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[FAST380]

I sold my 2009 Road Glide to a guy I work with. I only owned it for about 6 month's max, just didn't care for the bike. Anyway, bike has a High Comp 103 kit with SE 251 cam's (I think). No head work, TTS Tuner, and I think that is about it. The valve train was always very noisy. I had two different shops "listen" to it while I had it and they both said it may be a little noisy, but didn't think it was anything. Anyway, I bought it that way and then sold it 6 month later. The guy I sold it to took it into a shop for a 20K service and asked about the valves. The guy did the service and charged him $100 to adjust the pushrods. This is where the story gets a little shaky, will talk to him more in the morning. He said he picked up the bike and noticed some oil (I am not sure if in the oil filter area or the lifter block area). He said he rode it home and there was oil every where. The next day he started it to take back to the shop, it went clank and quit running. I know, I need a little more details. The guy is telling him the bike was about to break and it had nothing to do with what he did. Said it has a bent pushrod and that is all he knows right now. Could it be coincidence? What would go out to bend a pushrod? It seems weird that he rode it home, started it the next day and then it went clank and stopped running. I Will work on more details, I am sure I will see him first thing. I hope this is due to the tech and not the bike. Not sure my legal or moral position, I bought it, rode it for six months and sold it, hell I only put on about 3K of the 20K miles.

Thanks for any incite!!

Scott

[Twolanerider]

The tech adjusted the pushrods and immediately thereafter something bad happened with a pushrod.  If you're thinking it through any more than that you're thinking about it too hard.

[FAST380]

I hope they don't screw him, he doesn't speak good English, so I think, they think he is stupid. They are telling him it was about to break, that they didn't cause it.

[Twolanerider]

I hope they don't screw him, he doesn't speak good English, so I think, they think he is stupid. They are telling him it was about to break, that they didn't cause it.

How would they know it was about to break?  If it was that obvious they should have caught it when the pushrods were quite literally in their hands for adjustment.  Old axiom is "if it broke right after it was worked on someone screwed up" is almost always right.  Anyone want to bet the tech didn't get a jam nut tight on the pushrod adjustment?

These guys remind me of the last time I ever tried taking a bike to the local shop.  Wanted cams changed and my left hand was FUBAR at the time.  I could ride but I couldn't work with it.  Shop screwed around and screwed around leaving the bike sit on site for a week before finally starting on it the day before I was supposed to leave.  Got a call that afternoon that there was a "delay."  Finally about 8:00 that evening got a call asking to come out and "listen to it" as "there's a problem."

I pulled in and the dipchit little tech meets me on the parking.  First words out of his mouth aren't "sorry" for the delay nor anything else related to all the time they'd lost or problems they'd (once again) caused.  He was letting me know "it's not my fault, it's NOTHING I DID in the motor."

So the engine was running without sounding like it had rocks in its pockets before he worked on it.  Then immediately on first start up after it sounded like marbles going through a garbage disposal.  But it wasn't anything he did.  Don't know what kept me from getting arrested that night when he kept repeating this literally right in my face. 

Later I had a chat with the service manager.  He agreed to "fix anything."  What had the little dipchit done?  He'd left the rocker assembly on the front head loose...  Claimed to have tried readjusting the pushrods three times.  Never noticed a problem.  But it was nothing he did. 

If your tech there is immediately casting blame elsewhere and claiming it can't possibly be anything he did he's full of it.  No one is beyond making a mistake.  Those that claim they are only trying to cover their ass or so absolutely arrogant they shouldn't be allowed to work on the bike to begin with.

[HILLSIDECYCLE.COM]

The medical industry, and legal industry are FULL of prime examples, that are just that.
Thing is, the legal industry can flip/trip things around, to make the wrong seem right, and vice-versa.
If everything was .59 cents, it wouldnt matter.
Scott

[sadunbar]

The guy did the service and charged him $100 to adjust the pushrods. This is where the story gets a little shaky, will talk to him more in the morning. He said he picked up the bike and noticed some oil (I am not sure if in the oil filter area or the lifter block area). He said he rode it home and there was oil every where. The next day he started it to take back to the shop, it went clank and quit running. I know, I need a little more details. The guy is telling him the bike was about to break and it had nothing to do with what he did. Said it has a bent pushrod and that is all he knows right now. Could it be coincidence? What would go out to bend a pushrod? It seems weird that he rode it home, started it the next day and then it went clank and stopped running. I Will work on more details, I am sure I will see him first thing. I hope this is due to the tech and not the bike. Not sure my legal or moral position, I bought it, rode it for six months and sold it, hell I only put on about 3K of the 20K miles.

Thanks for any incite!!

Scott

Oil on the lifter blocks is likely the pushrod tube not properly seated  -- either on the o-ring located in the lifter block or on the o-ring located in the cylinder head.

If he road the bike home before the clattering began - it's sure possible the locknut on a pushrod was left loose.  

Or maybe the motor clattered on the way home also, and the pushrod was simply adjusted incorrectly by the technician...

As far as why a pushrod would bend....  A pushrod will bend when a valve touches a piston...

[Chains]

Hope your friend come out OK, I sold a 84 Shovelhead to a guy that had never had a Harley before, he called me up a week later accusing me of screwing him as the motor went bad right after he adjusted the pushrods.   

[FAST380]

So a little more info, when he picked up the bike there was oil on the top of the tranny cover, must have leaked down from the top of the pushrod. He drove it home and found oil everywhere from the top of the pushrod area. The next morning he started it up and instantly went CLANK, don't know if the bike fired up or just turning over. The pushrod if visably bent!! He says the pushrod tube is bent like you would bend your finger. Could the pushrod come out of place and hit something solid? That seems like it is bent an aweful lot just for being out of ajustment and a valve hitting the pison. And he did ride it home with no problem before this happened.

[JCZ]

So the new owner has put 17k miles on it since he bought it?  If that's the case, I don't believe you have any legal or moral obligation other than wanting to help a co-worker that speaks broken English.  

But inquiring minds want to know.....which dealership it is?  San Jose or HOT?

Might want to give your co-worker Jim's number.

[FAST380]

Actually I bought it with 15K with all the work done, sold it with around 17.5K to him (i just didn't like the bike), now it has about 20.5K. It was actually an independent shop in Morgan Hill.

[murphy]

You should probably advise the rest of us where that shop is...

[Wild Card]

I hope they don't screw him, he doesn't speak good English, so I think, they think he is stupid. They are telling him it was about to break, that they didn't cause it.

World's dumbest mechanic.  The mechanic says it was about to break yet didn't see that bit of information as something he should have probably told the owner when the bike was in getting fixed!!!

Yeah...I think we know who is at fault here.

[FAST380]

trying to put it together, how this could have happened. Bike ran fine but was leaking oil (when picked up from shop), next morning is when it went clank and the pushrod bent (same tube/pushrod as the one leaking oil). Initially the tech is pointing towards a bad lifter.

Question:
Seems weird that the pushrod is bent as much as it is, you can visably tell from looking at the tube that the pushrod is bent. Could it have loosened and screwed together (making it shorter), then sat over night and had the lifter blead down (making it even shorter) then try and start it and actually bind up at the head area? Can a pushrod come out of it's guide somehow if short enough?

Has anybody ever seen a pushrod bend like this?

oh yeah, and the tech can't look at it untell Wednesday or Thursday

[AXIL]

   a seized valve in the valve guide. sorry don't really know till it's inspected.

[sadunbar]

trying to put it together, how this could have happened. Bike ran fine but was leaking oil (when picked up from shop), next morning is when it went clank and the pushrod bent (same tube/pushrod as the one leaking oil). Initially the tech is pointing towards a bad lifter.

Question:
Seems weird that the pushrod is bent as much as it is, you can visably tell from looking at the tube that the pushrod is bent. Could it have loosened and screwed together (making it shorter), then sat over night and had the lifter blead down (making it even shorter) then try and start it and actually bind up at the head area? Can a pushrod come out of it's guide somehow if short enough?

Has anybody ever seen a pushrod bend like this?

oh yeah, and the tech can't look at it untell Wednesday or Thursday

I can't even imagine how a lifter could cause a pushrod to bend as you've described...  I think the mechanic may about ready to take the bike's owner for a ride....