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[Rio]

My brother lives in Chicago, he bought his bike here in Michigan from the guys I knew down the street (now closed).  He went back to Illinois and had his 1,000 mile inspection last year performed at Oak Lawn HD.  He pulled his bike out of his trailer and fired it up and let it run.  He went to pull the plugs to see how they were because he had stablizer in the tank and the bike sat in the cold all winter, and the rear cylinder plug was cross threaded and jammed in the head.  He finally got it out, but he had shavings in the cylinder head, and of course he did his best to get them out.  THE PART THAT SUCKS NOW, is that the dealer was one of those stores shut down by HD last year?  Because the work was customer pay and not warranty, no one will help him out?  Any thoughts?

[Twolanerider]

  Any thoughts?

About gaining recourse or compensation?   Not really.  The business that did the work is out of business.  That's, unfortunately, the end of that story in any practical sense.

About options for repair?  Perhaps.  There are heli-coil inserts for plug repair.  That's an iffy proposition.  If it were mine I'd pull the head.  And if there were any doubts at all I'd replace it.  Spitting a plug out under compression going down the interstate always makes a noise that scares the chit out of a rider.

[fresh oil and pipes]

Spitting a plug out under compression going down the interstate always makes a noise that scares the chit out of a rider.

Yes it does. To bad about the problem but Twolane is correct a head removal and repair/replacement is a lot less hassle than on the side of the road or trip interruption.

[ultrafxr]

That sucks for sure.  Does not help in any way but just curious as to why the plugs would be pulled as part of the 1k service.  Is that normal. 

[Rio]

Yes, the 1,000 mile inspection absolutely speciifes the spark plugs inspected for unusual wear.  If that weren't the case, it could easily be argued that the bike was built that way.....which still could be the case but impossible to prove now.  I suggested he calls HD customer service and thow it at them and see how they respond.  Every manufacturer has a "good will" policy account, I would think they would at least offer a 50/50 spilt at the warranty rate?

[Spiderman]

The thing that interests me about this post is how the plug got cross threaded. As anyone who's ever changed a sparkplug ( I hope that means everyone) will tell you, they can be real bastahds to get started. Seems to me that to actually cross thread one you'd have to be number than a pounded thumb and stronger than a gorilla. They just don't do much but spin and spin and spin until you get them started correctly. I've been at this more than 40 years (doing my own work) and for at least 10 of those years, I wouldn't class myself as anything other than ham fisted and ignorant and still I never cross threaded a spark plug. Somehow it seems there's more to this story than what was posted. Not trying to be a dickhead (that actually comes naturally) but something don't smell right heah


B B

[Chains]

Spitting a plug out under compression going down the interstate always makes a noise that scares the chit out of a rider.

Don,

you are right, I bought a used jeep one time and was going down the highway around 70MPH and it spit the center out of the plug, it was around midnight, scared the crap right out of me.

As to the stripped plug, pull the head, check it out completely before re using or replace it.

[Rio]

Unlike me, my brother is someone that is very handy mechanically.  Actually he was a diesel mechanic at one time so he knows what he's doing.  I agree, it's pretty difficult to cross thread a spark plug, you have to be a real idiot considering you get it started by hand?  This could be something from the factory, and the technician at the HD shop took the hours & money but never performed the required tasks listed for the 1k inspection.  That sounds more likely, however he's still screwed because the dealer is no more.  I can't imagine a trained technician not realizing he's cross threading without stopping.

[ultrafxr]

Unlike me, my brother is someone that is very handy mechanically.  Actually he was a diesel mechanic at one time so he knows what he's doing.  I agree, it's pretty difficult to cross thread a spark plug, you have to be a real idiot considering you get it started by hand?  This could be something from the factory, and the technician at the HD shop took the hours & money but never performed the required tasks listed for the 1k inspection.  That sounds more likely, however he's still screwed because the dealer is no more.  I can't imagine a trained technician not realizing he's cross threading without stopping.

They probably use an impact wrench to install them at the factory, lol.  Seriously if they use anything other than a hand tool it may be possible that it left the factory this way.

I am sure your brother is a fine mechanic and no slight intended - but if I had encountered such difficulty I would have left it alone and taken it to any dealer, ask them to remove it and insist that it came that way from the factory.

[Wild Card]

Illinois Harley of Berwyn bought the Oak Lawn dealership so your brother may have recourse there. 

www.ilharley.com/

I'm sure if he contacts the dealership they may have record of his service or may even employ the mechanic that did the service. 

[Rio]

Yes, he knows a couple of people over at Illinois too.  I called the people I know here in Michigan where he bought the bike and they said that Illionis is his only hope unless HD themselves will goodwill the repair.  The more we talk, we beleive the tech didn't even pull the plugs even though it's part of the inspection (SURPRISE!) and it probably came from the factory that way.  You have to be a real moron to force a plug in the cylinder head.  As someone stated in a previous thread, they probably do it with an airgun with the entire engine assembled before they put the engine in the frame.  Aside from that, I heard Crete closed too, and Chi-Town is next?

[Wild Card]

Yes, he knows a couple of people over at Illinois too.  I called the people I know here in Michigan where he bought the bike and they said that Illionis is his only hope unless HD themselves will goodwill the repair.  The more we talk, we beleive the tech didn't even pull the plugs even though it's part of the inspection (SURPRISE!) and it probably came from the factory that way.  You have to be a real moron to force a plug in the cylinder head.  As someone stated in a previous thread, they probably do it with an airgun with the entire engine assembled before they put the engine in the frame.  Aside from that, I heard Crete closed too, and Chi-Town is next?

Good, hopefully he gets help at Crete.  I'm sure you're right that it wasn't even looked at during the 1,000 mile inspection.  So annoying!    

Yep, Crete's gone.  Chi-Town is still going strong and across the border, we have Calumet. 

[Rio]

He called Illinois and spoke with the service manager and he told him to bring it in on April 4th.  That was the 1st opening for their engine tech.  He agreed it was probably a factory problem and the tech at 1,000 miles never bothered to check.  If he had, they would have gladly replaced the head and taken the warranty $$.  Makes you think about standing over their shoulder making sure you get what you pay for on your inspections!

[Wild Card]

He called Illinois and spoke with the service manager and he told him to bring it in on April 4th.  That was the 1st opening for their engine tech.  He agreed it was probably a factory problem and the tech at 1,000 miles never bothered to check.  If he had, they would have gladly replaced the head and taken the warranty $$.  Makes you think about standing over their shoulder making sure you get what you pay for on your inspections!

That's good to hear they are going to take care of him. 

Now as far as getting a proper inspection at all the services...  Ugh. 

[Rio]

I think the lesson for us all is very simple.  If our bike is still under warranty, in order to enforce the warranty coverage to the "T" with no issues is to perform the documented services at an authorized HD dealer.  This being said, when you spend $200-$500 for the inspecitons, I think it is both fair and wise to let the Service Advisor understand that you EXPECT every aspect of this inspection to be completed upfront.  I run a car dealership, and i am constantly over my Advisors and Technicians to do the job.  This has always been a pet peeve for me!  Letting them know up front that you will HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE is smart, and being a bit of a DICK about it isn't a bad idea either.