Harley Recalls 21,643 Motorcycles That Can Show Neutral While in Gear

• Harley-Davidson is recalling 21,643 model year 2026 motorcycles across nine model codes, NHTSA campaign 26V730000.
• The engine control module can report neutral while the transmission is in gear, and NHTSA says the bike can move forward unexpectedly, which raises the risk of injury.
• Dealers replace the gear position sensor free, owner letters are due Nov. 16, and a VIN search at nhtsa.gov/recalls shows whether a bike is on the list.

When the Bike Says Neutral and the Gearbox Says Otherwise

NHTSA received Harley-Davidson’s recall report on Nov. 3. The company is pulling in 21,643 motorcycles from model year 2026, and the fault sits in the engine control module, the computer that manages the engine. The module can tell the rest of the bike the transmission is in neutral at a moment when a gear is engaged. NHTSA lists the result as unintended forward motion and a higher risk of injury.

Dealers will replace the gear position sensor at no cost to the owner. Harley-Davidson expects to mail owner letters on Nov. 16, four days from now. NHTSA’s record says the VINs in the recall are searchable on NHTSA.gov, so an owner can find out where a bike stands today without waiting for an envelope.

NHTSA files the campaign as 26V730000. Harley-Davidson numbers it 0194, and its customer service line is 1-800-258-2464. NHTSA’s record carries no park-it order and no instruction to keep the bike outside, and it lists no over-the-air update, so the repair is a dealer visit.

The Nine Model Codes in Campaign 26V730000

NHTSA names nine codes, all model year 2026: FLHXLSE, FLTRXSTSE, FLHXSTSE, FLHXSE, FLHXL, FLTRXP, FLTRX, FLTRXL and FLHX. The record gives one total of 21,643 for the whole campaign and no split by code, so nobody outside Harley-Davidson can say how many FLHXSE bikes sit in that number compared with FLTRXP bikes. A 2026 bike with a code on the list is a candidate, and the VIN search settles it.

NHTSA’s public record on the campaign is short, and the gaps are worth stating. The Part 573 report, the defect filing where a maker lays out its chronology, the cause and the share of bikes expected to carry the fault, had not appeared on NHTSA’s site for this campaign by Nov. 12. The record does not say what triggers a false neutral reading, how many reports led to the recall, or whether anyone has been hurt. In NHTSA’s text the module produces the wrong gear position and the gear position sensor is the part dealers replace. Which of the two is at fault is not stated.

Owners looking for more can expect that filing to follow, and the pattern of Harley-Davidson’s earlier filings this year, covered below, shows what it usually contains: a timeline of the first service report, the number of warranty claims, the production dates and the percentage of bikes with the fault.

Why Some 2026 Owners Could Face Two Harley Recalls

Four of the nine codes also appear in a second Harley-Davidson recall from April. Campaign 26V270, which NHTSA received on Apr. 29, covers 88,039 motorcycles, and its list includes the 2026 FLHX, FLTRX, FLTRXL and FLHXL. NHTSA’s lookup by vehicle returns both campaigns for the 2026 FLHX and the 2026 FLTRX. A 2026 FLHXSE returns only the neutral recall.

The two defects have nothing in common mechanically. The April campaign covers an airbox baseplate, part number 29000373, with a breather port that can be blocked by plastic material from a supplier manufacturing issue. The supplier is Overdrive Acquisition LLC, which trades as Walbro. A blocked port lets pressure build inside the crankcase, and a rider who removes the dipstick without releasing that pressure slowly can have oil discharged from the fill spout.

Harley-Davidson told NHTSA how the problem surfaced. A service request on Mar. 18 cited a blocked port and an injury to a dealer technician. A search of warranty records and customer contacts found 192 reports of blocked ports, 14 of them with oil coming out of the fill spout. A quality screening of a batch of incoming parts found up to 10 percent with a blocked port, and at York Vehicle Operations 3 of 207 inspected vehicles needed repair. The company estimates that 0.4 percent of the 88,039 bikes have the defect, which works out to about 352, and it expects most owners to need an inspection and nothing else.

Production dates set the boundary. Bikes built after Feb. 11, 2026 came off the line under a new inspection process. The FLTRXL in the April campaign was built between Sept. 11, 2025 and Feb. 11, 2026, and the FLHXL between Nov. 5, 2025 and Feb. 11, 2026. The FLTRX and FLHX codes reach back to Oct. 2, 2023, and they make up most of the campaign, with 47,241 FLTRX and 28,612 FLHX bikes across model years 2024 to 2026. An owner of one of the four overlapping codes should run the VIN and expect either campaign, both or neither.

April owners have warning signs to watch for before a dealer visit: smoke from the exhaust, heavy oil consumption, a breather hose that has come loose, or an audible release of pressure when the dipstick comes out. Harley-Davidson mailed those owner letters on May 14.

Harley-Davidson’s 2026 Record at NHTSA

The neutral recall is at least the fourth Harley-Davidson campaign in NHTSA’s 2026 files. The first, 26V075 in February, covers 9,401 Sportster S motorcycles from model years 2021 to 2026. NHTSA’s record says the upper triple clamp can fracture, which can lead to a loss of control and a crash. The campaign expands an earlier recall, 25V590, so a Sportster S repaired under the first one needs the new remedy as well.

The second, 26V234 in April, covers 16,994 Softails from model years 2025 and 2026 in four narrow-frame codes: FLHC, FXBB, FXLRS and FXLRST. The rear brake line can contact the body control module, which can wear a hole in the line, leak brake fluid and cost the rider the rear brakes. Harley-Davidson estimates that all 16,994 have the condition. The trail began Mar. 5, when a service report claimed the rear brakes had stopped working on a 2025 FXLRST. A review of warranty and service records turned up three more claims of brake fluid loss or dead rear brakes, and Harley-Davidson held the affected bikes it still controlled. It told NHTSA it knew of no accidents or injuries. Dealers replace the body control module caddy with a revised part that gives the line more clearance, and inspect the line and replace it if it is damaged. The warning signs are brake fluid under the motorcycle and a drop in rear brake performance.

Add the airbox campaign and the neutral recall to those two, and the four tallies come to 136,077: 9,401 plus 16,994 plus 88,039 plus 21,643. The sum counts a bike in two campaigns twice, so it is not 136,077 separate motorcycles, and it covers only the four campaigns in the NHTSA files reviewed, not every Harley-Davidson action this year. It does show how many recall notices one maker has put in front of riders in a single year.

Gear state faults are not confined to motorcycles. Ford’s recall of 11,623 hybrid Lincolns that can shift into neutral while driving, a park module defect, landed earlier this month with a different cause and a different remedy.

What Owners Should Do Before the Nov. 16 Letter

Start with the VIN. It is on the registration card and can be on the insurance card as well. Enter it at nhtsa.gov/recalls, where Harley-Davidson is on the list of supported manufacturers. An open recall shows on the result. A bike with none shows the message 0 unrepaired recalls associated with this VIN. Anyone with several bikes can search up to 100 VINs at once.

Read the result with its limits in mind. The lookup does not show a recall that was already repaired, and it can miss a recently announced campaign for which the maker has not yet identified every VIN. NHTSA adds VINs continuously and asks owners to check back regularly.

When the VIN comes back flagged, call a Harley-Davidson dealer, or Harley-Davidson customer service on 1-800-258-2464, and quote recall number 0194. The sensor replacement costs the owner nothing. NHTSA tells owners to follow any interim safety guidance the maker provides, and the record for this campaign lists none. Makers have 60 days from telling NHTSA about a recall decision to put letters to registered owners in the first class mail, and the VIN search does not depend on that letter.

Then finish the repair. NHTSA’s April 2026 report to Congress puts the average completion rate for recalls opened from 2012 to 2022 at 65.8 percent, and the agency is taking public comments until Dec. 5 on why a third of recalled vehicles stay unrepaired. A flagged bike left in the garage adds to that count.

A rider who has seen a gear indication disagree with the transmission, or any unexpected forward movement, can file a complaint on the NHTSA site. The agency says complaints help it investigate possible defects, which can lead to a recall.

Two habits cover more than this one campaign. NHTSA’s free SaferCar app for iOS and Android sends an alert when it finds a recall for a vehicle or equipment item entered in it, and the agency offers email alerts as well. NHTSA also tells owners to check for recalls twice a year. The agency counted 997 vehicle and equipment safety recalls in 2025, covering more than 29.2 million vehicles, and a VIN search takes about a minute.

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Sources

• NHTSA: Recall campaign 26V730000 record
• NHTSA: Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V270
• NHTSA: Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V234
• NHTSA: Check for Recalls

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar