Harley-Davidson® 2007

Road King®, Electra Glide®, Road Glide®, Street Glide®, Ultra Classic®

 Dyna Super Glide®,  Dyna Wide Glide®,  Dyna Low Rider, Dyna Street Bob®

Softail Standard®, Softail Deuce®, Softail Fatboy®, Softail Deluxe®, Softail Heritage®

MORE TESTIMONIALS

       Sad stories from owners of 2007 Harley-Davidson's keep rolling in.  The confusing thing is that I am also getting a few emails from folks with no problems.  This means the problems, while predominant, are not occurring on all of the bikes.  I would assume this means that the ones with problems should be fixable with less effort than we had to go through.  As far as I know the dealers and the MoCo are still climbing that none of these issues exist with the over heating and they now just say the transmission noise is the way it is supposed to sound.

    While some of the past testimonials are still found below I have decided to freshen up the page by putting this one up toward the top.  Got this one this morning and I can feel this dudes pain.  He said to use his name but I'll hold up on that.  When H-D sends me the cease and desist letter like they recently sent another site I don't want anyone to get hit by the shrapnel.

11/8/2006

    You are probably going to be very busy compiling all the snuck-ups with the '07's--Here's my rub and I'll try to make it short but I am a famous rant.

 
     Bought '07 Ultra--drove home 127 miles. By that time ping and heat were unbearable. Called dealership-30 seconds into conversation I was told I would need SERT. Had 'em before. Know all about them and associated costs. Wonderful tool. But after  $ 22,000, if SERT was required to fix-and they knew it-then like all others I asked who would be footing this expense and yaw know what they said. Then they said ya know these baggers are pretty heavy. That didn't wash--then they said they knew I pulled trailer--so what--Been doing that for years with way to many other Harleys and never had ping on stock bikes. Seemed like for sure they were already schooled on a bag of excuses. The instant " You need a SERT " was the giveaway. We couldn't trailer back to dealership for a week so I had some time to do my own research. And I did a bunch and was horrified at what I found. This WAS a big issue and MOCO is mum on it. So $ 100 bucks for truck gas round trip and we delivered it back and I had long talk with them and they said MOCO had instructed them to check a bunch of crap , fuel pressure etc, looking for excuse other than too lean and needing SERT They said they found bad o2 sensor but after replacing it still may have faint ping after 40o test drive--that to me would be worse during 90+ summer days. So I asked for SERT and consideration. They did that for 20% off and no labor so I suppose I was to feel better that at least I got greased up first. This with out a doubt made a totally different bike out of it. Trailer back to pick it up-another $ 100 bucks. $ 560 plus invested now-motel for night-wife found wine shop-cheese shop--fancy steak house for supper and total weekend cost an extra $ 400 not counting hundreds spent shopping at our favorite shop cause it was 20% off and Wife goes haywire if it says sale.--Total spent..$1,400 with the $560 on problem--cost of frustration, immeasurable.  Value of Harley time spent with Wife--PRICELESS. Value of time listening to Wife complain about '07 and we shoulda kept '05...$$$$$$$.
 

     The bike also has a 5th gear whine that sounds like the 5:88 rear end in my drag car. So I complained and they hadn't had any complaints on that--BULLHOCKEY. No fix offered other than it may go away with miles--YA--RITE--I was born in '51--not yesterday.

After a lot of my own investigation I put in Red line Shockproof--whine still there, but now I can find neutral--it was impossible before that. Got 2,000 miles on bike now and I use 5th gear whine as a 5th gear indicator.
 

    I complained to everybody on the food chain all the way up to the CEO and the Board of Directors of the MOCO and 2 months later have yet to get response. And I ain't camping out by the mailbox waiting for my reply/refund.

I surf the MSN Harley Tech Talk website daily and there is a thread about '07's pinging and 5th gear whine, and all the other stuff that is wrong with these bikes from the MOCO. Use my story-get more detailed info from me if you wish and put my name on the class action for when warm weather crops back up in the spring-a ton of guys and gals who got there '07's late in the year and those buying new bikes in the spring are all gonna be unhappy when they have to go through what we did.
 

     I'm not a whiner or complainer. My dealer said one day he won't sell bikes to some cause they are " Chronic Complainers " but I was not in that club. I'm 55 years young -retired  32 year GE--in the mechanical electrical robotic auto assembly fields with the last 10 years in hands on supervisiry capacity-had like umpteen Harleys for 40 years-ran my own bike shop-stay current on technology- I'm Life AMA-Charter Life National Hog---Charter local HOG--Abate---and life time 36 year Board Member of local private Motorcycle Benevolent Club--Not braggin--just showing my credentials I don't know it all--but I ain't no dummy And I know when I'm being Hoodwinked.--I am one of the reasons Harley is where it's at today--I'm a stockholder for their future. And they need to step up to the plate on this one--or 2--or 3--issues.

       See---I do rant. But we ride 10,000 mile plus a year and we walk the walk--our entire life is Harleys. My wife has her own bike, my Brothers my Boy etc, etc. And my family conection goes back to the '30's.

But in reality it makes no difference if your a wrinkled old scarred up, limping lifetime Biker or your purchasing your first Harley--you ain't gonna be happy with the '07 problems. The MOCO seems to be all about profits-but this kinda issue will not help them. They can reimburse me for all my expenses and I'll garrantee ya that there will be papers to sign before I purchase another new bike. We bought 4 new bikes in the last 4 years. I probably won't get any dealer to sign papers on free fixing my next purchase. So we may just have to go back to builing bike. And I'll tell ya, it'll be all S&S with 3 wires for electrics and a S&S Super E. After several issues with other bikes that were  " just off warrantee " and having to spend thousands to fix, I vowed to always have newer bike with coverage. With the new 2 year warrantees I felt better keeping one longer--But it didn't do me much good on a $ 22,000 bike with 130 miles on it. If it wasn't for the grace of my dealer I would have had to spend hundreds more for SERT and set up. My local Indy coulda beat Harleys cost, but because it was " covered " it went back. Rant ceased.
Feel very free to contact me anytime on these issues. I am at your service.
 
Respectfully,
S. K. W., Illinois

( Y.O.B.B. )

Young at Heart
Old in Bones
Biker for Life
Broke for Sure
 
 

I just wanted to let you know about the problems I have experienced. 07 ULTRA with 5k. Bought it 2 weeks before Sturgis so it would be broke in before hand. First problem was in South Dakota going up a long grade nothing major and it started to ping (detonate) really bad. I fill up when tank is dry and usually put in anywhere from 5 to 5.3.gallons of fuel, tried 85 and everything in-between to 94 octane and it made no difference. Talked to the factory reps in Rapid City and they couldn't believe I was talking about one of there new bikes. They immediately assumed I changed pipes or had done something to gain performance. They said to take it to Rapid City dealer (and ride what when they look at it for a day) no thanks, and when I talked to my dealer they didn't have a clue since it wouldn't do it when I took it to them. I talked them into doing a stage one download and it ran perfect for about a month then the problem came back. My bike I should mention is stock, no pipes or filter. I didn't pay any attention to the heat until I got back from trip, this sucker is on the verge of a melt down. The factory has these bikes running way toooo lean. At 2000rpm when barley twisting the throttle it seems to almost slow down, as if no additional fuel is being delivered when the throttle plate is opening. I think this is the problem people talk about for the surging problem. I'm 100% positive that a race tuner or power commander will take care of all these problems but I shouldn't have to buy a 400.00 add on just to get my bike to perform the way it should from the factory. One last problem is sixth gear is really noisy when wide open from 2-3k rpm's. Sounds like a really bad vibration in primary like a loose compensator sprocket. It will come and go under load until I'm over 3k. I did pull it apart to ck and everything was tight. I did find a lot of starter gear chunks, good thing it has two years warranty cause it will need a gear before spring if it keeps this up. I'm pretty confident that it will be resolved thru my dealer weather it is a tuner at cost or the factory coming up with a solution.  thanks for your postings, I thought I was the only one with problems.

B. in Iowa


 

There are excessive heat issues with the 06 too. I have never owned a bike that runs this hot even with a remap k and n and pipes. I think I will add a oil cooler and synthetic oil (royal purple has really cooled the rear cylinder. Some of these riders are weak  and dont flog their bikes. If they get them out there and run them hard, they will break in quickly and not run as hot. Still after 9000 miles on my o6 , if you sit in traffic it gets damn hot

   This guy bowed up on his dealer and they fixed his bike at their cost.  As soon as I get their name I am going to post it up so anyone local to them will know where to buy their bike.

   I bought mine late in August, put 900 miles on it over a very hot weekend 105 degrees, every time I stopped at a light I would get off or get burned. Monday I returned the bike to the dealer and told them to fix it or send me a check. They fixed it (Free) it has 4800 miles on it.   

 

Hi, I saw your site about 2007 problems, My Wife and I bought new bikes last Sunday. She got the 1200 sportster (low), it seems fine. I bought a '07 road glide, Very disappointed, it surges but it feels like the brakes are coming on and going off very quickly and subtlety. It shakes on the freeway, I like your wife have ridden Harleys all my life and my Dad put me on his '65 pan with suicide clutch when I was 11,I'm 49 now) so when I say shakes its not like the typical Harley shake, something is wrong. I let go of the handlebars at say 20mph up to 40mph and the front end shakes left to right like a speed wobble. I have 500 miles on it in 1 week. Tomorrow Monday the 16th I am taking it back to the dealer for them to fix it, so they say, I'll let you know how it goes but so far I am sorry I bought it, I have an old friend, a '99 road glide with well over 100,000 miles on it that I told my Wife I'd sell to help defray the cost of this bike but so far am hesitant to sell it, its a good bike,

Thanks for your site,

D H

Hello,
 I will chime in as well, I wish I had seen your website before I purchased my 07 Ultra in July! I Too noticed the heat and tranny issues immediately! This is the 1st Harley I have ever owned. I have ridden metric cruisers for about 10 years now, with some problems with them as well, but nothing like the problems with my new American made bike that cost 3 times what the metrics do!
 
Anyhow, on July the 24th I bought my Ultra from East Coast Harley in Woodbridge Va. I had already spoken to them, and had ordered a set of Rhinehart true duals, and the race tuner, at a mere $2,100.00! They said it would take about 2 - 3 weeks to come in. ( it's now October 25th, and no pipes yet!) I drove away towards home (about 50 miles) I immediately noticed the heat issue! I had to ride through several traffic lights, and it got worse at each one. By the time I had reached the halfway point, at each stoplight I had to raise each leg individually to get some relief from the heat. Then after about 40 miles or so, I was able to shift into 5th gear. What a shock that was! I could hear the noise ( to me it sounds like a LOUD chirping noise) I thought it was damaged or something! I shifted back into fourth, and the noise went away! Back into 5th, and it started again. I could hear the noise over the radio! All I could hear in my head was....  " Buy a Harley, buy American, by a real bike!!" from my Harley buddies. I was thinking what have I done?!?!?!
 
When I got home I immediately called the dealer, and they said "Hmmm, never heard of those problems before, when you bring it in for your 1st service, tell the service writer about it, and we'll take a look at it". 11 days later I had the 1000 miles on it that the service mgr said it needed for them to do the 1st service. I had to be there Saturday morning at 0730 because "they don't make service appointments" I had the service done, and switched to syn 3. They said that they test rode the bike, and didn't hear any noise! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! So, I took the bike, paid the 400 bucks for a 1st service, and rode away. Yep, you guessed it, the 1st time I hit 5th gear, it was even worse! And to make matters worse, 1st gear had started to make the "whine". When I got home I called back again, this time I spoke to the service mgr, who said that if I brought it in late Monday, they would look at it 1st thing Tuesday. So, I did. I called and the bike was not ready yet. I called the next day and was told the bike was ready. I asked him what they found, and he said " nothing is wrong with the tranny" I asked about the 5th gear noise, and again he said "there is no noise in 5th gear" I almost lost it! I said you have got to be kidding me, you don't hear any noise in 5th gear? He said "your bike is ready, come pick it up! " So, I said Ok, you got it, I'll be right there! They must have heard the anger in my voice, cuz when I got there, they had several of the bigger guys there standing next to the service manager, I just laughed to myself! . I said "let me ask you one more time, Did you hear any noise in the tranny in 5th gear?"  This time he said "no noise other than what Harley Davidson says is acceptable". He then told me that they had contacted Harley, and they had issued a memo about the tranny noise due to 1st, and 5th being differently cut gears. He then showed me the memo, which I have a copy of!
 
So, since then I have been using another dealer to do my service on the bike! I have approx. 3500 miles on the bike now, and it still makes noise in 1st and 5th, still surges at about 2500 RPM's I am waiting for the new pipes to arrive. They should be here by Monday. We'll see.
 
After all this I have to say that my confidence in Harley Davidson has certainly been shattered! It seems like their only focus is sell, sell, sell!!! I would not be surprised to see a class action lawsuit brought on due to this, similar to the one already in place over HD trying to boost it's stock prices by pushing product to the dealers.
 
I too, am not trying to bash Harley! I have always admired it for being an American made bike, and for the pure power, and sound of the bikes. I just feel that in my humble opinion ( I know I will start something here! ) they have become yet another overpriced victim of the American Unions.
 
Beware before you purchase an 07 Harley!
 
Thanks,
W G
 

11/10/2006

     I am having the same problem with my Electroglide Standard and Freedom Harley in Denver is denying it is their problem they say go to Harley direct and they have never heard of the problem. I am going to talk to an attorney friend of mine to see if we can start a clas action suit, are you interested? I put 6500 mile on mine in Sept. thinking that sooner or later the breakin will happen and it will cool down, also put sythetic oil in to cool it down did not help. It runs so hot I change all fluids every 1500 tranny and engine.

R. R.

  This guy had the same issues with his 2006 88" fuel injection bike.  He did basically the same thing we did plus a couple of other little things and is now pleased as punch.

11/13/2006

I have an 06 EG Std. 88" I bought in Nov. 2005. The 06 88" had the same issue with running hot. HD used the same reason about leaning the motor out to meet EPA regs. The 06 models also had the map set so that one cyl. would cut out if the bike got to hot, this only happened once to me. The reason is to prevent damage to the motor, todays motors are not as forgiving to high heat as the older cast iron engines were.

 
When I bought my 06 I also had surging problems, runninng hot and hard starting. I also did not think the 88" had any oomph to speak of, so I had the 95" build done on the engine, with new slip on pipes, SE air cleaner and a Power Commander. The bike ran considerably cooler and would now get up and go, although I still had the surging problem and it was still hard to start at times. The MOCO's fix was to install fuel injectors for the 103" motor. This was at MOCO's expense and the problem was fixed. I have now had 23,000 trouble free miles over the past year and I am totally satisfied with my bike.
 
You are correct though. HD should have all of these problems fixed before the bike is ever sold to the public. If you go buy just about any metric bike, they are ready to ride as far as you like right from the get go. The only extra you should have to spend, should be purely an option not a necessity.

11/15/2006

With all I’m hearing about the 2007’s I’d like to tell you about my wife’s 2006 Dyna. As I’m sure you know the 06 Dyna’s were the predecessors to the 07 line.

I rode the bike off the lot and the motor was shaking enough to rattle your teeth. I was told that this is “normal” because the motor was not counterbalanced and it was rubber mounted. It was also “normal” to surge, miss, spit, and sputter.

 Long story short, I added SE mufflers and air cleaner and a Terry Components Terminal Velocity II. The bike now purrs like a kitten (for the most part). It will kick the ass of my 95 inch Fatboy.

There is still an issue, sometimes the bike will run like there is a bad wire. I guess that is just “normal”. Neutral on the 6 speed is hard to find when the bike is hot.

    I am getting a little more concerned as I get more and more folks complaining about the same issues with their 2006 Harley-Davidsons.  Seeing the same problems occurring in multiple year models means the MoCo must know about the problems and not only are ignoring them but are allowing them to cross into future generations.  Are the 2008 Harleys going to be flawed also?  I guess we will have to wait and see.  Please inform me of any problem you may have had with your 2007 H-D as I am trying to create a database to see how many issues really do repeat themselves.  If you have something to add, good or bad, email me at biners@crowderinc.com

MORE TESTIMONIALS

Page 1 (Houston, We have a problem!)      Page 2 (Our story continues)  

 Page 3 (I hear from others with the same problem)

Page 4 (Our exact fix)         Page 5 (Other potential fixes)

Page 6 (What's up with the noisy gear box??)

Page 7 (Potential buyers are starting to freeze up)

Page 8 (Some folks are quite happy with their '07 H-D's)

Page 9 (Other problems I am hearing about)   Page 10 (other resources)

PAGE 11 (THE MOST INFORMATIVE EMAIL I HAVE RECEIVED)

page 12 (an attempt to gather my thoughts)

PAGE 13 (THE MOCO ISSUES A RECALL)

PAGE 14  (FIRE IS INSPIRATIONAL....)

COOL NETWORK NAVIGATION

The credentials or existence of the authors of testimonial emails has not been positively verified.  I do try to establish at least two way communication with the authors of these posts.  That makes much of this information hearsay at best.  Please use your own judgment when reading these posts.  None of these would stand the scrutiny of a court of law without further verification.