Hales – Same Ol or new possibility
My bro Rod B. has been having a major problem with his scoot for years (it is a 2006 Road King Classic), the problem has been getting worse in recent times.
Rod and Baby
Let me see If I can get you up to speed;
The King is a beauty it is a very nice blue, and because of that blue Rod calls her “Baby”. Rod bought Baby brand new from Adventure Harley-Davidson in New Philadelphia Ohio. Since he got the scoot it has not really run right, the motor has (when warm) coughed at random on take off sometimes stalling without warning. Apparently Adventure adjusted the throttle cable and called it “fixed”. Obviously this did not fix it, so the next step, Adventure talked him into purchasing a “fueler” for his bike at a high price tag. Now understand Rod has done very little to the engine of this bike. It is all stock except for a set of screaming eagle slip ons. There is no reason for this bike to be running the way it did. Well, as with all things related to a crappy Harley-Davidson dealership like Adventure (wait till I recount my problems with them), they dawdled and dawdled until the bike went out of warranty.
Rod has pretty much dealt with this until lately.
We went to Daytona Bike week 2010 and that is when the real problems started. First, Baby was getting rotten gas mileage, I figured this was due to the hard driving (people in Florida drive fast). Then, the “Check Engine” light came on.
Well, we had talked to a fellow at 2 Wheeled Pony (Mike), who suggested we contact the folks at Hales Harley-Davidson in Mansfield Ohio. Rod and I getting screwed by so many Harley-Davidson dealerships were naturally skeptical. Unfortunately, things with Hales did not get off on a good start. Phone calls were not returned and a general feeling of dread. Mike had told us that the guy at Hales that does the Dyno is a magician. Yea Yea
Rod is a salesman for a major power equipment company, they had a show in Dayton, while down there Rod found a fellow sporting a “Hales” t-shirt. He talked with the guy and found he lives in the Dayton area and still traveled clear to Mansfield to do business with Hales. This really spoke to Rod.
So yesterday while I was washing Pearl, Rod showed up in Big Red (his old Dodge Pickup) pulling the trailer with Baby in the back. Off we went to Mansfield, bit of a trip out US-30 but we got there. Had to wait for a bit to be waited on but they are a tad under staffed, also it was toward the end of the day. We talked to the fellow behind the counter, seemed pretty descent so we unloaded Baby and handed her over. We knew full well that Baby was either going to take one for the team or be better than before.
They were moving stuff in so Baby wound up just inside the door, they were nice enough to let Rod leave the trailer while Baby was getting worked on. On the way back to Wooster I could not help but worry about Baby, I was nervous as hell and it isn’t even my bike! That was April 5th
Update April 6th. I have been waiting all day for word from Rod. Finally I got a text. Rod telling me that he wants me to call and he seemed happy. I could not wait, a little more prodding and I find out that they took the stupid fueler off. The Dyno guy sniffed the exhaust and apparently Baby was running at 11:1 air fuel ratio. Apparently the ideal is 13.8:1 the guy got Baby to 13.5:1 and was still trying for more. I may just take Pearl to them for some work.
Pearl runs good
Update April 7th. Got a text from Rod “Baby is ready”. Got home after work and Rod was already waiting. On the way to Mansfield we talked about how Hale’s has managed to keep him in the loop and how they are telling him what they are trying to accomplish on the dyno. I am impressed. Still, the proof is in the pudding right? Got to Hale’s, rolled into the service area and the big guy went to the service department and rolled Baby out. Now, I would have straddled Baby, but the big guy had no problem walking this bike out. He rolled her out to the parking lot and commented to Rod how nice of a bike Baby was. Then he turned on the switch and hit the kill and with a smile at Rod turned the engine over. Baby lit up with a rumble that I have not heard from her, wow did she sound good. Rod had a huge smile on his face as his hand found the throttle and gave it a decisive twist, Baby lit up and rumbled with authority. I could tell things were better. Rod took my sun glasses and threw a leg over the scoot. I do not think I have ever seen Rod ride without a helmet, but he set the bike upright and kicked up the jiffy stand. Pulling in the clutch he kicked it into gear and with a twist of the throttle he was off. She did sound good. Pausing briefly at the road he was gone.
A short while later he came up the other side of the dealership with hair all mussed up and a smile even bigger than before. I was busy talking to the fellows about what they did and what exactly a tuner (the H-D tuner). Rod came in, handed me my sunglasses and said “take her”. I jumped on the bike fired it up and was off. I have to admit the bike was a LOT more responsive, third gear and a twist of the throttle, the bike jumped like never before, more like the way pearl is, very nice. I did notice the decel pop and took note, other than that, wow Baby was a new bike.
I went back to Hale’s and decided to start talking to them about Pearl. I was so anxious to get some answers about my bike that I forgot to turn the switch off on Baby (I will be paying for that). I got the same iPhone recording of the noise that Pearl makes from time to time out that Century H-D passed off as me trying to scam them (what a bunch of morons). The big guy listened to the recording and asked if I “recorded this on the primary side because it sounded like a compensator going bad” I said “Nope, on the right hand side” and showed him on a bike in the service bay exactly where I was holding the phone. He called the guy over to the desk that worked on Baby to listen. They both commented that the bike should not be making that noise.
Needless to say, and to make a long story short, I made an appointment for 4/20 and I feel very good about this. On the way home I texted the wife to ask if we could put pearl up on the dyno at the same time. This will be yet another post. I told Rod in the truck that Hale’s has gone a great distance to calm my skepticism, enough that I am willing to trust my bike to these guys. I am excited about the future with this dealership.
I will chronicle how Pearl does with Hale’s in another post.