I've had six Harley's, two bought brand new. They were all like the German Virgin, Good-n-tight.

 

IMO most bikes aren't perfect if you look closely most of details don't line up perfectly or gaps aren't even on both sides.Sometimes quantity makes quality suffer badly like Toyota.

 

You are absolutely right. the long term ridability is terrible, not to mention problems right out of the facory. I came upon this thread just after my 09 ultra with 2400 miles has all of a sudden just stopped running while riding. Lucky I didn't get killed. on top of that my clutch wasn't working. Well, my local Pittsburgh stearlership pretty much called me an idiot for complaining: " we spent two hours on this and we think your clutch pull is within specs." I say you can't fix stupid. I've ridden 65K+ miles and I sort have a feel for clutch pull.
I dropped it off at New Castle HD and the next day was told the clutch definately was not right. They replaced the clutch cable and it worked they way it was meant to be. Then in the next month, the bike stops running while I'm on the highway and after ten minutes, I starts. I clean the battery terminals and two weeks later it stops running again while riding. Get it to Zanotti Hd in Butler Pa and the ace mechanic in one minute figures out that the screw holding the battery ground to frame is loose. when that happens, the clutch cable acts as a sort of ground and burns up. That's why I had the clutch problem to begin with - bad ground from the factory.
You mean that HD doesn't have a quality control system to double check critical fasteners?? give me a break. Don't even ask about me and my bud's 05 classics that both, at 30K, had to have new transmission seals put it. Both?? at 30 K?
getting back to now:
The fact that the first Hd stealership wouldn't even fix the clutch cable with only 2400 miles on it after I traded my 05 and bought an 09 Ultra and still under warranty - I guess you can't fix stupid.
Then, today, i'm putting new rotors on and the left torx bolts holding the calipers only come off with a breaker bar - way over torqued. Then I do the right and the are on so tight I strip them. So let me see, an 09 Ultra that didn't have the ground tightened and bolts that are over torqued ; and when the bike was asymbled, management was threatening to close the plant and more quality issues than normal?. then dealership service departments that, let's just say, are a little bit uneven in the level of competency. Just a coincidence, I guess.
And please, don't say if I don't like it, buy a Honda. Denying reality is probably more stupid than accepting it and bitching about it.

 

Mine had glue on the front fairing under the windshield rubber, the dealership actually pointed it out and had a new fairing within a few weeks.

 

No problems on my 09 SG or my 10 Iron (just got it last week ago so sig not updated) but then again I did the PDI on my SG and another wrench at my shop that I trust did the PDI on the Iron (I didn't know I was going to buy it at the time). As far as the torx bolts on the previous post, all rotor bolts use high strength lock-tite. Your going to want to use heat on those before removing. Watched a new tech snap 2 good quality T40 sockets trying to remove them. When he asked to borrow mine I handed him my heat gun instead.

 

I heard that MOCO isn't installing the ohm's on the new bikes and that is causing the clutch cables to short out.

 

I believe that the finish (as delivered) is a lot related to the dealership attitude. Back when my family (& later I did) own a Ford tractor dealership we went over every unit when it was recieved and again when it rolled out the door. The service department (such as it was) would check and my step-dad would check. I suspect a lot of the HD issues relate to the fact that many dealerships rarely see their 'real' owner.

 

2010 FLHTK Ultra Limited w/1,000 miles: everything perfect except for to minor issues; that is, defective tourpak and one saddlebag lock. Got new locks, rekeyed to originals and now have extra keys.

 

Not everyone suffers these problems! Just fix things it's easier that way!

 

Only 2 issues for me that I'm aware of on my '09 RG:

Quality - black backing on windshield rubbing through leaving an unsightly gap that is prgressively getting larger.

Irresponsibility - 2 bolts hold holding the rear sub frame assembly very loose. This has to be a factory issue. At least one other member here had that problem too.

I can accept the windshield issue. Hasn't bugged me enough to get it replaced yet but need to do it before the warranty runs out. The loose bolts really pissed me off. That had the potential to be real bad.

other than that its all good.