Well, last Saturday my Tri-Glide, with 7324 miles on it, broke down in Gettysburg, it did not start, battery almost dead. After about 20 minutes I got it started and went to the local Harley dealer to have it looked at. They determined that the voltage regulator went bad and drained the battery. After being there all day, got there at 11am, left at 5pm, the dealer informed me that they put a new voltage regulator on it but did not have a chance to charge the battery. What??? Thanks for all the help Harley Dealer!!!! They then informed me that the E-Brake was not working, how could that be I had the bike in last week for it's 5000 mile service? Finally, they got it going and I rode it up the highway for a bit.
It sat all night and in the morning I fired it up and rode 2 hours to get home and put the battery tender on it. On Monday, I took it up to my local dealer where I purchased it from and told them about my escapade on Saturday.
I asked that they look at the charging system and the E-Brake.
The local dealer told me the charging system was fine and that the E-Brake would not work because I needed rear brakes.
The dealer informed me that next month when I bring it in they would do the brake job on it.
Well, I'm an auto mechanic, so how hard could it be to change rear disc brakes on the tri-glide. Monday afternoon I talk with Lyndall and they tell me that they do not have the brakes for a 2011 Tri-Glide and it will be about 2 months before they get them. So, I go up to the Harley dealer yesterday and purchase the Harley Davidson rear brake pads and head home.
Last night I decide that I would change out the brakes. I pulled the new brakes out of the box and low and behold the new pads have about 4/32 of lining on them. Ok, I now see why you need brakes every 7000 miles, but wait gets better. I take the brake pads off the right side and the lining on them are 3/32 of lining left. Hhhhmmm, guess I really did not need new brakes after all, what a dealer ploy, so I continue and replace the brakes anyway, the rotors looked fine so nothing required to do there. After putting on the rear brakes I adjust the e-brake and everything is fine, no squealing at the moment.
I will have to get some Lyndall brakes when they are available.
Bottom line, the Harley dealers really bite when it comes to any kind of service, they are out for top dollar and dont care if you need the parts or not, they will sell them to you either way!
Sorry for the long post, just had to vent a little bit.
Ride Safe!