Complaint 2219817

Complaint Summary

WHEELS

Owner Narrative

Incident Description: On [XXX], I took delivery of a brand-new 2026 Harley-Davidson Road Glide from a certified franchise dealership. Within 15 to 20 minutes of departing the dealership, under normal riding conditions on a well-maintained roadway, the motorcycle suffered a sudden, catastrophic mechanical failure. I observed a large cloud of white smoke trailing heavily from the motorcycle. I immediately pulled over to the shoulder and shut the engine down. Upon inspection, the entire right side of the motorcycle was saturated in motor oil. The oil was actively ejecting from the air cleaner housing and rapidly accumulating on the ground in a large puddle. Safety Hazard & Impact: The volume of motor oil ejected from the air cleaner assembly created an immediate, severe traction hazard. Because the air cleaner is situated on the right side of the motorcycle directly upwind of the rear tire path, the atomized and pooling oil thoroughly saturated the right side of the chassis. Continued operation would have inevitably coated the contact patch of the rear tire, introducing an incredibly high probability of an unrecoverable rear-wheel slide (low-side crash), leading to catastrophic vehicle damage and severe bodily injury or death. Resolution & Dealer Action: The motorcycle was recovered by the dealership. Due to the immediate mechanical safety failure and discrepancies with delivery mileage, I demanded the bill of sale be rescinded and my financial assets/trade-in vehicle returned. The dealership reluctantly complied and unwound the deal, but they completely refused to provide a mechanical explanation or diagnostic report for why a brand-new vehicle suffered this severe oil-expulsion failure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.