I rode a Harley

[sdog30]

Didn't bother reading the whole thread, so sorry if I'm just repeating what someone else has said, but a lot of "...I can't picture spending $15-17k" and "...too much maintenance"

Last I checked, Ducati's aren't cheap and have a very regular and expensive maintenance schedule. Sport tourers aren't really that cheap either. You guys obviously don't surf CL as much as me or you'd notice how much Harley's value have gone down. Maybe not on the show room floor, but used...there are some good deals out there.

As far as them falling apart, I believe those are more the older models. Worst that's happened to mine is loosing header bolts, so yeah, you have to loc-tite everything, but so does my track bike. Labor is a rip, so I do my own work on the Harley, too.

To be honest with you, I'm definitely a sport bike guy on a harley. I have my DOT approved, full face helmet, sport bike jacket and gloves and I wave at everyone (except scooters). I picked up my Harley because it was uncomfortable to ride long distances on my CBR and didn't enjoy having the girlfriend on the back. She appreciates the seat of my Harley a little more than the tampon that is supposed to be a rear seat on a sport bike, as well.

I could have bought an FJR or a Boulavard, but I think Harley's are cooler, sue me. I definitely test rode a bunch before choosing the FXDF I have and picked it because it had a lot of what I wanted and enjoy riding it. It's powerful (1554cc), comfortable (can put on 400 miles a day and have ridden it to Texas and Florida and back), handles good (nice, wide front end and tire and forward controls) and looks cool (flat black paint, exhaust, everything is black)...so stop your hating.

[SVRACER01]

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Some are better than others.
My experience so far has been that most don't care what I ride.
There's plenty that have had other bikes in the past like gpzs and ninja 900s.
What I see that you ain't necessarily see at import bike shops is lots of bikes with 40,50,60k on them. We had an 83 with well over 200k on it.
Lots of these guys change oil every 2.5k

[TheIglu]

At least the Ducati has adjustable levers for $17k.

[sdog30]

I test rode a Vrod and felt like I aleady have a sport bike. I was almost going to buy a night train, but my FXDF is more comfortable being a Dyna and came in the flat black with the race bars and forward controls which is the main reason I liked the night train. It has dual calipers in the front, unlike most of the harleys I looked at, so it stops good. The Dyna Wide glide I test rode felt squirrelly at higher speeds, so I like how solid the FXDF felt with the wide front end and tire. Sometimes I hit the forward controls when taking a corner, but no big deal, wasn't as bad as floor boards. I bought mine on CL a couple years ago for under $12k and it was a year old with under 800 miles. Had some aftermarket parts and even a power commander. A new R1 is over $13k.

[csmutty]

A new R1 is over $13k.

So is a new Harley..

[sdog30]

So is a new Harley..

Exactly.

You either think they are cool or don't, but unless your comparing it to a fury, it's hard to use the "there too much money" debate. They don't handle or accelerate like a sportbike, so don't buy a Harley and ride it like a sportbike.

I wanted something that would be comfortable to ride with the girlfriend, around town and an occasional trip. I personally think sport tourers are stupid looking and don't plan on touring the country, so a Harley was my choice.

[Rosco61]

A few friends and i rented harley's out in palm Springs a few years back. i had a Electra Glide and I can tell you it was very comfy and smooth once rolling. I really liked it. At about 85 mph I rolled on the throttle and nothing at all happened save for a few mph. Could have been in a Maverick for all the power it had. But for rolling down the interstate and 2 lane roads it sure was fine and handled Ok for what it is. Sure it's a dinosaur but people love them and perception is everything. I liked it.

[Billy]

I picked up my Harley because it was uncomfortable to ride long distances on my CBR and didn't enjoy having the girlfriend on the back. She appreciates the seat of my Harley a little more than the tampon that is supposed to be a rear seat on a sport bike, as well.

This is my exact problem today. It's getting to the point where I don't want to ride on my sportbike longer than 2 hours. Riding 2up, I'm done after 30 minutes. I'm with you on the sport touring bikes, I can't stand the look of any of them. I was looking at a HD Wide Glide but then I came across another bike on yamaha's website that is pretty cool looking.

http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/...53/0/home.aspx

There's a company called Low and Mean that makes a lot of aftermarket parts for the Stryker. It looks pretty bad ass/chopper like in my opinion if you trick it out with some of their parts:

http://www.lownmean.com/index.php?op...d=99&Itemid=60

Still on the fence about what to do......

[csmutty]

This is my exact problem today. It's getting to the point where I don't want to ride on my sportbike longer than 2 hours. Riding 2up, I'm done after 30 minutes. I'm with you on the sport touring bikes, I can't stand the look of any of them. I was looking at a HD Wide Glide but then I came across another bike on yamaha's website that is pretty cool looking.

http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/...53/0/home.aspx

There's a company called Low and Mean that makes a lot of aftermarket parts for the Stryker. It looks pretty bad ass/chopper like in my opinion if you trick it out with some of their parts:

http://www.lownmean.com/index.php?op...d=99&Itemid=60

Still on the fence about what to do......

The Stryker looks like Yamaha's answer to the Honda Fury.

[Billy]

Yea I saw the Honda Fury when I was browsing around. Was not feeling that bike at all!

[SVRACER01]

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Everyone I talk to loves the fat bob. It kinda looks like the bastard child of a hd and a TW200 but I hear they are nice.

[fjrrider RI]

What I experienced first-hand (or rather, second-hand, since they were on a co-workers bike, but I saw the bike everyday, and helped him work on it):

Oil leaking from the heads within the first 3k miles

Speedometer failure within the first 3k miles (found to be a common issue)

Turn signals stopped working within the first 5k miles

Oil leaking from the lower crankcase at around 10k miles (found to be a common issue)

Fuel pump replaced twice in the first 12k miles (faulty fuel pumps had been reported online, but two was extreme)


And that's just the stuff I remember. The bike was a 2008 Sportster 1200. The first summer he owned it, the bike was in the shop for about 4 weeks total. Not exactly the way I'd want to spend my money (or my riding time).

Holly shit smurf are you kidding? I knew there was a reason why my opinion of them was so low. Just looked at a new sportster a woman co-worker is loving and wondered about those brakes-just one disc front

[KawiSmurf]

Holly shit smurf are you kidding? I knew there was a reason why my opinion of them was so low.

Sho nuff. I don't get it though. Some Sporties seem bulletproof and could probably last through a nuclear blast, but others are damn train wrecks from the second they leave the assembly line. Must've been a "Friday" bike. Haven't talked to that guy in quite a while, wonder if he even still has it. I still say having the bike sit in the shop for a whole month of the first riding season would be enough for me to try and demand my money back from the mfg, regardless of who it is.

[gregp]

I kind of like HD's, although I have never owned one. My older brother owned a 70's-something 1200 sportster, which was OK, but kind of crude all around. He had Storz (?) cool looking flat tracker pipes on it that really looked neat, but overall, the bike was not something that I would jump on.
He also owned a Buell Lightning (Yellow) which I *thought* would be the cats meow, but it too was kind of a let down. The motor did not produce nearly as much power as I was expecting, and it shifted terribly. I think I said this before, but I was expecting CR-500, and got XR-250.
That said, a couple of close friends have big, newer, HD's, and I have spent some time on them as well. They ride very nicely!
I am "kind of" in the market for something that my wife and I can comfortably go some distances on. The problem I have is that most of the time, I ride alone, and I want to wheelie every once in a while. So, I am looking for a smooth, powerful motor, relatively short wheelbase, relatively light weight, and super comfortable rider and passenger accommodations - maybe even a tall sissy bar for the wife. I have not found this mystical bike yet...
My younger brother has an older Bandit 1200, and that is close. The new Ninja 1000, or a ZRX may be as close as I can get...
I don't mind the HD's, though.... I just wish they would quit hawking "The Lifestyle".

[Garandman]

Holly shit smurf are you kidding? I knew there was a reason why my opinion of them was so low. Just looked at a new sportster a woman co-worker is loving and wondered about those brakes-just one disc front

Roadster had two.

[rpiian]

the power comes on like a freight train, and 80 mph comes quicker than you think.

Funny, I say the same thing about my SV.

In all seriousness, I rode the Nightster in the spring of '08 and it was a fun, torquey little bike, just not excessively loud or anything. I was expecting to walk away with hearing loss, you know, one of the pleasures of owning a Harley. Maybe that's where the aftermarket comes in. Who knows. It's not what I'd buy if I was buying a Harley. If I'm going to be sitting on my cheeks with my balls rattling I want a windshield and a big comfy seat.

I'm sure all the bikes have their redeeming qualities, but with the price of those things, it'll be a while before you catch me on one.

Edit: And for that matter, same goes for a Ducati, Aprilia - shit, really just any bike over 10K.

[gregp]

BTW - I did have to help a coworker with fuel pump replacement on his Fat Boy last year. It seems that the constant vibration of the tank wore through the hose exiting the fuel pump. IIRC, he could not just buy the hose - he had to buy the entire assembly. Upon doing some research, this turned out to be a fairly common problem, but HD had not recognized it or addressed it in any way.
When this problem began, it manifested itself in a motor that would start, but not run very well at all. The hole in the hose would have been easily repaired (by replacing the hose with another) but the hole in the tank was so small that no other hose clamp would fit. The OEM clamp was a one time crimp on style that barely fit in the space allotted.
Seeing this was enough to steer me away from their FI models, if I were to buy one.

[SVRACER01]

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I kind of like HD's, although I have never owned one. My older brother owned a 70's-something 1200 sportster, which was OK, but kind of crude all around. He had Storz (?) cool looking flat tracker pipes on it that really looked neat, but overall, the bike was not something that I would jump on.
He also owned a Buell Lightning (Yellow) which I *thought* would be the cats meow, but it too was kind of a let down. The motor did not produce nearly as much power as I was expecting, and it shifted terribly. I think I said this before, but I was expecting CR-500, and got XR-250.
That said, a couple of close friends have big, newer, HD's, and I have spent some time on them as well. They ride very nicely!
I am "kind of" in the market for something that my wife and I can comfortably go some distances on. The problem I have is that most of the time, I ride alone, and I want to wheelie every once in a while. So, I am looking for a smooth, powerful motor, relatively short wheelbase, relatively light weight, and super comfortable rider and passenger accommodations - maybe even a tall sissy bar for the wife. I have not found this mystical bike yet...
My younger brother has an older Bandit 1200, and that is close. The new Ninja 1000, or a ZRX may be as close as I can get...
I don't mind the HD's, though.... I just wish they would quit hawking "The Lifestyle".

70s= iron head....train wrecks. Always problems with those. Just had one in the shop a week ago. Thank god it was just a front tire. The techs ran and hid when they saw it.

[Garandman]

[SIZE=1]70s= iron head....train wrecks. Always problems with those. Just had one in the shop a week ago. Thank god it was just a front tire. The techs ran and hid when they saw it.

I wanted one for nostalgia purposes as that is when I graduated HS. But looking into owning one was going to be like owning a wooden boat -more maintenance than use.

But the 05 Roadster 1200 (rubber mount, carbed) seemed to be a much smarter bet and the visual differences are minimal for being 30 years apart.

[SVRACER01]

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I like the look of the sportster 48 but its a little small. Good little round town bully bike though.

[Garandman]

Almost done - still waiting on Ricor rear shocks.

[gregp]

That one looks really nice! I really like the paint/graphic design.

[DucDave]

Someday maybe....
...but not not today!

[Garandman]

Know how people make the joke "Why are all Harley parts chromed?"
"So you can find them on the side of the road."

New Ricor IAS shocks - but Battery cover not found.



There are two plastic clips that hold it at the top, and the cover sometimes vibrates loose and flies away on the highway. I think it's $80-90. That's why they say HD stands for Hundred Dollar.

Of course, when I go on XLforum I find this is a very common problem and people zip-tie them, cotter pin, etc. Just wish I'd read them before I took a longer ride!

[beet]

I ran it over. I've done the same on my old zx.