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[cvo2007]

Just picked up a 2007 Ultra CVO that only had 1900 miles on it about 6 weeks ago and have put about another 4500 miles on it myself.  I've put enough miles on it to find some of the flaws Harley had on these things.  The one that I researched and appreciate the documentation found within this site was the IDS.  Long story short, I totally agree with everyone that it is worth the now $350 bucks, although wish Harley would have fessed up that they should have put one on in the first place and cut us some slack.  Ha Ha like that would ever happen.....Although I normally turn my own wrenches, I've read a number of the units have had the bearing fail and decided to just have the dealer press the bearing in for me.  Since they told me there was a half hour minimum, I told them to just go ahead and install the whole unit since I was waiting on it anyways.  Figured that if there was some sort of issue with it after the fact, they also installed it so they could not blame it on me.  Total an hour and a half shop time.

Just a thought, if any of you are considering having this done to your bike, and the rear tire is needing replaced shortly, you may be able to save some money having it all done at the same time since they are pulling the wheel anyways.  Just some food for thought I had while riding home and thinking about posting some feedback on this thing.  It might save you a few bucks.

[Rooster]

Welcome to the site Mr. cvo2007. Sounds like the ISD worked for you. I never insatalled it on mine so I don't know the difference. Anyway now we need to see a couple of pics of your bike please.

[cvo2007]

Here are a couple of pictures.  I've owned and rode a Honda, BSA, Panhead, Shovelhead, Evo, and now this Twin 110 over the 40 years of riding and I have to say I am really enjoying this bike.  

[Rooster]

Very nice, thank you

[JKM]

What year did the IDS become standard on new bikes?

[cvo2007]

Per Harley "Introduced on the '08 Touring models, the Isolated Drive System improves rider comfort and ride quality by dampening the mechanical noise and vibration caused by the engine's torque pulses. The rubber compensation elements in the sprocket act like a cushion, absorbing the power pulses from the engine".  This was taken from one of their sites listing the IDS for sale.  From what I understand, the issues surfaced in 2007 with the introduction of the 6 speed so the retrofit kit was designed for only that year.

[sadunbar]

What year did the IDS become standard on new bikes?

The IDS was introduced on the 2008 model year bikes, and was made available as a kit for 2007 model year bikes.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/isolated-drive-system-sprocket-kit



Now for my rant...

The purpose of the IDS (Isolated Drive System) is to protect the drive train, specifically the crank, from shock load impacts.  It is one of a series of changes introduced in response to the crank failures which began in 2007 with the advent of the cruise drive.  Other changes intended to protect the driveline were the "torque smoothing" engine management downloads and the SE Compensator.  The cruise drive system introduced in 2007, in combination with taper pressed cranks, was a true engineering failure.  Of course, the SE compensator, developed in response to the crank failures, was (is) an engineering failure in itself.

It's unfortunate that those who purchased 2007 model year CVO bikes were abandoned by the MOCO, and were left to purchase these "engineering corrections" in kit form.  At least warranty and "enhancement kits" were made available to 2007 CVO owners to correct another significant engineering failure with 2007 model year -  the cylinder head/head gasket engineering failures.  And of course, the lifter failures which began in earnest in with the 2007 model year are still an ongoing failure mode for the MOCO.

All of these issues are why I've chosen to not purchase a new Harley Davidson since 2007.  I'd previously purchased a new bike at least every two years for a couple decades, including 5 CVO's.  I didn't stop spending my money with the MOCO because of these failures, but rather due to how MOCO management chose to respond to these failures - by abandoning their 2007 customers and requiring them to pay for the upgrade kits required to have a mostly reliable motorcycle.  I purchased the IDS, I've purchased 3 SE compensators and will likely have to purchase a fourth soon, I've replaced lifters numerous times, and at great expense I corrected the root cause of the head gasket failures on my 110 motor (long before the MOCO came out with their "enhancement kit" correction to the failures).  Of course the MOCO is always welcome to contact me and offer reparations for my expenditures, but I'm not holding my breath!  

Rant off.......

[scottt]

I HAD a 2007 SE Ultra. Installed the IDS kit as soon as it was released. What a difference. I never had the crank issues others had, I was simply never happy with the bikes overall comfort. Just traded on a new 2014 Ultra Limited and could not be happier. Night and day difference in comfort, let alone everything else.

My issue with the 2007 was comfort, followed by all the things I kind of fixed. It really made me mad that a bike costing 35 grand new was so hot, and it pinged coming off stop lights. I spent more money on that bike than I ever should have but it's behind me now. Long story short..the IDS is a good upgrade and should have come standard on the bike. IMHO


The 2007 is a great looking bike. I always loved the leather tourpak and paint scheme.

Scott