Had a call from HD

Flipfly

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So I had a lovely call from Robinhood HD asking how I was getting on with my RKS :blast:D:D:D

Lets just say I didn’t hold back :green gri

The HDUK technical guru on the stand at the NEC said that the gearbox to primary oil migration thing was not an issue, it had been fully tested and it was found that it can’t happen :rolleyes: Apparently, HD went back to a cable clutch because they found that their customers preferred the ‘look’ of the cable clutch :blagblah:blagblah:blagblah
Then to top it off, when I explained what had happened to mine, the Robinhood guy says ‘yeah, we’ve had quite a few failures of that nature’.

How the feck are these idiots still in business?

Can’t stand the look of the Indians, but a 5 year warranty on their touring models…..3 more than the shisters!
 
So I had a lovely call from Robinhood HD asking how I was getting on with my RKS :blast:D:D:D

Lets just say I didn’t hold back :green gri

The HDUK technical guru on the stand at the NEC said that the gearbox to primary oil migration thing was not an issue, it had been fully tested and it was found that it can’t happen :rolleyes: Apparently, HD went back to a cable clutch because they found that their customers preferred the ‘look’ of the cable clutch :blagblah:blagblah:blagblah
Then to top it off, when I explained what had happened to mine, the Robinhood guy says ‘yeah, we’ve had quite a few failures of that nature’.

How the feck are these idiots still in business?

Can’t stand the look of the Indians, but a 5 year warranty on their touring models…..3 more than the shisters!

I don't think the hydraulic clutch causes the oil migration, I can't see from an engineering point of view that it makes any difference, but I must admit I prefer the cable clutch purely for it's "feel".

HD's technical guru at the NEC must have his head up his arse if he really believes what he said that it wasn't an issue. My 2019 RKS suffered from it as well and if it wasn't an issue, why would HD go to the trouble of providing a fix (the primary vent kit)? :nenau

As for Indians.....I like the Challenger/Pursuit.......and Geronimo :D
 
I don't think the hydraulic clutch causes the oil migration, I can't see from an engineering point of view that it makes any difference, but I must admit I prefer the cable clutch purely for it's "feel".

HD's technical guru at the NEC must have his head up his arse if he really believes what he said that it wasn't an issue. My 2019 RKS suffered from it as well and if it wasn't an issue, why would HD go to the trouble of providing a fix (the primary vent kit)? :nenau

As for Indians.....I like the Challenger/Pursuit.......and Geronimo :D

Mine had the primary vent and it didn’t fix it.

There is an underlying issue with the hydraulic clutch design, that’s why they reverted back to the cable clutch as they didn’t have the oil migration issue with the 103 engined cable clutch bikes, or any of the M8 soft tails due to them having cable clutch.

Honestly, it was just a long list of bullshit, from HDUK would never say that…..soon back peddled when I showed him the email from HDUK! (To which apparently the guy who responded to me didn’t have the authority to respond!…..er ok, so why did he?).
Followed by, most reliable bikes ever, no issue with oil migration etc etc……..quite a magical experience, I thought he’d probably make a decent comedian :D
 
You'd have thought that M$B would have been the first rider to have had an issue on his M8 107 given the way he treats it. Makes me wonder what mods that might have had? :nenau
 
I had a call from HD yesterday as well.

They said, "Sir, your Pan America is nearly ready. We have replaced the BCM, the battery and done all the software updates. But it's still not charging properly, so we are waiting for a new stator."

I said, "What did I tell you the problem was when I dropped the bike off two months ago?"

They looked at the paperwork and said, "You said it was probably an alternator/stator issue Sir....."

When I dropped the bike off, I told them I suspected the stator was shot. The bike was running fine but wasn't charging properly unless revs were over 3K or so. As it's a new model bike, they have to ask HD for authorisation for warranty repairs and the HD mothership said "Change out the BCM". I told them that wasn't the issue, but they had to do it first. So we waited for new BCM to arrive....

I also told them again yesterday that when they open the engine case up to change the stator, they need to have a really good look for bits of magnet in there as I have seen reports of a few bikes where a magnet has come loose and bits of it have gone through the engine, resulting in the need for a whole new engine.

Now 2 months does seem like a long time, but I dropped the bike off when I picked up my new Low Rider ST, which I have been happily riding for that time. And in fairness to HD, they did offer me a loan Pan America if I wanted one. They have also swapped out the original battery with a new Antigravity Lithium one which is a bit of a bonus.

But let's see how long a new stator takes to arrive. Not before Christmas would be my guess...
 
You'd have thought that M$B would have been the first rider to have had an issue on his M8 107 given the way he treats it. Makes me wonder what mods that might have had? :nenau

I thought it was a 114 ?
 
I thought it was a 114 ?

Daniels bike is an early RKS which is a 107.

I think he has had a stage 2 with a torque cam and in one of his vlogs he ran it alongside Parry’s 114 RKS and he accelerated away.
 
Daniels bike is an early RKS which is a 107.

I think he has had a stage 2 with a torque cam and in one of his vlogs he ran it alongside Parry’s 114 RKS and he accelerated away.

Ah ok cheers.
 
I had a call from HD yesterday as well.

They said, "Sir, your Pan America is nearly ready. We have replaced the BCM, the battery and done all the software updates. But it's still not charging properly, so we are waiting for a new stator."

I said, "What did I tell you the problem was when I dropped the bike off two months ago?"

They looked at the paperwork and said, "You said it was probably an alternator/stator issue Sir....."

When I dropped the bike off, I told them I suspected the stator was shot. The bike was running fine but wasn't charging properly unless revs were over 3K or so. As it's a new model bike, they have to ask HD for authorisation for warranty repairs and the HD mothership said "Change out the BCM". I told them that wasn't the issue, but they had to do it first. So we waited for new BCM to arrive....

I also told them again yesterday that when they open the engine case up to change the stator, they need to have a really good look for bits of magnet in there as I have seen reports of a few bikes where a magnet has come loose and bits of it have gone through the engine, resulting in the need for a whole new engine.

Now 2 months does seem like a long time, but I dropped the bike off when I picked up my new Low Rider ST, which I have been happily riding for that time. And in fairness to HD, they did offer me a loan Pan America if I wanted one. They have also swapped out the original battery with a new Antigravity Lithium one which is a bit of a bonus.

But let's see how long a new stator takes to arrive. Not before Christmas would be my guess...

Honestly……that’s dreadful!

Why anyone accepts this as acceptable or continues to class HD as a premium brand, is beyond me.

In contrast, I had very slight wear on the cams of my 1250 GSA, they spotted it during the service, picked the bike up 2 weeks later (my fault, I couldn’t let them have it earlier) and in less than 24hrs later, the bike was ready to be returned.

Much as I dislike the look of them, I’ll be choosing an Indian with its 5 year warranty if I go back to a cruiser.
 
Honestly……that’s dreadful!

Why anyone accepts this as acceptable or continues to class HD as a premium brand, is beyond me.

In contrast, I had very slight wear on the cams of my 1250 GSA, they spotted it during the service, picked the bike up 2 weeks later (my fault, I couldn’t let them have it earlier) and in less than 24hrs later, the bike was ready to be returned.

Much as I dislike the look of them, I’ll be choosing an Indian with its 5 year warranty if I go back to a cruiser.

You are right and it is shit. But I don't really care. I have other bikes to ride, so I am OK with it being "in the shop". They did offer me a replacement one, which I just didn't take them up on, so I guess that's their obligation taken care of. If I walked in there tomorrow, they would give me a new bike to ride in about five minutes flat and let me keep it as long as I wanted.

All in all, their customer service is good, but I haven't really availed myself of it. I can only ride one bike at a time and have been having fun on the FXLRST.
 
Honestly……that’s dreadful!

Why anyone accepts this as acceptable or continues to class HD as a premium brand, is beyond me.

In contrast, I had very slight wear on the cams of my 1250 GSA, they spotted it during the service, picked the bike up 2 weeks later (my fault, I couldn’t let them have it earlier) and in less than 24hrs later, the bike was ready to be returned.

Much as I dislike the look of them, I’ll be choosing an Indian with its 5 year warranty if I go back to a cruiser.

Which Indian? :nenau
 
. Much as I dislike the look of them, I’ll be choosing an Indian with its 5 year warranty if I go back to a cruiser.

I ride my long tours every year with three guys on Indians. They love them and have never had a major problem. Two have Roadmasters and the third has a Chieftain Dark Horse. Not quite my cup of tea but they all love them and from what I can tell, the build quality is decent and they certainly ride well. Very good touring machines in my view.
 
Captain Arsey Certainly rates them.
 
I ride my long tours every year with three guys on Indians. They love them and have never had a major problem. Two have Roadmasters and the third has a Chieftain Dark Horse. Not quite my cup of tea but they all love them and from what I can tell, the build quality is decent and they certainly ride well. Very good touring machines in my view.

Captain Arsey Certainly rates them.

I love the Challenger which features the new PowerPlus water cooled motor putting out 122bhp.

I actually went to rent a Chieftain but it wasn’t available, so the dealer recommended the Challenger, saying I’d probably prefer it .

It was utterly fabulous with a very low c of g giving amazing handling despite its looks .



Fast as fuck too.

I took a Chieftain around the block when I dropped the Challenger back and it was horrid in comparison.
 
I love the Challenger which features the new PowerPlus water cooled motor putting out 122bhp.

I actually went to rent a Chieftain but it wasn’t available, so the dealer recommended the Challenger, saying I’d probably prefer it .

It was utterly fabulous with a very low c of g giving amazing handling despite its looks .



Fast as fuck too.

I took a Chieftain around the block when I dropped the Challenger back and it was horrid in comparison.

can only imagine how good it must have been riding somewhere like that with big open spaces :okay
 


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