7.....107'' mosquito killers

[86fxwg]

At a dealer today in the Tennessee ,got pulled off to the side, my salesman buddy said they have 7 that they can't sell. When they start them up there mosquito killers. They had one in the shop & heads off,oil on top of pistons. 
Engineers supposed to be hear next week.
Any other dealer techs see this.
No further details.

86

[Schex3x]

I was in Smoky Mt Harley in Aug. right after the bikes were released,
asked a salesperson to fire one up, she did and it blew a good bit of smoke,
she shut it off right quick,
thought to myself, whoa, that's not good.

[HV]

None of the 5 or 6 we have done show this....haven't heard of it either ....don't mean its not happening though 

[rich1]

If this is true, not saying it isn't, then its one of two things. Either that is the unluckiest dealer on the planet or HD has a serious problem.

[jbexeter]

Traditionally we'd say there are only two ways for oil to get into the combustion chamber, up past the rings or down past the guides....  with these new heads engines we have two new additional possibilities, leaking across the head gaskets (unlikely as the running compression > oil system pressure) or "something else"

"something else" could be all sorts of things from fit & finish tolerances to excess porosity in metal parts.

The guy I mentioned previously ex salesman for a major London HD dealer (no names and no pack drill) says they have had to M8's in for repair, he's out of the loop and nobody is saying anything details wise, but he was told in both cases the used parts were DHL overnight to the mothership. He *thinks* it was oil pumps.

Has to be said, any new engine / product line, YOU'RE GONNA GET FAILURES, you're always a bit of a beta tester, and hell it's under warranty and you'll get a loaner, it would be incredibly unusual if there were NOT failures, so it's a real stretch to go from the odd HEARSAY (such as I just posted) story to the sky is falling.

The reality is even if the M8 engine did have major issues, HD either does sufficient factory recalls to make it all good, or HD ceases trading, and I defy you to name a vehicle manufacturer that does not have regular major recalls.

If you were a shareholder of HD such a scenario as a "bad motor that needs fixin'" should worry you.

If you're an owner, not so much, the factory has your back.

Line up the new model range by kerb weight, which ones have the new M8? All the heaviest ones.

Sure, also happens to be the top of line expensive ones, but HD didn't "baby" the new motor, they put it in the bikes most likely to do long hard miles... think on that.

Could also be *nothing* wrong with the new motor design, *unless* you put a production line worker who has been building twinkies for 20 years on it, and he does "procedure 127" from muscle memory and not the new way for the new motor...

Look at the new Samsung Note 7 with the battery recall, all that changed was a supplier going from prototyping production volumes on one assembly line to production volume production on other lines, with my old Note 4, no biggie, post out a new battery to everyone who bought a Note 4, user pops the case and swaps the battery, job done..... "minor" design change to the Note 7 to make the battery integral and lo and behold you're looking at a recall that will cost Samsung a billion... but they *have* to do it, and everyone who bought a Note 7 will end up with a working Note 7.

(unless they jump ship, no longer trusting Samsung, and land in exactly the same place with a different brand and a new product design)

New twinkie breakout bought in 2016 should be the best most bugs ironed out twinkie of all time.

In 20 years the M8 will be in the same place, or HD will be history like Excelsior.

[06roadglide]

Not only possibly a ring sealing problem or valve seals, we also have possibly bad head casting and coolant oil or water getting into exhaust or combustion chamber.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[rich1]

Not only possibly a ring sealing problem or valve seals, we also have possibly bad head casting and coolant oil or water getting into exhaust or combustion chamber.

Good point. HD has had some porosity issues so guess that is possible with the heads. My question is why they have porosity issues to begin with?  I have experienced it myself

[Ohio HD]

Not only possibly a ring sealing problem or valve seals, we also have possibly bad head casting and coolant oil or water getting into exhaust or combustion chamber.

Good point. HD has had some porosity issues so guess that is possible with the heads. My question is why they have porosity issues to begin with?  I have experienced it myself

I had a set of 1977 Shovel heads that were lotus and oil would get into the intake ports. Only set I ever encountered.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[92flhtcu]

I have come across about a dozen new ones that have a   rocker arm issue, loud as hell right out of the box, seeing some apart at dealers and some getting picked up by HD engineers, this is all in the Milwaukee area. As stated earlier, bugs to be worked out, any all new car, bike, boat motor, truck has this happen. Most important is how the dealers and mother ship take care of the consumer on this

[06roadglide]

I had a 05 road king in the shop for oil leak. Owner thought it was front rocker box or head gasket. Turned out, it was leaking oil from the front cylinder oil return passage. Leaked oil visibly right out the center of the cylinder when bike was warm and running. Bike was less than a year out of warranty so I tried to see if hd would take care of it since it was a bad casting. No luck from them, owner had to eat it. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[86fxwg]

I have come across about a dozen new ones that have a   rocker arm issue, loud as hell right out of the box, seeing some apart at dealers and some getting picked up by HD engineers, this is all in the Milwaukee area. As stated earlier, bugs to be worked out, any all new car, bike, boat motor, truck has this happen. Most important is how the dealers and mother ship take care of the consumer on this

There will be valve train issues ( noise's) With No individual valve adjustment.

86

[92flhtcu]

you know it on first start up, if it has the bad arm, it hammers like its going to grenade, if quiet on first start up, they seem to be ok so far, I have not come across any that started out quiet and then got loud(so far) Was told by a engineer that one tip on rocker arm too short in some cases......
I would think that every bike is ran at the final stage of assy, must be loud in York plant as the loud ones are REALLY loud and I could not see someone in QC letting it go....

[banjoman2255]

I have seen two cranked up and revved by salesmen.  Both would blow black puffs of smoke when they would shower down on them.  Both were cold when they did this.

[PoorUB]

I realize there is warranty, but if the dealer does not offer a loaner, many will not, I am not riding until it gets straightened out. Also some forget how well HD took care of back cam bearings and chain tensioners in the early years of the Twin Cams, they would not fix it until it broke and then do a questionable repair.

The M8's might be a great engine in time, but I bought a '16 because I don't want to be a HD beta tester.

[Don D]

HD seems to be very interested and responsive fixing all of the issues, glass half full.
Plus just because something malfunctions this doesn't mean the design (engineering) is deficient, throwing out the baby with the bath water.

[rich1]

HD seems to be very interested and responsive fixing all of the issues, glass half full.
Plus just because something malfunctions this doesn't mean the design (engineering) is deficient, throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Agree. Its way early. But it does make me wonder how Indian could create a clean sheet of paper power plant with their 111 and have virtually no issues. Better engineers or just lucky?

[les]

I was in Smoky Mt Harley in Aug. right after the bikes were released,
asked a salesperson to fire one up, she did and it blew a good bit of smoke,
she shut it off right quick,
thought to myself, whoa, that's not good.

Today I went to the dealer for lunch.  (They have a diner.)  After eating I took a stroll on the floor to look at the 2017 Road King.  First time for me seeing the new models in the flesh.  I asked the guy to start it.  Big bunch of blue smoke came out the pipes.  He did not shut it down though and the smoke gradually diminished...I think it diminished.  Kind of hard to see, but man...it really blew out a bunch of that blue smoke when he started it.

[SixShooter14]

Residual break-in oil?

[86fxwg]

Just talked to a bud that works @ an HD dealer in northern IL ,they have 3 smoking bad on start up. Pulled one down cold,oil puddles on both pistons. 


86

[Bike31]

Surely by the time a new M/C reaches the floor a tech or two have done the pre-delivery check and ridden it? If it wasn't smoking during that inspection (maybe it was) then oil might come from above after sitting.

Apparently some do initially pass oil and have been quarantined. Probably some minor source soon to be resolved.

[hattitude]

I wonder if the problem is with the oil cooled.... twin cooled..... or both?

[les]

I wonder if the problem is with the oil cooled.... twin cooled..... or both?

Of course, the RK I saw do it is oil cooled.  I did not ask them to start a water cooled. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scooter_trash_1]

Hmmmm.. saw the same thing the other day when I asked a salesperson to start one up for me.. woaah.. whats that??  same.. shut it right off..

[Xyzzy]

I've 1,300 miles on my '17 SGS so far with no issues.

I'm doing an IB1000 this weekend to see how well it deals with sustained high-speed running.

I'm particularly interested in how they fixed the oil blow-by issue that plagued my '16 RGS. I read somewhere that they routed the oil back into the engine. On my RGS the air filter would get drenched even if I ran the oil level at the half mark, if I rode it at high speed for several hours.

So far the M8 107 has been the best (out of many) engines I have ever owned. It is, to me, the perfect combination of old and new technology.

[Xyzzy]

Have you noted the VIN on those smoking motors?

Maybe it is a bad batch.

Would a dealer be more likely to get their bikes from the same batch?