Add a Year Listing to the Categories

[kauai1800]

Instead of just saying Classic AVL or UCE engine, give approximate years of manufacture to help newbies like me find the correct forum. UCE means nothing to a newbie...
Aloha!

[Ice]

The engines overlapped in years produced and were installed in a variety of Bullet models.

The engine type is still the best way to identify the Bullet followed by model then year.

Probably not the answer you were looking for but it gets REal easy and makes sense once you get the hang of it.

 RE's philosophy seems to be; to heck with the this years model makes last years model obsolete crap,,,,we'll just make the Bullet the majority of our customer base wants and improve it along the way as needed and not just because we can change things.

 I swear the only reason we have a "year' is because D.O.T specs require model year info in the VIN tag.  

modified to correct pour speeling  

[olhogrider]

Kinda like Starbucks. The first time there you think "what the hell is a half-caf double skinny latte?" The REal insiders know to ask for something off the menu.

They should clean up UCE engine. What's the "E"? Unit Construction Engine engine? But then I am bothered by ATM Machine and PIN Number.

[r80rt]

Drop UCE and replace it with EFI.

[olhogrider]

That would be too easy and logical. Is there anyone here who only reads his own section? I didn't think so. How about Bikes, Rides, Political Crap? Oh yeah, have a section for complaining about the "Online Store". All submissions would be directed to the phone number and a list of hours that it is monitored.

[GreenMachine]

I don't have a  newer machine but I like to hear your stories about them and the comparison between them and the irons...Besides I may one day buy one....
I don't complain about the store, Jjust last week ordered a battery over the phone and had a bit of a chat with someone...He talked me into getting a parts book for half price and I needed one anyway so we can both be looking at the page no. and part no. and on the same page of music so to speak when order bits..

[t120rbullet]

Drop UCE and replace it with EFI.

But what about the UCE's that don't have EFI ?

[Kevin Mahoney]

We wrestle with this ourselves. RE does NOT change model years. All improvements are made on a running basis and are not related to the calendar at all, not even by months. It has taken me years to get the factory to understand that in the US model year does not correspond to the calendar either. The poor guys just shake their heads at me about this time of year. If you have a bike that is dated in January of a given year it could actually have been made in Aug, Sept etc. Once they change model years no amount of persuasion will get them to date the bikes the month that they were actually made in until the calender changes. The only way to really tell is by the last letter of the engine number, It is A for Jan, B for Feb etc. Engines are made on the same day as the bike (there is no carryover inventory except a few units from day to day). For example who knew that the G in G5 came from the fact that the Germans were the first ones that ordered them? The B in B5 stuck over the factories dead  body. (B for Black). We think that you can only use Bullet and Classic in so many ways and have basically given up on the official names except when it comes to internal ordering. The Bullet 65 came from the Brits because the factory had no name for the bike and they had to do something since they were the first ones to sell them.

The main reason that we do not list many OEM parts online is because of the difficulty in identification. We also are not always notified about changes from the factory. We have found that it is far better to talk to customers so that they have the best chance of getting the right part.  

We are working on putting the B5 up online since it is the easiest. Once it is up it will not be overwhelming to keep up to date. We would put the iron barrels up sooner or later but the job is huge. We had a person working full time for well over two years trying to track part numbers. She had OCD and even with that we only made a certain amount of headway. The factory has used several different systems when they make part changes, none of them consistent. If I ever get hit by a truck we are going to be in trouble here. Tim is one of those savants who has almost every part number and change in his head which is my back-up.

[j byrd]

Hey, kauai1800, I'm the same way about which is which. I just tell 'em that mine is a black one with the funny thing sticking up on the front fender and I bought it used. If someone really wants to know which it is, we can read the tags/stickers/stamps on it, but so far no one has, ha !!  I do know that on the Mississippi, Alabama, and now my Hawaii titles, it's designated 2005, so thats good for me. If I ever have to buy parts (besides the Harley muffler), then I'll be in trouble unless someone like Kevin, Ice, Ace, the Garbone, etc. gets on the phone with me. Glad your purchase turned out OK , congrats !! later, John in Kona

[r80rt]

But what about the UCE's that don't have EFI ?

You win, I give up

[kauai1800]

Thanks Kevin and everyone else. I run a company that makes things (watches) and I completely understand the idea of overlapping production. Our watches get made in large production runs and then they are sold over time without regard to 2011 model, etc. Smaller companies are the last bastion of real customer service.

One idea I had that might help is to put a small image of the specific engine next to the forums..iron barrel next to "classic" - most newbies won't notice the difference but you could say you tried. Aloha.

[barenekd]

Or just put (EFI) in parentheses next to UCE and (Iron Barrel) in parentheses next to Classic. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would help a bit. The AVLs, Well, they are just everybody else!  AVerybody eLSe
Bare

[Lwt Big Cheese]

Our watches get made in large production runs and then they are sold over time...