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[muddypaws]

Check out this guys opinion. Your thoughts?
http://www.jamesrussellpublishing.biz/beforeyoubuyharley.html

[ultrarider123]

Couldn't open the link.....   tried it a couple more times and it opened

....it's too late anyway....done bought too many uv dem....

[muddypaws]

Me to but it's interesting...I tried on the site and it opened...

[JCZ]

It didn't open the first time....tried it again and it opened.

Nothing there to surprising to me.

[grc]

As is often the case, it's a mixture of some truth and some total BS.  I think most everyone who has been on the site for a few years or more probably knows exactly how I feel about the fine folks at H-D and their seriously flawed motorcycles.  But this guy resorts to total lies and BS to make his point, when those things aren't required.  Here is just one statement that is total crap:   "Believe it or not!  When the engine fails it is not covered under warranty!  Dealers will tell you it is a failed maintenance issue.  In other words, you failed to pay the dealer to tear your engine apart to inspect the condition of the cam chain followers on a routine basis.  This is not fair dealings, but it is what you will get when buying a Harley-Davidson.  It's the price you will pay to play."  Here's the reason that is total BS.  Look in your maintenance checklists in your owners or shop manual, and you will find there is absolutely no requirement to check the cam chain tensioners, or even a suggestion that it might be a good idea.  So obviously they can't blame you for failing to perform maintenance that they do not require or recommend.  One of my big complaints with the early Twin Cam tensioner fiasco was the fact that Harley never did add a maintenance requirement or recommendation even though they knew there was a very high probability of failures.  It's one of the things Harley just can't seem to bring themselves to do; admit they screwed up.  Anyhow, while I agree with the overall premise (Harley quality and reliability sucks), I don't agree with the use of false information to prove the point.

Btw, this guy also harps on the engineering stupidity of using chains and tensioners instead of gear drives as if everyone knows this crap won't work.  Well I hate to tell the moron, but the auto industry has been using cam chains with nylon tensioners and guides for a lot longer than Harley has, and they don't have these problems.  More than a few motorcycle companies have also been doing this for decades as well.  It's not the idea, it's the lousy way Harley applied the idea and the lousy quality of the cheap parts they used.

JMHO - Jerry

[muddypaws]

Jerry all good points.

[scttgr8]

 
many good points but even more BS points...and for him to be a published writer, he should pay for a proof reader...hard to get through with so many incorrect word usage/choices.    PERFECT 0 defect products American made or not are non existent ... JMHO and a FACT!

[tweeter13]

Jerry again uses the best vocabulary and is right to the point.  My old Yamaha's even have chains.   This guy harps on design flaws.  I have bought bikes with shaft drive hard acceleration I would get what I would call torque steer.  So I am sure every manufacture has there flaws or defects if you want to point them out.  But I will stick with my hot engine. 


Todd.

[dlaws01]

Sorry, I just don't have the patience to read that much here.  I'll wait for the Reader's Digest version to come out.   

[ridefar]

At a recent auto show, I watched a 3 man crew from a G.M. engine plant build a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, just like they do it in the factory. The parts are modular and come from various suppliers. They kept saying that this motor is designed for and has been tested to go a minimum of 250 thousand miles without internal maintenance. The cams were chain driven with a hydraulic(based upon oil pressure) tensioner. I had to ask the lead man if he really believed that the chain tensioner and chain would have that long of a service life, and he replied in the affirmative.

[skreminegul07]

As is often the case, it's a mixture of some truth and some total BS.  I think most everyone who has been on the site for a few years or more probably knows exactly how I feel about the fine folks at H-D and their seriously flawed motorcycles.  But this guy resorts to total lies and BS to make his point, when those things aren't required.  Here is just one statement that is total crap:   "Believe it or not!  When the engine fails it is not covered under warranty!  Dealers will tell you it is a failed maintenance issue.  In other words, you failed to pay the dealer to tear your engine apart to inspect the condition of the cam chain followers on a routine basis.  This is not fair dealings, but it is what you will get when buying a Harley-Davidson.  It's the price you will pay to play."  Here's the reason that is total BS.  Look in your maintenance checklists in your owners or shop manual, and you will find there is absolutely no requirement to check the cam chain tensioners, or even a suggestion that it might be a good idea.  So obviously they can't blame you for failing to perform maintenance that they do not require or recommend.  One of my big complaints with the early Twin Cam tensioner fiasco was the fact that Harley never did add a maintenance requirement or recommendation even though they knew there was a very high probability of failures.  It's one of the things Harley just can't seem to bring themselves to do; admit they screwed up.  Anyhow, while I agree with the overall premise (Harley quality and reliability sucks), I don't agree with the use of false information to prove the point.

Btw, this guy also harps on the engineering stupidity of using chains and tensioners instead of gear drives as if everyone knows this crap won't work.  Well I hate to tell the moron, but the auto industry has been using cam chains with nylon tensioners and guides for a lot longer than Harley has, and they don't have these problems.  More than a few motorcycle companies have also been doing this for decades as well.  It's not the idea, it's the lousy way Harley applied the idea and the lousy quality of the cheap parts they used.

JMHO - Jerry

Jerry, My buddy was going to trade a 2005 road King with 40,000 miles.  They wouldn't take the bike in trade unless he could prove the cam tensioners were checked and serviced.  Ridiculous.  I told him to show any mention of CAMs in the maintenance schedule.  And actually I had just checked them and they were fine. 

[Panhead_Jimmy]

It's quite obvious to me that if "James Russell Publishing" gets paid by the word, this man is wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.  Geesh, dude.  Condense!

[North Georgia Hawg]

I've read this trash-talking article before. The guy's obviously a Sporty fan - and he's right about the bulletproof nature of that engine. They use the same lifters as the TC does, but they don't eat them like the TC does, etc. etc. etc.

Yes, the TC has many issues, but it isn't as if they all fall apart or blow up as soon as the warranty expires... only about half do that!

I wish they would have just punched out the Evo Big Twin. It IS a very simple, bulletproof big twin... with a single cam driven by a pinion gear directly off of the (rebuildable!) crank. The Evolution engine pretty much outlasted most of its riders. I still miss my 1995 Evo FLHTP, Big Bad Bertha!

Ken

[skratch]

Sorry, I just don't have the patience to read that much here.  I'll wait for the Reader's Digest version to come out.   

reader's digest version:

harley sucks.  everything else is better, faster, etc...