About those mufflers…
We got an e-mail this week from a customer — Andy B. — that we thought might help some of you out there. He said: “Hi, I have an ‘07 Street Bob (love it). My question is I can not find anything from Harley that says I will void my warranty if I do anything to the exhaust system. All I see is that our beloved DEQ will be unhappy. Do you have anything?”
Our general manager, Gene Nelson, submitted this excerpt from the Harley-Davidson warranty manual:
HARLEY-DAVIDSON/BUELL GLOBAL WARRANTY MANUAL
Revision 8/06 5
Exclusions:
This warranty will not apply to any motorcycle or sidecar as follows:
1. Which has not been operated or maintained as specified in the Owner’s Manual.
2. Which has been abused, misused, improperly stored, used “off the highway,” or used for racing or competition of any kind.
3. Which is not manufactured to comply with the laws of the market in which it is registered.
4. Installing off-road or competition parts to enhance performance may void all or part of your new motorcycle warranty. See a Harley-Davidson/Buell dealer for details.
Gene points out that this information is also in the beginning of every Owner’s Manual. “The key words are ‘installing off road or competition parts’ which, by definition, is any muffler that is not ’street legal.’ In your Owner’s Manual it mentions exhaust by name. It is another sign of the times. Since we have stopped installing aftermarket exhausts here at D&S we and our customers have not had any “run-ability” issues directly related to exhaust.
“Exhaust design is crucial to the well running of your sophisticated, fuel-injected pride and joy,” Gene said. “There is no company that spends more money on design and research on products for your Harley-Davidson than Harley-Davidson Motor Company.”
Good question, good answer. If you have further thoughts, questions or concerns, send them our way.