What don't you like about your Free?

I agree. I use reverse very little; only when I absolutely have to. In the 15 months I have owned my FW I have probably used reverse less than 10 times. Same on my Goldwing trike I had a few years back. Sunman

Yup, totally agree with you guys on this. :D

Ride Safe,
Bill G
 
Im not sure it is fair to say I don't like this about the free. I just don't like this.

The free is a great trike , and a lot of fun. I am liking it more and more . If I needed to buy another trike it would be the trike I would choose in a heartbeat. That said however:

I am hating having to accelerate through a left hand 45 degree off camber turn on a road that slants sharply down towards the right side edge of the lane.

Maybe my sense of balance is off very slightly because of my C.P. but this has never ever felt right to me. I finally got used to it temporarily after a very long road trip but I have never liked it. I find it very disconcerting.

It is the only situation where I have not felt completely at home on the trike and relaxed while riding it (post the first 250 miles or so. ). Hopefully I can get where I can ignore it again.

Maybe all trikes feel that way. Not sure as this is my first. Not sure you could make a better factory trike than the free. ( or tri-glide for that matter). They really got a lot of things right with it , right out of the gate.

If I was going to pick two things id change: better flywheel balancing and gear run cams instead of chain tensioners on the camshafts. But that is an HD thing not a specific freewheeler thing.
 
My last 3 bikes were Urals (for this discussion I am not including the Enfields and the 883 Sportster....no wait, let's include the Enfields and the 883 Sportster.)

That all said, referentially speaking, the FW is a long overdue dream come true.

I will hug it. I will whisper "thank you."
 
Not for tall people.

Got my FLRT to get back into riding after my right leg was amputated. Like the bike, but I'm 6'5"
and can't get far enough back on the seat. Currently have a Harley Sundowner, but the "bucket"
pushes me too far forward.
 
Got my FLRT to get back into riding after my right leg was amputated. Like the bike, but I'm 6'5"
and can't get far enough back on the seat. Currently have a Harley Sundowner, but the "bucket"
pushes me too far forward.

Why not have Mustang or Corbin build you a custom seat for more legroom,then sell the Sundowner here in the classifieds?
 
drive train noise

The only thing I don't really like about my 2015 is the drive train noise and the clunk of the shifter. What about you guys?
Ive been hearing same noise and figured it was primary chain slack and do intend to have it checked and possibly put in self adjusting primary chain device, let ya know
 
Ive been hearing same noise and figured it was primary chain slack and do intend to have it checked and possibly put in self adjusting primary chain device, let ya know

The primary chain all ready has a self adjuster from the factory.
 
Followed Clint44's suggestion

Why not have Mustang or Corbin build you a custom seat for more legroom,then sell the Sundowner here in the classifieds?

Exactly what I did! Printed a photo of Corbin's FW seat from their website and sketched in the mods I would like.
Corbin's customer service was excellent and they are now making the seat, with the mods I requested, the
same price as a factory seat
 
Seems my Free Wheeler go's into parade mode. Is this normal?
Not just on hot day's either.

WOW! Do you sit in traffic idling a lot?? I live in Southern California. Wife and I ride a lot in 100*+ weather here and in Arizona and Nevada. Neither my Freewheeler or her Tri-Glide have ever gone into 'parade mode' If we get stuck at a train crossing or a long light I turn mine off. Over 80K miles on my '09 basically stock Tri, and almost 10K on my Freewheeler.

Good Luck
 
dislikes

Screwball you must have got the best two trikes Harley ever produced. I live in Canada the temp hardly ever gets above 90 f. When I ride my freewheeler more than 30 miles and it is running with a oil temp of 240 degrees F the rear head temp at the bolt behind the spark plug will read around 300 degrees F. If I stop for a red light and have to wait more than two minutes the rear cylinder will cut out every time. It is designed to do this. I ride with a group of more than 20 Harleys from softails to touring and a few trikes every one of these bike run at about the same temps as mine do and the ones that have the rear cylinder shut off feature shuts off the same as mine does. I have ridden Harley for 56 years from my first bike a 56 pan to my current bike a 2015 free. they all run hot but if regular maintenance is preformed and you don't drive the shit out of them they will run for ever. I average over 100,000 mile on a bike before I trade it off and I have very few problems with them even the panhead
 
Mine kicked in for a couple of minutes after I was sitting at a red light in Missoula. I was kind of surprised it was about 40 degrees out.

EITMS Will turn on when the ''ENGINE OIL'' temps are higher than 287 degrees F' And at idle under 1200rpm's... Once you crack the throttle and move faster than 2/3 mph and over 1350 rpm's the EITMS will shut off... And it can be disabled so it won't turn on..
It should come from the factory disabled... Sometimes the dealer will enable it before delivery.. :Shrug:
 
Screwball you must have got the best two trikes Harley ever produced. I live in Canada the temp hardly ever gets above 90 f. When I ride my freewheeler more than 30 miles and it is running with a oil temp of 240 degrees F the rear head temp at the bolt behind the spark plug will read around 300 degrees F. If I stop for a red light and have to wait more than two minutes the rear cylinder will cut out every time. It is designed to do this. I ride with a group of more than 20 Harleys from softails to touring and a few trikes every one of these bike run at about the same temps as mine do and the ones that have the rear cylinder shut off feature shuts off the same as mine does. I have ridden Harley for 56 years from my first bike a 56 pan to my current bike a 2015 free. they all run hot but if regular maintenance is preformed and you don't drive the shit out of them they will run for ever. I average over 100,000 mile on a bike before I trade it off and I have very few problems with them even the panhead

Possibly it's an emissions thing? California emission standards and catalytic converter may play a role. No expert, just a guess. I live and ride in So. Cal. just like Screwball and I have NEVER had this issue. :xzqxz:
 
dont like

Could be true California bikes don't come on as easy. Course it is hotter there so maybe that's the reason so I guess you guys might have better bikes than us Canadians.
PS I am not trying to be rude or run anyone down I am truly saying your bikes may have better emissions
Also my cylinder cuts out before 287F Maybe my sensor is bad as I don't see temps over 260F
 
Gerald:

Possibly someone with a greater knowledge of this topic than I will reply for those of you experiencing the "parade mode" issue.

Ride safe buddy!
 
EITMS Will turn on when the ''ENGINE OIL'' temps are higher than 287 degrees F' And at idle under 1200rpm's... Once you crack the throttle and move faster than 2/3 mph and over 1350 rpm's the EITMS will shut off... And it can be disabled so it won't turn on..
It should come from the factory disabled... Sometimes the dealer will enable it before delivery.. :Shrug:


EITMS on/off is controlled by cyl head temp, not oil temp. Kicks in at 284. Off when temp falls to 275. Just sayin.
 
In the shop again.

Did a lot of riding Wednesday and decided to clean the FW up Friday for the weekend. Gasoline was dripping slowly from the fuel line where it's connected to the tank. Called the local Harley shop and they'll TRY to pick it up tomorrow. Had it for about a year and this is the fourth time it's been in the shop for repair. First, locked up front brakes left me stranded. Next, moisture in the speedo made it unreadable. A defective tilt angle sensor left me stranded at night and now a leaking fuel line. Is anyone else having a series of problems with this P.O.S. ?
 
Did a lot of riding Wednesday and decided to clean the FW up Friday for the weekend. Gasoline was dripping slowly from the fuel line where it's connected to the tank. Called the local Harley shop and they'll TRY to pick it up tomorrow. Had it for about a year and this is the fourth time it's been in the shop for repair. First, locked up front brakes left me stranded. Next, moisture in the speedo made it unreadable. A defective tilt angle sensor left me stranded at night and now a leaking fuel line. Is anyone else having a series of problems with this P.O.S. ?

FleshWound, With the exception of the leaking fuel line, it appears from long distance that you are experiencing moisture intrusion problems. I live in the muggy-buggy South and would be concerned about leaving my TGU outside of a dry garage when not riding. In fact, I have two sets of garages and the un-insulated one allows vehicles to develop condensation when the garage goes from cold to warm with high humidity levels. I keep my TGU in the insulated garage to prevent these kinds of problems.

Screwball, I have a 2016 TGU and the bike's EITMS comes on all the time in 80-90 degree weather here in North Florida at stop lights or when I have just come off the freeway running at higher speeds and get caught at an off-ramp long light. I don't know what the big deal is about that? The motor is designed to turn into a rear cylinder air-pump which is the hot cylinder when it gets above a preset operating temperature and I am comforted by the fact that it works well without having to think about engine management issues. I suspect that the EITMS will prolong the life of the engine along with running Syn 3 and changing the oil at the suggested intervals? One of the differences our bikes may be experiencing is that the humidity levels of our ambient air temps are generally vastly different with you experiencing dryer air that may wick heat more efficiently than our characteristically humid air that may less effectively wick heat from the engine?
 
Some options should be standard.

The only thing that bothers be about the FW is that the windshield should be included in the package, like the Road King. Especially, since the mounting brackets are FW specific. Just another way for HD to grab more $$$ from our pockets, as if we weren't going to spend $$$$$$$ on other accessories. Other than that, I really like its look, power, handling, and that my wife will go anywhere/anytime on the FW. Was not so, with the RK.
 

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