| Author | Message | ||
     Fastphil |
Since it seems that HD wants all us Buell owners just go away, then they can get out of real fixes and parts supply for our bikes. It is upto us to force them to meet there obligations, (see)(one more stator) ( thread)I urge all owners with charging and or handling problems (head shake) ect to report them to the NHTSA as per your owners manual.These are safety issues and have all ready caused crashes and injury and maybe death. If we can get enough owners onboard Uncle Sam will do the job for us.The reason we have forums like this is so we can be heard. HD will only respond to us if we force them to. Some times it takes more than the individual voice to make change. | ||
| Mrcjoy8 |
I agree 100% ....they have been giving me the run around for 11 weeks now..hey e-mail me or call 757-232-5012..Carl..... | ||
| 2thepoint |
Whats the deal with head shake? I thought it was rider error on my part. Is there a problem? | ||
| Classic_physique |
I mentioned this same thing on a thread just last week. | ||
| Fastphil |
Your weight placement,suspension setting, tires and frame all have a bearing on head shake.Sport bikes have short wheelbases and radical steering geometry to make them turn and handle the way they do, and Buells more than most. I do not know of any other bike like our 1125s that leaves the factory without a steering damper. Well a damper will not stop all head shake, it will and does help.Not all riders have the riding experience or suspension setting skills to deal with this.A single tank slapper can put you down before you know what hit you.Erik Buell Racing and GPS and others would not make or have a market for dampers if there was no need.Today I was contacted by two 1125 owners who both had stock exhausts and had the rear caliper lockup on the highway due to corrosion from the exhaust.Our bikes have problems that can and should be fixed by HD .Most of our problems,stator, brakes, head shake ect can or have been fixed in the aftermarket. When is HD going to man up and give us the bike we all bought. | ||
| Sportster_mann |
On another front - are you aware that HD are stopping American dealers from selling abroad - parts can already be difficult to source in the UK - now it's going to get a lot worse ... | ||
| Ratbuell |
When is HD going to man up and give us the bike we all bought. Don't hold your breath. They closed the doors, remember? They don't WANT to do anything. They don't WANT anything to do with our bikes. Spend your energy and resources on something useful, like finding another solution. Contact Al at American Sport Bike. Contact tech@ebracing.com. Don't point fingers and whine...if your bike has a problem, figure out a solution and fix it. Share your findings and results with the rest of us. But stop expecting a bailout from HD. Ain't gonna happen. | ||
| No_rice |
handling problems (head shake) hate to tell you this, but thats more your fault then the bikes. set it up right. there are plenty of buells sitting in my garage and i dont have head shake problems with a one of them. or any of the ones that are no longer in my garage for that matter. and i am far from a "take it easy" kind of rider. as well as running them on the track in street trim in the advanced classes and keeping pace, the same bikes the next weekend can be found off road doing triple digits. spend time on the suspension. that being said, i wouldnt hold your breath for hd to come up with any fixes. (Message edited by no_rice on June 18, 2011) | ||
| Kinder |
All I would like is a reasonable time frame for parts. Been waiting for 2 months for frikin frame paint. Can't wait to see what kinda wait time I'll have when I need something serious. | ||
| No_rice |
Been waiting for 2 months for frikin frame paint. not sure why. its not listed as back ordered. says readily available... | ||
| Dennis_c |
I got my blue frame paint for an 08 1125 in 10 days thats my longest wait so far for anything.I just picked it up this week. | ||
| Thecowboyblack |
* note the Einstein quote AND the use of "willy nilly" in the same post......cause that's just how i roll Fastphil / Mrcjoy8, I hate to be a downer, but although this is an excellent site: for tech support, to read a review or two, to go all "willy nilly" on a keyboard rampage now and again, and good for the occasional laugh, IT IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO "RALLY TROOPS". I myself tried over a year ago to no avail. I wanted to hold Harley accountable for the "stator issue" (or at least get the ball rolling) before it got this far. I could foresee this last season, having had wait times as long as 2 months for a stator. I was shot down rather very quickly by most of the community that did respond. I spent the majority of the summer in the shop last year and BELIEVE ME, there is nothing worse than a bikeless summer in L.A. (especially when you're just waiting on parts). mark my words...........................IT WILL BE THE SAME WAY THIS YEAR! the temp will rise, the bikes will hit 200 degrees and BOOM!!! everybody needs a stator, they go on back order and then everyone will start bitchin again.... it truly is a viscous,boring,sad,cycle. Insanity in·san·i·t.y/Noun "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"...Albert Einstein | ||
| Pyrogen |
If we could get parts faster, I would be happier. I ordered a header gasket set and it took 6 or 7 weeks to come in, good thing its just to wrap my headers and I wasn't waiting on them to ride. I feel bad for you guys that are bikeless waiting on HD to get off their thumbs. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Not all riders have the riding experience or suspension setting skills to deal with this. Maybe you should have opted for a Blast then buddy. I agree the stator issue sucks, but the head shake thing is really funny. | ||
| Cowboytutt |
I think if you have had problems then reporting it to the NHTSA is a perfectly reasonable idea. But if your looking for a class action lawsuit then I would check with an attorney first and report back to us. I doubt legally Harley has done anything wrong when you consider how many manufacturers have had stator problems and used the same sort of "harness upgrade" before a stator was redesigned. -Tutt | ||
| Court |
>>>>IT IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO "RALLY TROOPS". Badweb history would indicate quite the opposite. Go read the NHTSA reports and I think it'll be self evident why they pay little heed. I don't doubt there are concerns. They have been poorly communicated. If you have a bad bandwagon . . . no one's jumpin' aboard. | ||
| Thecowboyblack |
i feel like we've moved past the wagons. seems we're all about to be in the same boat..... up the same creek...... anybody seen my paddle? | ||
| Fastphil |
I have 46 years of riding and racing , and do tune and tweak my bikes and do not have any problems with head shake or any of the other problems except a bum stator but lots do. My point was that you have a way to try to get HD to fix your bikes if enough owners pull together. As for myself I fix and maintain my own bikes and my stator is already off to be rewound as it was one of the few major parts that I do not already have as spares. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Curious question to Court or those actually in the know like him: 08 Stators are great, no problems,but 09/10 were bad. Why did they change stators? Was there an issue they saw in the 08 and they wanted to change them? I have a 08 model, so I never spend much time in stator threads, im not as up to date on it as some are who HAVE to deal with the problem. And also, who chose the stator for the 09s? Was it Buells decision or a demand from HD? I've not heard of similar problems with HDs, so I cant imagine its an issue of mass buying the same ones they puton their cruisers. Thanks | ||
| Bcrawf68 |
there is nothing worse than a bikeless summer in L.A. Uh, you could always come visit me in Iraq... | ||
| Froggy |
Part of a shotgun approach to fixing the dead battery issues on early 08's. Excessive cluster draw, a glitch in ECM programming, and people not riding enough or at high enough RPMs all contributed to batteries not charging enough. By increasing stator output a little bit you help prevent batteries from becoming discharged. The cooling issue wasn't present in testing. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Bcrawf68 - LOL! :-) Thank You for your Service. | ||
| Tpoppa |
To Court's point, some of the NTHSA complaints are poorly written and aren't likely to generate much of anything. If a significant number of complaints are files regarding the electrical system. Perhaps the NHTSA will force HD to do something. You can file a complaint here: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/online.cfm Sample complaint: COMPONENT: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR THE STATOR & REGULATOR/RECTIFIER ASSEMBLIES ON THE 2009 BUELL 1125R AND 2009 BUELL 1125CR MOTORCYCLES CREATE A UNCONTROLLED BUILD UP OF ELECTRICAL HEAT THAT CAN CAUSE THESE COMPONENTS TO FAIL. THE STATOR ASSEMBLIES HAVE INSUFFICIENT THERMAL PROTECTION TO HANDLE THE HEAT GENERATED BY THE CHARGING SYSTEM. THIS CAUSES THE ELECTRICAL INSULATION TO MELT TO A POINT WHERE A SHORT CIRCUIT SITUATION IS CREATED AND THE STATOR FAILS. THE REGULATOR/RECTIFIER WAS PRODUCED WITH INSUFFICIENT ABILITY TO DISSIPATE HEAT GENERATED BY THE CHARGING SYSTEM. THIS CONDITION CAUSES EXCESSIVE HEAT WITHIN THE CHARGING SYSTEM AND UNCONTROLLED ELECTRIC CURRENT OUTPUT WHICH CAN RESULT IN INSUFFICIENT CHARGING CURRENT BEING PROVIDED TO THE MOTORCYCLE BATTERY. THIS CAN CAUSE THE DISCHARGE OF THE BUELL MOTORCYCLE'S BATTERY, WHICH CAN LEAD TO STALLING OR A NON-START CONDITION; IF THE MOTORCYCLE'S ENGINE STALLS, IT COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH (Message edited by tpoppa on June 20, 2011) | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
yeah some really disappointing complaints in there including someone who spammed the site with a clutch complaint in 4 different sections | ||
| Manor |
Everyone should get on board and do this. Perhaps if we all stick together Mr Harley Davidson might just step up. | ||
| Ratgin |
As opposed to critiquing the complaint forms of people who took the time to act on this issues , why doesn't everyone who has had a failure fill out the form. Much better usage of ones time. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Seems the time and effort would be better spent setting up a bounty or contract for Erik Buell Racing, some Buell Elf, or somebody else willing to take the time to figure it out, to have them publish the oil jet rework design. Lobbing stones and threatening litigation makes me feel better for short periods of time, but never made my bike run better. And the only thing I could think of worse than trying to deal with HD corporate, would be trying to deal with HD legal. You couldn't pay me enough to suffer them. Life is too short. | ||
| Ratgin |
"Reepicheep" the form is 5 minutes of your time if you have had a failure. If this thing fails unexpectedly on the highway id could result in bad news. In my case i like to ride the back roads in areas with no cell coverage and could be there overnight before someone comes along. Not my idea of fun. As for a solution I doubt solving HD warranty problems is top on the list of Erik Buell Racing at this time. Many people have extended warranties and continue to look at another 5 years of this crap. Until someone releases a kit that will fix this issue for good then the only course is to file the complaint and keep returning to the dealership. Not a perfect situation by any means. | ||
| Tpoppa |
And the only thing I could think of worse than trying to deal with HD corporate, would be trying to deal with HD legal. You couldn't pay me enough to suffer them. Life is too short. Probably true. So why not let the NHTSA handle it if they deem the situation justifies a Defect Investigation? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I understand the frustration, and if you want to pursue NHTSA intervention, more power to you. Any day that is a bad day for Keith Wandell is a good day in my book.  But that path will get your motorcycle back up and running in a time frame measured in years to decades. I suspect some former Buell employee, perhaps a current Erik Buell Racing employee, knows the problem and knows the solution in terms of safely adding cooling jets to the stator. If we can get them to share it, or discover it on our own, the timeframe to have a completely sorted bike can be measured in hours to days (depending on how bad a job it is). If it were my bike threatening $350 stators, I wouldn't be looking to the federal government to help me. I would have been looking to Harley Davidson first... but I think we are past that. They have already pretty much made it clear that they are some combination of unwilling and incapable of fixing problems on Buells. (And based on my observations as a long time Buell owner, their particular expertise actually seems to be *creating* problems for Buells.) So if it were me, at this point, I'd be writing them off as either enemies or fools (or both). I'd be focusing on fixing the problem on my own. Again, not a criticism, just a suggestion. I was in a scaled down version of this same boat after I bought my M2. First speedo sensor blows, and oh well, stuff happens. Second $50 sensor blows less than 1000 miles later, and I whined here on the forums for a bit with no progress, then just went off and found and fixed the problem myself (and helped others in the process, just as others have helped me). Buell / Harley did indeed eventually fix the problem, but it took a LOOONNGGG time. And my solution was cheaper and easier, and probably better. And most importantly, kept me from missing riding time or continually feeding the bike $50 sensors. In hindsight, I am really glad I just found the problem and fixed it. I learned a lot, made a lot of great friends, and barely missed any riding time. The custom rewind guy is another promising path. The best approach is probably to keep the stator cooler... the second best approach would be to make a stator that can handle more heat. And if you can do the latter, and you are starting with a dead stator in the first place that needs to be replaced, that might be a good option if he can find the techniques and materials to crack that nut. |
