RoadVitals

2001 Harley-Davidson Softail 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.
2
Latest Nov 6, 2004
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.
0
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 Sep 14, 2004

What this page shows

Our database holds 2 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2001 Harley-Davidson Softail. 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 1–2 of 2

Engine
Filed Nov 6, 2004

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

NHTSA ID
10098381
Incident
Sep 1, 2004
Mileage
43,001 mi
Engine
Filed Sep 14, 2004

WORN OUT ENGINE AT 3.5 YEARS OLD AND 43,000 MILES

NHTSA ID
10091015
Incident
Sep 1, 2004
Mileage
43,001 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 .