NHTSA Complaint #10470416 — 2012 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLHTCUTG

TOOK A 400 MILE TRIP FROM ORLANDO, FLORIDA TO KEY WEST, FLORIDA ON 7/27/11. ON THE WAY DOWN TO KEY WEST, THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MOTORCYCLE WAS EXTREMELY HOT!! HEAT CAUSED INSIDE CALF OF MY WIFE'S RIGHT LEG TO BECOME EXTREMELY RED AND BURNED. HAD HER LEG CHECKED BY A NURSE IN KEY WEST AND WAS ADVISED NOT TO RIDE MOTORCYCLE ANY FURTHER! WHEN I RETURNED BACK TO OUR HOME IN BOWLING GREEN, KY, I WAS ADVISED BY THE LOCAL HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALER THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM AND COULD BE SOLVED BY SPENDING $1800 TO REMOVE CATALYTIC CONVERTERS, CHANGE PIPES AND RETUNE. ACCORDING TO THE DEALER, THIS WOULD COOL THE BIKE DOWN. I LOOKED THE PROBLEM UP ON THE INTERNET. FOUND HUNDREDS OF POSTS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS BEING HANDLED BY SEVERAL CLASS ACTION SUITS AGAINST HARLEY DAVIDSON. APPARENTLY, HD IS BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD SPOT. THEY CAN'T FIX THE PROBLEM BECAUSE OF STRICTER EMISSION CONTROLS. THIS SHOULDN'T BE MY PROBLEM - IT IS A HARLEY DAVIDSON PROBLEM!! *TR