AMF = bad Harley?

[chiefj48]

I have an '80 FLHS, that i purchased in february of 1981, and i would not part with it.....

[exeric]

Richard Farmer of Farmer's Harley Davidson in Orlando, Fl. told me the mid 70's were the worst for their franchise. He said that on more than one occasion a new buyer would get less than a mile away from their shop, walk back, and tell them where they could pick up the piece of sh*t. He said his biggest problem was flywheel balancing which led to many other problems. He was having Bo Laws high performance do dynamic balancing on the flywheels and getting some percentage of reimbursment from H-D. A lot of those bikes are doing fine today so obviously whatever problems they had are ancient history now.

[vph-d]

The worst AMF years are generally considered to be '73-76. I have a 73 FX whose engine was in need of a major overhaul at about 3000 miles due to improper hardening of the crankpin. In addition to workmanship issues, the were supposed cases of intentional sabotage, though I never personally saw any of them.
VPH-D

[Lloyd]

1970flh

Chris, I also have a 70fl. Had it many years, runs and rides great. I think AMF took over and H.D. in 1969. Lloyd

[Chris in Japan]

Hi everybody.

I have a 70FLH in quite pristine condition that with the exception of relative hard shifting is a wonderful machine...

I was willing to ask the experienced ones two questions:

A) were 1970 machines somehow affected (design, materials, sub-suppliers) already by the brand new AMF management?

B) what is true behind the mythos of AMF period as the worse period? If indeed true, which were the most notorious weaknesses and which models and years were suffering them?

Kind regards.

Chris.