NHTSA Complaint #10253131 — 2007 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLSTF

ON MY 2007 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FATBOY, THE FRONT AXLE TILTS/LEANS TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BIKE. THIS HAS DONE TWO THINGS. FIRST, IT HAS REDUCED THE AMOUNT OF TREAD THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR MAKING RIGHT HAND TURNS. SECONDLY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IT IS WEARING ONLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TIRE. THE TIRE WEAR TO ONE SIDE COMBINED WITH LESS TREAD AVAILABLE DUE TO THIS FLAWED DESIGN HAS PRESENTED A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE WITH REGARD TO GRIP GOING AROUND CORNERS. IT FIRST BEGAN WITH A MINOR CRASH THAT INVOLVED MYSELF, THIS BIKE, AND THE PAVEMENT. A CAR PULLED INTO MY INTENDED PATH OF TRAVEL. I HIT BOTH BRAKES AND SUDDENLY MY FRONT TIRE LOCKED UP AND KICKED MY BARS TO THE RIGHT. NEXT THING I KNOW IS THAT IM ON THE GROUND WITH MY BIKE. I THOUGHT IT WAS UNFORTUNATE LUCK AT THE TIME BUT SEEING THE WEAR OF MY TIRE IN THE FRONT, IT CANT BE A COINCIDENCE. ADDITIONALLY IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MY BIKE WAS PRODUCED IN JULY OF 2006 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2007 MODEL PRODUCTION RUN. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, WHAT EVER ISSUE THAT CAUSED HARLEY-DAVIDSON TO ENGINEER MY MOTORCYCLE YEAR MODEL WITH EXTREME AMOUNTS OF CAMBER IN THE FRONT STEERING AXLE WAS RESOLVED WITH EITHER THE 2008 OR 2009 MODEL YEAR. THE FACT THAT THE CURRENT MODEL YEAR OF THIS MOTORCYCLE HAS HAD THIS FRONT AXLE ISSUE CORRECTED IS ABOUT AS LOUD A STATEMENT AS ANY THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THIS FIRST YEAR ISSUE OF THE SECOND GENERATION OF THE FATBOY MODEL. SO FAR, THE PARTS THAT WERE REPLACED TO TRY AND CORRECT THIS ISSUE WERE THE FRONT AXLE BEARINGS AS WELL AS READJUSTING THE STEERING NECK BEARINGS. HOWEVER THIS WILL NOT FIX AN ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN PHYSICALLY MACHINED INTO THE FRONT FORK ASSEMBLY. THE MOUNTING BOSSES FOR THE FRONT FENDER ARE THICKER ON THE LEFT SIDE THAN THE RIGHT. NO AMOUNT OF ADJUSTING OR PARTS WILL CHANGE THIS INTENTIONALLY ENGINEERED BANDAID! THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE THAT SO FAR HAS GENERATED NO RESPONSE FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON OTHER THAN A REFERENCE NUMBER REQUEST TO TAKE IT TO A DEALER. *TR