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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: cloudbase on April 25, 2015, 09:12:12 AM
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Harley-Davidson recalling over 54,000 bikes
Chris Bruce
Harley-Davidson is announcing two, separate campaigns that affect over 54,000 examples of the company's recent motorcycles.
In the larger recall, the company is repairing 45,901 examples of 2014 CVO Road King, the 2014-2015 Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Ultra Classic - Twin Cooled, Ultra Limited, Police Electra Glide, Street Glide, Street Glide Special, and CVO Street Glide; as well as the 2015 model year units of the Electra Glide Ultra Classic Low, Ultra Limited Low, Ultra Classic Low - Twin Cooled, Road Glide Special, and Road Glide. For these bikes, the clutch master cylinder may lose the ability to fully work, especially after long periods of being parked. According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (as a PDF, here), this is because "a chemical reaction inside of the sealed clutch system creates gas bubbles which may cause loss of clutch lift."
If this occurs, the bikes can move unexpectedly when the rider puts the transmission in gear. According to the NHTSA report, this problem is responsible for 313 warranty claims, 31 customer complaints, 27 incidents or crashes, and 4 minor injuries possibly linked to the issue. To fix things, Harley-Davidson dealers will flush the system and rebuild the master cylinder.
In a second, smaller campaign, Harley is also recalling 8,904 examples of the 2015 XG500 and XG750. Some of these motorcycles might not be manufactured with a rear reflector assembly, and therefore they don't meet federal guidelines. Dealers will install the part for affected owners.
(snip)
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Read more: http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/24/harley-davidson-recalling-over-54000-bikes/ (http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/24/harley-davidson-recalling-over-54000-bikes/)
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Harley-Davidson recalling over 54,000 bikes
Chris Bruce
Harley-Davidson is announcing two, separate campaigns that affect over 54,000 examples of the company's recent motorcycles.
In the larger recall, the company is repairing 45,901 examples of 2014 CVO Road King, the 2014-2015 Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Ultra Classic - Twin Cooled, Ultra Limited, Police Electra Glide, Street Glide, Street Glide Special, and CVO Street Glide; as well as the 2015 model year units of the Electra Glide Ultra Classic Low, Ultra Limited Low, Ultra Classic Low - Twin Cooled, Road Glide Special, and Road Glide. For these bikes, the clutch master cylinder may lose the ability to fully work, especially after long periods of being parked. According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (as a PDF, here), this is because "a chemical reaction inside of the sealed clutch system creates gas bubbles which may cause loss of clutch lift."
If this occurs, the bikes can move unexpectedly when the rider puts the transmission in gear. According to the NHTSA report, this problem is responsible for 313 warranty claims, 31 customer complaints, 27 incidents or crashes, and 4 minor injuries possibly linked to the issue. To fix things, Harley-Davidson dealers will flush the system and rebuild the master cylinder.
In a second, smaller campaign, Harley is also recalling 8,904 examples of the 2015 XG500 and XG750. Some of these motorcycles might not be manufactured with a rear reflector assembly, and therefore they don't meet federal guidelines. Dealers will install the part for affected owners.
(snip)
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Read more: http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/24/harley-davidson-recalling-over-54000-bikes/ (http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/24/harley-davidson-recalling-over-54000-bikes/)
If they are recalling a TON of bikes that mathematically works out to only one bike ;D
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If they are recalling a TON of bikes that mathematically works out to only one bike ;D
I had almost exactly the same thought, only I figured two! ;D
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I though clutches were figured out in the early 1900's. Guess not, ???
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I had almost exactly the same thought, only I figured two! ;D
10 000 out of work comedians, and they are all here! :o ;D
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If they are recalling a TON of bikes that mathematically works out to only one bike ;D
Ok that was funny....
I had almost exactly the same thought, only I figured two! ;D
Seriously. If we're talking Ultras you're not far from the truth. :o
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10 000 out of work comedians, and they are all here! :o ;D
They're not out of work; it's just the off-season. ;)
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The note about "been parked for a long time" is kind of funny--I really do see a lot of extremely low-mileage Harleys on the local Craigslist.
(though in their defense, you can only ride about 7 months of the year around here)
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I had almost exactly the same thought, only I figured two! ;D
You just got to love it. ;D :BEER:
Matt
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I though clutches were figured out in the early 1900's. Guess not, ???
Actually, now they just IMPROVE them.
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I though clutches were figured out in the early 1900's. Guess not, ???
Kinda like hydraulic lifters.
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OLD NEWS... :P
http://www.harley-davidson.com/content/h-d/en_US/home/events/press-release/general/2013/news120.html
Harley issued this months ago and the recent statement is to augment the numbets... ::)
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Actually, now they just IMPROVE them.
Kinda like hydraulic lifters.
Both have been around since forever. How hard can it be. ??? :BEER:
Matt
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Actually, now they just IMPROVE them.
Oh well. Given time NHTSA & DOT will require they become automatic. . . .with following distance control. . .lane departure warning. . .parking assist. . .bluetooth, GPS & wi-fii enabled.
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"especially after long periods of being parked" That's like most of them eh?
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I troll a harley board, and sure enough, you are sitting at a light with the clutch pulled in, and all of a sudden the bike lurches into the intersection. glad my 2013 has a cable clutch...
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I troll a harley board, and sure enough, you are sitting at a light with the clutch pulled in, and all of a sudden the bike lurches into the intersection. glad my 2013 has a cable clutch...
Common with the ancient rocker foot clutch/tankshift HD's after riding through rain. The leather friction washer on the foot clutch would get soaked, lose traction, and you'd be sitting there at a stoplight in first gear idling. Clutch pedal would flip down and off you'd go. It would get your attention. Right now.
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Been avoiding this thread because I don't like to bash Harleys (OK maybe a little bit ;D) , but dang , was missing out on some funny stuff :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Dusty
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Common with the ancient rocker foot clutch/tankshift HD's after riding through rain. The leather friction washer on the foot clutch would get soaked, lose traction, and you'd be sitting there at a stoplight in first gear idling. Clutch pedal would flip down and off you'd go. It would get your attention. Right now.
Origin of the term 'suicide clutch'.
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Even if the Harley "launched" itself into the intersection, surely by the time it got there the lights would have changed, lane markers would have been repainted and a repaving effort would have begun.
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Origin of the term 'suicide clutch'.
Hate to disagree with an older and wiser man, but the "suicide clutch" was the Indian clutch that had no friction hold or rocker pedal, and if your boot slipped off, that flathead torque at idle would put you right into the intersection.
When my '54 FLE rocker clutch would start to lose its grip, you could feel it coming and (usually) catch it; not so much suicide there.
Lannis
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Hate to disagree with an older and wiser man, but the "suicide clutch" was the Indian clutch that had no friction hold or rocker pedal, and if your boot slipped off, that flathead torque at idle would put you right into the intersection.
When my '54 FLE rocker clutch would start to lose its grip, you could feel it coming and (usually) catch it; not so much suicide there.
Lannis
Not too old to learn. I'm just repeating urban legend. No first hand experience...
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Even if the Harley "launched" itself into the intersection, surely by the time it got there the lights would have changed, lane markers would have been repainted and a repaving effort would have begun.
Good one-good one-good one. ;D :BEER:
Matt
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Hate to disagree with an older and wiser man, but the "suicide clutch" was the Indian clutch that had no friction hold or rocker pedal, and if your boot slipped off, that flathead torque at idle would put you right into the intersection.
When my '54 FLE rocker clutch would start to lose its grip, you could feel it coming and (usually) catch it; not so much suicide there.
Lannis
That is correct. The old HD rocker foot clutch was not a "suicide" type clutch. People that changed the rocker over to the suicide clutch probably also had 3 ft. ape hangers. You can't fix stupid.
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Oh ... I'm just here for the irony of Guzzi guys making fun of Harley recalls ... ;D
I always thought the suicide clutch was more directed at Harley...Because the over center feature or what holds the clutch disengaged could engage suddenly and catch the rider off guard. Sitting at a stop with a boot on the clutch and supporting the bike with the other leg is not necessarily a suicide thing?
Oh, I forgot, riders today always support the bike with both legs while stopped.. ;)
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Oh, I forgot, riders today always support the bike with both legs while stopped.. ;)
I do. Riding mostly in the flat lands it's a habit yo0u get into. Tends to bite me in the ass when I go to the hills to ride. Have to retrain. :BEER:
Matt
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A ton of HDs. That would only be like three bikes. ~;
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Oh ... I'm just here for the irony of Guzzi guys making fun of Harley recalls ... ;D
I always thought the suicide clutch was more directed at Harley...Because the over center feature or what holds the clutch disengaged could engage suddenly and catch the rider off guard. Sitting at a stop with a boot on the clutch and supporting the bike with the other leg is not necessarily a suicide thing?
Oh, I forgot, riders today always support the bike with both legs while stopped.. ;)
No. Even if the friction adjuster was starting to wear or get out of adjustment, it typically didn't "engage" suddenly ... it would slowly vibrate forward and you could feel it coming. You had to "rock" it with your foot, it didn't snap over center. The Indian clutch had to be held down like a car clutch. If an oil-slick boot slipped off, or you leaned a bit while stopped and didn't pay attention, it DID snap to engagement and there you were.
Although most of the 1954 Harley Big Twins had foot shifts, 54FLE1814 was a "50th Anniversary Model" with the hand shift and rocker clutch, and (being an FL"E") had the EL 61" cam in it.
To this day I don't know if the 61" cam was sportier or softer than the 74" F cam, having nothing to compare it to, but I put a lot of miles on that bike ..... and that old Brooks leather jacket ...
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/LannisSelz/Lannis1954Harley1976.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/LannisSelz/media/Lannis1954Harley1976.jpg.html)
Lannis
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The Indian clutch was/is supposed to stay down too. I've never seen one that didn't.
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The Indian clutch was/is supposed to stay down too. I've never seen one that didn't.
I'm not an expert on all the Indian clutches - some of them may have been rocker types.
The older Indian "Fours" had a car-type clutch, though.
Lannis
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Sounds like a simple enough fix for Harley. Not like they're tearing an engine down. At least they admit fault. Kudos for that. ;-T
Go about your bashing.
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No. Even if the friction adjuster was starting to wear or get out of adjustment, it typically didn't "engage" suddenly ... it would slowly vibrate forward and you could feel it coming. You had to "rock" it with your foot, it didn't snap over center. The Indian clutch had to be held down like a car clutch. If an oil-slick boot slipped off, or you leaned a bit while stopped and didn't pay attention, it DID snap to engagement and there you were.
Although most of the 1954 Harley Big Twins had foot shifts, 54FLE1814 was a "50th Anniversary Model" with the hand shift and rocker clutch, and (being an FL"E") had the EL 61" cam in it.
Lannis
I rode a left throttle foot clutch Indian....I don't remember much but the left throttle was bizzare.. For some reason I remember the Harley being an over center device...
I don't sit at typical traffic lights in gear with the clutch pulled in...my shift foot on the peg, the other foot on the ground.
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I rode a left throttle foot clutch Indian....I don't remember much but the left throttle was bizzare.. For some reason I remember the Harley being an over center device...
I don't sit at typical traffic lights in gear with the clutch pulled in...my shift foot on the peg, the other foot on the ground.
Yeah, the old HD foot clutch was an overcenter unit. But if you had put in higher pressure clutch springs, which I had done, without the friction leather washer working it would flip back over center quickly. Just had to remember that when it got wet to put it in neutral at a light.
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I once rode a knucklehead with an aftermarket speed e shifter , a mechanical device with a gated linkage that automatically shifted the trans up or down when the clutch pedal was depressed depending on where a small lever was positioned . Developed for drag racing , sold on the aftermarket in the late 30s early 40s .
Dusty
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I once rode a knucklehead with an aftermarket speed e shifter , a mechanical device with a gated linkage that automatically shifted the trans up or down when the clutch pedal was depressed depending on where a small lever was positioned . Developed for drag racing , sold on the aftermarket in the late 30s early 40s .
Dusty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMK1XVGI_mc
Had to look that one up. Pretty clever.
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There is possibly a touch of envy at Piaggio, imagining what it would be like to have 45000 late model motorcycles to fix under warranty here in the US> ;D ;D
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMK1XVGI_mc
Had to look that one up. Pretty clever.
Missed the Speed e shifter reference . I probably am not spelling it quite right . One question , in what universe is a V-rod capable of 200 MPH ;D
Dusty
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"especially after long periods of being parked" That's like most of them eh?
nah they ride around on trailers a lot though.
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Missed the Speed e shifter reference . I probably am not spelling it quite right . One question , in what universe is a V-rod capable of 200 MPH ;D
Dusty
:D An alternate one.