, lesson, learned, buying, remember, telling, judgement, options, delivery, picked, return, money, months, insurance, refund, price, charge, start, charges, fouled, guessing, springwhich, charged, bought, january, lightning12, mistake" />
I purchased an 06 Lightning12 from a dealer far from my home. I bought it in January of this year with 600mi on it, so pretty much brand new. The dealer told me all I needed to do is pull the battery and keep it charged for spring(which I did, Not my first bike). Upon trying to start the bike it wont. I blew through 6 full charges on my battery this weekend and still nothing. I'm guessing its a fouled plug? OK that being said how in the hell does one even get the plugs out to check them? You cant get to them from the top of the bike even with entire air box removed( trust me I spent all weekend messing about with it). So do you have to drop the motor out then?
Mind you this was all supposed to be taken care of by the techs at the dealership before I took the bike home, the salesman assured me that the plugs etc. were cleaned and everything would be fine for me to ride in spring. Guess Not. I have not put 1 single mile on this bike since I purchased it and am really considering trying to give it back to the dealership and going back to a foreign bike. I really wanted to help the US economy by trying to purchase all American vehicles, cars, bike etc. My 2 new Chrysler's---4 Problems My new motorcycle, problem and I haven't even gotten it on the road yet. My foreign bike, owned for 8yrs---0 problems. My foreign cars owned for 6yrs--- 1 problem (self inflicted).
I guess we will see how the dealership handles the problem considering that they wanted to charge me for delivery the first time, so I picked it up. They have about 3 options I think. 1) They pick up the bike for free fix and return to me. 2) I sue them and make them 3) They refund me my purchase price and I go buy a foreign bike and I'm out insurance money for the last 3 months, and use this as a lesson learned about buying American
I'm sorry about the rant but I'm mad at myself for going against my better judgement, and those around me telling me " remember it says made in USA"
Nothing is truly made in america anymore other than Edelbrock products! Harley forks are Honda, Motor design was from Porsche from the Evo on up. Don't you have a warranty? Sounds as if you are getting stroked by the dealer, not the company. I have a '03 I have never had any problems with.
mrdozer2you, all you need to change your spark plugs is a 6 inch extension, swivel and a spark plug socket. Save yourself some and tape the socket to the swivel and also the extension. Fully remove the airbox, upper and lower sections, and it is possible. As far as the no start condition, I wouldnt even mess with it. If the dealer promised all these things to you, they should fix it at no cost. They cant sell a bike with that low of miles that does not run. Thats bogus. Take it back and demand its fixed. You make a big enough deal about it, they will fix it trust me.
azsnow, Harley forks are Showa, not Honda, although they may make forks for Honda. Also, the only engine design that had help from Porsche was the Revolution (V-Rod) engine.
The Revolution was the only one publicized> When Harley changed to the Evo, they were debating the design of either the evo, or another V that is now owned by Yamaha. Harley has been in bed with Porsche for years! Showa, Honda, Kawasaki, all the same thing!
"The Nova grew out of a series of meetings held in mid-1976 that is still referred to in Harley executive's lingo as the Pinehurst meetings, held at a resort hotel in North Carolina, with the aim of mapping out a 10-year product plan for Harley-Davidson motorcycles. There it was decided that due to the proliferation at the time of high-tech motorcycles from other countries, and their wide acceptance by American motorcyclists, a redesign of the current 74 (1,200cc) shovelhead engine would be insufficient to guarantee the company's long-term growth. So planners proposed a two-pronged strategy to ensuring Harley's future." So HD Combined the old shovelhead, with design features of the new Nova (Porsche Design) and Bingo, out popped the Evo. It was supposed to be a 60 degree V, but Willie G fixed that. Later design to be called a Valkarie by Yamaha.
Where did you find that info azsnow?
mrdozer2you- I also purchased my bike in 06 and have put 2000 flawless miles on her so far.As far as asian bikes being so great you need to google- I hate Honda, I hate suzuki, I hate Yamaha etc. I think you will find alot of unhappy asian bike owners. Maybe your bike woes might also be self inflicted.Act like an adult, not a child in walmart.
Its in the history lit. that they give us at the tech factory, and if you do a search of the web, that info is all over the place. What is even more interesting than that, is it wasn't AMF that almost drove Harley to bankruptcy, it was the people that worked at the factory. They didn't like how AMF was changing things, getting rid of waiting lists, and actually producing more bikes with less people, so they would do stuff like assemble motors and leave out a piston, but in its place they would put a piece pf paper with the words "F*** the Factory" and that is where the saying originated. That was a story from a tech who has been in the business since the '60s.
cool azsnow, ill start looking that stuff up
well the dealership DID pick up my bike and have had it now for 4 days. Still unsure when I'll be getting it back. They said should be by Monday ( 3 more days )
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