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[charles05663]

Oh yea, good for you, change the oil and run it till the body falls off on the side of the road!!!

Any car driven in Vermont for more than a few winters is going to have rust issues.

In the HD world, according the testimony of quite a few members, dealers routinely tell owners that their motorcycles are expected to go thou a quart of oil every 1,000 miles.  Or that the clunking sound is normal or all HD's do that (insert problem here).

My 2002 Heritage Softtail Classic had zero problems. I can't say that about my 2009 SERG3. I would think that in 7 years things would have gotten better but that was not the case.

 

[lowflight]

I am with some of the others here. I also recall the days that if you rode your Harley for three consecutive years you were considered a quailed technician.

I complain about things with my bike all the time, but I will not own anything but a Harley. They are a number of improvements that could be done and movement in the right direction occurs or we still all would be riding Pans n Shovels. I for one would love to have a Pan to ride on occasion, but not like I ride my current bike - I know how that would work out.   

[MightyTharg]

I'm no fanboy and only a recent convert.  The CVO SG that's on its way to me is only my 2nd Harley.

I still don't understand some of the adulation and adoration heaped on H-D by some fanatical owners, but what I can say is that somewhere in the last few years Harley started producing bikes with just about enough power and just enough handling and just enough practicality to make them a viable alternative to the BMWs I'd been riding, unfortunately I was blinded to this by my long held view that Harleys were too low, too slow and too expensive.

It was only when I was getting fed up with modern motorcycling and thinking about giving up (after 30year) that I decided to give the H-D touring models a try, based solely on the fact that there were a couple of guys (Roadkings and Stret Glides) that I used to see riding the other way day-in day-out on my regular commute. That's how I ended up with a Street Glide in 2013.

Comparing the Street Glide to my BMWs I'd say the following:

Cost - was roughly comparable (if you add a stereo to a BMW tourer)
Paint - was worse (vivid black) and marked more easily than any paint I've had on a motorcycle
Chrome - some parts didn't fare well in the winter but did clean up reasonably well and would have been relatively cheao and easy to replace if I'd felt the need.  Overall I'd say finish didn't do too badly compared to some of my BMWs
Engine Performance - better than I thought, heat was my biggest issue that drove me to doing a stage 1. Although it would have been nice to have a bit more power to take you through 90 and into 3 figures.  It compared to maybe an old 1100 or 1150 BMW twin, which is good enough most of the time.
Handling - not bad, actually took some 70mph+ sweepers with undulating surfaces better than my K1600GT (which bottomed out on some of the bumps!)
Reliability - no faults or failures in 14.5k miles in 12 months. Just tyres and servicing (cheaper than BMW)
Resale - when I stupidly decided to sell, it sold easily and I got back £2k less than I bought it for!  Don;t ask how long it took me to sell my K1600GT or how much I lost or how many idiots I had to deal with!!!
Problems - I did have issues with the ABS not liking poor road surfaces and keeping the brakes released for far too long!  The system didn't compare well with late 90's BMW ABS. Thankfully the rushmore brakes and forks have improved things.

But screw all that - the main thing was  I was enjoying riding a bike again in a way that I hadn't for years! I also found it a better bike to ride through foul weather than many of the BMWs (I don't do snow anymore though - not since a 15minute journey turned into 90 mins of terror on a K1200GT).  I also found the riding position to work well with my various old injuries but if it hadn't there are certainly more factory and aftermarket options to tweak and tune the riding position and.  Now if the bike had been unreliable / unusable I would have ditched it and mybe tried something else as a garage ornament is of no use to me, a bike I can't use is a bike I won't keep). 
 
So I guess I might grumble too over some of their manufacturing or marketing decisions but I for one am grateful that "The MoCo" is making some great bikes that will hopefully keep me rolling for many years to come - they must be doing something right to persuade me to spend 3 times as much on a bike than I've ever spent on a car!



 

[michaelokielee@yahoo.com]

Great speech, I agree FlaHeatWave! I love my CVO 

[GregKhougaz]

    Agreed, Ed (I mean, Mr. Ambassador)!     

[red ben59]

Had some issues over the years most have been resolved easily. Never owned any bike but  H.D. I've rode a ton of others, don't matter what your on if your in the wind it's a good day. Still loyal to Harley, that's what moves me best 

[FlaHeatWave]

Great speech, I agree FlaHeatWave! I love my CVO 

I was hoping it would convey more of a rant flavor

"In the HD world, according the testimony of quite a few members, dealers routinely tell owners that their motorcycles are expected to go thou a quart of oil every 1,000 miles.  Or that the clunking sound is normal or all HD's do that (insert problem here)."

Yes, I agree, with some of the lines (including oil consumption, crank run-out specs, they all do that, etc...)  that I have heard / read, these guys (Harley too!) should be working at the friggin' Comedy Store! ('Yea, that's the ticket" ~ Jon Lovitz) 

"My 2002 Heritage Softtail Classic had zero problems. I can't say that about my 2009 SERG3. I would think that in 7 years things would have gotten better but that was not the case."

If I'd have known what I was signing up for when I got the '09 SERG (6/12, 2,420mi.) I would have never got into it! I thought that the '09 SERG would be a newer, improved model of the '05 SEEG (stock / bulletproof to this day) boy was I wrong!!! Compared to the '05, the '09 fell short in every category; performance, handling, comfort, aero, and Reliability... the only improvement being the Anti-Lock Brakes on the '09. JMO, your results may vary... 
 

[Major Tom]

FlaHeatWave  ,

 You are going to have to work a lot harder to get a bite mate. I am in violent agreement with Y'all, well said.

Lots of folks take a great deal of delight in telling me harleys are unreliable oil dripping agricultural equipment from the dark ages. Unlike the audience on this forum, many either haven't ever owned one or when they did Elvis was still in public view (not saying he died), or they know someone who knows someone who's cousins, friends, brothers, family dentists casual acquaintance supposedly owned one for about a week. My answer is always "don't buy one". Problem solved. Here's my perspective from my personal experiences on the mocos product and others over the last couple years or so.

If I had of had enough beer tickets ($), my first bike would have been a harley. Starting out I had a bunch of jappers early on including honda k2s, yamasuki 650 special and a bunch of kamasaki z900, z1b1000 and a gpz1100 as I like to travel on occasion. All were pretty much fill and ride with the obligatory chain adjustments and relatively simple things like cam chain adjustments, plugs, point etc etc.

Bought a 73 sporty in 85 for the princely sum of $2200 & 1 carton of beer. Loved it but it was a continual opportunity for me to learn the finer points of roadside maintenance and being flexible with travel plans.

Next was 78 Flh eglide classic in 91. Another regular education in all aspects of motorcycle mechanics for the uninitiated but a big improvement on sporty and once sorted was very reliable as long as maintenace was kept up.

Next was a 91 springer in 93. No problems at all. No more chains. Only sold it in 97 as it was not being ridden and I didn't want an expensive coffee table/self gratification aid sitting around not being used.

Mid life crisis = no motorcycle for nearly 3 years. Don't want to talk about it.

Being fatter and older after said crisis led to a new 99 roadking classic. lots of miles over 10 years no real problems other than the odd drive belt, flat tyres and other normal stuff. Minimal unexpected issues and very reliable. Way less opportunity for operator error without carbie, chain and so on.

Next was a new 09 eglide ultra no problems at all apart from regular maintenance. Again plenty of miles and very little for me to do to it or whine about. Moved to US or would still be on it.

Picked up a used SERGU 11 in 13 and figured it would see me out. Again no real problems other than burning through the lower right leg on 3 pairs of jeans over a year and a tad over 11000 miles and would be on it still but moco brought out a newy which I could not resist.

So far have only done 3800 miles on "Lucille" (SERGU 15) and not much to whine about. A couple little things which I would call teething issues and some operator error as always. It goes well, handles better than any of the previous ones I have had, it stops in a hurry and is damn comfortable for a short run or a couple weeks on the road. So far my jeans remain intact. IMHO Lucille is far and away the best bike I have owned or ridden.

I still carry tools, a siphon (operator error on many occasions), bailing wire zip ties, fuses etc. Its a habit and if nothing else has been handy when poking about the countryside with mates who are either still  riding older bikes or doing the retro thing. First thing I purchase after any bike is the workshop manual which doesn't get anywhere the use the earlier ones did. I do not miss carburetors,  chains, drum brakes and rarely getting anywhere on time due to mechanical issues.

Even taking into consideration that i started on old bikes that may not have had the love they deserved before i got them and three of my last four have been new, from my experience they are better all the time. Not perfect but then what is?

Keep the meat on the seat.

Cheers
Major Tom

[Cat Eye]

 

OK....Time to go rideing

[VANAMAL]

i went with a friend recently while he was on his panhead. I said dude something fell off on the highway. ha ha it was the tank divider strip. Then we went down to rock store in socal  and one guy had a shovel head that the carburetor fell off! no problem we robbed some parts and back on the road. the new bikes are great in comparison

[03Lightningrocks]

Interesting. A thread whining about whining. Would something like this be considered ironic or redundant?

[FlaHeatWave]

Interesting. A thread whining about whining. Would something like this be considered ironic or redundant?

'Was trying more for a rant about whining, I was wondering when someone would catch that LMAO

[phato1]

We were finally able to go for a ride today after a long winter......Thank you HD! hot dang I really like my FLHTCUSE6 and my  '01 FLSTFI which shared in the love today also.

Have I had to have repairs and modification done to these bikes - heck yes but then I made modification to my '12 Mazda - I can't leave nothin' alone, I even hopped up my lawn tractor 

[Dr.D]

Interesting. A thread whining about whining. Would something like this be considered ironic or redundant?

Remember, if it has wheels or tits it'll give you problems. I am generally pleased with all my dealings with the HD and am one of those who would buy again. Oops I did trade for a new SG for the wife on Sunday.

[Tractor Bubba]

"...Oops I did trade for a new SG for the wife on Sunday."

WOW!  Where did you find a dealer that would take your wife in on trade?
That's a dealer that could really see a spike in sales!
(Although, his used inventory will likely get out of hand quickly...)