harley fact: 80% of all Harleys ever made are still on the road....the other 20% made it home.

Ok, you made me laugh on that one!

harley fact: 80% of all Harleys ever made are still on the road....the other 20% made it home. lmao says Scottjlky
pretty funny inaccurate but funny.

I would compare the reliability of the current harley products to any other cruiser and I think they would be the most reliable of any cruiser now or ever made. The m109 may be the most unreliable cruiser made since the shovelhead- amf days. The new kaw voyager has many problems ranging from fit and finish to heat to poor handling. The honda vtx is not even being made. Yamaha makes a good cruiser but they can't give it away. It may have been true that harleys were crap when AMF made them but that was 30 years ago. Without question harley currently makes the best cruisers.

* Last updated by: alaskarider on 6/10/2010 @ 1:32 PM *

Captain, here's some shots of my titanium/carbon Evo for the 10r. I bought the whole shebang from Ivan, TRE009, PCIII and Akra map included. These things are a bit pricey but as you can see from the construction details well worth the money.
This setup will put your 10R above a BMW S1000RR on top and annihilate it in the mid and low end. Comes with two O2 bungs in case you want to run a PCV with Autotune.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 6/10/2010 @ 2:06 PM *

Any desire I ever had to own a Harley was put to rest a few weeks ago when a buddy of mine flew in for a weekend ride and rented a new 2009 Road King. We did a 200 mile ride, some freeway (about 30 miles worth) and the rest backroads. I was on my old 2004 VTX 1300C. Everytime we pulled over for gas or food he made a comment about how much better he liked the VTX and how much more agile it was at handling the twisties, he couldn't even come close to staying with me in the turns. Also he was amazed that it had a solid mounted engine and you could still balance a quarter on top of the aircleaner cover at idle, the Road Kings engine by contrast looked almost comical as it tried to jump out of it's rubber mounts. Somebody invented crankshaft counter balancers early in the last century, apparently Harley never got the memo. Thanks but no thanks!

* Last updated by: Kruz on 6/10/2010 @ 2:34 PM *

Do not go into the light, It's a trick. Run away, Save yourself

* Last updated by: Kruz on 6/10/2010 @ 2:37 PM *

"Everytime we pulled over for gas or food he made a comment about how much better he liked the VTX and how much more agile it was at handling the twisties, he couldn't even come close to staying with me in the turns."

You did not swap? Just because you pull away in the corners may have nothing to do with the bike, the rider has a huge input on that one.

" Also he was amazed that it had a solid mounted engine and you could still balance a quarter on top of the aircleaner cover at idle, the Road Kings engine by contrast looked almost comical as it tried to jump out of it's rubber mounts."

My riding bud got to ride a Harley once. He talked about the extreme vibration, could not stand it. I guess the Harley chicks like that vibration?

Okay...I'm in!I owned a 2000 88B twin cam Heritage Classic.Brand new.18,000 miles later,friggin wiring harness had burned out.Gaskets at the cylinder/case interface were leaking.Rear cam had to be replaced at 7,000 miles.Blinkers were iffy.Frontend started floating at 100 mph in the Diamond lane.Drove it home from the showroom....first thing.....oil sending unit was leaking oil.THEN...thank God.....it got stolen!Second Harley....1995 Ultra Classic.No power to speak of.Could barely pull it's own weight.Was shitty trying to turn and manuver.NO TORQUE.Wires wouldn't stay connected where they were supposed to be.Harley dealer broke my front disc and blamed me.What a crock......33,000 miles on my "jap crap"......NOT ONE MECHANICAL FAILURE.Hard miles as well.NO LEAKS of any kind.Runs like a top.Never left me stranded.Easy to work on.Fast as He@$.RELIABLE.FUN.EASY TO MANUVER.LOOKS VICIOUS.RUNS VICIOUS.Did I mention....FUN!!!!35+ miles a gallon.WoHoooo!!!!!Time to RIDE BABY!!!!!!C-Ya!....Ya...the Harley chicks up here go for the 883.......LOTS OF VIBRATION....I mean LOTS!I rode one.....I actually thought that something was gonna either break or just quit runnin.It was HORRIBLE!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/11/2010 @ 1:11 AM *

Someone said on page 1 of this thread they are going to step down to a Liter bike for the track? You'd be better off on a 600cc at most. Trust me, been there, and done that, you NEVER use all of what a liter bike has to offer, never! It's tires, suspension, and tires and suspension, period. Leave the motor, exhaust and TRE stuff alone!

The shake is Harley's signature.. and I agree that the the rider has everthing to do with how the bike handles, when you practice slow speed stuff and go to the absolute limit of my ability and the bike I am feel more stable riding at slow speed on the Road King than the 14... not to say I like the Road King better... just saying they are not as pigish to maneuver as everyone thinks.... Yes old technology but something must be right if they don't change and still manage to sell millions of bikes!! AGAIN not saying that it is better than the 14 or any "Jap" cruisers just saying i have ridden both and both hard and the Harley is not as bad as what "jap" riders think...

all i know is i see more harleys broke down on the side of the road than anything else. if i was to by a cruiser it would be a Victory, twice the bike for half the price and they look so much sweeter. hell i bought the wife a 883 and she wont ride it she says she'd rather ride on the back of the 14 go figure.

sport bike change and advance constantly because of the competition of them racing on the track. this forces change and advancement to compete. Cruisers have no competitive events so there is nothing forcing them to change. There only competion in cruisers is marketing and Harley dominates that in the US. Honda does world wide as a whole. So Harley has no reason to upgrade there bikes in any major fassion. The japanese cruisers are still trying to catch up in cruiser market here in the U.S.
On a personal note, I owned three harley products including one Buell and the quality of them were all garbage. They were constantly at the dealer and I purchased all of them new.
The next bike I want is a new Honda Goldwing or a Ducati 1198S or a 600 sport bike for the track!

And my NEW bike will be........a fresh paint job!!!!!(Mine's gorgeous as is now)....but,change is good......later....MUCH later.I should be fair about the Harleys out there.They're NOT sport bikes.Never will be able to compete with something like the big Ninja.So dissin em for "not" performing is really not fair.They are very nice cruisers....IF....they hold together long enough.I REALLY liked my Heritage...before the shit started flyin with it.Had a breather kit on er....and factory lookin NO BAFFLE pipes.She definitely rocked out at times!But I'll keep my Ninja.She's the best.

I will hand it to Wilie G, he is the greatest snake oil salesmen of all times. I've heard they teach his marketing theories at Harvard nowadays. He is the man personally responsible for creating the myth of Harley Davidson, for an entrance price of $20,000 you get about $10,000 worth of motorcycle and about $10,000 worth of 'Harley Life Style" and associated hype. I'm sorry but that's the way I see it and nobodies going to change my mind, I don't need to buy phoney friends who talk to me just because I associate myself with a certain brand. I can't imagine anything more shallow.

Captain, I never swapped with my buddy, to be honest I thought about it and he was game but that thing looked like a Carnival Cruise Liner with all the extra light bars and bags and flagpoles and all that nonsense, I just wasn't interested.

I think it's funny cause everyone rides their bikes to the gym in the evenings and parks 'em right by the front door on the sidewalk. You can always tell where the Harleys park cause they always mark their territory with a few drops of oil. They say Harley's don't leak anymore, I call bull on that!

If I was going to invest big bucks in a cruiser, I'd buy one of the new Indians. They are a real "American Made" motorcycle and not just assembled here from Taiwanese, Brazilian and Korean made parts.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 6/11/2010 @ 11:57 AM *

You'd be better off on a 600cc at most.

I'm not sure if it's just "new bike syndrome" at work here but I'm having way more fun on the 600 than on the bigger machines.

Since the Turbo zx14 with 8 inch stretch is not gonna be much of a street bike anymore....

BMW 1000RR / zx10R, or another zx14 / Busa. Not sure yet.
I want a liter leaner, but I really like the stability, comfort and fuel range of the zx14 and Busa.

A super sport tourer is what I have in mind.

The liter bikes can be made more comfy with helibars, and rearsets, but I know after riding them they will never be as composed at high speeds as the big bikes, and the fuel range really is a big factor.
17 L vs 22 l is an extra 50-70 km range. In Canada its a big deal. Plus sometimes I really hate fuel stops cause the cars I just passed will become obstacles again..usually they have the cell phones ready for the second fly by LOL

The corners here just aren't tight enough to warrant a 600 imo. accelleration top speed and sweepers are where its at.
The 600's here are used as learining tools, wheelie machines and for the stunting squids mostly.

* Last updated by: dubious on 6/11/2010 @ 10:12 AM *

The 600's here are used as learining tools

Well, I notice the Daytona 200 is now 600cc only, if they're just "learning tools" maybe you could show up next year and teach Danny Eslick and the rest how to ride 'em.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 6/11/2010 @ 2:45 PM *

Dave Moss has a 600cc project bike... 118bhp on pump gas!

http://www.feelthetrack.com/project675.html

* Last updated by: Captain on 6/12/2010 @ 12:05 AM *

harley fact: 80% of all Harleys ever made are still on the road....the other 20% made it home. lmao says Scottjlky
pretty funny inaccurate but funny.
I would compare the reliability of the current harley products to any other cruiser and I think they would be the most reliable of any cruiser now or ever made. The m109 may be the most unreliable cruiser made since the shovelhead- amf days.

Hmmmm, the M109 "Most unreliable". I will have to tell these guys. I don't think they are aware of that.

* Last updated by: Romans on 6/13/2010 @ 4:23 AM *

will keep my ZX14, but the next biek i am thinking of buying is the Concourse (GTR1400) I think I will be able to use a bite more of that bike. I jut feel that there is so much more power wise in the ZX14 than I will ever use

OZ

What about the Victory ?

OMG....please say it aint so Rome."Victory"....just the name alone spells "commercial feed sold here".He don't want no Victory Rome....(I hope).Ah Geez...I'm spoiled.(course,I'm single as well).I can't imagine ever goin back to a cruiser.My bike is so smooth and responsive,I just couldn't.And light(comparatively).And quick.And fast.And cool lookin.And unique.And......she's MINE!My baby.56(almost 57)and I'm ridin a badazz sportbike.Who woulda thought?AND....most of all...I feel SAFE on my bike.No if's or and's about that.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 6/13/2010 @ 5:21 AM *

OMG....please say it aint so Rome."Victory"..

It aint so, lol. I just never here any talk on these bikes. Two of my friends ride these. Hammer & jackpot. The guy with the jackpot just spent over 6 grand on the motor just so he could pass the M109. And still the Race is to close to tell

Allot of bike for the money.

* Last updated by: Romans on 6/13/2010 @ 6:33 AM *

I did a 100 miles early yesterday morning on the cruiser and had a great time, you just have to get into a different mind set. I notice the scenery more on the cruiser as I'm pokin along, on the sportbikes it's all about watching the road and droppin the hammer. I'll probably always have a cruiser around.

I have considered getting a cruiser several times in my life. When it came to seriously looking, I always chose sport bikes with absolutely no regrets. I would buy a touring bike, like a Goldwing, before I bought a cruiser. When I am on a ride and see a cruiser or Harley, I wonder what they see in it, why? Then I realize that they are looking at me wondering the same thing. So, now I figure "good for them", but it is not for me.