Harley Davidson - new battery went dead due to regulator failure - crank case split for no apparant reason

# 18 for August 21, 2003

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 20, 2003:

From:

RE: Harley Davidson - new battery went dead due to regulator failure - crank case split for no apparant reason

I purchased a brand new maintence free battery w/ a 1 yr warranty on a Harley Davidson battery.

The battery was installed by a mechanic at a shop in April of 2003. My husband and I were riding our motorcycle on Aug 17th 2003, and the battery suddenly went dead. After examing the battery we noticed acid coming out the sides and the battery was very warm to the touch. We had to be hauled home in a truck. The regulater apparently failed and too much current fried the battery.

I realize that maybe it is not totally the battery at fault here but when my husband took it to the Harley Dealer ship He was rudely accused of over charging the battery with a 40amp charger without even testing the battery or the bike's charging system. They out right accused him of cooking the battery and totally refused to replace the battery. It clearly states right on the battery of its warranty policy and since the bike was recently checked for any electrical problems and none were detected I fail to see how we are at fault for this misfortune. The bike had been serviced on August 12th-15th 2003.

After contacting a service rep of Harley Davidson the best they would do is offer us a 20% discount on another battery. I feel we have been taken to the cleaners and I would never recommend buying a Harley Davidson battery because even when you do all the preventive maintence possible on a bike the company does NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT!!!

MY OTHER complaint has to do with having to replace crank cases that fracture and split for no apparent reason other than Harley Davidson had used crank cases from 1989 -1993 (and only secretlly replaced and warrantied )these defected cases until 1995. I had questioned dealerships in 1993 of this and was told there was no such warranty. Now it is 2003 and after having a top end job done on our cycle we noticed oil spraying up from underneath the bike in a thick coat and noticed a crack now going all the way around. The top end now had to be removed and when the cases where exposed they fell into three pieces.

This costed us 670.00 for new cases and the top end now needed to be built back up after only 800 miles on the new top end work. The labor and other parts came to a total of 1700.00 and 2 days later this thing with the battery has me boiling.

We have not got any satisfaction from any of these defects but total disrespect from the dealership at Wausau Harley Davidson and their people there do not want to cater to any customer and their knowledge of their own products and what is available surely proves the are not a dealership you want to do business with.