2008 Harley-Davidson Fxstc

At about 3 PM on June 26, 2021 I was going south on Route 131 a mile past the junction with Route 73. There are four long sweeping turns after the junction. I’ve traveled that road on motorcycles hundreds of times. It was clear dry and sunny. The road repaved three months ago is very smooth. Luckily there was no close by following or approaching traffic. With the strong torque of the Softail Custom there is no need to adjust throttle at all in going through these wide turns. I was going slightly below the speed limit of 45 mph. Then when I was about halfway through the first left-hand turn I suddenly realized with alarm that the motorcycle was no longer turning at all. Instead it was beginning to quickly accelerate and consequently becoming upright rather than slightly leaned over and it headed directly ahead off the road into the woods. I shut off the throttle but it kept accelerating, so I applied the brakes hard. The motorcycle only slightly slowed down. The hard braking caused steering wobble and then a full tank slapper. The motorcycle went down onto the pavement with me trapped under it. Its momentum carried it away from me as I saw it go further down the road. If this had occurred going straight down the road there would have been time to sort things out and either pull in the clutch or turn off the rocker power switch or both. But in the actual circumstances of mid-turn at 45 miles an hour I was initially stunned and couldn't believe what was happening. My thought was

At about 3 PM on June 26, 2021 I was going south on Route 131 a mile past the junction with Route 73. There are four long sweeping turns after the junction. I’ve traveled that road on motorcycles hundreds of times. It was clear dry and sunny. The road repaved three months ago is very smooth. Luckily there was no close by following or approaching traffic. With the strong torque of the Softail Custom there is no need to adjust throttle at all in going through these wide turns. I was going slightly below the speed limit of 45 mph. Then when I was about halfway through the first left-hand turn I suddenly realized with alarm that the motorcycle was no longer turning at all. Instead it was beginning to quickly accelerate and consequently becoming upright rather than slightly leaned over and it headed directly ahead off the road into the woods. I shut off the throttle but it kept accelerating, so I applied the brakes hard. The motorcycle only slightly slowed down. The hard braking caused steering wobble and then a full tank slapper. The motorcycle went down onto the pavement with me trapped under it. Its momentum carried it away from me as I saw it go further down the road. If this had occurred going straight down the road there would have been time to sort things out and either pull in the clutch or turn off the rocker power switch or both. But in the actual circumstances of mid-turn at 45 miles an hour I was initially stunned and couldn't believe what was happening. My thought was

THE FRONT SPOKES OF THIS BRAND NEW LOW-MILEAGE HARLEY HAVE RUSTED SO HEAVILY I FEAR THEY WILL BREAK AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. THE BIKE WAS ALWAYS GARAGED AND KEPT CLEAN. HARLEY BLEW IT OFF AND HAD NO INTEREST IN HELPING REPAIR THE SPOKES. THEY SAID I HAD TO DEAL WITH IT MYSELF. EVEN A TWENTY YEAR OLD PINTO WOULDN'T DO THIS! AT TWICE THE PRICE OF THE COMPETITION NO MORE HARLEYS FOR ME. THIS JUST ISN'T RIGHT AND HARLEY KNOWS IT BUT DOESN'T CARE. *TR

THE REAR BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH FAILED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THE REPORT 11V506000. BRAKE LIGHT WOULD NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN BRAKE PEDAL DEPRESSED. REPLACEMENT OF THE SWITCH SOLVED THE PROBLEM. THIS MALFUNCTION IS EERILY SIMILAR TO THE NAMED REPORT. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE DEALER IT WAS INDICATED THAT THIS PROBLEM IS SEEN REGULARLY. THE PROBLEM IS ALSO WIDELY REPORTED ON WEB HARLEY DAVIDSON FORUMS. IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THIS IS A SYSTEMIC SAFETY PROBLEM THAT MANDATES EXPANDING THE VEHICLES AFFECTED. *TR

DRIVE BELT BROKE WITH LESS THAN 10K MILES. BREAK WAS STRAIGHT ACROSS BELT IN LOWEST AREA. BREAK OCCURRED ON CLEAN ROADS (JUST AFTER A MAJOR RAIN STORM) JUST AFTER STOPPING AT A RED LIGHT. BELT INDICATED SAME TYPE OF STRESS FRACTURE ABOUT A FOOT FROM THE INITIAL BREAK WHICH WOULD PRECLUDE DAMAGE FROM AN OBJECT OR OBSTACLE. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HARLEY DAVIDSON FXSTC MOTORCYCLE. THE BODY OF THE VEHICLE IS SCRAPED WHEN MAKING TURNS. THE FAILURE OCCURS AT BOTH HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND DURING CITY DRIVING, PARTICULARLY ON THE SIDE WHERE THE MUFFLER IS LOCATED. THE CONTACT HAS ALMOST BEEN CLIPPED OVER ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AND HAS HAD TO RIDE BELOW THE POSTED SPEED LIMITS. THE SUSPENSION HAS SETTLED AND THE PROBLEM HAS GOTTEN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. THE DEALER HAS NO SOLUTION AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT LEAN TO NORMAL SPECIFICATIONS. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 2,500 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10.