Is Harley Davidson the worst motorcycle????

[gearheadfla]

....I was just reading on page 15 of this month's issue of CYCLE WORLD about the (take a breath) HD FLHTKSE CVO LIMITED, coming in at$38,999.00 WOW ! 89 horses, and the heads are liquid cooled.!

I was at the local Harley dealer last weekend for our monthly cookout to raise funds for Vets and a lady brought her new CVO Limited with custom factory paint in, her husband had bumped her at a red light in the rear fender the night before, damaged the rear fender, now for the HOLY CRAP factor, the new custom factory painted fender will take 6 to 8 months to get, and will cost them.................. $1800.00 .

[voyager55]

There isn't a motorcycle out there worth $39,000!
You can buy a real nice car or truck for that price,
I guess As long as suckers keep paying those big prices, they'll keep making them

....I was just reading on page 15 of this month's issue of CYCLE WORLD about the (take a breath) HD FLHTKSE CVO LIMITED, coming in at$38,999.00 WOW ! 89 horses, and the heads are liquid cooled.!

[96desertXII]

The price of the toys......depends directly on the annual income. As I've told people...if you make 2 million a year, buying a $100,000.00 + vehicle is no big deal!

However....I would be considered on a beer income.....and sometimes a no beer income.

[Lucasind]

There isn't a motorcycle out there worth $39,000!
You can buy a real nice car or truck for that price,
I guess As long as suckers keep paying those big prices, they'll keep making them

I'm with you ! Other than my 78 Z1-R , I've never bought any thing new, Buying 2nd had lets the first guy take the financial beating, And most times with a little effort, a guy can bring it back to spec for very little, comparatively.

Heck for $ 39,000.00 ,You can sure buy alot of toys !

[ekap1200]

....I was just reading on page 15 of this month's issue of CYCLE WORLD about the (take a breath) HD FLHTKSE CVO LIMITED, coming in at$38,999.00 WOW ! 89 horses, and the heads are liquid cooled.!

Wow what a bargin, gee for a mere 31,999 US dollars more than I spent for my voyager, I would get 2 more horse power.

[debron]

....I was just reading on page 15 of this month's issue of CYCLE WORLD about the (take a breath) HD FLHTKSE CVO LIMITED, coming in at$38,999.00 WOW ! 89 horses, and the heads are liquid cooled.!

Wow what a bargin, gee for a mere 31,999 US dollars more than I spent for my voyager, I would get 2 more horse power.

Yes, 2 more HP, but you would have to give up 2 cylinders!

[kjsett]

Bottomline: Find a bike you like and ride it!

Ok, just want to say: Find a bike you like and ride it" will be fun till the cops catch me!

Also, would love the way a $39k bike would look sitting in front of my home, but at that price the home would be a cardboard box. Because with a Harley, the upfront price is only the first bill, then you have the greatly inflated insurance and eventually maintenance.

Yes, annual income does greatly effect what bike you "RIDE" and it is wonderful if you can find one that you can "LIKE" at the same time (like the XII).
Just sayin......

[96desertXII]

then you have the greatly inflated insurance and eventually maintenance.

Lets dispel the "myths" that are being thrown around. Insurance on HD's is not expensive, in fact the insurance for my 20 year old XII is $10.00 more a year than it was for my Ultra that was 2 years old. In real life I've found that the insurance on an HD to be cheaper than a "like" bike of the same year. Maintenance on an HD isn't any more expensive than any other bike, if you buy only HD oils and such that's on you. If you do your own maintenance they are no more costly to keep than any other motorcycle. Is the Screamin Eagle line of bikes expensive?....yes, but they are a "limited" production factory hotrod, with all the bells and whistles, and are priced accordingly. The prices of HD's are in line with the market that they compete. Have you gone and looked at a new HD? There fit, finish, and paint work are second to non, they are a VERY well made bike with mostly steel instead of plastic body work.

It always amazes me how non-HD riders try to drag the HD name down to justify the choice of there motorcycle claiming that they are unreliable and that there price is out of line (if the other manufactures sold as many bikes as HD does, you would hear about more break downs from them also). The price of a touring HD is in line with other bikes in that class. Look at the price for a new Goldwing or the BMW touring machine. Maybe you should check and see what a tune-up cost for a Goldwing or Beemer at there respective dealerships.

Am I an authority on this?.....no, but then I have owned HD's, and have put over 500,000 miles on them. I am VERY well acquainted with the costs involved with keeping them on the road, and its not really any different than I'm seeing with the costs involved with keeping the XII on the road at the same miles. The only thing that I can think that might be different is the XII engine will outlive an HD's before a rebuild, but since the bottom end on an HD is all roller bearing, you can do 2 top ends to a bottom end rebuild in most situations usually. If you do your own work a top end is pretty cheap to do and you don't need to pull the engine out to do it. It can be done over a weekend.

[hank43]

So 96desertXll, you are riding a Xll why?

"..... because its the most comfortable to me and the most easily maintained. Eventually there will be no more parts available for the XII, and it will never attain cult status as some of the older imports have. So know one is going to make re-pop parts for it to keep them going, and unless you have your own machine shop, the XII's will fade into.....well extinction. The HD Evo drivetrain will NEVER go extinct, the aftermarket is crammed full of manufactures and parts. So in essence I can ride one forever and always be able to repair it, where ever it breaks down. JMHO

Gotta tell you something interesting, Before buying the Voyager, we almost got a Harley. A $27,000 Harley. At the last moment of the deal, I canceled the deal, and tore up the sales slip. The dealer wanted me to keep the accessories catalog he gave me,(832 pages of full color goodies) and the really nice back pack. Harley has the best selection of after market parts of any motorcycle manufacturer!!

hank

[96desertXII]

Gotta tell you something interesting, Before buying the Voyager, we almost got a Harley. A $27,000 Harley. At the last moment of the deal, I canceled the deal, and tore up the sales slip. The dealer wanted me to keep the accessories catalog he gave me,(832 pages of full color goodies) and the really nice back pack. Harley has the best selection of after market parts of any motorcycle manufacturer!!

hank

LOL..........and the after market has even more!

[SgtSlag]

HD makes quality products. Period. If they didn't, they would not be around. Everybody loves to slam Fram oil filters, just like non-HD riders love to slam HD. If Fram filters were as bad as everyone likes to claim, they would have been sued out of business decades ago. If, for example, their cardboard ends fell apart, floated through the engine, the engine would seize, the owners would sue, and make a lot of money, and Fram would go out of business.

Instead, Fram has tremendous market share. Take a look at the shelf space given to Fram filters at Wal-Mart: Fram dominates, with more filters than any other brand. That is because they move the most product, of all the filter brands Wal-Mart sells. HD is similar: they sell to the higher end of the market, and they sell a quality product (people would buy something else if HD's quality was lacking -- reputation is not built on thin air, it is based on real-world qualities, which are tangible).

One thing no one ever mentions about HD's, though, is the shaking. All motorcycles vibrate, but HD's outright shake, when idling. That is something I cannot abide. That is why I will never ride a V-twin, as they all seem to shake. I ride inline-four's because I like the way the engine runs, and the vibrations are not bad at all (if they are, I won't ride them). I like HD's and Indians, as they are both American legends, and beautiful machines, but I will never ride either one because they are V-twins. I just don't like that engine design. I don't ride any V-twin. They're just not for me.

I priced a GW a few years ago: $23,000 starting, for a stripped down model. I asked the salesman how many weeks the training course on how to run the electronics was... The radio had so many buttons -- and then there were the rest of the electronic systems, besides. The new GW's are not my style, but people seem to love them, or they would not be making so many of them, either. Different strokes for different folks.

I ride what I love. I actually prefer the older bikes, to the new one's. Even if money were no obstacle, I would still prefer the older machines. To work on a new GW, you have to remove all of the Tupperware, before you can even see the engine, let alone begin to work on it! Live and let live. Why urinate on your neighbor's Corn Flakes? Let 'em consume/ride what they like. HD riders are motorcyclists, and that is just fine with me. Cheers!

[ekap1200]

We all knew were this post was headed, but hey the HD guys can take cause they sure know how to dish it out...... I have been the only none-HD rider in a group of about 9 of them on he weekends , and they just don't let off me for a moment. Not after the first ride and even now , they all bust my chop's. They even pulled into a chinese restaurant once and stopped, saying ( we thought you needed to fill that rice burner up ) They just never stop...I hear a new rice burner line every ride with them... But they tend to not like the super-slab ....Cause I wind that inline 4 cyl. up and hit the far left lane. Then gracefully shift it into 5th gear
( just sayin )

[96desertXII]

One thing no one ever mentions about HD's, though, is the shaking. All motorcycles vibrate, but HD's outright shake, when idling. That is something I cannot abide. That is why I will never ride a V-twin, as they all seem to shake. I ride inline-four's because I like the way the engine runs, and the vibrations are not bad at all (if they are, I won't ride them). I like HD's and Indians, as they are both American legends, and beautiful machines, but I will never ride either one because they are V-twins. I just don't like that engine design. I don't ride any V-twin. They're just not for me.

I ride what I love. I actually prefer the older bikes, to the new one's. HD riders are motorcyclists, and that is just fine with me. Cheers!

Yup they shake pretty bad at an idle, that's because the engines on the touring bikes aren't balanced. They smooth out around 2200 rpm till around 3800 rpm. I've ridden the "B" series engine bikes, B=balanced, and they seem to have a buzz in them that puts my hands and feet to sleep. The V-Twin sure does have gobs of torque though.

I wont ever own anything newer than 98 anymore, and I don't like fuel injection either, makes it harder to work on.

[96desertXII]

They even pulled into a chinese restaurant once and stopped, saying ( we thought you needed to fill that rice burner up :) ....Cause I wind that inline 4 cyl. up and hit the far left lane. Then gracefully shift it into 5th gear
( just sayin )

Did you remind them that its Japanese?

Yup the XII is definitely faster than the ol V-Twin.

[ekap1200]

They even pulled into a chinese restaurant once and stopped, saying ( we thought you needed to fill that rice burner up :) ....Cause I wind that inline 4 cyl. up and hit the far left lane. Then gracefully shift it into 5th gear
( just sayin )

Did you remind them that its Japanese?

Yup the XII is definitely faster than the ol V-Twin.

OH, I don't have to remind them, I knew them when they WERE ALL sporting about on rice burners. But all the chrome is a magical mystical addiction to them all. The gleem in their eye's when they get near their harley puts them all in a state of Harley Delusion. But did they ride out to the opening of the HD museum , or Wheels thru time, or Sturgis with me. NOPE. But they are all a good bunch. I do have many a friend with Harleys that do the miles and run through the states at 500 to 900 a day. But its a long day for them with many a fuel stop and cool down time if stuck in city traffic.

[96desertXII]

I have friends with HD's that will ride all day with me.....and I have friends who are zip code riders, at least that's what we call them.

[debron]

....and I have friends who are zip code riders, at least that's what we call them.

Meaning??? They won't leave their local area?? Or they only ride exclusive places??? Interesting phrase.

[96desertXII]

....and I have friends who are zip code riders, at least that's what we call them.

Meaning??? They won't leave their local area?? Or they only ride exclusive places??? Interesting phrase.

Yup, usually just around the area, every now and then they will ride to an event that is more than 50 miles away.

[Lucasind]

....I certainly agree with GENE KAP about H-D riders sure can dish it out ! How many times have I came out of a pub to find huckers on my seat ... or another guy who bought a brand new honda 500 turbo ,seat knife slit. and a big tent top center of fuel tank another friend who got his yamaha kicked over till gas ran out of the carbs ,then lit on fire. They all stood around laughing YAMAHA-HA-HA-HA....What are they worried about ?..................................just sayin

[sir old dirt]

Let's be careful here. I have never ridden with another brand than my own at which time someone did not have a smart remark about one or another bike in the mix. As has been said, all of us ride what we desire or what we can afford. Maybe we should lay off the negative comments. Be happy with what you ride or get another ride.
During a recent ride I fell over. A Harley rider saw what happened and hustled to my assistance. He even had a beard and was big.