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Harley-Davidson · NHTSA safety record

2016 Harley-Davidson FLTRXS

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

12

Complaints

1

Crashes

0

Fires

1

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2016 Harley-Davidson FLTRXS have filed 12 safety complaints with NHTSA between July 2016 and June 2023. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 8 of them (67%). The typical failure was reported at 6,200 miles, the median across the 10 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

POWER TRAIN:CLUTCH ASSEMBLY

16V471000 · June 27, 2016

The defect
Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Harley-Davidson) is recalling certain model year 2016 Electric Glide Ultra Classic (FLHTCU), Electra Glide Ultra Classic Low (FLHTCUL), Ultra Limited Low (FLHTKL), Ultra Limited (FLHTK), CVO Street Glide (FLHXSE), Street Glide (FLHX), Street Glide Special (FLHXS), Road Glide Special (FLTRXS), Road Glide (FLTRX), Police Electra Glide (FLHTP), Road Glide Ultra (FLTRU), Fat Boy S (FLSTFBS), Softail Slim S (FLSS), and CVO Softail Pro Street Breakout (FXSE) motorcycles. In the affected motorcycles, the clutch master cylinder may lose the ability to generate enough lift to disengage the clutch, especially if the motorcycle has been parked for an extended period of time.
The risk
When the engine is running and the motorcycle is in gear, if the clutch cannot be fully disengaged, the motorcycle may move unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Harley-Davidson will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the clutch master cylinder for the presence of gas in the fluid, if so, the dealer will flush the clutch system and rebuild the clutch master cylinder, free of charge. The recall began July 19, 2016. Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0169.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company · up to 27,232 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 12.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 67%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 25%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 17%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 8%
POWER TRAIN 1 8%
SERVICE BRAKES 1 8%
STEERING 1 8%
TIRES 1 8%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2018 at 3.

2016 2018 2023
2016 to 2023

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

POWER TRAIN

1 injured · crash · towed · 6,000 miles

COMPLETE FAILURE OF HYDRAULIC CLUTCH. RECALL FOR CLUTCH PROBLEM WAS PERFORMED IN AUGUST OF 2017. ON FEBRUARY 24TH 2018, MOTORCYCLE WAS STARTED IN MY GARAGE AND UPON SHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR, THE MOTORCYCLE LUNGES FORWARD UNCONTROLLABLY, CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE MOTORCYCLE, PERSONNEL BELONGINGS AND BODILY INJURY.

NHTSA complaint 11084898. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Got caught in bad rain and both speedo and tach filled up with water. Bike completely shut down on highway doing 60mph (70 mph highway) and if I did not pull in on clutch, bike would have went down and I could have possibly lost my life. I believe a less experienced rider would have not been so fortunate. It is clear this is a manufacture defect as the seal on these gauges are minimal or undervalued for the part. I was given no advance warning this was going to fail and I do not try to ride in rain or any type of weather. This bike has been garaged all of its life and only the second time it has seen rain as I have several other Harley's. I believe this should be a warranty issue that

NHTSA complaint 11528593, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
During a ride my speedometer/tachometer failed due to water intrusion. From what I have seen this is a very common issue. When this happened it caused me to loose my ABS, loss all other gauges. This was a huge saefty concern as I could not monitor anything and could have been potentially dangerous or deadly! This is a huge safety concern that I feel like harley is brushing under the rug! They need to offer some sort of support or repair for this before it claims someones life not mention the passengers life. Very serious issue that they are willing to do nothing about.

NHTSA complaint 11520573. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES

2 miles

PURCHASED A MICHELIN COMMANDER 3 FRONT TIRES FOR MY 2016 HARLEY DAVIDSON ROAD GLIDE SPECIAL. RIDING HOME AFTER THE INSTALLATION THERE WAS A BUZZ/VIBRATION IN THE HANDLEBARS FROM 30 MPH TO 40. I CALLED MICHELIN AND THEY SAID TO HAVE THE BALANCE CHECKED AND THE WHEEL BEARINGS CHECKED. BOTH WERE FINE. I PUT 100 MILES ON THE TIRE AND THE PROBLEM CONTINUED. I CALLED MICHELIN BACK AND AGREED TO REPLACE THE TIRE. TIRE WAS ON BACKORDER FOR APPROX 30 DAYS. ONCE IT ARRIVED IT WAS INSTALLED. SAME PROBLEMS AND THE SAME POINTS BEFORE. I CALLED MICHELIN AGAIN AND ALL THEY COULD SAY IS THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE IT AGAIN AND LET THEIR REP KNOW OF THE PROBLEM.

NHTSA complaint 11355321. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

9,000 miles

WHILE DRIVING HOME STOP FOR GAS. STARTED MOTORCYCLE BACK UP SPEEDOMETER, RPM GAUGE, VOLTAGE REGULATOR GAUGE AND GAS GAUGE AND NEUTRAL LIGHT INDICATOR ALL WENT OFF. BLINKER INDICATORS WE'RE NOT WORKING AS OF THE CRUISE CONTROL ALSO. WAS READ IN A FORUM THAT THIS IS A REGULAR PROBLEM WITH THIS CERTAIN BIKE AND I SHOULD COME HERE TO MAKE A COMPLAINT TO GET A RECALL ON THIS BIKE. HAD TO RIDE BIKE TWO AND A HALF HOURS WITH NO INSTRUMENT PANEL ,NO MPH GAUGE, RPM AMOUNT OF GAS IN MOTORCYCLE OR IF MY BLINKERS WORKING PROPERLY.

NHTSA complaint 11338673. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

8,237 miles

MY SPEEDOMETER GAUGE (ALL GAUGES) HAS GOTTEN WET FROM RAIN AND ALL OF MY INSTRUMENTATION HAS QUIT WORKING. I HAVE NO WARNING LIGHTS, NO SPEEDOMETER, FUEL, BATTERY, NOTHING. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SPEED I AM TRAVELLING AT OR IF THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE PROBLEM WITH MY MOTORCYCLE'S ABS, ENGINE, ETC.

NHTSA complaint 11207079. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

25 miles

I WAS RIDING HOME FROM WORK AND GOT STUCK IN A RAIN STORM AND MY TACH SPEEDO AND FUEL AND AMP GAUGES ALL QUIT WORKING I HAVE CHECKED FUSES AND ARE ALL GOOD I TALKED TO THE HARLEY DEALER AND THEY SAD IT NEEDS A NEW SPEEDO AND TACHOMETER CLUSTER THEY SAY WHEN IT GETS WET IT WILL SHORT OUT. SO I FEEL THAT IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD AND THERE SHOULD B A RECALL ON THEM. MY BIKE ONLY HAS LITTLE OVER 4000 MILES ON IT AND THEY WON'T COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY I FEEL IT'S UNSAFE TO DRIVE WITHOUT ANY OF THE GAUGES WORKING AND I HAVE READ THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE AND FEEL IT SHOULD B A RECALL TO HAVE HARLEY MAKE IT RIGHT AND PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO POTENTIAL OTHER PEOPLE AND

NHTSA complaint 11195421, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Harley-Davidson FLTRXS

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2017 8 2

Other 2016 Harley-Davidson models

Every Harley-Davidson on this site — 32 vehicles, 96 recall campaigns and 0 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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