Hi all,

Recently returned from a short ride in the Victorian country side after my 2009 Superglide decided to shut down between Yackadanda and Mittamitta. Symtoms were - no fuel pump and ignition.

Immediately I thought the worst and considered that my Thundermax tuner was playing up. I and others checked the main fuse and played around with the fob without success. The next point of call was RACV who trucked me back to Albury Harley.

Albury Harley mechanics checked over the bike and after an hour of mucking around told me that they couldn't work it out and because of the Thundermax tuner they weren't willing to play with it.

Next point of call was RACV again who trucked my bike back to Melbourne and I caught the train...spewing!

Received the bike back this morning and decided to problem solve. Checked the ECM fuse and all good. Checked the ignition fuse...corroded and visually I could see a break in the fuse. Pulled the 15a spare and plugged it in and away she went.

I was estastic to have the bike fixed with such ease considering that I thought I was going to have to change out my Thundermax. Then I got thinking I paid for an hour of labour for Harley to problem solve and fix this bike. These guys are suppose to be subject matter experts with Harleys. How is it they couldn't sort out a simple problem like this, then charge me for the work. The money wasn't the issue they spent time on it, what annoys me is they didn't have the mind to check basics. I naturally assume this would have been the first thing done. Extremely dissapointed that the incompetence of Harley led to the termination of a long awaited riding trip.

Are these guys actually qualified mechanics? Cant believe anyone with real mechanical experience would miss this.

 

Can fully understand how you feel... when I bought my 2000 sportster a couple of years ago (sold it last year and bought a new Breakout) it would just konk out were ever I went... absolutely the most frustrating thing ever and it went on for 9 months... took it to reliable people to fix but just kept konking out... konked out in the country... konked out in the city... anyway to cut a long story short the bike konked out in front of a farm house out in the country that had two big dogs out in the front gate and they were snarling at me so I thought I better get this bike going quickly because they looked like they were coming for me... fiddled quickly around the wiring of the bike and noticed a wire to the ignition coil was loose... finger clamped it and the bike fired up... never had a problem with the bike again.... now why the heck couldn't people who know Harleys work that one out... easy fix. 

because they rely on a computer to solve the problem, if the computer comes up blank then they, so called techs are fucked as they don't posses the skills to solve said problem by the simple process of elimination.

I believe you were on the Snowy Ride Arrowhead !!! Pity you didn't check the 15 A fuse on the ride !!!!
I think we all have a story of Harley , (and other auto repairers and trades), that have missed something, that could have been so easily sorted out.... In the OP's case, I have to agree that after one hour of simple fault finding , you would think fuses,, damaged wires,, connections would be priority !!!!! Seems it was a simple fix,, but a guy I know has the Thundermax, and when he does a long ride , he always carries the Harley ECM in his saddle bags , so if a problems arises, Harley dealers ,(or larger bike shops), can change back to the original ECM , do their fault finding and hopefully get him on the road again !! This is probably the only negative for the Thundermax in my opinion !!!! Anyway Arrowhead, lesson learnt,, when you are on a long ride and shit happens, relax ,, take your time,, have a break and have a smoke in the shade,, check all the basic things.... By the way ,, what was the train ride like !!!!!!! Cheers Mate ...

PS,, I was supposed to be on the Snowy Ride also,, bike for some reason went into Limp mode two days before the ride,, checked codes ,, checked and cleaned connections etc,, no luck !!!
Bike is at dealer as we speak .. Hope my experience is better than yours ......

A arrowhead 

 

ask for your money back 

they never fixed it so how can they charge for a service fee that didn't fix anything ??

you oughta be working at this Dealership given your limited knowledge was able to fix the prob ( that's meant in a nice way of course)

 

Id be hurling if I was in your shoes bud 

Hi mate,

Yeah, lesson learnt alright. Only problem with taking the original ECM is that the Thundermax also uses its own o2 sensors so not sure how the original ECM would work? Will take it anyway next time in case I have to change the lot over. Your right about taking your time and just checking the basics, we were way too quick to blame the Thundermax which in the end hasn't missed a beat since I have owned the bike.

Train ride was comfortable I guess, I hate leaving my bike anywhere I can't keep an eye on it. The four or so hours at Harley waiting for the train wasn't so great along with my painful negotiations with RACV. Missing out on all that cornering is what hurts the most. Will take the bike out in the next couple of weeks for some Great Ocean Road cornering just to round off my tyres a little.

Good luck with your bike.

Kato

Other mates have said the same, however I couldn't fault Harley's customer service in that they looked after me while waiting for the train (only two trains in the afternoon from Albury), even going to the extent of driving me to the station. The "Harley Technicians" were just kids, in there early 20's. I really don't think they had much of a clue and hopefully they have also learnt from the experience. I will exhaust all other options in the future before taking a bike to Harley. Just chalking this one up to 'lesson learnt' and moving on.

"Are Harley Mechanics Qualified" ?

Yeah ... 'Factory Trained', no less !

What the F**k does THAT mean ? Do they all do a stint over in the States ?

Or, maybe ... watch a video and read the literature ?

( I need to phone and make a booking for my stage 1 very very soon, so am a little anxious about the 'quality' of service my bike will receive ) 

Unfortunately you have to check things today after getting a service or things done to your machine... has the oil been overfilled ... if you have a sports bike and they take off the fairing to service it... check that electrical stuff has been reconnected, like front turning lights... it's not just bikes... I took my much loved car in to get new brake pads, wheel alignment and wheels balanced... the chrome on the wheels were damaged by clamps or whatever... also had massive banging going on on my front right brake calipher when I picked the car... was told it was normal... had to fix it myself in the end... taking belovered machines to others is stressfull and I now do most of the work myself once they go out of warranty.   

Yeah ...
Last TWO times I've had my car 'serviced', the engine oil has been overfilled !
FFS !

Harley mechanics are meant to be trained by Harley. However there is nothing like experience to differentiate a good mechanic from a lesser one.  Also some folk are just good at things while others never seem to get any better or just don't care. Not just Harley mechanics here either, it goes for all things including neuro surgeons. Worth thinking about when you need a spinal or brain repair.

Wether thay work for Harley ,Kawasaki,Suzuki, or what ever else auto,motorcycle dealership thay still have to do a apprenticeship time 4 1/2 to 5 years depending on what state there in
And at tafe just because it's Harley doesn't mean thay don't have to have any formal training hd would do trading days at head office every few mths For updates and problem fixes
Like any brand automotive would have

Servicing a machine (car or bike) isn't difficult... like changing oil, oil filter and things like spark plugs... if you have a daily drive and you are not too sure about doing more complicated stuff then it's best to get someone to do it for you... if a vehicle isn't a daily drive but more of a recreational machine then you can stuff around with it and learn as you go... for instance, I have a 1988 C4 Corvette... something is always going South with it, but I Google it and off I go... for instance it took months to fix the 2 cooling fans and include manual switches in the cabin... did it during winter when I didn't need the fans operating... lots of trial and error and stuff ups but in the end I enjoyed the fact I did it myself... also saved money... done most things on the car, like new interior fitout, exhaust fix, putting in a new fuel pump in the fuel tank (very very carefully I may add)... over the years saved a lot of money... I now also service and look after my jap bike (since it has gone out of warranty)... included taking off the fairing and stuff... but if you take your time and carefully do things its not too hard.  It's also handy to have someone help you... my partner is a great help.... 

^ Eggs Ackerly ^

unfortunately a lot of younger mechanics nowdays do their apprenticeships just servicing newer cars/bikes, plugging vehicles into a diagnostic laptop, finding a fault code, and simply replacing the part with another off the shelf, they aren't mechanics, my missus could do that

a similar thread a week or so ago had a dealership try charging a member $600 to fit a new battery, after some resistance they end up charging him $300, what a fucking joke, the oem HD batteries are $180 retail over the counter. How can they justify these kind of prices?

as ive stated on several posts before, the last place I would take my HD is to a dealership, absolutely fucken hopeless
actually it wouldn't even be the last place, I simply wouldn't go to one at all

I have found during my short time as a Harley owner is that everthing Harley has a premium put on it because of the name.

Never had this crap with my previous jap crap bikes, but still when you are out on the highway cruising its worth it.

The ones ive met call themselves 'technicians' not mechanics.

After buying my Ultra last year I rode her from Townsville to Adelaide and back and had her booked in for a service two days after I returned home.
Part of the service is to clean the two radiators. After the service I detailed the bike, and she needed it after a month on the road.
Both radiators were still full of dead bugs and crap. The 'technician' told me that during game their training, Harley told him to just get a air hose in there.

My point is a mechanic knows how things work and therefore can diagnose and fix things. A technician doesn't.

Like being a sandwich technician at Subway.

'Wildchild' has his/her location registered as Northern Vic.

Conflict of interests, given OP talks about same region ?

I've just owne my Road Kind Since September and have already been disinchanted ny so called HD maechanics.

One episode cost me $400 for a tow after a totla elec failure though it had been in several occasion for charging issue, finally discoved faulty regulator after 4 strips.

Had to get front tyre re balance twice after new tyre, eventually by my own static balance apparatus(only $70), wheel now balanced and all good.

Then come throttle sensor replacement after which issues with cruise control.

So for no actual reason thought I would check throttle myself.

Imagine my disgust when undoing screws on hand brake and throttle housing, discover they were just over finger tight, so realign and re tighten now no cruise issue.

And me only back yard mechanic.

Will not return to dealer for work in future, I have lost faith with dealership, will use newly discovered mobile mechanic.

End of rant.

Seriously .. get a bike lift, a set of SAE sockets and bits, a service manual and never look back.