Hale’s – the Pearl saga
Well, the evening of 4/19 came, lets get up to speed. In the course of the time that passed between Rod getting Baby back and today, Baby started having some problems with her charging system again.
Pearl in the Drive
The same code as before (this started happening down at Daytona), P052 or something. This indicated a low voltage at the injector, in addition the battery light was coming on. Rod had purchased a new battery (if nothing else it was a little insurance) and installed it. Rod called John at Hale’s and told him the problem showed up as before, Jon was apologetic. Rod tested the battery and it was showing a straight 12 volts while the engine was running, so there was definitely something wrong with the charging system. John told Rod to bring it back at the same time that I brought Pearl in and he would get it in.
So here we are on the night of 4/19 and Rod called earlier, said he would meet me at Bob’s (Bob Evans). Rod was going to trailer Baby because he was nervous about the charging system, good call. Rode Pearl as she was for the last time to meet Rod, after a bit of chit chat, off we went. Heading west on US30 Nice ride and uneventful, Pearl was her usual self, I loved the ride. Got to Hale’s and met up with John in the service department. John started with Rod apologizing for the problems that he is having, telling him that they tested it thoroughly. Rod stated that John did not need to apologize, just wants it fixed. John finished up with Rod and turned to me, “ok you got a noise in the engine”, he remembers me and the problem, nice. We checked the bike in and put my fob on the counter, then thought we should try to get Pearl to make the noise. I asked John and he agreed and wanted Kevin (his mechanic) to be there to “he’ll appreciate the cigarette break” John said.
We met Kevin out side by Pearl and Rod, I fired her up and (naturally) she didn’t make the startup noise. Kevin still kneeled down on the right side of Pearl listening to the engine. He reached up and cracked the throttle, and sure enough “rattle, rattle, rattle”. Kevin stood up and thought for a moment, said “Cam Bearings”. I was elated, finally something was gonna get done. Rod and I, finished things up, dropped the trailer and headed back east. On the way we talked about how nice it was to have a descent dealership finally.
The next day I was on pins and needles, waiting for a call from John. Got a couple of texts from Rod asking if he had heard anything. I mowed the lawn that day and did not have my phone right at my side. When I finished I looked at my phone close to six o’clock, John had called left a voice mail he was only there till 5:30 and would call me in the morning if I missed him. Next day John didn’t call till after work, he didn’t have what I wanted him to say. They felt that the noise was normal! Damn! Well we talked for a bit, in any case he has done more for me on the matter than anybody else has, he set me up with a Reference number after calling Harley-Davidson technical support. I think he sympathized with my plight. Rod’s bike Baby, had four riders, the last being Kevin who finally got the bike to mess up. Turns out the voltage regulator was on its way out. John talked me into putting a Tuner on Pearl and having it dyno’d. So they had that done the next day (that cost a lot of money).
Rod and I agreed to ride with my wife in his truck to Hale’s, Rod really wanted to ride Baby and having the trailer made that tough. It was agreed that the three of us would ride out to Hale’s and Kim (my wife) would drive Rods truck and trailer back to Wooster and Rod and I would ride.
We got to Hale’s, Pearl and Baby were sitting on the side of the building waiting for us. We had to wait a bit for John to finish up some other stuff before he could get to us. Rod was first, Baby was all better, we took a look at the old VR and John took the time to show us the tell-tale signs. Rod was happy that this was behind him. My turn, John showed me the dyno pointed out the base run, it was definitely not a smooth line (as John had indicated on the phone) it was very erratic in the power delivery. The final run was certainly much more impressive, I had only gained a bit more than one horsepower but the torque on the other hand, much more torque, over five lb/ft of torque. Just as important, the power delivery was much smoother.
We got Kim on her way with the truck and trailer, Rod and I stayed behind to get ready for the ride. We chatted with a few other customers, I asked John a few more questions about my bike including how to get the junk off the tank, he suggested I use some 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover. Hand shakes all around and off we went.
Wow, is all I can say, the power delivery is much smoother, the bike is much smoother. Throttle response even better than before. I liked the way pearl rode before, this was much better. Rod and I switched bikes about half way back to Wooster, and he agrees, Pearl is much better than before.
A stop off for some dinner at Bob’s Barbecue and headed home. I helped Rod get Baby loaded in the trailer and off he went.
Overall, I am pleased with the experience with Hale’s, I believe they tried to help. I am going to take their suggestion about the oil (I am running amsoil and they are suggesting that I switch back to dino oil) and see if this helps with Pearl’s noises. Honestly, I haven’t heard Pearl make a sound since I got it back, the whole way home that day, a ride latter in the week and a wash (that includes a startup), No noises yet.
I did find that the seat is getting torn and the saddlebag latch is messed up again (this is the second time on that one). I need to get ahold of John for those things and to change the transmission oil (had a problem at the 10K mark ended up with a new transmission cartridge.
I will let you know.