First Issue With Our 2017 Tri Glide Miner Fix But Could Have Left Us Broke Down.

[Bill G]

The other day after installing the catch can on my stock air box I fired our 2017 up and ran it to temp. After the shut down I noticed about a tea spoon or so of Anti Freeze on the left side lower and the ground. I cleaned it up and tried to get the problem to repeat and it did not. This got me worried so on my day off today I inspected and took things apart. What I found was the upper hose clamp on the left radiator was never crimped in place from the factory. I crimped the clamp and all is good now. This could have let go at anytime and left us broke down or caused engine damage. We are lucky it held so far without out the hose clamp crimped.

Somebody at Harley was sleeping on the job for sure. I know humans make mistakes, we all do. I am glad I found the issue and was able to repair it easily.

I know it's covered under warranty but I do everything possible from having any Harley shop work on my bike. Less scratches and less issues for me this way. Plus I know things are done right when I do it.

See pic's ....

Ride Safe All,
Bill G

[Trampas]

Bill glad to see you caught it in time, that would have been a problem out on the highway for sure. Don't know about you but I hate those kind of clamps, for harley to use must mean they are very cheap and they buy them by the semi load, LOL.

I have replaced a few of them on my other 2 bikes when I seen some leaking, can't remember what was leaking now, so many years ago.



All for now Trampas

[Bill G]

Bill glad to see you caught it in time, that would have been a problem out on the highway for sure. Don't know about you but I hate those kind of clamps, for harley to use must mean they are very cheap and they buy them by the semi load, LOL.

I have replaced a few of them on my other 2 bikes when I seen some leaking, can't remember what was leaking now, so many years ago.



All for now Trampas

Yes, I agree those clamps suck. Because it was never crimped and still in place I just crimped it correctly and called it good.

You would think as much as we pay for these bikes the clamps would be Gold..... Lol. I just wish the guys on the assembly line would pay more attention . This is one of the reasons I go over my bikes with a fine tooth comb after bringing them home. Of course this clamp was hidden and not visible.

Ride Safe Friend,
Bill G

[desertclassic]

Thanks for the thread. I will be out looking things over on the trike tomorrow. Jim

[Steve on 3]

Kinda like them leaving out the o ring seals on my pushrods. HD's quality control should be as good on the bikes as it is on their paint.

Glad you caught it. Much easier to repair at home where you have all the tools than on the side of the road, especially at night. When mine comes back from service, I check behind the techs. I could do the work myself but it is more time effective to drop it off and pick it up later.

Steve

[DK Custom Products]

Good catch! You saved yourself some time and irritation, for sure.

Kevin

[trikermutha]

Geez what happened to quality . I would expect better from USA assembled products That kind of issue can really put you in a foul mood if you broke down because someone didn't care or pay attention to detail.

There production numbers probably looked good.

[rhino 2]

Geez what happened to quality . I would expect better from USA assembled products That kind of issue can really put you in a foul mood if you broke down because someone didn't care or pay attention to detail.

There production numbers probably looked good.

That's very similar to the Spyder leaks. From 08 and up every year till the new engine.. One clamp loosens ' And the only worm clamp on the cooling system..

[tbear]

The other day after installing the catch can on my stock air box I fired our 2017 up and ran it to temp. After the shut down I noticed about a tea spoon or so of Anti Freeze on the left side lower and the ground. I cleaned it up and tried to get the problem to repeat and it did not. This got me worried so on my day off today I inspected and took things apart. What I found was the upper hose clamp on the left radiator was never crimped in place from the factory. I crimped the clamp and all is good now. This could have let go at anytime and left us broke down or caused engine damage. We are lucky it held so far without out the hose clamp crimped.

Somebody at Harley was sleeping on the job for sure. I know humans make mistakes, we all do. I am glad I found the issue and was able to repair it easily.

I know it's covered under warranty but I do everything possible from having any Harley shop work on my bike. Less scratches and less issues for me this way. Plus I know things are done right when I do it.

See pic's ....

Ride Safe All,
Bill G

As a former Quality control Team Leader; Someone did a rush job and the Quality control inspector didn't catch it at the end of the line. SHAME ON THEM BOTH !!

[trikermutha]

That's very similar to the Spyder leaks. From 08 and up every year till the new engine.. One clamp loosens ' And the only worm clamp on the cooling system..

well glad that didn't happen yet