. There was never even a thought of "What if you have a breakdown". The car has been so damned reliable, that the thought of "breakdowns" never even enters our minds.

Now to my bike:

02 Ultra, that I bought back in May with 45000 on it. I spoke to the previous owner, and he said that aside from a stator going out in 06, that he never had a problem with it. I had the local Dealer print the maintenance records off for me, and it appears that the previous owner had nearly every servicing done at the Dealer.

Since I have had it:

New high pressure fuel line, needed 2 weeks after getting the bike.

Multiple check engine lights. Went in twice to have the light re-set, only to have it come on a third time.(turns out it was a loose ignition cable that should have been caught when they dealership did the 10k service before selling it.)

Since I have had it, it has developed three oil leaks. Inner and outer primary, as well as a rocker box gasket leak.

Got towed in last week. It just quit in traffic, but started right up the next morning for the tech. At the recommendation of the tech, I bought a new battery (not at the dealer....buddy hooked me up with a battery at cost. BTW, it was after this tow in, that the tech found the loose wires.

Was headin into town today, to get with Big Dog and get my HDForum tee shirt from him. Puttin down the road at 40 or so, and the bike cut out twice: Lost fire completely. Check engine lite came on, the "key" light came on, and obviously it began to slow, as the engine wasn't firing. Both times, it cut out for maybe 5-7 seconds before firing back up (I was coasting with the clutch out, so it lit up again). After the 2nd time, it would barely idle, so at traffic lights, I had to hold the throttle, to maintain and idle of 1200 or so. Shut it off when I went in to talk to Big Dog, and just knew it was gonna leave me stranded.

Lo and Behold, it started back up. As I sat in the lot, I let go of the throttle.....it idled WAY down, to the point of nearly stalling out, when suddenly, the idle picked back up to a normal 1100 rpm. Went home w/o a glitch, and made two other 5-10 miles rides tonite w/o any issue whatsoever.

My question of "Do you Trust your Bike??"

Nope. 5000 miles and 5 trips to the mechanic does not instill alot of faith.

 

I rode Valkyries for years, I ran the living dogsh$$ out of them, smoking tires etc. Never missed a beat. Bought a Road glide and have actually ridden it like a mature adultand it's the only time I have been left on the side of the road!! Memorial day weekend heading up RT40 west in MD and she died. Luckily dealer towed me in and had me going within 4 hours. The high pressure line in the tank came loose. If that is the worst issue in 37k miles I will not complain.
Love a Valkyrie but it does not compare to my Glide!!

 

Almost 8 year old bike with 45,000 miles. It will have a few issues. 45K on a bike is like comparing dog to human years. A 45k bike is more like a 90 100k mile vehicle. It should be fine after you work out the few small issues.Personally i wwould never purchase a 5-6 year old bike unless it was a heck of a deal.Still, there is nothing like an ULTRA. Thank your lucky stars you got at least an 02. The 99-01 years were really troublesome.

 

ahhhhh...heck. rode a wing over 100k.. nary a problem..



i just dont know what to think anymore.
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I share your opinion - sorry to say.

 

I can see why you have doubts about it I would too. We all know that there are lemons out there in everything we buy, we just hope it is not us that gets them. I purchased a new 88 Chev pickup, it lived in the dealers shop for two years, burned a quart of oil every 1000 miles till I sold it, Chev said it was within their spects, put brakes on it every 10 to 15 thousand miles, just one thing after another the whole time. As far as my bike goes it still runs like the day I bought it and I've never had one problem with it so far (knock on wood), I hate to hear that anyone is having problems with their bike, it's something we purchase to enjoy and have fun with, then to start and keep having problems with it is dishearting to say the least. I hope you can get it figured out, so you can enjoy it.

 

First you can compare a car and a bike. Totally different. My 06 Ultra has 5500 miles on it. 3 trips and not one problem. Had an 03 Goldwing ( bought new ). Had 4000 miles on it and last May on our way to DC it broke down in Fredrick, Md. Left us stranded for 5 1/2 hours. Finally had to have it towed to a shop in WV. It was the battery went bad.

You bought a bike with 45,000 miles on it and you don't trust it? Luck of the draw. It isn't the bikes fault.
I can go get on my bike right now and ride across the country and I would not think 1 second about trusting that it would make it.! It would!

 

The guy that owned it before me traded it in on an 07 Ultra, so apparently his faith in HD hasn't faltered. You would think that if it had a history of problems, it would have shown in the maintenance records, OR the guy would have told me. After all, what does HE have to lose by telling me that the bike is having repeated issues.

I know I didn't buy new, and that things should be expected.

I just didn't expect 5 (potentially more) things in the first three months.

A friend suggested that a bad stator could be causing the run problems. The tech however said that if it is charging, that the stator is just fine. Who is right?

 

Yep, and I got AAA, too.

Hack

 

Had BMW R1100GS and rode it across the country until it had about 100,000 on the odometer. Always had it Dealer serviced and properly maintained. Never left me stranded. Just wore out ties, parts, etc., but it kept going. Sold it recently and expect that the guy will no doubt get many more miles out of it. Now waiting for my '08 Ultra Glide to come in. Hoping fo rthe same...