Issues with 2017 Tri-Glide Ultras

[Destew57]

It is around a yr since the 2017 M8 Tri-Glide Ultras have been out. Can you give any updates with issues/problems you have had with them, if any. I have been looking but haven't really found much on the 2017. If someone knows a thread where these issues/problems are, direct me to it.

Donnie

[triglide1]

At 1200 miles I had a front rocker box leaking oil. Dealer replaced the gasket and no more leak. Other than that I have had no problems. The 2017 replaced my 2009 Tri. The 2017 is very much improved when compared to the 2009 in power & ride.

[Capt.Bob]

A few of the very first M8-engined TGU's experienced partial or complete engine failures due to various things. Most of these engines were reportedly the first to be manufactured in July/August 2016 for MY2017 and Harley fairly quickly identified what the manufacturing/design issues were and ameliorated them. My particular 2017's M8 engine self-destructed in the first 15 miles of operation and Harley quickly replaced the engine with a complete new one after the Regional Tech Rep inspected the partial teardown at the dealership. The defective engine was sent to Milwaukee for engineering analysis and the rumor has it from the selling dealer that it was due to an oil pump failure that may have been affected by remnant metal pieces left in the engine during manufacture?

[trikermutha]

rocker boxes leaking,engines blowing up,oil pump failures,reverse motors failing,oil filters in a tight area. Same story as the Twin Cam engines..

I am sure there is more issues out there

Rockers boxes been leaking even before the M8 engine.

What the hell happened to Harley and QUALITY?

[Capt.Bob]

rocker boxes leaking,engines blowing up,oil pump failures,reverse motors failing,oil filters in a tight area. Same story as the Twin Cam engines..

I am sure there is more issues out there

Rockers boxes been leaking even before the M8 engine.

What the hell happened to Harley and QUALITY?

Trikermutha, As someone who has owned 99 motorcycles across a lifetime, I don't think there are ANY manufacturers that have not had their share of difficulties. Hell, my 2015 Honda Odyssey has been ranked downward due to quality and they were essentially close to the top of the heap a few years ago. Quality and reliability wax and wane as new products come to market and bugs are sometimes discovered that did not show up during development. I suspect that Harley's quality is likely pretty much on par with other large displacement motorcycles.

[The Q]

Trikermutha, As someone who has owned 99 motorcycles across a lifetime, I don't think there are ANY manufacturers that have not had their share of difficulties. Hell, my 2015 Honda Odyssey has been ranked downward due to quality and they were essentially close to the top of the heap a few years ago. Quality and reliability wax and wane as new products come to market and bugs are sometimes discovered that did not show up during development. I suspect that Harley's quality is likely pretty much on par with other large displacement motorcycles.

^^^^Exactly ^^^ It's with buying anything, there's always that chance you get the dud or lemon. But those are a lot fewer and further between than the Internet would have you believe. That's what warranty and lemon laws are for.

Buy it, ride it and enjoy it. If something happens you have a two year warranty to fall back on. If it's really bad, lemon law it and get another.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

When I first bought my BZMW K1200LT i heard horror stories about final drive failures. I mean thread after thread about them. Kind of scared me. finally I started asking questions and discovered that the failures occurred in about 4% if the bikes. I decided to look at it as I had a 96% chance that it would never happen to me, and it never did. It was without a doubt the most comfy long distance bike I ever owned.

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I bought my 2017 Tri in September of 2016,as of now it has 5070 miles on it.I had a issue with the radio,new download fixed that,just got it back for an idle issue and the right fan motor not working from time to time.Other than these three issues it has performed flawlessly.

[gfaltersack]

I had the clutch switch changed out around 5000 miles and new pistons and rings at 22000 due to massive carbon buildup. My service manager would not let me have the old pistons and rings saying they had to be sent back for analysis. I read on Harley forums that some motors had the wrong or misfit rings with the pistons and I might have had that. I agree with all that something new will have some problems and every company manufacturing vehicles will have recalls sooner or later. Our Toyota Rav 4 had 4 recalls, my Saturn Ion had several recalls, etc etc. My Harley dealer/service dept is very good, quick, thorough, and I am very happy with my 2017 Milwaukee 8 and did not let a completely newly designed motor stop my purchase.

[rhino 2]

My 2017 Tri-Glide has a major problem with the transmission oil draining into the primary..Leaving the transmission almost empty.. And its been a problem with some of the M8 Engines, So far Harley hasn't found a fix, Or for that matter why its happing to some M8's...I'm bringing it in Wednesday 3Th time and i don't expect a fix..

Maybe the transmission will burn up on the way there Wednesday..

[lah2420]

While I do not in any way discount or dismiss the problems some do have, who mainly posts questions on forums? The majority post about an issue they have, which I appreciate them doing. But most of us do not post that our machine is running great and trouble free. That said, I usually do not buy the first year run of anything new. Just one of my many quirks. If you are looking at a 17 and can get a deal on it, I would say go for it. That is what a warranty is for. Just sucks to have it happen to your own ride if something breaks. My 15 has had a couple of warranty trips and it is a second year version.

[lah2420]

I just noticed this thread is nearly a year old. I don't usually respond to old threads. Oh well. Guess my brain is getting old too.

[vito]

^^^^Exactly ^^^ It's with buying anything, there's always that chance you get the dud or lemon. But those are a lot fewer and further between than the Internet would have you believe. That's what warranty and lemon laws are for.

Buy it, ride it and enjoy it. If something happens you have a two year warranty to fall back on. If it's really bad, lemon law it and get another.

Once upon a time I shared a camp fire with a trouble shooter from a major international engine rebuilding company. He had just completed a study into why engines rebuilt in the USA had so many more head gasket problems As most here know, a head must be torqued down in a particular sequence and US workers were doing that correctly. The problem came at quitting time. When the whistle blew in a US plant, the workers put their tools down and quit immediately. In other countries they would either stop early if there wasn't enough time to complete the sequence or work a little over to do so. In a US plant the worker resumed where he had left off - sometimes. But when he didn't they had a blown head gasket.

The problem was labo/management. The boss demanded that workers work right up to the bell even if they couldn't finish the sequence and workers quit on time in retaliation.

Bet H-D has some similar problems.