OK all you serious folks out there, let's set the record straight!
First, TN, yes I would have. Been a RK fan since they came out. Like I said, it ain't rocket science. I'm confident everything can get straightened out to my satisfaction, but not by HD!
I'll start of by saying, this is my opinion and assessment of things.
Why would I feel that way? Well, let's go back some. HD's statistically and unfortunately, traditionally, have had issues with their engines through the Shovelhead days. Did that ever stop anyone from loving these bikes? No. Then they came out with their own ass saving engine, the Evo. Once they figured out how to get the engine studs to stop pulling out of the cases, they were basically good, reliable motors. But that was kinda new for HD. You could get on an Evo bike and just leave it alone and ride it, if that's what you wanted to do. All was good with HD engines for quite awhile.
But changes need to be made to meet ever-changing EPA demands, and to keep the aftermarket at bay as best they can. So enter the Twin Cam Engine. Millions of miles of testing in the desert supposedly, gave them a more efficient engine of basically the same type, for an over a 50 year old design. Cam bearing failures addressed, tensioner problems not, but still pretty good. Not as powerful as the Evo's, but pretty good. The 2-cam layout straightened out somewhat the pushrod geometry and allowed for bigger bores than Evo's though. Timkins still in there til '03. QC still meant something.
Corporate greed then took over. Nothing but return to shareholders mattered anymore, as many corporations operate today. HD's no different in that regard. But to us, this is personal. A HD owner and the MoCo/Dealer relationship. But these days you feel abandoned by the MoCo. Like you or the bike doesn't matter. Return to shareholder is what drives the business.
But I digress. During the "bad" engine days of yore, we always took matters into our own hands. We had to. Nobody made aftermarket parts like available today. HD didn't do a damn thing. It only got much worse during the AMF days. Guys were forced to get creative on their own. Doing their own fabricatin and rebuilding engines every 20K-40K was not uncommon at all. We got spoiled during the Evo era. Ride a HD trouble-free? Unheard of. But then we came to expect that.
We're a different breed than most folks, if you lived thru all of those dog days. We loved our HD's and didn't count on the MoCo to give us anything more than a type of bike we love. From '03 on, the TC's were becoming the new "Shovelheads" of this generation. But the type people who ride them now have changed drastically. I've said this before too, "before they used to hate us, now they wanna be like us". HD's became high profile, Hollywood. Bike and tattoo shows on TV. Everybody and their mother was dying to be "in" and own a Harley. If the bikes sold themselves, why should HD spend a nickel to make them better. Just the opposite. How to drive costs down even further. Subcontracts to China, cheapen the design, etc, all geared toward "return to the shareholders"!
So hopefully this little bit of Hoist insight will shed some light on how I feel, and why I'm doing what I am to my bike. I'll say it again. As a platform, I love RK's. And as a platform, the '07 SERK is the best RK they ever made to date. Am I thrilled that I need to "do what I gotta do" to get this bike right? F'in A I'm not! Did I expect to have to build my own engine in a brand new 32K bike? Hell no! I did expect better. But am I swayed away from getting it right because of these issues? Absolutely not! Brakes, suspension, cosmetics, handlebars...all expected on every HD you'll buy. No surprise there. You can leave those alone, or opt for the best performance you can get. Your decision based on how you ride and what you would normally do anyway. But a new engine. Totally unexpected, but not shocked. Pissed, yeah! But not shocked!
So I'll improve my bike the way I want it, until I get it EXACTLY as
I want it. And I'll build my own bullet-prrof race bred engine as necessary. After all, it's my bike and it needs to be able to handle "Hoist's abuse"! I will not wait for HD to make this EPA approved bike right, because that will never be good enough for me. And from what I see from the people from this great site, many things besides the 110" engines, are not good enough for others either. Larger new engines, Baker transmissions, even friggin chrome oil pans! You get the point. If you have enough passion for something, nothing will dissuade you from making it perfect for you! And ya'll know how much I love RK's! So nothing will dissuade me from getting mine perfect for me!
Hope this clears things up with all you knitpicking ballbreakers!
Hoist!
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Topic: Diary of a SEUC (Read 5855 times)