http://bikernation.biz/blogs/news/16915419-harley-recalls-105-000-touring-model-bikes />

Harley-Davidson is recalling more than 105,000 Touring motorcycles from the 2014 model year 

According to NHTSA, 105,746 Touring models from the 2014 year are being recalled because a component in the clutch master cylinder may fail, reducing the pressure available to keep the clutch disengaged. If the clutch does not remain disengaged, the motorcycle may creep forward while the rider intends to be stopped, increasing the risk of a crash.

While I take each Recall notice seriously I would hardly compare the near criminal acts of GM and Harley Davidsons
100k motorcycles,HD has actively informed all owners of potential problems even before informing the Media, the dealer where we purchased our new Ultra has called each time and made arrangements to service our bike,so all the
HD haters can say what they want but we will buy another one

Hunter ... I'm not a Harley hater, I'd have one if I had the money/room to keep one as a second bike. My headline was not an attack on Harley, it was a comment about the frequency of their recalls lately ... I think this is down to the same thing as what's going on over at BMW ... the beancounters are in charge now, and we're all paying for it because the manufacturers are using cheap parts to make more profit.

Sorry if I offended anyone ... was most definitely not my intention.

I'm thinking a lot of these recalls are coming now because the past two years have been the first time Harley made any major changes to functioning parts of the bike. I really don't believe Harley is putting out stuff they know is not going to work correctly. pcdoc mentioned bean counters and as someone who has been in the manufacturing world, I know for a fact it is much more expensive to bring 100k + bikes back to fix them then it would have been to do it correctly the first time.

We would all like to think that Harley and other mfgs should be perfect, but in reality that is real tough. No matter how much you test something, certain things will not show up until there are real miles put on by real riders, in the real world... especially if it is less then 10% failure rate.

I also agree with Hunter that Harley is real good at informing their customers and the media as soon as a problem is identified.

Thankfully there were no major injuries caused to riders because of this... just 3 minor injuries from bikes falling over as the stopped bike crept forward.

Details on the recall... Harley-Davidson Recall: Clutch May Not Remain Disengaged

Contrary to popular opinion, recalls are not a bad thing. Recalls are necessary to insure quality standards when design flaws are overlooked or not presented during the testing phase of model changes. These changes are often simple yet could result in accidents, mechanical failures or just performance issues.

The problem occurs when recalls are not put in place due to worries of cost (see GM situation) or reputation (see Honda). It is far better for the consumer to get a recall notice for a issue then for the manufacturer to ignore the issue.


I would say that comparing the recent recalls from HD to the situation with GM is extremely unfair to HD.

@ pcdoc54 I'm not offended just felt the comparison very unfair and needed to say so, I mistakenly thought it was a
continuation of an earlier post with the same title .

Recalls are a necessary evil when you retool and put out a different product from the year before. I just wish I had a new 2014 streetglide so that I could deal with the recall issues. I like a lot of the new changes to the 2014's.

I just wounder if this has anything to do with the guys bike that the dealer said his flags caused the clutch to go bad??? Also being the owner of 3 of harleys new and improved first year bikes I still will wait another year or so before I get anything else new. Let HD work out those bugs for me this time.

What I don't understand is...They have been using Hyd. clutches over the last few years on CVO Ultra,s with no problem, now they have issues. Personally, Like some one else said, Bean counters are in charge and buying cheaper grade of parts and they are'nt working. You get what you pay for... For them it's all about dollare and cents even though they may have no sence...

think I'll just stick with my 82' shovel.