Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[FNGw/08SERK]

This is what I encoutered on my first ride of the season. Picked up the bike from Utica Harley Davidson earlier today. After their a$$h0!e salesman told me that the head gasket leak was BS and that I was "hyper critical" the following is what I found when I returned home.

[FNGw/08SERK]

I would like to personally thank the MOCO at this time

[FNGw/08SERK]

    

[Twolanerider]

Well.....  He was Good Howie.

Sorry for the problem.  Right at the beginning of spring so couldn't be worse.  Even more insulting when it had been nesting at the dealer's all winter.  Sorry man.

[sadunbar]

This is what I encountered on my first ride of the season. Picked up the bike from Utica Harley Davidson earlier today. After their a$$h0!e salesman told me that the head gasket leak was BS and that I was "hyper critical" the following is what I found when I returned home.

Good Howie,

That is a familiar site.  Sorry to see your picture - but the upside is you are a now a member of our illustrious club!  You will have to get bad Howie to show you the secret handshake!

You know, the worst part of the statement by your salesman is I am convinced they actually believe the crap they say is true.  The MOCO goes out of their way to not communicate these type problems to the dealers.  It is damn aggravating that we are viewed as "whiners".

Good luck with whatever and however you decide to deal with your leaking head gasket...    

[Hoist!]

I wasn't gonna say anything about Howie's. I'm glad he did. I get home after getting the call from him, only to find at least 3 more with this today. My last 4 posts now are FTF & FTW posts!!! I'm getting sick of seeing this. Man am I glad I gave up on those greedy bastards and went my own direction. It's almost impossible to do any worse!

Howie, call me when you're ready!

Hoist!

[FNGw/08SERK]

Thanks Don, Scott and Howie. The hardest part is going to be trying to get this repaired PROPERLY. Not only have I not heard from anyone thats had any luck but to make matters worse I am NOT a motorhead. In other words I have no idea WTF to do. Thanks to Neal for putting this site together as I hope it will be my crutch to get me through. Thanks in advance to anyone I drive crazy with the questions that are sure to follow.        

Howie

[Twolanerider]

That's the insult added to the injury for those of you dealing with this. Harley has no solution for you.  You'll be left to endure gaskets or gaskets and cylinders that have proved to be failures as fixes.  And that's the best you can hope for pursuing a warranty repair.  Otherwise you're opening your wallet to prosecute a more evolved repair for a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

[sadunbar]

Howie,

One thing you want to do for sure is open a claim with MOCO customer service.  If you decide to go for a warranty repair, you will want your dealer to contact them and get the "latest" redesigned gaskets for the rebuild.

As you may know, I did not want any part of the temporary "dealer warranty repair" and chose to go my own way with an independent motor shop.

What direction to go is a tough decision, but I feel pretty confident I am past the issue by not using the standard warranty repair.  I don't think many of those that have experienced dealer warranty repair will say that with any confidence.

Scott

[Hoist!]

Howie,

One thing you want to do for sure is open a claim with MOCO customer service.  If you decide to go for a warranty repair, you will want your dealer to contact them and get the "latest" redesigned gaskets for the rebuild.

As you may know, I did not want any part of the temporary "dealer warranty repair" and chose to go my own way with an independent motor shop.

What direction to go is a tough decision, but I feel pretty confident I am past the issue by not using the standard warranty repair.  I don't think many of those that have experienced dealer warranty repair will say that with any confidence.

Scott

That's one option I already gave him Scott. The other two are Scotty at Hillside and Vern at North Shore!

Hoist!

[grc]

The main problem I see with just fixing it yourself, other than the obvious one of spending many thousands extra on what is an overpriced product to begin with, is that each one that doesn't show up on a warranty claim just helps H-D justify their head in the sand response.  Change in the business world is driven by statistics; if the warranty repairs per thousand and cost per repair stats don't reflect a major issue, the folks at the top of the food chain won't force those at the lower end to do their jobs and fix the problem.  I would personally make them try to repair it at least once, just to get it on record.  You never know, this may eventually become a class action and some proof will be necessary for you to participate in any settlement.

Jerry

[Hoist!]

The main problem I see with just fixing it yourself, other than the obvious one of spending many thousands extra on what is an overpriced product to begin with, is that each one that doesn't show up on a warranty claim just helps H-D justify their head in the sand response.  Change in the business world is driven by statistics; if the warranty repairs per thousand and cost per repair stats don't reflect a major issue, the folks at the top of the food chain won't force those at the lower end to do their jobs and fix the problem.  I would personally make them try to repair it at least once, just to get it on record.  You never know, this may eventually become a class action and some proof will be necessary for you to participate in any settlement.

Jerry

Yeah Jerry, but at what cost to put up with all that. The lost time. The breakdowns. Getting towed off the road, if it don't lock up and kill you. The grief. The lost vacations. Putting up with the lies and BS. I love my bike. If others have the patience for all that, more power to em! I just wanna be free to ride my machine.....!

Hoist!

[sadunbar]

The main problem I see with just fixing it yourself, other than the obvious one of spending many thousands extra on what is an overpriced product to begin with, is that each one that doesn't show up on a warranty claim just helps H-D justify their head in the sand response.  Change in the business world is driven by statistics; if the warranty repairs per thousand and cost per repair stats don't reflect a major issue, the folks at the top of the food chain won't force those at the lower end to do their jobs and fix the problem.  I would personally make them try to repair it at least once, just to get it on record.  You never know, this may eventually become a class action and some proof will be necessary for you to participate in any settlement.

Jerry

I took mine to my dealer, documented the problem (including photos of oil running down the side of my cylinder) with the salesman, the service manager and general manager, opened a claim with MOCO Technical Support, set up a conference call between my dealer service manager, general manager and MOCO tech support, followed up the the regional rep., ....  then fixed it myself.  

Unfortunately, none of that mattered with MOCO - cause they still don't acknowledge a problem...apparently right up to Willie G.

I was not willing to let them work on my bike even once - just for the sake of their records....  

[Hoist!]

I took mine to my dealer, documented the problem (including photos of oil running down the side of my cylinder) with the salesman, the service manager and general manager, opened a claim with MOCO Technical Support, set up a conference call between my dealer service manager, general manager and MOCO tech support, followed up the the regional rep., ....  then fixed it myself.  

Unfortunately, none of that mattered with MOCO - cause they still don't acknowledge a problem...apparently right up to Willie G.

I was not willing to let them work on my bike even once - just for the sake of their records....  

Smart move Scott!

Like a dope, I let them document mine TWICE!!!

Then I woke up!

Hoist!

[Chief]

Yeah Jerry, but at what cost to put up with all that. The lost time. The breakdowns. Getting towed off the road, if it don't lock up and kill you. The grief. The lost vacations. Putting up with the lies and BS. I love my bike. If others have the patience for all that, more power to em! I just wanna be free to ride my machine.....!

Hoist!

I'm thinking you're gettin a bit over dramatic her ol boy. Mine has been leaking the second time for about 6,000 miles and I'm still riding it without hesitation. No lockups, no tow truck rides, no lost vacations nothing but 6,000 miles of blotting up some oil every so often. As far as I'm concerned, it's a cosmetic issue that is just an annoyance. YMMV

If I can be of some solace for the good Howie, I haven't heard of any repeat problems after people have gotten the composite gasket. I, along with lots of people on the site, had the -07A gasket installed which then leaked again. So far the un-numbered composite gasket looks to be doing a good job at doing it's job. However, if you have a cylinder with a slipped liner, no gasket will fix that. Hopefully your cylinder(s) are good and you'll be OK with just a gasket.

I'm with Scott and Jerry. Open a call with HD Tech to make sure you're heard and then give your dealer a crack at it but request them to get in touch with HD Tech Services and request a set of the composit gaskets.

Don't feel bad, we're all in the same boat.