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Author Topic: More cheap plastic parts from HD.  (Read 1253 times)

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Ironhorse

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More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« on: June 18, 2021, 11:21:23 PM »

I had to install a new Throttle Body/Induction Module on my '06 CVO Ultra.

My cruise control went out before I left for Afghanistan.  I was deployed unexpectedly and told myself I'd take care of it when I got back.  While overseas I reviewed all the possible problems.  I read tech reports and watched YouTube videos on Cruise Control Issues.  Planning ahead I went to Ronnies on line and ordered the On/Off Cruise Switch on the lower switch panel and the Set/Cruise switch on the right side handlebar.  Two weeks after I got home I installed the switches, checked the Roll Off Switch in front of the tank and all the brake lights.  Still wouldn't work.  I have plans to ride up north with GoldWing John and visit my cousin Alan and Roger Lane (TrapperDog) next week so I wanted cruise.  Bartels didn't have any openings, so I went to Pacific HD in Harbor City.

I dropped the bike off on Tuesday the 15th.  Later Moses the service writer called and and said the bike needed a new induction unit/throttle body. The tech discovered that the pin on the pin wheel is so worn out that the clip on the end of the cruise cable just falls off. The new unit is $554.00. They will replace the intake seals. I was skeptical and checked the microfiche at Ronnies HD and they wanted $508.00 for it. There is no replacement for the pin wheel. You have to buy the WHOLE unit.  There were no take off throttle bodies at the shop. Aftermarket ones from HPI, J&P and Dennis Kirk start at $700. I want to keep the bike stock as I don't want to tune it again.  Moses said he would order the part it would come in in a day or two.  I said okay.  Now the frustration starts.

Thursday, (Two Days Later), I call them for a follow up. I am told the part has to come from HD and will arrive on the 28th. I asked Moses if the parts guy checked the network to see if anyone has it. Moses says, "Oh that's the first thing they do". I hang up and start calling dealers. I find one 90 miles away in north San Diego. I call the service department and Alex the service guy tells me, "If you want to go and pick it up, that's the ONLY way it's gonna happen.  And while you’re there pick up the seal kit as well, we need it for your bike”.  So I get in the car and start to drive 90 miles and pick it up. While in the car I get a call from Alex in service, he says the only place that has the seal kit is the dealer in Huntington Beach.  They put it under my name.  So now I have to go to two dealers.  Moses the first service guy calls me and says, "We're having it overnighted, it will be here on Tuesday". I said "Moses, you're three plays behind in the game, I found the part and am on my way to pick it up.  And Tuesday is NOT overnight". Now I'm a parts runner for this place. The lack of communication is just frustrating. I feel like I am doing their job for them. 

I got the new one and sure enough, the pin on the pin wheel is plastic.  I took a look at my old one, and it was plastic too. Both it and the cable clip were so worn that the clip doesn't hold.  If the pin had been made of metal it would not have worn out. In the old days an ambitious tech would grind off the old worn pin, installed a screw, and hand file the screw head till it fit the cable clip. A couple hours of labor and $4.00 in parts would get it done.  But today the answer is replace the whole throttle body.  I guess the "upside" is now I have new injectors and sensors.

Damn HD and their cheap plastic parts.
 

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OBB

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2021, 03:21:52 PM »

Well that sucks. I'm going to guess some JB Weld for plastic wouldn't hold it back on...

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Ironhorse

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2021, 11:15:16 PM »

Well that sucks. I'm going to guess some JB Weld for plastic wouldn't hold it back on...

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As long as the JB Weld was filed and shaped to fit the cable clip, it might work.  It's a good option in a world of parts replacement.
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Twolanerider

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2021, 12:36:12 AM »

That's an expensive fix for plastic Mark.  What you're suggesting obviously isn't difficult either.  A few years ago a local bike had that stub break off.  The end was still in the cable when he came by claiming the cruise wasn't working anymore.

Then I was lucky enough to have a bunch of bolt on adapters for different cable connections off of carburetors.  Bunch of them along with a butt ton of other small carb parts from a well spent youth working on cars.  Found something that my best recollection was used on Quadrajets that had a threaded end.  There wasn't a lot of meat to work with but we drilled the throttle body and threaded the hole.  Then still put a thin nut on it since I didn't trust the threads in the plastic.  The clip part matched the cable just fine.

He had that bike for four-ish more years.  During that stretch our jury rigged fix stayed in place.  Sometimes you just do what you can rather than what an OE might want to sell you.
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Ironhorse

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2021, 12:52:33 AM »

That's an expensive fix for plastic Mark.  What you're suggesting obviously isn't difficult either.  A few years ago a local bike had that stub break off.  The end was still in the cable when he came by claiming the cruise wasn't working anymore.

Then I was lucky enough to have a bunch of bolt on adapters for different cable connections off of carburetors.  Bunch of them along with a butt ton of other small carb parts from a well spent youth working on cars.  Found something that my best recollection was used on Quadrajets that had a threaded end.  There wasn't a lot of meat to work with but we drilled the throttle body and threaded the hole.  Then still put a thin nut on it since I didn't trust the threads in the plastic.  The clip part matched the cable just fine.

He had that bike for four-ish more years.  During that stretch our jury rigged fix stayed in place.  Sometimes you just do what you can rather than what an OE might want to sell you.

And that's my biggest gripe about all of this.  It seems like no one fixes anything anymore, they just replace parts.  My next gripe is that the part is made of plastic.  i know plastic is cheaper and lighter, but on a 900 pound motorcycle that costs $38K, what's 2 more dollars and .75 ounces more?
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Twolanerider

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2021, 01:54:30 AM »

And that's my biggest gripe about all of this.  It seems like no one fixes anything anymore, they just replace parts.  My next gripe is that the part is made of plastic.  i know plastic is cheaper and lighter, but on a 900 pound motorcycle that costs $38K, what's 2 more dollars and .75 ounces more?


Mark, there is no data output from Digital Technician that reports "repair."  Anyone who isn't an old fart thinks that replace and repair are the same thing.  It just doesn't occur to many who grew up when parts and even systems weren't really designed for component level repair that they might actually give it a shot. 

Hell, consider this; how many gadgets do you see anymore that are assembled with tricky little pin centered torx screws or other "security" fasteners (or they're just glued together) to make things difficult or nearly impossible to work on.  I can understand the I/O economies and the systems that suggest it at the fleet level.  But on the sharp end dealing with just your own it's an annoyance at best and an expensive pain in the ass at worst.
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DCFIREMANN

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2021, 06:48:41 AM »

Mark I am surprised. Well not really. Your bike is an 06 with the famed 103. And this is the first I have heard about this problem. You and I both know that the factory is all about profits. But this cutting corners sucks for us. I'm thinking I would have just looked at the HPI unit and see what the aftermarket was doing. I know it was more expensive, but in the long run it might have just been better.

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Re: More cheap plastic parts from HD.
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2021, 10:14:19 AM »

I can see a HD shop not wanting to jury rig a part back together.  What’s the labor rate at your dealer…$125/hr?  So, they spend two hours jury rigging, charge you $250+, and a week later their rig fails.  Now you’re back complaining and the only solution is to replace the part, which is going to cost you $500, plus labor.  So now you’re into this for close to $1,000.  Also, we’ve become such a litigious society, if that jury rigged part failed and in anyway could be construed to have contributed to an accident, we know how that would turn out for the dealer. 
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