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New Road Glide Issues

4K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  Dhambrick 
#1 ·
I have ridden Electra Glidesn for many years but recently bought a 2012 Road Glide Ultra. I love it. The stability compared to a EG is amazing. I am heading from Houston to Sturgis and trying to get the bike dialed in before rolling. I have experienced a few issues.

1. Today my wife and I intentionally went for a ride in the rain to make sure the bike and all of our rain gear is functioning properly. We road in a steady rain at highway speeds for about 30 mins. I usually ride with the trip meter in the mode that tells me how many miles I have left in the tank. Well the trip meter automatically switched to odometer mode and would not change to any other trip modes, including miles left in tank. Also, the horn went from its normal sound to a squeak. I also noticed that when I tried to restart the bike after parking and turning everything thing off that when I turned the inginition switch on the speedometer and tach needles rotated all the way over to max speed and max RPM and all the warning and notice lights on speedo illuminated. The bike started normally and all electronics seemed to work properly. I checked recalls and my VIN didn't identify any recalls on regulator. I don't want to have any issues while rolling to Sturgis. Any ideas?

2. Instead of riding acroos Texas in the August heat and to have more time in Sturgis we are going to trailer from Houston to Denver. What is the best way to tie down a Road Glide? Where do you place the tie downs?

Thanks, James
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Welcome to the Shark tank James!
About the gauges I believe that is the normal self test for them at start up.

I tie my RG down just above the front fender mounts with soft loops and that way the bike can "float" and the shocks are not compressed, on the rear I just strap the bottom of the wheel down so the rear can also "float" and the rear shocks are not compressed.
I can probably find some pics of mine while tied down if you want let me know!

As far as the horn goes, I never liked HD's horn but I bet it got water in it and may or may not work when dry, I'd replace it with an air horn.
The odometer issue sounds like a warranty repair for sure.

Good luck with your new ride, after you get the kinks worked out of the odometer switch and horn you're gonna have a great time!
-ST
 
#3 · (Edited)
The gauge doing a full sweep is not normal!! The gauges should only do a full sweep if you are doing a diagnostic scan, it sound like the mode switch (button) got stuck and that made it to were you could not change from mileage to range to trip meter etc, etc. The mode switch may have got wet so make sure that the protective rubber boot is on the switch properly, but this is not normal operation so you may have to replace the mode switch. Of course the bike is under warranty so let the HD dealer take care of the problem.

Tie the bike down by taking a 10ft rachet stap and looping it over the bottom triple tree, that way you will have no paint rub issues.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like you may have a bad ground connection somewhere, the clue being the weak horn. The horn is a high amp draw item, if the ground connection is weak the horn will not get enough voltage and sound like you describe.
The horn is mounted to, and I believe grounded to, the engine. Check all the mounting bolts, and follow the battery cables especially the ground cable, to their connection points and tighten all of them.
Check the wiring of the speedometer button, I believe one side of it is grounded also, which would possibly explain it and the gauges odd behavior.
For that matter, one side of the horn button is grounded also, so it's tied to all the rest of the oddities, and all of them are mounted to the moving front fork. Seems to me there's a big ground connection right up there by the handlebars, I think??
 
#6 ·
I had a similar experience on my 2012 RG with the trip meter when I was caught in heavy rain several months ago. It basically went haywire. It did return to normal operation after I parked it and dried out. I suspect it will happen again, just a matter of time.
The horn on my 2006 Street Glide went out every time I got caught in heavy rain, was replaced a couple of times and a couple of times the techs just blew it out with an air hose. Never happend on previous Harleys I owned.

Scoots
 
#7 ·
A wheel dock or wheel chock is a good option for hauling. This will keep you from having to compress your suspension so tight to prevent a bounce from unhooking your straps! Has not happened to me but I read it happened to others on another forum. Good luck. Face
 
#8 ·
Welcome from Florida, haven't faced or noticed any of your issues, for a tie down point, I bought a bracket that mounts in front of the crash bar from KIWI Indian, works great and you really don't even notice that it's there.
 
#9 ·
I agree with SpringerTodd about the tie down spot. I have transported my 2011 RGU a couple of times tied off to the fork above the fender mounts. I used a padded loop over the fork legs on rachet strap to the loop. This secures the bike but still allows the suspension to work.
 
#10 ·
I would check to see of your bike falls under the voltage regulator recall. What you describe is what happens under low voltage situations (my bike died 15 miles out on the way home last weekend).
 
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