RoadVitals

2018 Harley-Davidson Fxfbs Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
8
Latest Apr 15, 2020
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
1
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Aug 28, 2018

What this page shows

Our database holds 8 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2018 Harley-Davidson Fxfbs. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–8 of 8

Engine
Filed Apr 15, 2020

OIL SUMPING, OIL PUMP FAILURE. CYLINDER SEIZED. 2300 TOTAL MILES. *TR

NHTSA ID
11321160
Incident
Apr 7, 2020
Mileage
2,300 mi
Driver assistanceVisibility
Filed Mar 23, 2020

MOISTURE IS COLLECTING UNDER THE SPEEDOMETER, FORCING ME NOT TO KNOW MY SPEED, RPM, ETC. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. I AM ON MY SECOND FACTORY REPLACEMENT OF THE UNIT.

NHTSA ID
11319072
Incident
Jun 19, 2019
Mileage
2,000 mi
Electrical
Filed Apr 2, 2019

THE SPEEDOMETER FILLS WITH CONDENSATION RENDERING IT UNREADABLE. HARLEY DAVIDSON CORPORATE IS REPLACING DEFECTIVE SPEEDOMETERS WITH ANOTHER DEFECTIVE SPEEDOMETER AND REFUSES TO REPLACE IT MORE THAN ONCE.

NHTSA ID
11193359
Incident
Apr 2, 2019
Mileage
5,000 mi
Electrical
Filed Mar 29, 2019

CONDENSATION FORMS INSIDE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WHILE DRIVING, RENDERING THE SPEED INDICATOR UNREADABLE. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE THE DRIVER CAN BECOME DISTRACTED TRYING TO READ THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER THROUGH THE CONDENSATION. IT'S ALSO A SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE THE DRIVER CAN'T DETERMINE THEIR SPEED WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER IS UNREADABLE. THE CONDENSATION MAY ALSO CAUSE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER TO FAIL OVER TIME. HARLEY DAVIDSON IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE, BUT HAS ADVISED THAT THEY WILL ONLY FIX IT ONCE, AND WON'T GUARANTEE THAT THE REPLACEMENT CLUSTER WON'T HAVE THE SAME ISSUE WITH CONDENSATION.

NHTSA ID
11192417
Incident
Mar 8, 2019
Driver assistance
Filed Feb 28, 2019

AFTER TAKING MY '18 HD OUT FOR LUNCH, THE SPEEDOMETER FOGGED UP WHILE I WAS INSIDE THE BUILDING (ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES - ~75 DEGREES OUTSIDE). THE ENTIRE RIDE HOME THE SPEEDOMETER WAS FOGGED UP AND I WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE SPEED OF MY MOTORCYCLE OR GEAR THAT THE BIKE WAS IN. SINCE THE UNIT ONLY HAS AN ANALOG TACH I AM OUT OF LUCK WHEN IT COMES TO DETERMINING MY SPEED TO KEEP SAFE / LAWFUL VEHICLE OPERATION ON THE ROAD. I PHONED HD TO ASK ABOUT POSSIBLE WARRANTY OPTIONS AND I WAS TOLD "THIS IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR" AND THAT THEY WOULD / COULD DO NOTHING ABOUT IT - KNOWING THAT THEIR USERS ARE UNABLE TO SEE THEIR CURRENT SPEED WHILE DRIVING.

NHTSA ID
11183239
Incident
Feb 28, 2019
Mileage
4,000 mi
Electrical
Filed Feb 28, 2019

AFTER THE MOTORCYCLE WARMS UP (ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF RIDING), CONDENSATION BEGINS TO FORM INSIDE THE SPEEDOMETER ON THE INSIDE OF THE GLASS. THIS CONDENSATION BLOCKS THE VIEW OF THE SPEED READING AND OTHER INDICATORS. AT NIGHT, VISIBILITY IS EVEN WORSE WHEN THIS OCCURS. HARLEY SAYS THAT THIS IS JUST THE WAY IT IS, BUT THAT CANNOT BE THE CASE. THE GAUGE SHOULD BE COMPLETELY SEALED SO MOISTURE CANNOT GET IN. THIS IS A WIDELY REPORTED PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED BECAUSE IT IS DANGEROUS. THE PICTURE I ATTACHED SHOWS THE CONDENSATION FORMING ON THE BOTTOM. IT GETS EVEN WORSE THAN THE PHOTO I PROVIDED.

NHTSA ID
11183224
Incident
Feb 11, 2019
Mileage
15 mi
Brakes
Filed Dec 29, 2018
Crash reported1 injury reported

'TAKATA RECALL' REAR BRAKE LOCKS UP IN HARD BREAKING SITUATIONS AND PULLS BACK WHEEL LEFT. ALSO SPEEDOMETER CONSTANTLY FILLS WITH CONDENSATION NO MATTER WHAT THE TEMPERATURE OR WEATHER IS LIKE OUTSIDE. THIS IS AN EXTREME SAFETY ISSUE AND A CONSTANT PROBLEM

NHTSA ID
11163989
Incident
Aug 27, 2018
Mileage
2,200 mi
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed Aug 28, 2018

CONDENSATION FORMS INSIDE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WHILE DRIVING, RENDERING THE SPEED INDICATOR UNREADABLE. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE THE DRIVER CAN BECOME DISTRACTED TRYING TO READ THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER THROUGH THE CONDENSATION. IT'S ALSO A SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE THE DRIVER CAN'T DETERMINE THEIR SPEED WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER IS UNREADABLE. THE CONDENSATION MAY ALSO CAUSE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER TO FAIL OVER TIME. HARLEY DAVIDSON IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE, BUT HAS ADVISED THAT THEY WILL ONLY FIX IT ONCE, AND WON'T GUARANTEE THAT THE REPLACEMENT CLUSTER WON'T HAVE THE SAME ISSUE WITH CONDENSATION.

NHTSA ID
11123064
Incident
Aug 27, 2018
Mileage
1,500 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .