NHTSA Complaint #752317 — 1999 HARLEY-DAVIDSON ROAD KING

THE REAR CAM BEARING IS A MANUFACTURING/DESIGN DEFECT WHICH HARLEY-DAVIDSON IS AWARE. THEY HAVE EXTENDED THE WARRANTY FOR JUST THE CAM BEARING TO 50,000 MILES. UNFORTUNATELY THEY WON'T REPAIR IT UNTIL IT FAILS, AND THEY WILL ONLY REPLACE THE BEARING UNDER WARRANTY. THIS BECOMES AN ISSUE SINCE THE WHEN THE BEARING FAILS METAL MAY GET INTO THE CRANKCASE AND CAUSE ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS TO OTHER COMPONENTS DOWN THE ROAD. ADDITIONALLY IT TOOK 3.5 HOURS TO GET A TRUCK TO TAKE THE BIKE TO THE CLOSEST HARLEY DEALERSHIP (15 MILES), MITCHELLS H-D, MODESTO, CA, (209)522-1061. ALSO WE HAD TO FIND A RIDE HOME (45 MILES) AND I'LL NEED A RIDE (55 MILES) BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP TO PICK IT UP. I TOOK THE BIKE IN TO THE LOCAL H-D DEALERSHIP SEVERAL 2 MONTHS AGO AND THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TILL IT WENT BAD. I'VE READ OF INSTANCES IN MAJOR MOTORCYCLE PUBLICATIONS OF MOTOR FEEZE-UP, TOTAL ENGINE FAILURE, AND LOCKED REAR TIRES WHEN THE CAM BEARING FAILS. HARLEY-DAVIDSON SHOULD REPLACE CAM BEARING PRIOR TO FAILURE ON THOSE SPECIFIC ENGINES THAT WERE BUILT WITH A BALL BEARING RATHER THAN THE REPLACEMENT ROLLER BEARING.