1998 Harley-Davidson Road King

Routine

Owners filed 3 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the service brakes, hydraulic. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails

Component	Reports		Crashes	Fires	Injuries
Suspension › Rear	1		0	0	0
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	1		0	0	0
Electrical System › Wiring › Fuses and Circuit Breakers	1		0	0	0

What owners reported

Newest filings

Suspension › Rear

Filed Sep 7, 2002CA

THE REAR CAM BEARING ON MY 1999 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROADKING HAS FAILED. THE MANUFACTURE IS ENTIRELY AWARE OF THE DESIGN DEFECT. I FAIL TO SEE THE LOGIC ON HOW MY VEHICLE MUST DAMAGE OTHER ENGINE COMPONENTS BEFORE HARLEY DAVIDSON BACKS UP THEIR OBVIOUS DESIGN FLAW. THE DEALER WAS INFORMED ON 8-1-02 THAT I'M NOW HEARING A NOISE NEAR REAR CAM BEARING AREA. I ASKED TO HAVE MY HARLEY REPAIRED "HARLEY DAVIDSON FAILED TO DO SO". I FEEL H-D SHOULD REPLACE THE CAM BEARING PRIOR TO FAILURE. I TRIED TO CONTACT H-D MOTOR COMPANY AND GOT NOWHERE. I GUESS WHEN DEMAND IN A PRODUCT IS HIGH, THE DEALER DOESN'T HAVE TO BACK IT UP . DID I MENTION "ILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HARLEY DAVIDSON. PLEASE HELP! THANK YOU.*AK

Electrical System › Wiring › Fuses and Circuit Breakers

Filed Jan 24, 2002CA

WHILE DRIVING MOTORCYCLE KEEPS BLOWING A 15 AMP FUSE, IT CAUSES LOSS OF RUNNING LIGHTS/ TAIL LIGHT/ HEADLIGHTS, AND PASSING LIGHTS. DEALER NOTIFIED AND WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE THE CAUSE. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK

Service Brakes, Hydraulic

Filed Aug 2, 2001AL

BRAKE LIGHTS STICK ON OR FLICKER WHEN GOING DOWN HIGHWAY. ALSO, MASTER CYLINDER WAS WEAK . CONSUMER ORDERED KIT. CONTACTED DEALER ,AND DEALER STATED NOTHING THEY COULD DO.*AK

3 of 3 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2004

Year	Complaints	Recalls	Assessment
2004	10	1	Routine
2003	1	0	Routine
2002	6	0	Routine
2001	8	0	Routine
1999	4	0	Routine
1998 — this page	3	0	Routine
1997	1	0	Routine

Compare every Road King year →

Other Harley-Davidson models

All Harley-Davidson models →

Flhtcu 276 Flhx 184 Flhtk 161 Flhtc 109 Flhtcui 108 Harley Davidson 101 XG750 88 Flhtcutg 87 Flhr 87 Flstc 73

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.