I have a 2012RGU, so far not an issue at 10,500 miles, first ride was over 2800 on it new and only issues then was learning the new ride then replacing the flat tire that had the screw in it. Damned set retainer bolt won't stay, have had to replace four of those but I blame the little (not so much) woman for that.

 

And maybe it sucks worse to be you, too. I think the guy has a point.

 

My '00 FLTRSEI has the expensive forged crank supported by Timken bearings. And my wheels run on double row sealed bearings that were standard from '00 to '07 and never failed me once. My compensator is still original, The bike has 141,000 miles on it.

On Feb 21st, a state operated pickup truck ran a stop sign in the wee hours of the morning and totaled my Road Glide. It sits on a stand in the garage now awaiting whatever I'm going to do to it.

So I ride a BMW R1200CL now, because I've always said that I won't own a bike without a forged crank, among other things. The Beemer still has one and the new Harleys don't.

Personally, I don't think Harley makes a machine for the 20,000 mile per year rider anymore, so I'll fix what I've got instead.

 

The apology is appreciated. I think we've all had an experience of attempting humor that backfired. It's easy to do in our virtual world. Thanks for the apology... it's time to move on.

 

Makes you wonder if they built one to last; what it would cost to buy?

 

Unless a company builds every part they farm out a lot of things and it all comes down to low bid. Nothing new about that. I think all companies do it and have been doing it.

 

There are vendor related miscues upon occasion. But HD doesn't spec a forged crankshaft (since '05.) They eliminated the Timken lefty bearing back in '03 (its still available in the HD Screamin' Eagle Performance catalog at additional cost after the sale,) and it was HD Corporate that decided that the double row bearings ('00 to '07,) were an unnecessary expense starting back in '08.

That's not a Vendor supply issue, that's a design mandate from the MoCo to save money at the expense of reliability.

 

Damn!
Sorry to hear about your bike, hope you are OK.
Man that sucks!

 

Every time I think it would be nice to own a brand new bike I read another post like this. I think I'll just keep what I have.

 

My first HD was a '07 flstf, I had 11K miles on it with $4-$5K in it with 103 build and etc, no issues. My '11 ( no issues -yet.....) Hard to understand that "cost" was what made HD go away from the forged crank, Timken Lefty, and the double row
bearings..... Like keeping the good parts in the bikes, would have made costs go up by $1,000 or way, way up past that ? Dang. What's a forged crank run as opposed to the one they put in the bikes now I wonder? I bet many riders if offered the upgrade would say YES to a forged crank and the Timken lefty!