so before my trip this past weekend i was doing my routine look over the bike to make sure everything was ready to go.

i was going over bolts and checking fluids and what not...

then i went to the back of the bike and thought i better check the belt tension just to be safe, then check my tire pressure.

so i felt the tension.. felt pretty good.

pulled the bag off to check tire pressure and WHAT THE HELL!!

the belt looks trashed..

what the hell happened, so i started looking for anything that might have caused it, maybe a rock is wedged down near the primary and caused it to shred up.. nope..
started taking things apart more and low and behold i found the culprit.

the belt


ground wire


looks like the Ground Wire from the battery (6 gauge wire) was right next to the belt, the belt burnt through the sheathing, then the wire ended up tearing the belt apart, and inturn the ground wire was destroyed all to hell. went about 3/4 the way through the ground wire, yet the bike still worked fine.

but its a good thing i found it before i hit the road for 1000 mile trip.

i went to the dealer i bought the bike from to tell them what happened and they just played it off and wont do anything for me... i had already gotten it fixed cause i needed it done to go on my trip.

they told me if i would have brought it in still messed up maybe there is something they could have done.

but not now cause they dont know what caused anything.

so i was out $650 before i even left on my trip lol.

still gonna try to fight it with them, since thats a big safety issue they should have seen when they inspected the bike (it was a used bike from the dealer)

id atleast like them to take care of the money for the parts.

 

Amazing. Think I'll have a look at my ground cable. Thanks for the report.

VR

 

ouch! now i wanna run out and see where the hell my ground cable is laying...

 

If it were me, I would call their customer service line at corporate...don't know how far it will get you, but fighting with the dealer sounds pointless.

 

call Harley Corporate?
what will that do for me. its a used bike..
please inform me of what i should say
seriously id like to know how i can attack this situation.
i talked to 3 people there at the dealer, and no one even cared a bit

the bike was used with 9500 miles on it, and from the time i bought it to the time i saw the belt was about 300 miles maybe

the tech who changed the belt (lead harley tech for 20+ years) said it had to been like that before i bought it.

 

Well, it is a used bike and out of warranty. The dealers get plenty of slams for shinning off its customers but I think in this case they are correct. Let's be fair here, it is a obvious flaw but who knows what the previous owner did or had done that MAY have caused the problem. My hats off to Hoblick for doing his job by checking things prior to him taking his trip...a lesson we all can use. This is not the dealers fault...maybe a factory design issue but again, this is a used bike so let's not be one sided on this. Some dealers have issues with customer service, no question, but there are a lot of darn good dealers out there who make a honest effort to help their customers. They are not all bad and not always wrong.

 

i agree with you for the most part, but when they get a used bike in the should inspect it well.. and not miss a big safety issue like that

 

Well, you added a point that was not stated in your original post which is; the bike was purchased from a dealer. In that event, then I tend to agree with you since the tech said this situation was an existing conditions which probable was there when you purchased the bike from the dealer. If that is the case, then there is a case to be made on your behalf.

 

Might have had something to do with the bike being lowered.

Good catch. That wire would have been what stranded you, not the belt.

I ran my belt like that for a long time before I finally changed it. My cig lighter fell out of my fairing, bounced off my leg, bounced off the road, and landed inside the space between the trans pulley and the primary. All at 50mph. Took me a while to figure out what was going on.

Zach

 

I agree that to be fair to the dealer you can't hold defects against them, but one reason I bought my 03 FLHTCUI from a dealer and not a private party, is the safety check. They make a promise they go through the bike and make sure everything is inspected. So if this is something they missed they should do something. Can't prove it one way or the other, only the tech who did inspection knows. Think I'll have my 5k check early!