Sounds to me like your taking the right steps so far. Like you said, wait and see wht they are going to do.

Your insurace agent gave bad advice when he said don't make any payments. If you take to him again, ask him if minds if you also don't make the insurance payments on the bike as well.

Re'

 

Bummer, I have read ALL the posts and here is my take:
Obviously the frame will need replacement and to me this is quite an undertaking I would hope that HD makes it right and within 2-3 days makes a decision and gives you your dollar value of what you originally spent on a "LIKE" bike of your choosing that can be found by the selling dealer in the bay area.That way they can fix the bike with a new frame and sell it as used and disclose it's history to the new buyer.
If they view this as a frame replacement ONLY they should compensate you with a comparable ride till yours has been fixed to your satisfaction AND a full extended warranty should be given to you. I would think that this IS going to follow this VIN forever and WILL be something that is questioned by others at some point when it is re-sold. (CARFAX?)
I am within a few weeks of buying a new Ultra and am watching as others here as to how this is handled, good luck I hope HD does the right thing!

Keith

 

Very hard to see but looking closely there is a weld bead on the right hand side of the tubing, coming across the front of the pic under the crack.

I would venture a guess that the bead is there hidden in the glare and the 'white stuff'. If so it has cracked right above the bead in the heat affected zone of the weld.
If we could se an oblique view, the weldment may look porous which could indicate the welder was maybe running our of shielding gas, or there was some contamination?

If you visually divide the weld into clock segments and call 12 oclock the vertical slice right through the center of the tube, at about 11 oclock there is a fairly nasty arc strike, and at about 9.30 it appears there is a blob of excessive bead. Also appears to be fairly heavy localised pitting above and below the weld--behind and above the white stuff...

I think it is a crack, as it follows the line of the weld because you can see where it varies up and down a bit along the heat zone directly at the top of the bead. If it were an unwelded tubing join the horizontal line (crack) would be straight across the horizontal, not wavy.

BTW the weld started at 2.30 oclock and came across the front towards 9 oclock, running around the back through 6 oclock and finishing at the tie in back at 2.30.

Can't qualify this further without seeing good photos from different angles.

Just my thoughts...

I would push for a new bike (or worst case new frame :-<) because how can it be quantified that there are no other cracked weldments on THAT frame? Don't let them do a weld repair on that joint....

V2evo96

 

Looks like the MOCO would just eat it and start you all over with a new bike.

 

..yeah,as soon as I asked I knew it was a dumb assed ?....as far as a Harley loaner...ANY USED bike they have on hand should qualify....good luck man...

 

Your Insurance Agent is an idiot for telling you to quit making payments, especially since he is with Progressive, and they use your credit score as part of the determining factor for your rates. Going off my past experiences with the MOCO, they are only responsible to replace the frame, which they will do. Regarding not allowing your dealership to do a frame swap, they should have a technician that is more than qualified to do this and if they don't, well they have bigger issues to worry about. I wouldn't worry about the bike not being right after the work is done. We once had a customer with a XL883 that wouldn't run correctly, the flywheels ended up being out of true, however H-D wanted us to try every possibly option before we were authorized to do an engine teardown. By then the customer was so pissed that he complained to the MOCO enough where they allowed him to trade in the bike on a new one and they credited our P&A account for the difference between book value and retail. I would just talk to your dealer about trading it in and see what kind of assistance he can work with the MOCO. This would probably be your fastest option to your issues and give you the piece of mind you are looking for.

 

they will give you a new frame and not a new bike. BTW 2009 frame status in parts manager program is pending obsolete so I bet you will have to wait for a new 2010 frame. Maybe this is why 2009 frame is obsolete maybe not. Time will tell.

I wonder If I should had wait for 2010 instead of buying my 2009... an obsolete frame in just 1 year production makes me think...

Hope everything goes right

 

I would want a new bike no-matter-what, because I'd always be thinking about the frame problem... If HD will not replace the bike, trade it in ASAP.

 

Like a lot of guys have stated, HD is not going to just hand over an new bike, they will probably send a new frame with the same vin number, I'm not sure if this would ever show up on a "CarFax" type report since its not an accedent or an insurance company hasen't paid any claim. Hopefully the dealer will give you a bike to ride, its tough to MAKE dealerships or HD do anything, it can get to be a very long and drawn out process when you use lawyers to force an issue. I would hope the dealer where you bought the bike will do the right thing by you. As everyone else has stated I am very interested in the outcome of your deal.

 

Interesting thread, I am watching to see how it goes.

My money is on you'll get a new frame and a loaner. Any mechanic worth his income should be able to swap the frame in 2 days. 3/4 day tear down and 1 1/4 rebuild, we arn't working on F-16s here folks. My only concern to that mechanic is proper use of locktite.

Also enjoying all the armchair lawyers comments.