NHTSA Complaint #11300020 — 2019 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLHTCUTG

I PURCHASED A 2019 HARLEY DAVIDSON TRI GLIDE TRIKE. ON MY SECOND TRIP OUT, I WAS GOING UPHILL AND NEEDED TO DOWNSHIFT TO GET MORE POWER. MY CLUTCH HAD COMPLETELY GONE OUT. I WAS TRAVELING AT 60 MPH, AND WAS STUCK IN 6TH GEAR. I COULD NOT SHIFT DOWN, NOR COULD I SLOW DOWN, AS THE ENGINE WOULD ABRUPTLY DIE GOING SLOWER IN 6TH GEAR. AFTER SEVERAL TERRIFYING MOMENTS, I DECIDED TO REV THE ENGINE AND SEE IF I COULD MANUALLY SHIFT THE GEARS LOWER. ONE GEAR AT A TIME, WITH TRAFFIC BUILDING BEHIND ME AS I SLOWED DOWN ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY, I GOT THE BIKE INTO 3RD GEAR, PULLED OVER AND PUT ON THE BRAKE, ABRUPTLY KILLING THE ENGINE. I CAME TO A VERY HARD STOP. HARLEY DAVIDSON RECALLED THE 2017-2018 HARLEY DAVIDSON TRI GLIDE FOR CLUTCH ISSUES, HOWEVER, THEY DID NOT RECALL THE 2019, WHICH TO MY KNOWLEDGE USES THE SAME HYDRAULIC CLUTCH SYSTEM. MY EXPERIENCE WAS VERY DANGEROUS, AS I WAS ONLY A FEW MILES AWAY FROM SHARP CURVES AND IT WAS CRITICAL TO SLOW DOWN BEFORE I CAME TO THOSE CURVES. HAD I NOT TRIED TO DOWNSHIFT SEVERAL MILES AWAY FROM THOSE CURVES, I WOULD NOT HAVE DISCOVERED MY CLUTCH HAD GONE OUT UNTIL I WAS RIGHT ON THOSE CURVES. I WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY LOST CONTROL AND CRASHED.