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.
6
Latest Jul 27, 2021
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.
2
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 Apr 14, 2008
What this page shows
Our database holds 6 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2008 Harley-Davidson Fxstc. 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 1–6 of 6
Driver assistance
Filed Jul 27, 2021
Crash reported1 injury reported
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 "This bike is no longer making a turn." That made no sense at all. I was extremely lucky to avoid serious injury. I had on a leather jacket and a full-face carbon fiber helmet. I heard the helmet hit the payment with a solid thump. I ended up with abrasions lacerations and bruises on my left knee, bruises and abrasions on my left hip and a burn on my left elbow through the jacket and a heavy work shirt. Boots were an ankle saver since they were heavily abraded. Motorcycle could be driven home
NHTSA ID
11426739
Incident
Jun 26, 2021
Driver assistance
Filed Jul 27, 2021
Crash reported1 injury reported
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 "This bike is no longer making a turn." That made no sense at all. I was extremely lucky to avoid serious injury. I had on a leather jacket and a full-face carbon fiber helmet. I heard the helmet hit the payment with a solid thump. I ended up with abrasions lacerations and bruises on my left knee, bruises and abrasions on my left hip and a burn on my left elbow through the jacket and a heavy work shirt. Boots were an ankle saver since they were heavily abraded. Motorcycle could be driven home
NHTSA ID
11426736
Incident
Jun 26, 2021
Other / unspecified
Filed Apr 22, 2012
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
NHTSA ID
10456017
Incident
Jan 1, 2011
Mileage
4,000 mi
BrakesElectrical
Filed Oct 24, 2011
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
NHTSA ID
10432676
Incident
Jul 1, 2011
Mileage
21,000 mi
Powertrain (other)
Filed Apr 28, 2011
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
NHTSA ID
10398089
Incident
Apr 28, 2011
Mileage
9,700 mi
Suspension
Filed Apr 14, 2008
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.
NHTSA ID
10224484
Incident
Sep 6, 2007
Mileage
10 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.