Been a HD rider for 30 years and I am so disgusted with HD, I may leave them. Bought 2014 FLHTK, had the worse buying experience ever, I should have walked out then, I slammed them in my survey and this was a platinum dealer. 4 weeks in, clutch issue, take it in and it is fixed no bike for a week including the weekend, drive bike after repair of clutch, coolant all over the garage floor, dealer picks up bike, 4 days to correct and again no bike for the weekend, in the mean time gas tank badge is coming off, missing adhesive on 1/2 the badge, dealership orders new badge. Called HD customer service on Friday, promised return call on Monday, not! I call again Tuesday (I think), spoke to the manager this time, told them how I felt and how I am pissed at HD to send a product out like this, Told them I don't want the bike, she submitted a request and my feedback. End of call she tells me if any other issues call her directly. Called her about badge today, left message, no call back. Coolant fixed and bike is delivered to me today, guess what happens next driver drops my bike in the truck, bam, tank is dented and scratched, lower fairing scratched, engine guard scratched, under part of controls scratched, so disgusted I walk away. Have no idea what else is damaged. Who knows when I will get my bike back now. Call HD again after bike is dropped, confirmed she received first message and left another one. Still no call back, way to treat your customers HD. Going over managers head now, we will see what happens tomorrow. Was able to speak a district manager for HD who seemed concern and wanted to make things right. Not sure if I want the bike anymore, but I am curious to see what HD will do now. Kicker is, if HD did there R and D correctly, my bike would have never been in the shop and it would have never been dropped and I would not gone without my ride for a month. What would you do if you were me?

 

What, did you really think HD would roll out a new water cooled bike and not have problems? Sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope things get better for you.

 

I'd be pissed too! Hopefully, the dealer will get bike straightened out for you. They ought to give you a loaner bike and store credit at the very least for putting up with all that ****!

 

You are not the only one that Harley are stuffing around, they need to raise their game a long long way from what I have seen and experienced.

 

I'd be just as pissed as you are. I'm always a little freaked out when my bike is on a trailer/flatbed and you just hammered the point home.

Harley had a bad rap many years ago and for a lot of people who mainly don't ride Harleys they still think they are bad. There sure seems to be a fair amount of complaints about Harley's flagship model, HD needs to correct this if they expect to attract new buyers.

People are buying these bikes because Harley makes a quality product but if that slips so will the buyers IMHO.

 

I'd join an internet HD forum and **** and moan about the problems I was having. Then after the bike got fixed and was running good and I was having a blast on it, I'd forget about the previous problems.

That's pretty much what I did when I was having problems early on. I was beside myself with the problems on my brand new bike. I did have great dealer support, though (not the dealer I bought it from as I will never darken their door again).

Lots of other peeps on the forum are having the clutch and coolant problems. Fortunately for you there are enough problems that HD will get them resolved soon, hopefully. The badge problem is inexcusable. Somebody or some machine didn't know what they were doing.

Sounds like your dealer isn't doing you any favors, either. They give you the run around and make you wait excessive amounts of time to repair your bike. Then they drop it and tear it up and deliver it to you in this condition. They suck!

It's pretty sad that a brand new bike has these problems, aggravated by an unsupportive dealer. I wish you luck.

 

I've told my wife my current bike is my 40 year bike unless it get stolen or totaled...when she saw the 14s were water cooled and supposed to run cooler she told me to trade. Glad I didn't listen.

Sorry for the trouble you and the other 14 buyers are having. I hope the MoCo makes it right, but before they can, they need to figure out what they're doing and I don't think they have a clue. The water heads are puking and the dealers are running roughshod over customers. Bad news for all of us IMO but especially those with payments coming out of the bank.

OP, I'd hold out a little longer (mostly because you have little choice) but eventually, I'd make a camp site of their front door and tell them first, and other potential customers second, what my experience has been with the 14s.

 

They issue your having are unfortunate, and shouldn't be happening. On the other hand it's a new design and issues are going to happen. The dope that dropped your bike?? Well that's human error. Once the bugs are worked out i'm sure you'll be racking up the miles and will be able to put this nightmare to rest.

 

I feel for ya man. Id be ticked off to. That being said, alot of people warned folks of first year model issues. Its pretty much the standard on any brand or product roll outs. Testing is still going on in the first year and the customer is the person doing the testing. I know this is easier said than done but sell it and find a 13 model and live happily ever after. i bought a 13 Ultra and zero issues so far. Most issues are worked out after 3 or 4 years. Good luck and hope everything smooths out so u can get to riding problem free.

 

There is a lot to be said about having the security of a tried and tested design, and having a bike that doesn't require the dealership to keep it running. That new bike smell is great, but it also comes with payments and new bike aggravation. Sure, the 14's have some cool new stuff. Sadly you can't enjoy it while it sits at the shop. I'm lucky that I don't have to rely on the dealer for much. Good luck getting some resolve...