Fried Clutch on 2015 FLHXS at 3,000 Miles

[Klmack]

Blues Belly,
Yeah, I hear you. It's not an actual reimbursement as HD is getting every dime back + the profit margin. At least I get that. My thing is: I am a consultant and I provide the best service possible to my clients. If there is an issue, problem, or concern, I fix it immediately because it's mine and my company’s reputation I care about. Even if it’s someone who is doing the work for me, I fix it then take care of any internal issues. If HD is going to say that they are the top of the line American made motorcycle, they had better back it up. It's always best to have your customers walking away feeling satisfied. Imagine if you bought a 2015 Porsche Carerra and the clutch went out at 3k miles. Would Porsche try to BS their way through it or apologize and take care of the business? Or, as I asked my HD Service Manager: if this was your bike, what would you do? The answer was clear.

Just take care of your business and keep us on the road and all is well- there would be no bad mouthing of the product and we would all be solid HD Ambassadors. We love our Harley's and mother HOG knows it. We are Indian and Victory's main target, but our Street Glides keep us firmly entrenched.

I will be reporting the screeching sound from my clutch at my 5,000 mile service in a couple of weeks. I have only heard it a few times and it’s really not even the fear of any associated cost, it’s the fear of being stranded standing next to a brand new bike waiting for a tow. I’m going to Strugis in a few weeks and this shouldn’t even be a conversation I should be having.

 

[Mojo]

Well said Klmack !

 

[Klmack]

UPDATE: July 20, 2015
So I took the Black Magic Woman in for the 5,000 mile service, with 4,848 miles on her. I told my HD mechanic that I have been experiencing a ‘screeching’ sound that seems to be coming from the clutch and I can feel it in the clutch lever. This has occurred about a dozen times in the past 1,800 miles after riding approximately 4- 5 miles and has not done it when the bike is fully warmed up, but should not be doing it at all. As a reminder, I had the clutch plates replaced at 3,000 miles due to failure. At that time, OEM Plates were replaced with Screamin Eagle High Performance plates.

Heard from the shop yesterday and they were able to replicate the screeching sound (thank goodness). I was told that the mechanic had heard this on other bikes (Rushmores), and that the problem was that the bearing was briefly spinning in the shell housing, which it’s not supposed to. They are going to replace the shell, bearing, pressure plate, and friction plates. I asked to have new OEM friction plates put in, and they are going to return the SE friction plates to me as they were in great shape with 1,800 miles on them. All of this is warranty work.

I’m glad they were able to isolate the problem though I was told that they will get it put back together and test ride to confirm that this was indeed the problem. I was also told that the plates were ‘a little dry’ when the clutch was removed from the primary. I hope this will end the clutch issues I have experienced on my new bike- less than 5,000 miles and 2 new clutches. I’m travelling to Sturgis and I had put a goal together to have a new Street Glide for this trip and traded in my 2002 Lowrider- which had zero issues.

I also am changing out the crankcase oil with Mobil V-Twin 20w/50 Full Synthetic, and once again having the tranny fluid changed with Red Line Heavy Duty Transmission Fluid with Shock-Proof. I have used this in my previous Lowrider and the results are truly noticeable.

 

[chivo]

clutch problems

clutch problems

mine feels like it takes off in 2nd gear also it only has 1500 miles on it, 2014 street glide i bought it with a 1000 miles on it about 2 weeks ago
this is my 6th harley but the frist with a hydraulic clutch
i was thinking of putting a sc clutch in it
i would love to know what you think of your sc clutch

Quote Originally Posted by Klmack View Post

So it’s Friday May 15, and I’m sitting here waiting to hear from the dealership letting me know that my bike is done. I was on a ride in San Francisco a couple of days ago and my clutch fried. 2015 FLHXS with 3,014 miles on the ODO- and the clutch is GONE! My bike is not part of the clutch master cylinder recall. When this occurred, the clutch plates were barely grabbing, and would release around 3,000 rpm, barely able to move the bike. I tried to get home but after travelling about 12 miles while ‘feathering’ the clutch, I had to pull off of the freeway because I could only go about 45 mph. Fortunately some of my HOG brothers were with me. I got the bike trailered and delivered to the dealership the next day and got the dreaded phone call: “your clutch is fried and it’s not covered under warranty as it is considered a wear and tear”. What??? A bike with 3,000 miles on it- fried clutch is ‘operator wear and tear’??? I spoke with Mother Hog and they basically said the same thing. This is my second Harley and my 8th bike overall and I have never fried a clutch, not even on dirt bikes or when I was young and stupid and shredded 3 tires a year on crotch rockets. My miles come from riding with my HOG Group so it ain’t like I’m shredding tires from the stop. To say I am pissed would be an understatement.
This is going to cost me just north of $500. Since I picked up the bike in December 2014, it never really ‘jumped’ off of the line- kinda seemed like I was starting out in 2nd gear or something and this was my first bike with a hydraulic clutch so I just assumed that this was way these operated. I am going to have the OEM clutch plates replaced with the Screamin Eagle plates so I will be interested in seeing how the clutch operates. I was going to be getting an SE high flow air cleaner and a V&H FP3 tuner this week, but I guess that is out the window for now.
Has anyone else experienced frying a clutch on a 2014 or 2015 FLHXS?

UPDATE: Friday May 15. Picked bike up today. Everything appears to be working fine. I paid $492. As I was passing my credit card, I said to the mechanic 'I still would have to say that frying the clutch on a Street Glide at 3,000 miles certainly indicates a problem, weather you guys could find it or not.' I paid the bill and boogied- I got a big ride tomorrow. Kinda disillusioned. I'm assuming since I paid the bill all is settled. I spoke with Dave at Mother Hog and got the 'not covered by warranty' story.

 

[Mojo]

Klmack, chivo- Something smells really bad with all the early clutch failures we are seeing across the country. It reminds me of the most recent recall for bag fasteners. It seems as if Harley has a "threshold number" of complaints that have to occur before they'll issue a recall!

By the way- Welcome chivo to SGF!