Serious problem with my 2004 883

[nesta95]

I have a serious problem with my 2004 883.

I am the original owner and have put on 20,000 miles on her. I was coming back from Atlanta and the oil light came on. I immediately pulled over and checked it out. The oil tank was full. I keep up regular maintenance with oil changes (synthetic) every 1500 miles.

The local Harley shop has tore it down and it is basically trashed. The oil pump failed and it looks like it will need a crank, cams, lifters and head work - a total of about $3000! Once they get the final parts lists together I will have a more accurate figure.

Of course the bike isn't under warranty. The shop told me once they have the total parts list together that they will give me the number to call Customer Service at Harley and to make an appeal. The local shop has stated that this shouldn't have happened but that their hands are tied since the warranty expired.

I bought the Harley due to its reputation with longevity. It is a daily rider and taken care of.

Has anybody experienced this type of problem with their new rubber mounted Sportsters? Has anyone every appealed to the Harley factory after the warranty has expired? Is there a place to look up service bulletins pertaining to the new Sportsters?

Nesta

 

[madison]

There are SEVERAL high-mileage Sportsters on the list - ASSUMING that it wasn't
"maintained" improperly or abused, yours shouldn't have experienced an oil-pump failure. They are right, it is beyond the original warranty, but, there's an IMPLIED warranty that the machine should last longer than 3 yrs/20K miles.

If the engine was stock and you have maintenance documentation, I'd strongly suggest that you DON'T just suck it up and that you press for the MoCo to 'goodwill' the repair.

There are alternatives for you to pursue - though fighting w/the mother company is difficult and arduous.

That said - if you DO have to pay to rebuild it - don't go through the stealership - you can build it NICELY through several well-known, well reputed shops that we frequent:
Nallin, HeadQuarters, TwinJugs, BlackHills Custom Cycles, etc.

Madison

 

[nesta95]

I appreciate the info. I have called a local shop and they have stated that they won't work on the newer, rubber mounted Sportsters.

Nesta

 

[karthy]

Do you know any of the guys at the shop that said they don't work on rubber-mount? or do you ride with any locals? i'm willing to bet that someone has a garage with their 2nd tool box in it .