DK Custom Products
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Hey Bill,
I tried to go back in and edit my original post, but that option was not available to me.
The part I wanted to change was this-
Bottom line on the Consent Decree, it does NOT invalidate the 2017 Warranty, it only applies to Tuners that they know about...so don't tell them.
It should have said-
Bottom line on the Consent Decree, it does NOT invalidate the 2017 Warranty, the Consent Decree only applies to Tuners that they know about & the powertrain part of the warranty ...so don't tell them. BUT HERE is the Big Problem for Harley (not for us, the consumer) the deal they signed in the CD is at odds with the Warranty Promise they made to ALL their Customers. The two are diametrically opposed.
Federal law says that No vehicle manufacturer can void a warranty for an aftermarket part being used, Unless said part actually caused a failure. This is also what the HD Warranty says.
The CD says that if HD knows that a tuner was used to tune the bike outside of CARB or EPA standards, then HD is to NOT do any warranty work on the powertrain.
So you have one arm of the federal government telling Harley to do one thing, and another arm of the federal government telling Harley to do something 180* opposite.
Typical.
However, it is No big deal. Even if on a road trip. Flash Tuners, like the Power Vision & the FP3 can, in less than 2 minutes, put the ECM back to the original EPA approved tune. As of 2017 the HD ECM does not leave any record (that the Dealership can see) that there was ever a non-EPA compliant tune in the bike.
What is FAKE NEWS is that many folks are saying, including some people working at Dealerships, "Harley has made clear on the 2017's that you can't change anything without voiding the warranty."
Harley has said no such thing...that statement is directly opposite of what is stated in their warranty, and it is not even supported by the Consent Decree (which I believe will eventually be ruled illegal, or modified since it is, in fact, asking HD to do something illegal).
To be clear- The Consent Decree is asking HD to do something illegal. They have muddied the waters by linking emissions to warranty work. They are separate issues, and cannot legally be linked.
However, that is Harley & the Governments problem, it does not have to be the Consumers problem. Because with the tiniest amount of planning, the consumer can simply not give any dealership any information that a non-CARB or EPA compliant tune has been used on a 2017 model Bike. Simple.
To date I have not heard of anyone being denied warranty work on a Powertrain, per the Consent Decree. It is pretty much a given that if/when that does occur there is going to be a big battle, and it will be interesting to see the outcome.
The above is addressing the Warranty subject.
.
A completely different subject is CARB & EPA standards & enforcement that does affect the Consumer. There is no doubt that Cali is cracking down. We stopped shipping some different exhaust components to Cali addresses a couple of years ago. Not because of warranty issues...exhaust has never been the cause of another Harley part failing, so no one has ever had warranty work legally declined because of an exhaust component...the reason we stopped shipping some exhaust components to Cali was because of CARB.
That is also why your dealership is doing what they are doing. Not because of warranty...but because of the very real threat of BIG $$$ fines from CARB.
So far Cali has only done any enforcement at a supplier/dealer level...and occasionally with a fix-it ticket to the consumer for loud pipes.
I moved away from Cali almost 30 years ago, and have not regretted it for 1 second. It is hard to see any scenario where things will get better out that way.
Peace brother.
Kevin
I tried to go back in and edit my original post, but that option was not available to me.
The part I wanted to change was this-
Bottom line on the Consent Decree, it does NOT invalidate the 2017 Warranty, it only applies to Tuners that they know about...so don't tell them.
It should have said-
Bottom line on the Consent Decree, it does NOT invalidate the 2017 Warranty, the Consent Decree only applies to Tuners that they know about & the powertrain part of the warranty ...so don't tell them. BUT HERE is the Big Problem for Harley (not for us, the consumer) the deal they signed in the CD is at odds with the Warranty Promise they made to ALL their Customers. The two are diametrically opposed.
Federal law says that No vehicle manufacturer can void a warranty for an aftermarket part being used, Unless said part actually caused a failure. This is also what the HD Warranty says.
The CD says that if HD knows that a tuner was used to tune the bike outside of CARB or EPA standards, then HD is to NOT do any warranty work on the powertrain.
So you have one arm of the federal government telling Harley to do one thing, and another arm of the federal government telling Harley to do something 180* opposite.
Typical.
However, it is No big deal. Even if on a road trip. Flash Tuners, like the Power Vision & the FP3 can, in less than 2 minutes, put the ECM back to the original EPA approved tune. As of 2017 the HD ECM does not leave any record (that the Dealership can see) that there was ever a non-EPA compliant tune in the bike.
What is FAKE NEWS is that many folks are saying, including some people working at Dealerships, "Harley has made clear on the 2017's that you can't change anything without voiding the warranty."
Harley has said no such thing...that statement is directly opposite of what is stated in their warranty, and it is not even supported by the Consent Decree (which I believe will eventually be ruled illegal, or modified since it is, in fact, asking HD to do something illegal).
To be clear- The Consent Decree is asking HD to do something illegal. They have muddied the waters by linking emissions to warranty work. They are separate issues, and cannot legally be linked.
However, that is Harley & the Governments problem, it does not have to be the Consumers problem. Because with the tiniest amount of planning, the consumer can simply not give any dealership any information that a non-CARB or EPA compliant tune has been used on a 2017 model Bike. Simple.
To date I have not heard of anyone being denied warranty work on a Powertrain, per the Consent Decree. It is pretty much a given that if/when that does occur there is going to be a big battle, and it will be interesting to see the outcome.
The above is addressing the Warranty subject.
.
A completely different subject is CARB & EPA standards & enforcement that does affect the Consumer. There is no doubt that Cali is cracking down. We stopped shipping some different exhaust components to Cali addresses a couple of years ago. Not because of warranty issues...exhaust has never been the cause of another Harley part failing, so no one has ever had warranty work legally declined because of an exhaust component...the reason we stopped shipping some exhaust components to Cali was because of CARB.
That is also why your dealership is doing what they are doing. Not because of warranty...but because of the very real threat of BIG $$$ fines from CARB.
So far Cali has only done any enforcement at a supplier/dealer level...and occasionally with a fix-it ticket to the consumer for loud pipes.
I moved away from Cali almost 30 years ago, and have not regretted it for 1 second. It is hard to see any scenario where things will get better out that way.
Peace brother.
Kevin
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