My opinion on this issue is that the MoCo has studied its customer base and has come to the conclusion that the *majority* of its customers fall into the 'Garage Queen' category, as mentioned earlier in the thread. They tend to trade every couple of years, and put maybe 10,000 miles on it (possibly less) during the time they own a single bike. Obviously, there are a lot of folks in this forum who ride MUCH more than that, but judging by the high numbers of low-mileage, recent year Harley's at the local dealerships, I would guess that they're right. Assuming that to be the case, I would suggest that they are building them with respect to those parameters. No need to build a heavy duty motor that isn't going to be worked hard or long, and a $20 dollar (guess) in build cost savings adds up when you're building 300K bikes a year.

 

Agreed, it was uncalled for. Tools to the left of me, tools to the right.......you can always tell a Troll by their posts, # of posts, and the amount of years as a member. Add something constructive or shut your blow hole....sorry, just had to let some steam off.

 

Makes me appreciate my '09 all that much more..............I hate to hear the kind of trouble the OP is having, that sucks and shouldnt happen.

I have nearly 50K on my '09, bought it used with low miles as it was a garage queen.................Runs great and I want a newer bike less and less anymore.

 

You know I feel the same way about my 07. I finally have it running well and problem free. I don't think I want to trade for a new set of problems to work out.

 

I can just imagine how the discussion in some of their board meetings sound like....."and those who ride the hell out of their bikes will have ESPs to use for major engine issues, so its not really unethical?". I've had to listen to moronic justification during board meetings like that and shake my head.
They will get the 103 pretty much ironed out, then they'll start the insanity all over again with the 110, 117 and so on.

 

I doubt it goes on at the board level other than discussions about profit margin per unit. Senior management says to engineering we have to get the per unit cost down. They go looking for cost reductions. Parts sourcing starts looking abroad to reduce per unit part costs. Chinese manufactures promise to meet a specification but rarely do unless we have quality / engineering representatives camped out in their factories. Once that happens the cost savings are not as great.

 

Sorry guys, just a lame attempt at humor. I forget you guys don't know me.

 

I wasn't suggesting that cheapening the builds is the right, or ethical, thing to do, and I hope I didn't give that impression, but unfortunately, that seems to be the model that many of America's big businesses subscribe to. Namely, get as much as you can out of the consumer, and rely on your marketers to keep them coming back. Apparently, in Harley's case, and I assume for many other companies, it works.

 

Its starting to sound like the AMF years!

Now, where did I put that bowling bag with my tools in it?

 

I thought it was funny.