Harley-Davidson Sportster: recalls and complaints by model year
NHTSA lists 6 recall campaigns for the Harley-Davidson Sportster, model years 1971 to 2008. NHTSA has 65 complaints on file for this model line. 1 of the 17 model years have a page on this register.
Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .
Model years
The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.
- 19711
- 19722
- 19850
- 19880
- 19920
- 19930
- 19961
- 19970
- 19980
- 19991
- 20000
- 20010
- 20020
- 20030
- 20051
- 20070
- 20080
| Model year | Recall campaigns | Complaints | Share of the line average | Units in the campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 2 | 52% | |
| 2007 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 26% | |
| 2005 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 1 | 7 | 183% | 9,501 |
| 2003 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 9 | 235% | |
| 2002 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 6 | 157% | |
| 2001 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 6 | 157% | |
| 2000 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 9 | 235% | |
| 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 157% | 232 |
| 1998 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 6 | 157% | |
| 1997 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 26% | |
| 1996 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 157% | 251 |
| 1993 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 2 | 52% | |
| 1992 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 26% | |
| 1988 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 2 | 52% | |
| 1985 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 26% | |
| 1972 Harley-Davidson Sportster | 2 | 0 | 0% | 3,100 |
| 1971 Harley-Davidson Sportster NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 508 |
The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.
Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.
Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.
Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.
Components in the complaints
81 component mentions.
A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.
| Component | Per 1,000 | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | 148.1 | 12 |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 135.8 | 11 |
| Power Train | 123.5 | 10 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 111.1 | 9 |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 86.4 | 7 |
| Electrical System | 61.7 | 5 |
| Exterior Lighting | 61.7 | 5 |
| Structure | 49.4 | 4 |
| Equipment | 49.4 | 4 |
| Steering | 49.4 | 4 |
Counts by year
Other model lines of the make
- FLHTCU14 campaigns
- FLHX16 campaigns
- FLHTK12 campaigns
- FLHTC11 campaigns
- FLHTCUI4 campaigns
- Harley Davidson5 campaigns
- XG7504 campaigns
- FLHR12 campaigns
- FLHTCUTG8 campaigns
- FLHT9 campaigns
- FLTRX10 campaigns
- FLTRU4 campaigns
- FLHXS9 campaigns
- FLHRC5 campaigns
- Softail8 campaigns
- FLTRXS6 campaigns
- FXDWG6 campaigns
- Electra Glide6 campaigns
- FLTR7 campaigns
- FXDL10 campaigns
- FXDB4 campaigns
- FLHTCI5 campaigns
- FLHP12 campaigns
- FXD9 campaigns
- Touring2 campaigns
- FLHXSE10 campaigns
- 12004 campaigns
- FXDC5 campaigns
- Dyna5 campaigns
- RH1250S3 campaigns
- FLTRI4 campaigns
- FXST4 campaigns
- XL8834 campaigns
- FXDWGI3 campaigns
- FLHTKSE8 campaigns
- FLHCS2 campaigns
- FLHPI6 campaigns
- XG5004 campaigns
- FLHTP14 campaigns
- FLRT3 campaigns
- FXSTC5 campaigns
- FXDF3 campaigns
- FL Series2 campaigns
- Dyna Glide4 campaigns
- FLHTCUSE32 campaigns
- FLHTKL5 campaigns
- FLDE2 campaigns
- FLHTPI8 campaigns
- FL6 campaigns
- FXLRST4 campaigns
- FLTRUSE4 campaigns
- XL883N2 campaigns
- FXDX3 campaigns
- FXLRS3 campaigns
- FLHC3 campaigns
- FLHTCUSE53 campaigns
- FXSTS4 campaigns
- XL4 campaigns
- XL1200L3 campaigns
- FX5 campaigns
Harley-Davidson: all 105 model lines
Follow by RSS:Harley-Davidson recallsVehicle recalls
Official channels
- NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
- NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
Cite this page
Recall Register. Harley-Davidson Sportster: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/harley-davidson/sportster/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .
Sources
- Source
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
- Licence
- US government work, public domain
- Recall file through
- 30 Sep 2026
- Complaint file through
- 30 Sep 2026
- Manufacturer in the recall file
- HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR CO.
The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.
Questions
- Which Harley-Davidson Sportster model years have the most recall campaigns?
- 1972 with 2, 2005 with 1, 1999 with 1. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
- Which Harley-Davidson Sportster model year has the most complaints?
- The 2000 model year, with 9 of the 65 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
- Which components do the complaints about the Harley-Davidson Sportster name?
- Visibility: 148.1 per 1,000 component mentions. Engine and Engine Cooling: 135.8 per 1,000 component mentions. Power Train: 123.5 per 1,000 component mentions.
- How many NHTSA investigations name the Harley-Davidson Sportster?
- 1 investigation names one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.