RoadVitals

2005 Harley-Davidson XL883C 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.
3
Latest Jun 26, 2016
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 Jun 19, 2007

What this page shows

Our database holds 3 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2005 Harley-Davidson XL883C. 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 1–3 of 3

Powertrain (other)
Filed Jun 26, 2016

I CHANGED THE OIL, WHEN FINISHED I COULD NOT GET THE OIL CAP TO LOCK AND SEAL. I TOOK IT TO A HARLEY DEALERSHIP AND HAD THE SERVICE ADVISOR TRY TO GET IT TO LOCK DOWN AND HE COULD NOT. THAT IS WHEN I NOTICED THE OIL THAT HAD DRIPPED ALL OVER MY BIKE. I ORDERED A NEW CAP. I THEN TOOK IT TO A BIKE GARAGE (INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED), THEY TOLD ME THAT SOME YEARS OF HARLEYS HAD SWITCHED TO A PLASTIC OIL CAP AND THOSE TEND TO EXPAND/CONTRACT AND THE SEALS STRETCH OUT AND DO NOT SEAL PROPERLY. THEY SINCE HAVE CHANGED FROM PLASTIC TO SOMETHING ELSE. THEY URGED ME TO CHECK IF THERE WAS A RECALL ON MY BIKE AND TO DEFINITELY GET A NEW CAP. I CAN NOT DRIVE MY BIKE UNTIL A NEW CAP IS PROPERLY INSTALLED. MY BIKE LEAKS OIL OUT OF THE TOP OF THE OIL TANK IF I DO DRIVE IT, THAT DRIPS ON THE DRIVE BELT (AKA "CHAIN"), THE WHEEL, THE BRAKE(?) , MY SADDLE BAG AND FOOT PEG. OIL ON ANY PART OF A BIKE (OTHER THAN WHERE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE) IS DANGEROUS AND COULD POSE A HAZARD FOR DRIVERS/RIDERS. MY FOOT COULD SLIP OFF THE PEG, TIRES AND/OR BRAKES MAY NOT GRAB PROPERLY WHEN STOPPING. I AM WONDERING HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THIS UNFORTUNATE SITUATION? COULD YOU PLEASE CHECK INTO IT?

NHTSA ID
10876703
Incident
Jun 23, 2016
Engine
Filed Aug 10, 2008

BOUGHT MY BIKE NEW HAD 15 MILES ON IT. AND HAVE BEEN FIXING THIS BIKE SINCE DAY ONE.. DEALER REPLACE THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR TWICE UNDER WARRANTY AND I REPLACED IT ONCE AFTER WARRANTY .THAT IS FOUR SENSORS IN LESS THEN . 3,000 MILES..NOT TO MENTION THAT IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WHEN THIS PART FAILS ...YOU LOSE TOTAL POWER OF MOTORCYCLE AND COULD VERY EASY LOSE CONTROL AND CRASH..THIS IS AN URGENT PROBLEM..AS MY SENSOR WENT ON ME AGAIN TODAY 8/10/08....PLEASE HELP...I KNOW THERE HAS BEEN OTHER COMPLAINTS ON THIS PROBLEM...THANK YOU... THE PART NUMBER IS 32804-04A AND IT IS CALLED CRANK POSITION SENSOR... *TR

NHTSA ID
10237576
Incident
Aug 10, 2008
Mileage
2,796 mi
Brakes
Filed Jun 19, 2007

IN MAY 2006 I TOOK THE HARLEY DAVIDSON TO THE DEALER AFTER THE REAR BRAKE PADS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT APPROXIMATELY 9,000 MILES. DEALER ACKNOWLEDGED PADS WORE OUT PREMATURELY DUE TO FAULTY MASTER CYLINDER. MASTER CYLINDER REBUILT AND MOTORCYCLE RELEASED. IN JUNE 2006 BRAKES FAILED AND MOTORCYCLE RETURNED TO DEALER. MASTER CYLINDER REPLACED WITH NEW UNIT. IN JUNE 2007 AT 22,000 MILES. BRAKES FAILED. PADS REPLACED, FLUID CHECKED, MASTER CYLINDER DID NOT FUNCTION AS DESIGNED. THE FAILURE COULD HAVE CAUSED A SERIOUS CRASH OR DEATH. PARTS TO REBUILD CYLINDER HAVE BEEN UPDATED TWICE WITH NEW PART NUMBER AND IMPROVED DESIGN. HARLEY DAVID SON INDICATED THIS WAS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE. BRAKES WERE A SAFETY ISSUE.*AK

NHTSA ID
10193757
Incident
Jun 11, 2007
Mileage
9,000 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 .