After delivery, I discovered while parked there was a cooling system leak near the front of the engine (~90 miles); if it were not addressed, such a leak has potential to deposit coolant on the rear tire and could contribute to a crash and ensuing injury. The dealer repaired the leak, it has subsequently returned and become more serious (discovered at 975 miles). The selling dealer advised me not to operate the motorcycle and retrieved it by trailer from my home. Unfortunately, the technician servicing my bike had a crash on a test ride after service; it's apparent the sequence of events leading to the crash resulted from the other driver's actions, but at this point it's unknown if the coolant leak was a contributing factor in the technician's inability to avoid the accident.
2014 Harley-Davidson Flhtk engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 15 of 15, newest first, as owners wrote them.
October 6, 2013, after riding 98 miles (odometer) on a newly purchased motorcycle, motorcycle coolant was noticed on the garage floors shortly after shutting down the motorcycle (30 min). Right lower faring cover was removed to inspect coolant reservoir with no apparent signs of coolant leakage. The coolant reservoir overflow tube appeared to be dry, however, the reservoir coolant was below the cold fluid level line.water pump cover was removed and showed accumulation of coolant, but I was not able to determine where leakage was coming from. Area was wiped clean to determine if coolant was leftover from factory. Motorcycle was taken into the dealer's service department on october 9, 2013. Upon, parking the motorcycle, more coolant was leaking from the water pump cover area. The service department notified me that the thermostat housing was leaking and parts to repair the motorcycle were not in stock at the dealership and must be ordered. Waiting for parts and repair could be a week or more as harley davidson parts warehouse does not have this part in stock either. Apparently they seem to be on backorder. Coolant leakage form the water pump/thermostat area will dump antifreeze in direct line of the rear tire as the vehicle is driven and unknown to the operator. This is a safety/health issue and potential design flaw that may result is accidents, injury, death or property damage.
This is a brand new 2014 hd flhtk limited. New with this model year, harley-davidson introduced their new twin-cooled technology. The motorcycle has a coolant system, whereby the exhaust ports inside each of the two engine cylinder heads are cool with antifreeze. After riding the motorcycle for the first time, I parked it in my garage and shut down the engine. Coolant liquid (antifreeze) began to pour out of the coolant reservoir bottle from the overflow tube and onto the garage floor. This was the first incident but it has since occurred three times for a total of four times. Antifreeze liquid is very slippery. If the coolant system has defects that could cause coolant to overflow onto the ground while operating (riding) the motorcycle, the rear tire would come in contact with the antifreeze and get on the rear tire. Should the rear tire be exposed to the slippery antifreeze coolant liquid, such a situation could result in a loss of traction of the motorcycle and cause serious injury or even death.
New engine overheating dumping coolant out of overflow tube underneath motorcycle and on to rear tire creating a safety risk. Four overheating incidents within the first 400 miles of engine life. Engine break in with malfunctioning cooling system creating excessive engine heat and risk of improper break in or engine damage.
I experienced coolant leakage after coming to a stop. The dealership spent a few days testing and making the repair. At approx.. 300 miles it did it again. Coolant is very slippery, if coolant gets on a motorcycles tires it would be all bad. From what I have been hearing, harley is having issues with coolant leaks on selected new bikes. This is a whole new design for harley davidson, used on 3 2014 harley davidson models. I really think the issue should be investigated.
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