2016 HARLEY-DAVIDSON XL1200T — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

ECM FAILURE AT 3000 MILES. THE MOTORCYCLE BEGAN STALLING AND RUNNING ROUGH. WHILE MOVING THE BIKE STALLED. AFTER RESTARTING THE MOTOR RAN VERY ROUGH, STARTING AND STALLING, AND THE CHECK ENGINE CAME ON. THIS HAPPENED ON A CITY STREET. BECAUSE OF THE LURCHING OF THE ENGINE I NEARLY DROPPED THE BIKE WHILE MOVING NARROWLY AVOIDING AN ACCIDENT. BROUGHT THE MOTORCYCLE TO THE HARLEY DAVIDSON OF SCOTTSDALE DEALERSHIP WHO ULTIMATELY DIAGNOSED THIS AS A FAULTY ECM THAT NEEDS REPLACING. THIS PART IS ON BACK ORDER FOR A MONTH LEADING ME TO SUSPECT THAT THIS IS IN FACT A COMMON PROBLEM, IN WHICH CASE THIS SHOULD PROMPT A RECALL.

MOTORCYCLE WITH 3000 MILES STALLS WHILE IN MOTION AND IS DIFFICULT TO RESTART WHEN THIS HAPPENS. ONCE RESTARTED IT RUNS ROUGH AND STALLS AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON. TOOK TO DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR. PROBLEM HAPPENED AGAIN AND NEARLY RESULTED IN ME DROPPING THE BIKE BECAUSE IT WAS SO DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. BROUGHT BACK TO DEALERSHIP WHO DIAGNOSED THIS AS A PROBLEM WITH THE ECM THAT NEEDS TO REPLACED. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALERSHIP THAT THE ECM IS ON BACK ORDER FOR 3+ WEEKS DUE TO PROBLEMS WITH THIS PART. THE PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET RIDING STRAIGHT AHEAD.

WHILE IN A GROUP RIDE IN STAGGERED FORMAT ON THE 15S FREEWAY ON SATURDAY, JUNE 10TH AT APPROX. 8:20 AM, IN THE RAIN, I WAS CORNERING ON THE TRANSITION RAMP TO THE 163S AND LET HAND OFF THROTTLE, BUT ENGINE ACCELERATED WITHOUT THROTTLE INPUT TO 4000 RPMS. I WAVED BACK OTHER RIDERS, PULLED THE CLUTCH IN AND APPLIED BRAKES UNTIL I COULD GET TO THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY SAFELY, ALL WHILE ENGINE REMAINED AT 4000 RPMS. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED WITNESS STATEMENT .AFTER THE INCIDENT, MY MOTORCYCLE WAS TOWED TO THE SHOP FOR REPAIR. I HAVE ENCLOSED THE MOST RECENT WORK TICKET #974874 FOR YOUR REVIEW. I WAS INFORMED BY THE HARLEY SERVICE TECHNICIAN THEY WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE SITUATION AND NO ERROR CODES WERE PRESENT. PLEASE NOTE THE MILEAGE IN AND MILEAGE OUT RECORDED ON THIS WORK TICKET. ACCORDING TO THIS TICKET, THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN ASSIGNED RODE MY MOTORCYCLE EXACTLY 4 MILES TO ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE A SERIOUS THROTTLE ISSUE. THAT IS, TO ME, A COMPLETE LACK OF EFFORT TO DIAGNOSE A THROTTLE ISSUE AND COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR A CUSTOMER'S SAFETY. THIS 2016 SPORTSTER WAS OFFERED TO ME AS A ?COLLATERAL EXCHANGE? ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2016, TO REPLACE A 2015 XL1200T SUPERLOW SPORTSTER (VIN [XXX]) I PURCHASED JUNE 15, 2015, AFTER A SIGNIFICANT HISTORY OF ELECTRICAL AND WIRING ISSUES, AND RANDOM ENGINE ACCELERATION WITHOUT THROTTLE INPUT WITH APPROX. 8K MILES ON THE ODOMETER. MULTIPLE TECHNICIANS COULDN'T RECREATE THE SITUATION OR REPAIR THE ISSUE ON THE 2015 SPORTSTER. NOW, I'M HAVING THE VERY SAME ISSUE WITH ANOTHER SPORTSTER WITH APPROX. 9,650 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. WHILE THIS 2016 XLT1200 IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY, I BELIEVE THERE IS A SERIOUS DESIGN FLAW IN THE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM WITH THESE SPORTSTERS. GIVEN MY PREVIOUS HISTORY WITH THIS SAME ISSUE, I HAVE ESCALATED THIS COMPLAINT DIRECTLY TO THE MANUFACTURER FOR RESOLUTION. THE COMPLAINT NUMBER IS 3098584. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR