Still a Harley fan and still love this bike (a lot), but some of the problems I'm experiencing should not be happening to any garage-kept bike with only 3,000+/- miles on the clock IMO. Anyone with similar experience either way?

Don't feel rained on.

The city where it was made fell apart too.

Perhaps there was a reason the owner sold his bike.

Maybe the dealer altered the odometer.

Did you do a vehicle search for its history?

As for the bike being hesitant to start,..put a new battery in your proximity key fob.

Buying any used vehicle out of warranty requires an incredibly thorough inspection combined with extensive experience with the vehicle.

I agree the low mileage makes it seem hardly ridden, those miles could be at redline with low oil. Or hammered down bumpy roads. Or more likely, indicative of a machine that has had issues since new and not been ridden much because of that.

Fix it, or move it on down the road.

Are you F'ing retarded?
The handlebar clamp is two piece top. Very common for that to happen. The risers are rubber mounted. Take a allen wrench and slightly loosen one bolt on each clamp and move the bars straight and tighten the bolts.
The fender trim must have lost the one side screw and the thing vibrated until it broke. Are you deaf too? It had to be rattling for a long time. Look at the parts schematic. Does it show the screws separate? Does the description say Assembly?
No start? Clutch switch

Yes

Well, that was certainly helpful.... not....

Find another sucker and sell it.

I told him how to simply fix his handle bars and starting problem along with why the trim broke.

Oh, I forgot about the speedo problem.
That is uncommon but just so you know, Harley doesn't make the gauge. The gauge is made by nippon seiki, a subsidiary of Honda

hardly a davidson bikes are overpriced junk with a lot of chrome to attract children and 100 year old engine design. guys buy them to show people they are tough cause their bike is obnoxiously loud
the guy in the videos answer to his problem was the kawasaki sticker on the wall behind him.

hey einstein if fixing the bars was so easy why didnt the stealership do it or at least tell him how to do it

They were probably to busy laughing about the fool asking such a stupid question

yea but in order to keep good relations with a customer how hard would it have been to fix it or tell him what to do

MILWAUKEE VIBRATOR ................

Shiitty dealer. I would have walked out into the parking lot and fixed it in two minutes and sent him on his way.
Instead of making a youtube video maybe he should have done a search. There must be 50 videos on how to do it

Yup. There is a sequence to tightening the bars. If you don't follow it, the bars will be crooked. Rubber mounted risers are the issue. Not sure what it is for that specific model, but look it up. It has to be followed.

I watched another of that guys videos and he is an idiot. in the comments he kept asking people to subscribe. so you might be right

Not to OP, but others: If you’re thinking about getting a Harley, you should know how to wrench or have a Master Card at the ready. It’s a lifestyle choice that, at one point, absolutely will require one or both. If you want to gas and go, buy the right metric.

buying a new harley is like buying a 15 year old boat
B-break
O-out
A-another
T-thousand

Oddly, the 2 Harleys that I've owned, a 2005 Sportster and a 2009 Dyna Lowrider, have been the most trouble free, easy to maintain motorcycles I've owned in the 50 years I've been riding.

I have a 2019 Heritage and the speedo will fog too. It clears up after a bit though

Yes.

A friend of mine went on the Sturgis run a few years ago. One of his fun things was there would be a truck pulling a trailer with Harley parts so they could get back on the road when there were problems. No thanks.

Harley apologist.... LOL

Not apologizing for anything. I'm pointing out stupidity.
Anyone that has ever ridden a dirt bike knows how to straighten the bars. Clutch switches go out on everything that has them. Fender trim? Should have heard that or noticed it while cleaning and fixed it before it broke. Heck, when my Dodge Ram was new I was driving and a door handle started rattling. A screwdriver fixed that, didn't even bother going to the dealer.

Thank fck HD don't make aircraft...

and remember ~ Loctite 271~ is a HD owners
best friend... 😂

My BMW, R100RS, had a bunch of issues, but the oil filter location was just stupid. It ate a rear drive at 120,000 or so. A clutch, a short under the tank that required me to strip the rear wiring harness and rewire the ignition so I could get home. Everything has issues. Sometimes you get a good one though. Hondas, Yamahas had problems as well. The Harleys were set it and forget it. I did ride the other stuff more miles though. We'll see. 24,000 so far on the Lowrider. So far, so good.

OEM to HD specifications.

Folks must be proud of factory HDs that have..

Japanese Keihin Carb
Japanese front forks
Japanese Speedo
Japanese Tach
Japanese Starter
Japanese OEM mag wheels.

Trump praised HD for being "a true American icon,
one of the greats,".. and thanked them..
"for building things in America."

almost as funny as his praise for the 'American made'
B787 Dreamliner, the least American made BOEING
in the companies entire history, with 20,000 foreign
contract supply companies involved.. 😂

Sleepy Joe and delusional Donald is what folks
got to choose from...

I did not know they were still in business. Last time I checked they were made in India and assembled in USA? I would just buy Japanese motorcycle instead. If you want good handgun Americans make very good ones, but when shopping for motorcycles, automobiles I would look elsewhere.

made in India ....you need to check your facts

harleys are also like women. most guys get a bad one and some guys get a good one ...maybe

to say that a harley is better then a honda is insanity. they just look better and cost more

All good parts. It doesn't matter what you own, bike car or tuck you probably have these parts in it.
So STFU moron

So the chances of getting a good HD is not
achievable without considerable foreign input.

Why not just get a Japanese made and branded
motorcycle?

A Harley is made to look and sound cool. If that's what you like, then cool.

If you don't enjoy mechanicing, and just want a reliable ride, buy a Honda.

In the interest of full disclosure, I plan to buy a bike next year. It'll most likely be a Harley. I just go into it knowing I'll need to occasionally work on it.

it basically comes down to what you can get and where you can get it in the quantity, quality and price you need it to be when manufacturing something

If you don't have to rebuild it fairly frequently, and if it don't sit in it's own puddle of oil, it ain't a Harley!

I don't know what you ride or drive but it has some of them parts on it. No manufacture makes all of their own parts,car,truck,motorcycle,airplane or boat.
Are you that stupid?

Harley ain't sold a bike with a carburetor in several years now.

All I said was folks must be proud of their
factory HD with all those Jap parts...

I wanted a vehicle that would last.. bought a made in Japan vehicle for that reason. No more Obama Motors for this cracker.

Been driving Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, for decades
from 4x4s to factory turbo GTRs etc, none ever
skipped a beat...

well, it *looks* good at least

Not sure why such a company would let their reputation slide. You'd think they'd do their utmost to address design and production faults.

Good call. One is not going to make America great by buying junk or second-rate products. They can either fix issues or go bankrupt.

Lets go back and revisit the AMF Harley Davidson days......

they will jack up their own stocks with cheap fed money pull the plug run away with truckloads of money. that is all most US companies are good for

They are on the way out.
I've been working on bikes for close to 50 years. I've worked on every brand there is. Just as a independent auto shop can tell you inherent problems with different autos, I can tell you EVERY motorcycle brand has problems. As the old saying goes, if it has wheels or tits it's going to give you problems. Some more than others.
If you think Harley is bad now you should have seen them in the 70's.
I will say this. The new Harley M8 engine is the biggest pile of stinking crap ever made by any manufacture. It has so many design flaws that they can't even be fixed or worked around. I will not even let them into my shop anymore unless it to put a tire on or something simple. I'm a hot rod shop but I will not touch that engine. If you want a good Harley get a 2010 to 2017 103 Twin Cam. The 103 is the LS of Harley engines. Best thing that ever came out of Milwaukee.

Suit yourself. I'm just relating my experience, having owned and worked on both. I was a honda/yamaha mechanic, as well. The harley isnt necessarily better, but it is at least equal. I have had zero issues with either harley. Had a few major glitches with honda, not so much yamaha. They are all good. There simply isn't much actual junk out there anymore.

Suit yourself. I'm just relating my experience, having owned and worked on both. I was a honda/yamaha mechanic, as well. The harley isnt necessarily better, but it is at least equal. I have had zero issues with either harley. Had a few major glitches with honda, not so much yamaha. They are all good. There simply isn't much actual junk out there anymore.
What would you do to work on it? Other than lubricants, tires, and brakes, I've had to do nothing in 24,000 miles. They seem to be reliable for me.

If find the Tripp guy obnoxious as hell. I don’t watch him...

No kidding, seems like a real D-bag!

The guy in the video sounds like it's his first bike and doesn't know what he's doing. Couldn't watch the whole thing.

Seems to me some one is just trolling their YouTube channel trying to increase the number of views.

I’ve always heard that. I had a 79 Sportster, and it was a peach. Maybe I just got lucky. It looks like the AMF bikes are bring big money these days. Not sure why.

My kid has a Harley. We’ve spent a fair amount of time tinkering with it. It just seems like there’s a lot more maintenance and putting things back on that vibrate off than on a jap bike.

Still, there’s something about them. He was looking for a Honda until he rode a Harley. He forgot all about the Hondas after that.

Didn’t he recently just post here about his search for the ‘dream’ bike and bought this one?

That’s all this dude does. Zero contribution except stupid YouTube Harley videos.

One word, PhuqueMIlwaukee!

I had zero problems with my Triumph Bonneville American. Even the battery lasted six years.

As I sit here a read this I can only think about how precious common sense is. there are 5 harleys sitting in my garage right now a 1997 softail 58,000 miles custom, 2006 roadking 37,000 miles 2007 lowrider 76,000 miles ( the wifes ) , 2008 streetglide 30,000 miles, 2015 switchback (the wifes) the 07 has been lowered 2in in front and 2 1/2in in the back to fit my 115 lb , 5ft tall wife. the switchback has been done as well. they all have a lot of custom motor work as well as sending some stuff out to be custom fit things I couldent do. and I will say that you can go get on any of them and take of across country at any time. that being said just like the honda , triumph, kawasaki, or any other machine, there has to be maintenance , period .the harley davidson has a distinct vibration, and with any machine that shakes rattles and rolls , there will be things coming loose. so buy a rice burner and go riding. or buy a harley and go riding. eighther way you gonna have to tighten up something sooer or later.

I see that now. Virtually everyone of his past posts are promoting his videos.
Click bait.

Had a1996 electraglide pushing 85,000 miles when I sold it with no issues. Had “several” BMW airheads over 100,000miles.
It’s called maintenance. It’s normal. Every single piece of equipment I own requires some level of it. If you don’t have common sense you should take the bus everywhere you go or at the least, don’t bitch

LOL. Jack, I’m on my 3rd Harley over 34 years. My 02 RG has 74k mikes. I’ve ridden since my teens. I don’t “Ride to Live” but I’ve ridden enough, dealt with the MOCO enough and wrenched enough to qualify my remarks. I’ve watched more properly maintained Harleys break down on road trips than all metrics combined.

Planning for a brand new voltage regulator to fail on the next trip or the chain tensioner shoes going from solid to pieces inside 10k....or any other myriad of common (yet dismissed) Harley problems not addressed by scheduled maintenance is common sense. Having a Harley that’s never let you down is pure luck.

.....and I’d never wish a public bus ride on anyone. Not even you.

every honda,kawasaki,yamaha,polaris,harley-davidson,ford,chevrolet,dodge,jeep etc. dealership had mechanics last time i was their....they all have problems they all break down

It seems the guy in the video has an issue with the handle bars being just a bit out of tune with the front tire tacking. What 8 year old kid hasn’t had the exact same issue that rode a bicycle? The cure was to find the nearest stationary object to set the wheel against and torque the handle bars back in line.
And yes, I’ve done that very thing lots of times with all brands and styles of motorcycles for what ever reason. The issue might be in the bars or it could be in the down tubes, or a little of both. No more out than it was I wouldn’t have even gave it second thought, tweak it ride on.

They aren't called "Horrible Davidsons" for nothing.

Believe it or not, there is a tightening sequence for this very problem. Unless it's been in an accident, the triple tree is almost certainly good. The risers are rubber mounted, and can be misaligned. Loosen the fasteners below the upper triple tree, loosen the bar clamp, tighten from the bottom up, first the riser bolts, then the rear of the bar clamp, then the front of the bar clamp. Works. Weird, but it works.

You can get everything lined up perfectly and can still tweak the handle bars in either direction with vey little effort. Particularly with rubber bushings.

polyurethane or go to solid bushings
if ya wanna accentuate the HD 'vibe'... 😁



Look on the bright side, HD owners can keep
the Loctite in the fridge right next to the beer...

Harleys are garbage, perform and handle poorly.

I've had a variety of bikes, over the last 50 years. 2 have been Harleys. They are most definitely not race bikes. The ones I have handle decent, are reliable, and entertaining. Just personal experience. Ride whatever you like.

While ago a dude pulled up on a Guzzi 1400
with some after market pipes, one of the best
sounding Big-Twins I've heard, and he told
me he still had the baffles in.

Those iconic cylinder heads angled out provide
a buffed presence over narrow chested HDs..

Harley riders are "IMAGE RIDERS"

Plain and simple and that is OK.

Look at all the clothes and jewelry.

They really need a Hot Dog line of food.