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Swing Arm

1995 FLHT Swingarm

Wed, 08/26/2009 - 08:00 — jim

I have a 1996 FLHT that I really ride. I've had it for 5 years and have put over a hundred thousand miles on it. The troubles have been few and thank goodness I am able to work on it myself. I wouldn't even attempt to work on the newer models. The EVO engine is wonderful and the enjoyment I have had is worth every penny I have spent.

Now to the real problems:

Finding a repair shop I can trust has become a task I am no longer engaging as I have been through every dealership and a few shops and all have proven to be unreliable, even to the point of life threatening mistakes, oversight, laziness or poor management. That is why I bought the repair books to work on them myself. The special tools I could not fabricate myself are quite costly but my life and my wife's life are worth it. The dealerships that I found to be totally unreliable are, Republic Harley Davidson, Mancuso Motorcycles (Both locations), Goe Cycles, Big Dog (not here anymore) and of course several repair shops.

A friend I ride with has a 1996 FLHTC and about a year ago we were riding and he heard a noise that troubled him. Upon checking we found the swingarm broken completely at the axle hole on the left side. Luckily the washer jammed in the swingarm preventing the rear wheel from breaking loose and possibly killing both of them. Of course Harley had never heard of any such problems which seems to be their way of responding to problems as well as their dealerships. (I could tell you horror stories from the dealerships I mentioned earlier but that's for later)

HARLEY

Wed, 07/01/2009 - 08:00 — CrazyDave

I've been Riding scoots for a spell of time. I purchased a 2006 Road King for the comfort and reliability. I have owned many of scoots before and all being Harley Davidson.

I am going to put in my $.02 on something that has been aggravating the hell out of me. My 06 has 20,000 miles on her. So far I have replaced so many parts (Not CHROME) but mechanical. My first item that I had to change was the comp sprocket. Reason why, someone at the factory didn't torque it down and she backed out and wore the hell out of the it. Causing the chain to eat a bit of the case and tear the ass out of my stator.

The second item started to whine around 2000 miles. It was the cam chain shoes. Didn't see that coming. I replaced them with factory shoes and got another 4000 miles out of them. Still replacing them as soon as they cry out of the nose cone.

Then there is the problem with the rear swing arm. Had to get a stabilizer to correct the problem of rear steer.

There was also this little problem with the valves. At about 10,000 miles I started to get a little tap sound out of the boxes. I opened her up top notice that the valve guides were worn and the seals. So I R/R those bastards.

After that little procedure I have a little leak blowing on the rear belt. Well I'll be damned, It seems that the Tranny seal wore out cause of the main shaft on the tranny not being true. So I tore down the Tranny replaced main shaft and counter shaft. R/R seal and replace clutch.

I ran it for a bout 5000 miles like that and now I'm back doing cam chain tensioners.

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by Dr. Radut.