Short story is a local acquaintance called early this morning. 2005 bike wouldn't start and needed a hand. We relatively quickly assumed bike had a bad TSSM. Guy's place is a mile from my house and we're both a half hour from the dealership. I've got one (ok, three) in my pile of spares so we plug one in to his bike, do the pairing dance (a pain in the ass), and his bike is running again. All should be good.
Then I learned something that left me thinking "oh man, it's Harley at it again...."
Mother Harley has made the pre-2007 TSM and TSSMs obsolete. Something absolutely necessary to make the bikes go and without an aftermarket option. Part is now obsolete.
68920-00x or 68920-01x is the TSM version
68922-00x is the TSSM version
68924-00x is the international TSSM version (and I've seen these on domestic bikes).
I've got a few parts that are field serviceable, small or relatively small, or that I know a dealership will never have, that I keep stuck in the bottom the saddlebags in case I break down on a road trip somewhere. Since the bike is dead without the TSSM and Harley can't supply it I'm adding that to the parts stash in the bikes. Fortunately I had the spares I did but I did just snag what would now be a redundant spare on eBay for $80. Saw many others listed for a lot more than that. Don't know what they're actually selling for but the listing prices were regularly a lot higher.
Ok, that's all I got.