I FILED A COMPLAINT ON 9/14/2004, ODI 10091015. THIS IS SUPPLEMENTAL TO THAT COMPLAINT. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH TURNED UP INFORMATION ABOUT AN OIL DELIVERY PROBLEM INHERENT IN THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON TWIN CAM 88 AND TWIN CAM 88B ENGINES. AN ARTICLE IN THE MARCH 2003 EDITION OF EASY RIDERS MAGAZINE OUTLINES HOW TO REPAIR A FACTORY-DEFECTIVE OIL PUMP RELIEF VALVE. THE OIL PUMP RELIEF VALVE STICKS AND DEPRIVES CRITICAL ENGINE COMPONENTS OF LUBRICATION. IF THE RELIEF VALVE STICKS LONG ENOUGH, THE ENGINE WILL DETONATE, CAUSING THE RIDER TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE MOTORCYCLE. ACCORDING TO THE MAGAZINE ARTICLE, THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN KNOWN ABOUT SINCE JUST AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF THESE ENGINE MODELS, APPROXIMATELY IN 1999. FORTUNATELY, THE ENGINE ON MY MOTORCYCLE FAILED AT LOW SPEED, AND I DID NOT CRASH. HOWEVER, A HIGH-SPEED ENGINE FAILURE ON A MOTORCYCLE WOULD CERTAINLY BE DANGEROUS TO THE RIDER. *JB
2001 Harley-Davidson Softail
Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the engine and engine cooling › engine › gasoline. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsWORN OUT ENGINE AT 3.5 YEARS OLD AND 43,000 MILES
2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Across model years
Worst on record: 2003| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2012 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2011 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2007 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2005 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2004 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2003 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Routine |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2001 — this page | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1999 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1998 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1996 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1995 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
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.