No comment. Too bad they don't have emoticons on this site.
Update.
I talked to the HD rep again and presented a few additional concerns, one about the shorter rear brake pedal. He was going to do some more checking as to why the change from the longer standard one. To his memory he believed the change was not needed after the disk brake was included on the TLE. That would be a good thing since I can't get my boot under the new one even with the floor board at the lowest level.
The issue about the cooling fan is being worked on and should be ready, from what he said, before summer. It seems as though a mounting hole needed is not on the 103 thus the fan is "no por nada caca".
The plug for the rear master cylinder should have been shipped with the car in case of removal, so I guess I have to have another talk with the dealer. (oh joy!)
He has no confirmed information on a retro for the oil cooler but suggested that I have the dealer program the bike to shut down the rear cylinder when idling and when at high temp. He did say that he had heard that someone made an after market cooler that would work with a car. If anyone knows about one I would sure like get my hands on one.
One other interesting point is that he says that HD has heard loud and clear from customers and forums about the fifth gear whine. He explained that not all bikes make the noise but when deciding on the gear design HD decided to put in a more sturdy fifth gear configuation and traded off the silence of the standard gear design. He explained the difference in the cut and type of gears but it was kind of like trying to get a drink from a fire hose for me so I just listened for what I could understand. Bottom line was he said they made a choice and some that have the noise are not happy but the gear is good and sturdy. He did say though that when they change a model as much as they changed in 07 it gets pretty bad for a while.
He is still trying to get his hands on a listing of all the parts in the box for me. I'll let you know when I hear from them again with more info.
RND
Originally written by RND on 11/6/2006 7:14 PM
Update.
I talked to the HD rep again and presented a few additional concerns, one about the shorter rear brake pedal. He was going to do some more checking as to why the change from the longer standard one. To his memory he believed the change was not needed after the disk brake was included on the TLE. That would be a good thing since I can't get my boot under the new one even with the floor board at the lowest level.
The issue about the cooling fan is being worked on and should be ready, from what he said, before summer. It seems as though a mounting hole needed is not on the 103 thus the fan is "no por nada caca".
The plug for the rear master cylinder should have been shipped with the car in case of removal, so I guess I have to have another talk with the dealer. (oh joy!)
He has no confirmed information on a retro for the oil cooler but suggested that I have the dealer program the bike to shut down the rear cylinder when idling and when at high temp. He did say that he had heard that someone made an after market cooler that would work with a car. If anyone knows about one I would sure like get my hands on one.
One other interesting point is that he says that HD has heard loud and clear from customers and forums about the fifth gear whine. He explained that not all bikes make the noise but when deciding on the gear design HD decided to put in a more sturdy fifth gear configuation and traded off the silence of the standard gear design. He explained the difference in the cut and type of gears but it was kind of like trying to get a drink from a fire hose for me so I just listened for what I could understand. Bottom line was he said they made a choice and some that have the noise are not happy but the gear is good and sturdy. He did say though that when they change a model as much as they changed in 07 it gets pretty bad for a while.
He is still trying to get his hands on a listing of all the parts in the box for me. I'll let you know when I hear from them again with more info.
RND
Thank you again!
The brake may or may not be a problem on the 2007 as it has a slightly different frame from the 1999-2006 version. I understood that the original (longer) brake arm would strike the front lower sidecar frame brace and so they had to revert to the earlier brake (pre-2003, I think). If you have both brake pedals that would be a matter of trying the longer one out.
I took a look in my manual and the plug is a standard 3/8-24 brake plug. It will seal when run into a tapered hole as in the tee. You can get one of those at an auto store.
I agree that not having a kit for the oil cooler is a pain. It's all the worse on the 2007 as they got rid of the exterior lines so it would almost force you to find some place to tap into the engine.....
I understand that the engine ECU will cause the bike to go into a safety mode and slow way down when it overheats. I don't think any re-programming is required for that.
As to the transmission whine, for some reason, HD decided to mix helical and spur gears in the tranmsission and fifth gear is the one that makes the noise. I've heard others complain about this on 2007 machines and the concensus is that they will quiet down with time. Noisy transmissions on Harleys are nothing new. We once had a 1995 Sportster and the transmision in that was quite noisy until we got some pipes on it. Then we couldn't hear it anymore. Ha.
It's sure hard to get information about sidecars from HD as far as parts listings. The service manual (99485-06 does show listings of required parts but it doesn't say that they are all included.
Thanks for the update. I'll be able to tell you something later in December.
Regards,
gnm109
