2001 HARLEY-DAVIDSON Harley Davidson

WHILE TRAVELING AT NIGHT I ATTTEMPTED TO SWITCH HEADLIGHT TO HIGH BEAM. WHEN I MADE THE SWITCH I HAD NO VISIBILITY. THE HIGH BEAM WAS AIMED SO HIGH THAT THE ROAD AHEAD BECAME TOTALLY DARK. WHEN I RETURNED HOME I TRIED TO ADJUST THE AIMING OF THE HEADLIGHT. THE HEADLIGHT COULD NOT BE LOWERED ENOUGH AND PROPERLY AIMED BECAUSE ITS MOUNTING BRACKETS HIT THE LOWER TRIPLE TREE OF THE FRONT FORKS. FINALLY, AFTER QUESTIONING SEVERAL DEALERS IN MY AREA ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, THE SELLING DEALER ON 05/04/2002 INFORMED ME THAT THE HEADLIGHT MOUNT BLOCK IS INSTALLED INCORRECTLY AND IT NEEDS TO BE ROTATED 180 DEGREES. UNTIL THIS MOUNT BLOCK IS ROTATED THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO PROPERLY LOWER AND PROPERLY ADJUST THE HEADLIGHT TO COMPLY WITH ANNUAL INSPECTION STANDARDS OR HARLEY DAVIDSON'S OWN HEADLIGHT ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE. AFTER THE DEALER ROTATED THE MOUNT BLOCK ON MY MOTORCYCLE, I QUESTIONED WHETHER THE MOUNT BLOCK WAS MANUFACTURED TO BE ROTATED 180 DEGREES. THE MOUNT BLOCK DOES NOT FIT CLEANLY AND EXTENDS OUT OVER THE LOWER TRIPLE TREE ABOUT A QUARTER OF AN INCH. THE CHROMED AREA WHERE THE MOUNT BLOCK USED TO SIT IS NOW DAMAGED AND WILL PROBABLY RUST. HARLEY DAVIDSON IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE ISSUED A TECH TIP #53 TO THEIR DEALERS. THE TECH TIP HAS A PARAGRAPH THAT EXPLAINS HOW AND WHY TO ROTATE THE MOUNT BLOCK. I WAS NEVER CONTACTED BY HARLEY DAVISON AND MADE AWARE OF THIS SAFETY ISSUE. THERE IS NO REASON THAT A NEWLY MANUFACTURED MOTORCYCLE SHOULD NOT HAVE FULL RANGE OF HEADLIGHT AIMING ADJUSTMENT.*AK