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Its ironic that the only people who say this stuff are people who don't own them.
No t'kat ... it's something said by the folk that work on the bikes, too.
My business was built on specializing working on the euro bikes that I like to ride, yet the H-D owners around here have been beating on my doorstep for decades to work on their bikes because neither the dealerships or the aftermarket H-D specialty shops are getting the job done to their satisfaction.
I worked on my first H-D only a year ago because one of my workers needed to have transportation to my job sites. His softtail was a disaster despite having spent $thousands to cure the oil leaks and get the tuning sorted out. I got his bike running OK ... but then he mentioned my work to his riding buddies even though I'd asked him as part of me helping him get his bike running to not tell anybody where the work was done.
Next thing I know, I've got all these H-D riders showing up at my place demanding that I work on their bikes. So, reluctantly, I've got a number of them here on my doorstep right now. I wish I didn't have this business ... I don't need it and don't get any satisfaction working on these bikes. And one of the main problem areas I'm seeing is cylinder base oil leaks.
PS: these leakers on my doorstep are now 4-12 years old, having been serviced by the dealerships and then aftermarket shops for years. Guess I'll get to do a re-seal on a late model "O" ring sealed cylinder base engine now. The owner was told that the seep was due to excess lube on the assembly when the dealer installed a higher stage kit, but the bike has thousands of miles on it since that was done and the "seepage" is a couple ounces of oil per 1,000 miles ... enough to be pretty messy looking after a day's ride. Am pretty familiar with "O" ring cylinder base sealing engines ... have been working on O-470 Continental engines for over 30 years and never had a base seep until these motors had a lot of hours on them and the cylinders were needing to be topped again. Hoping that there's not a big problem with the H-D engine assembly or components or the owner isn't going to be very happy if I can't fix his bike.
Indian had not pursued those areas of sales like HD did.
quite the contrary ...
Indian's war years production was almost exclusively to the Gov't ... military. When the war ended, so did the contracts and Indian civilian sales were virtually non-existent to fall back upon for cash flow.
The failing point was that they didn't support their civilian customer base for those war years and H-D dominated the civilian marketplace then. So after the war, Indian was faced with coming up with updating and new models to meet the competition. They didn't have the resources to do so, and fell into rebadging foreign bikes (some of which are quite collectable today, such as the RE's badged and styled as Indians' ... others, not so desirable ... like an Indian "Fire Arrow" 250, one of the biggest lumps of low performance and poor handling that RE built, a really terrible bike for the USA market that was used to a lot more performance. IIRC, about 12 HP and 300 lbs that didn't impress anybody ... I took the only one I've ever seen in trade for a Triumph and couldn't get rid of the Fire Arrow until I found an Indian collector who bought it strictly for the curiosity value at $75 with the Indian badging on it). Those rebadged bikes simply didn't sell against the latest stuff from H-D.
My scientific conclusion is that people base their own conclusions on whatever info they choose to believe -lol
So all those folk who post on the forums that my (fill in the blank) (year model) motorcycle is (fill in the problem/concern) are simply imagining that they've got a problem with their bike are liars?
What, pray tell, is your "scientific" analysis of their motivation to lie about their bikes?
As for me, not being an experienced H-D tech, my primary source of knowing what may be a common failure area and the usual fixes for it has been those threads on the various marque owner forums where folk posted they had the problem and others chimed in with the "fix". That's how I got alerted to aftermarket parts and fixes for some of the problems I've now dealt with on these bikes. I didn't invent the repairs ... with what I knew about the bikes, I'd have been buying dealer parts and installing them if those forums hadn't advised the solutions that other owners had found with their bikes.
Ride safe and keep the dirty side down ... on whatever bike makes you happy. It's your dough, enjoy.
So all those folk who post on the forums that my (fill in the blank) (year model) motorcycle is (fill in the problem/concern) are simply imagining that they've got a problem with their bike are liars?
No, but the ones who don't own the bikes but continue to come to forums and talk of imaginary problems might be considered as such . . .
What, pray tell, is your "scientific" analysis of their motivation to lie about their bikes?
Sarcasm seems to elude you . . .
As for me, not being an experienced H-D tech,my primary source of knowing what may be a common failure area and the usual fixes for it has been those the various marque owner forums where folk posted they had the problem and others chimed in with the "fix". That's how I got alerted to aftermarket parts and fixes for some of the problems I've now dealt with on these bikes. I didn't invent the repairs ... with what I knew about the bikes, I'd have been buying dealer parts and installing them if those forums hadn't advised the solutions that other owners had found with their bikes.
lol-There you have it, in your own words . . .
Ride safe and keep the dirty side down ... on whatever bike makes you happy. It's your dough, enjoy.
I admit, I know very little about Harleys (other than that they make some very nice looking bikes). If I understand correctly, the common "big" motor these days has a 103 CI (1690cc) displacement. Just curious-and I haven't found a definitive source-just what kind of HP and torque do they put out? With that kind of displacement-I'd assume quite good.
A pathetic amount compared to any other motorcycle manufacturer.
As for me, not being an experienced H-D tech,my primary source of knowing what may be a common failure area and the usual fixes for it has been those various marque owner forums where folk posted they had the problem and others chimed in with the "fix". That's how I got alerted to aftermarket parts and fixes for some of the problems I've now dealt with on these bikes. I didn't invent the repairs ... with what I knew about the bikes, I'd have been buying dealer parts and installing them if those forums hadn't advised the solutions that other owners had found with their bikes.
"lol-There you have it, in your own words . . ."
what you're admitting is that you don't know the first thing about vehicle repairs.
any shop that is worth a damn working on customer vehicles for a profit must do so effectively, efficiently, and in a timely manner. Walk into any quality repair facility, be it a dealer or aftermarket and they will have shop service literature for the stuff they work on.
In the world of motorcycle repairs, much of that information, service procedures, and parts recommendations is available on-line. For me, working on a H-D big twin was feasible only with that on-line information.
I'd already visited with the local dealer to try to get an insight into the cylinder oil leaks. Their attitude was "we don't have a problem with them", but "bring the bike in and we'll fix it". Well, they'd already tried several times without success at significant expense on the bikes I was asked to work on. The local independents were a little more forthcoming ... "yes, they do that. We can fix it, bring it in and we'll get 'er done" and made it sound like they had some secret formula fix exclusively known to the brotherhood of H-D owners that was going to do the job. Same deal, they'd already worked on the bikes at significant expense a couple of times and failed.
So my only recourse was to check out the problem and possible solutions on-line. Nice folks there had video'ed their products and their solutions to the problems. So far, the work that I've done has held up for the bike owners ... and we're hoping that the repair will hold up for a few more years.
Or would you prefer that I'd worked on my customer's bikes without having service literature and preferred parts knowledge gained from the real world experiences of others? I've spent too many years fixing other folk's goof-ups, extracting broken fasteners, or heli-coiling damaged threads from overtorqued stuff because somebody couldn't be bothered to look up the spec and use a torque wrench when appropriate on critical fasteners.
I have to say, the V-Rod looks pretty appealing. Very reasonable performance, but still keeping the HD "marque". I wonder if it's engine will make it to the more traditional cruiser style bike, as opposed to the roadster or street-fighter look. I have to admit, it appeals to me. However so does a V-Max, even more. If it weren't for the price and the limited range... I've seen some of the used early models for pretty reasonable prices, was really tempted. Pretty hard to make a 2-up, "weekend touring" bike out of either one though.
I have to say, the V-Rod looks pretty appealing. Very reasonable performance, but still keeping the HD "marque". I wonder if it's engine will make it to the more traditional cruiser style bike, as opposed to the roadster or street-fighter look. I have to admit, it appeals to me. However so does a V-Max, even more. If it weren't for the price and the limited range... I've seen some of the used early models for pretty reasonable prices, was really tempted. Pretty hard to make a 2-up, "weekend touring" bike out of either one though.
V-Rod was a combined effort between HD and Porsche. IT is a powerful bike, relative to cruisers. HD faithful don't like it too much. you would be doing yourself a favor to ride a few newer bikes. A Harley Ultra, and one of those Victory buck rogers things, even a GoldWing for you are looking for an over-the-road bike. I know you are not enamored with the HP a HD makes, but if you are in to traveling by bike, there are as many HD dealers as WALMARTs, and you can pretty much rebuild one in the parking lot of a Holiday with the tools in the bag or a 15$ set from any dept store. You will never be stranded. That cannot be said for most other brands.
I don even ride an HD any more, not having the dealer support of BMW that HD has, has me concerned . . .
... even a GoldWing for you are looking for an over-the-road bike. I know you are not enamored with the HP a HD makes, but if you are in to traveling by bike, there are as many HD dealers as WALMARTs, . . .
A quick hasty google search told me there are 886 authorized Harley Davidson dealers, compared to over 1200 Honda motorcycle dealers. But YMMV, location matters, and independent shops might suffice.
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