2018 Triglide broke down....sigh

[GoSlo]

For the past ten years a small group of us rides down to Guymon, OK for the 5-State poker run. It’s a fun ride, 300 miles and five states in one day and for a good cause.

Saturday morning we were going about 70-75 MPH, I was in 6th gear, and suddenly the trike lost power. The bike was still running fine, but there was no power to the wheels. I down shifted to 5th and everything went back to normal. So figured I’d try 6th gear again and the same thing happened. Wheels weren’t being driven. So we pulled over and as I was slowing down it started to make bad noises. Roadside diagnosis was that I lost at least some of the transmission. I could still ride it going about 20 MPH as long as I kept the RPMs low so since we were only six miles from town I rode it to Dalhart, TX to get towed. Roadside America will get the trike (or bike) towed to the nearest dealership, no charge. My problem was the closest dealership was in Amarillo, 100 miles in the wrong direction from home. It might sound strange, but I really wanted it to be worked on by my usual mechanic at my home dealership. I’m sure the guys in Amarillo are good and would have done a fine job, but don’t know how many more nights I would have had to hang around.

Heres where the the good news happens. Two friends made plans to drive a trailer from Denver to Dalhart, pick me and the trike up and bring us both home....380 miles each way!! They got to Dalhart around 7:30 am (figure they left Denver around 1:30 am!) and we were back home by 3:00 pm. To say I was very grateful would be an understatement.

So I’m home, sleeping in my own bed and will be be taking the trike in on Tuesday to have an already scheduled 10k service done and find out for sure what happened to the transmission after only 8400 miles. Hopefully it’s an easy and quick fix because I have a week long trip to ride around Arkansas next week!!

[ShapeShifter]

Sorry to hear that , glad you guys got home safely. Hope its an easy fix and you're back on the road real soon.

[1dn5up]

Keep us posted Barry

[NHBAGGER]

Any chance you had tranny fluid migration to the primary and the tranny ran dry?

[rhino 2]

Any chance you had tranny fluid migration to the primary and the tranny ran dry?

Thats why i got rid of my 2017 Tri-Glide....But i didn't have those problems that GoSlow has.. ,But then again i had to have the dealer level out the Trans and primary fluids every 8 hundred miles..

[GoSlo]

Any chance you had tranny fluid migration to the primary and the tranny ran dry?

I honestly don't know the answer to that. It's been serviced twice now and there was never any mention of that happening or to even watch for it. If it went dry and that caused the thing to lose gears, it's on their dime since I'm still in the first year of the factory warranty.

I'll post again after I bring it in tomorrow and they let me know what exactly is going on.

[ultrafxr]

Regarding the towing policy . . . I switched to AAA and added motorcycle coverage just because of that. AAA will tow you anywhere you want to go up to 100 miles at no charge. Helped me out quite a bit several years ago when I had a breakdown. Had a leaking oil cooler and two closest dealers did not have part. Third dealer who was almost 100 miles away did have it and AAA towed me there. Not sure since not checked since then but all my roadside assistance plans except AAA had mileage limits under 100 miles . . . and I had the H.O.G. Road America as well as my insurance company's plan and a couple others I can't even recall. Cancelled them all and stuck with AAA.

[rhino 2]

Regarding the towing policy . . . I switched to AAA and added motorcycle coverage just because of that. AAA will tow you anywhere you want to go up to 100 miles at no charge. Helped me out quite a bit several years ago when I had a breakdown. Had a leaking oil cooler and two closest dealers did not have part. Third dealer who was almost 100 miles away did have it and AAA towed me there. Not sure since not checked since then but all my roadside assistance plans except AAA had mileage limits under 100 miles . . . and I had the H.O.G. Road America as well as my insurance company's plan and a couple others I can't even recall. Cancelled them all and stuck with AAA.

I haven't had the miss-fortune of needing a private tow co......I did have to be towed a few times but i had my Sons rescue me and tow me with my trailer.... That said i only have AAA Motorcycle and recreational vehicle towing just in case my Sons aren't available... ..

[ultrafxr]

I haven't had the miss-fortune of needing a private tow co......I did have to be towed a few times but i had my Sons rescue me and tow me with my trailer.... That said i only have AAA Motorcycle and recreational vehicle towing just in case my Sons aren't available... ..

I've had break downs several times but only this one tow.

[DK Custom Products]

Man, Barry, sorry to hear that. Good friends for sure.

Hope the dealership gets you fixed up quickly for your next trip!

Kevin

[I Corps]

Regarding the towing policy . . . I switched to AAA and added motorcycle coverage just because of that. AAA will tow you anywhere you want to go up to 100 miles at no charge. Helped me out quite a bit several years ago when I had a breakdown. Had a leaking oil cooler and two closest dealers did not have part. Third dealer who was almost 100 miles away did have it and AAA towed me there. Not sure since not checked since then but all my roadside assistance plans except AAA had mileage limits under 100 miles . . . and I had the H.O.G. Road America as well as my insurance company's plan and a couple others I can't even recall. Cancelled them all and stuck with AAA.

Yep. Similar experience riding back to Chicago from Cali. Woke up Sunday at the hotel, guys are lining up after breakfast and one of the guys is pointing at the front of my bike. He was facing the pack, getting ready to pull in behind on his trike,. That front tire was dead flat. Sunday morning, bright sunshiny day in the middle of Kansas, nothing around except vast fields of sunflowers. The small town is totally closed down about five miles away. Not even an open gas station. I called AAA as my final resort, before Hari Kari. I'm gonna hold up seven other bikes because of this? No way,. Just leave me. I'll just be another beautiful memory. Nope everyone will stay. I don't believe what happened. They sent a P/U truck, driven by a local, towing a small flatbed trailer. The nearest Harley shop was 104 miles away! He threw down a makeshift ramp and I drove my Heritage onto the trailer. We secured it and off we went, flanked by all my brothers. A couple hours later, there it is. Harley is open and because he saw we were all from Illinois, he took my bike right in. Because it was 104 miles, he had to charge me $16. There is a $35 hook-up or loading fee and at $4/mile, the bill was $451. My portion, $16. AAA covered all the rest. Bikers, you can't beat that. And it's just an add on to a regular car policy. They call it RV insurance. And no I don't work for AAA. I'm an old, retired VN Marine combat veteran. The rest of the guys are all combat vets, mostly Army (sorry), I was the only Marine there. But kudos to AAA and Harley somewhere in Bumphuck, KS.

[GoSlo]

The reason I like Road America so much is that they will take you to the nearest dealership, regardless of how far it is and it won't cost you a dime. I've got the "deluxe" version for $29/year and it includes up to 2 or 3 nights hotel stay if you have to wait for the bike/trike to get fixed. AAA covers only the first $100, so you're out of pocket after that if I understand what others are saying.

Some friends were riding from Denver to Alaska and one of the bikes broke down in the middle of nowhere (easy place to be in the middle of Canada) and had to be towed. Road America had to tow it 750 miles to get to the nearest dealership!! They weren't real happy about that, but they did it anyway, and at $3/mile, he saved himself a $2,250 towing bill.

[Jack Klarich]

Good luck Barry,

Watching this thread for the answers to your tranny problem

[GoSlo]

Haven't heard anything back yet on the trike and transmission, but I did have an interesting talk with the service manager this morning. I asked if it could have been caused by the transmission fluid leaking into the primary, and if there was no more tranny fluid, if that could have caused the problem? He said it could have but that would be doubtful. I've got just over 8,000 miles and it's been serviced twice now (1000K and 5000k). I asked what they would do if that was indeed the case because it's a known problem and Harley doesn't have a fix. He smiled and said they do have a fix for that now. Something about a plug, but didn't ask anything more. He said that Harley will "fix" the problem only if there is a certain amount leaking into the primary.

Once I get the bike back, I'll get more detailed info on what exactly the fix is and how much fluid has to be leaking before they'll fix it. I was kind of surprised when he said H-D had a fix for the problem. Seems like I would have heard or read something about it on this or one of the other forums, YouTube, etc.

[rhino 2]

Haven't heard anything back yet on the trike and transmission, but I did have an interesting talk with the service manager this morning. I asked if it could have been caused by the transmission fluid leaking into the primary, and if there was no more tranny fluid, if that could have caused the problem? He said it could have but that would be doubtful. I've got just over 8,000 miles and it's been serviced twice now (1000K and 5000k). I asked what they would do if that was indeed the case because it's a known problem and Harley doesn't have a fix. He smiled and said they do have a fix for that now. Something about a plug, but didn't ask anything more. He said that Harley will "fix" the problem only if there is a certain amount leaking into the primary.

Once I get the bike back, I'll get more detailed info on what exactly the fix is and how much fluid has to be leaking before they'll fix it. I was kind of surprised when he said H-D had a fix for the problem. Seems like I would have heard or read something about it on this or one of the other forums, YouTube, etc.

I had the so called fix [Plug] done by my dealer at 6/13/18.......Didn't work....And i did post about it....But that might not be what cause your problem.....

[GoSlo]

I had the so called fix [Plug] done by my dealer at 6/13/18.......Didn't work....And i did post about it....But that might not be what cause your problem.....

Must have missed your post. Sorry it didn't work out for you and that's giving me cause for concern even more now!! Did they ever figure out how to fix it? Hopefully, I'll find out more tomorrow after they've got it opened up.

[rhino 2]

Must have missed your post. Sorry it didn't work out for you and that's giving me cause for concern even more now!! Did they ever figure out how to fix it? Hopefully, I'll find out more tomorrow after they've got it opened up.

Not saying thats your problem , And probably not ....As far as fixing mine....Nope and thats why i'm done with Harley.......

[NHBAGGER]

Hmmm......I thought the current "fix" had something to do with replacing a seal on the hydraulic clutch shaft?

[rhino 2]

Hmmm......I thought the current "fix" had something to do with replacing a seal on the hydraulic clutch shaft?

Harley called it a Plug Kit...[Plug kit oil transfer]

Maybe they changed the name to protect the guilty....Or throwing something else at it to see if it sticks.........

[Jack Klarich]

Hmmm......I thought the current "fix" had something to do with replacing a seal on the hydraulic clutch shaft?

That was a hydraulic leak potential @ the slave cylinder

The fix being refereed to here is supposed to be a cure for tranny fluid migrating to the primary, with mostly epic failures