2014 HARLEY-DAVIDSON Flhtk

WHILE I WAS RIDING MY 2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON FLHTK MOTORCYCLE ON A 35 MPH TWO LANE CITY STREET, THE SHIFTER SHAFT LEVER BECAME STRIPPED. I WAS UNABLE TO SHIFT THE MOTORCYCLE OUT OF FIRST GEAR AFTER A STOP AND TRAFFIC WAS BACKING UP BEHIND AND PASSING ME CREATING SOMEWHAT OF A HAZARD. FORTUNATELY FOR ME I WAS IN AN AREA WHERE I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY EXIT THE ROADWAY. HAD THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED ON A ROADWAY WITH LIMITED ACCESS/SIGHT LINES AND HIGHER SPEEDS AN INJURY COULD HAVE RESULTED.

YESTERDAY (04/03/16), I WAS TRAVELING THROUGH NORTHERN VA (ON ROUTE #66), ON MY WAY HOME. TRYING TO TAKE AN EXIT TO GAS UP, I WASN'T ABLE TO SHIFT AT ALL. SO I'M TRYING TO PULL OVER (VERY WORRIED I MIGHT BE HIT BY AN ANOTHER COMMUTER IN A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY / 1ST SAFETY ISSUE), TO CHECK THE BIKE, I COULDN'T USE MY LEFT FLOOR BOARD (AFFECTING MY BALANCE / 2ND SAFETY ISSUE), BECAUSE THE SHIFTER AND SHIFTER SHAFT WERE OUT OF THEIR POSITION AND LAYING ON MY FLOOR BOARD (THESE PARTS COULD HAVE JUST FLEW AWAY AND HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE ON THE ROAD / 3RD SAFETY ISSUE). FINALLY, I STOPPED THE MOTORCYCLE, CHECKED THE BIKE, PUT IT ON 3RD GEAR, USING LINKAGE AND MADE IT TO LOCAL HD DEALERSHIP. AFTER THIS SCARY EXPERIENCE A GENTLEMEN AT THE DEALERSHIP (JUST A CUSTOMER WITH A SIMILAR MOTORCYCLE RUSHMORE TOURING), TOLD ME THAT HE HAD THE SAME EXACT ISSUE AS WELL; THANKS!

HARLEY DAVIDSON HAD A VOLUNTARY RECALL ON CLUTCH FAILURES IN 2013 AND SUPPOSEDLY THEY RESOLVED THIS ISSUE. I BOUGHT MY BIKE BRAND NEW AN AT 1200 MILES THE CLUTCH FAILED AND I WAS UNABLE TO STOP THE BIKE. LUCKILY I WAS PULLING IN MY DRIVEWAY. THE DEALER FIXED THE CLUTCH THE NEXT DAY. 600 MILES LATER ON JUNE 7 I WAS ON MY WAY HOME ON A RAINY AND WET ROAD AND THE CLUTCH FAILED AGAIN AT A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION. LUCK AGAIN WAS ON MY SIDE AS NO TRAFFIC SO I JUST KEPT GOING AS I KNEW ONCE PAST THIS INTERSECTION I WAS ON BACKROADS REST OF THE WAY HOME. IF IT WERE NOT FOR ME BEING A SKILLED RIDER I WOULD HAD TO LAY THIS BIKE DOWN IN ORDER TO STOP ON A WET ROAD. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP REPORTED TO ME WITH MY BIKE THEY NOW HAVE 4 BIKES IN THE SHOP WITH SAME CLUTCH FAILURES. SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET HURT OR KILLED IF THIS IS NOT FIXED.... YOU CAN NOT MERELY STOP A BIKE EASILY WHILE ROLLING BY HITTING THE KILL SWITCH AND IF THERE IS A PASSENGER ABOARD THIS THEN HAS THE BIKE TOP HEAVY AND MOST PEOPLE CAN NOT HOLD A BIKE THAT WEIGHS OVER 900 LBS AND THE PASSENGER UP BY ABRUPTLY KILLING THE ENGINE TO STOP. *TR

THE MOTORCYCLE LEAKS COOLANT FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, THE COOLANT FILLER NECK WHICH WAS A SERVICE UPGRADE AND SHOULD OF BEEN A RECALL, THE THERMOSTAT IS THE NEXT PROBLEM AREA, ITS MADE OF PLASTIC AND IT IS PRONE TO LEAK AT THE ELBOW INTO IT, HAVE ALSO BEEN TOLD THEY LEAK FROM THE COOLANT PUMP AND HOSES, MOST COMMON IS THE THERMOSTAT. IT GETS ON THE GROUND AND ON THE TIRES OF THE MOTORCYCLE, IT IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE NEW TWIN COOLED HARLEY DAVIDSONS THEY ARE HAVING A PROBLEM GETTING THEM FIXED AT THE DEALERSHIPS. MINE NOW LEAKS FROM THE THERMOSTAT AND THE DEALERS DO NOT HAVE AN UPDATED PART SO THE REPLACEMENTS PARTS CAN LEAK AND THIS BECOMES A DANGER BECAUSE YOU PUT YOUR FEET DOWN AND THERE IS COOLANT UNDER THE BIKE IT COULD SLIP OUT FROM UNDER YOUR FEET , THE BIKE WEIGHTS 860 LBS !!!ALSO IF COOLANT GETS ON THE TIRES WHEN YOUR RIDING YOU COULD CRASH AND GET HURT BADLY. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO CONTACT ME AND TAKE PICTURES OF THE LEAK ON MY BIKE THAT WILL BE OK. ALSO IF YOU RESEARCH THIS YOU WILL FIND THAT I'M TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PROBLEM. I CONTACTED HARLEY DAVIDSON CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NOT CURRENTLY A FIX AND A SUPPOSED RUNNING CHANGE IN THE PART NUMBER OF THERMOSTAT OR POSSIBLE RUNNING CHANGE IN MANUFACTURING PROCESS. I CANT CHANCE SOMETHING LIKE THIS, ITS MAKES FOR A DANGER TO ME AND THE PEOPLE AROUND ME, IT MAKES THE MOTORCYCLE UNRELIABLE AND NOT SAFE. I NEED YOUR HELP ON THIS. *TR

THE COOLANT SYSTEM LEAKS WHEN IN MOTION WHICH SPILLS THE COOLANT IN FRONT OF THE REAR TIRE. IT ALSO LEAKS WHILE SITTING PARKED. IT HAS ALSO OVERFLOWED AND SPILLED ALL OF THE COOLANT ONTO THE GROUND IMMEDIATELY AFTER SHUTTING OFF THE ENGINE. THE DEALERSHIP HAS TRIED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM FOUR PREVIOUS TIMES AND HAS BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL. THE BIKE IS CURRENTLY AT A HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALERSHIP SERVICE CENTER AGAIN. I HAVE OWNED THE MOTORCYCLE THREE MONTHS AND I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO RIDE IT FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH DUE TO BEING IN THE REPAIR SHOP BECAUSE OF THE LEAKS. *TR

THIS 2014 HD FLHTK HAD THE HYDRAULIC CLUTCH SERVICED IN OCTOBER 2013 UNDER THE MASSIVE HD CLUTCH RECALL PROGRAM. HOWEVER, I INSPECTED THE BIKE AND INFORMED THE DEALER THAT THE CLUTCH FLUID LOW. IT WAS BELOW THE SIGHT GLASS ON THE MASTER CYLINDER (ACUTELY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SIGHT GLASS). I WAS INFORMED THAT THE CYLINDER WAS FULL AND CANNOT BE FILLED TO THE SIGHTLINE BECAUSE OF THE DESIGN. ON NOVEMBER 15, 2013 DRIVING 40 MILES FROM HOME AT 45 MPH WHEN I APPROACHED A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND STARTED TO DOWN SHIFT. SHIFTING BECAME HARDER AND HAD TROUBLE GETTING INTO LOWER GEARS. I TURNED AROUND AND HEADED FOR HOME CUTTING MY TRIP SHORT. WITHIN A FEW MORE MILES, I LOST ALL ABILITY TO SHIFT GEARS AND ALMOST HIT THE BACK OF A TRUCK STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO TURN INTO AN ABANDONED PARKING LOT AND STALL THE ENGINE TO STOP THE MOTORCYCLE. A PHONE CALL TO THE DEALER WAS MADE BY CELL PHONE AND THEY COULD NOT GET OUT TO PICK UP THE BIKE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. THE AIR TEMPERATURE 41 DEGREES AND OUT IN THE OPEN. I TOOK A CHANCE AND KEPT PULLING/PUMPING THE CLUTCH HANDLE TO BUILD ENOUGH FLUID PRESSURE TO BE ABLE TO SHIFT GEARS AND DRIVE THE BIKE ALONG SIDE THE ROAD TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER. DEALER/SERVICE STATED THEY RODE THE BIKE FIVE MILE AND HAD NO SHIFTING ISSUES. I EXPLAINED IF YOU PUMP THE LEVER YOU CAN FEEL THE PRESSURE BUILD AND THE CLUTCH WORKS. DEALER AGREED AS THEY PUMPED THE LEVER AND FELT THE SAME THING AND THAT WAS STRANGE. I REITERATED MY CONCERNS ABOUT THE FLUID LEVEL. IF THE BIKE PARKED ON A SLOP AND ON IT'S JEFFY STAND, THE LOW FLUID LEVEL COULD LEAD TO PROBLEMS AS THE CLUTCH WORE AND FLUID LEVEL DROPS. HD'S CLUTCH SERIOUS PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED. *TR

I EXPERIENCED COOLANT LEAKAGE AFTER COMING TO A STOP. THE DEALERSHIP SPENT A FEW DAYS TESTING AND MAKING THE REPAIR. AT APPROX.. 300 MILES IT DID IT AGAIN. COOLANT IS VERY SLIPPERY, IF COOLANT GETS ON A MOTORCYCLES TIRES IT WOULD BE ALL BAD. FROM WHAT I HAVE BEEN HEARING, HARLEY IS HAVING ISSUES WITH COOLANT LEAKS ON SELECTED NEW BIKES. THIS IS A WHOLE NEW DESIGN FOR HARLEY DAVIDSON, USED ON 3 2014 HARLEY DAVIDSON MODELS. I REALLY THINK THE ISSUE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. *TR