Harley riders beware of killer creek

[rOmiLaYu]

Anyway, from my experience the internet chatter about HD's being inherently problematic is unfounded. Do some break, yep, but not at any level above what one sees in other manufactures. Just my opinion based on a few years sitting on one, as always YMMV.

You get out of here with your first-hand knowledge and real world experience!

To be fair though, fleet maintained vehicles seem to always fair better than individually maintained ones do.

 

[NWSharpshooter]

I'll raise the 7 year old /4800 Japanese problem/maintenance free bike with a 2 year old/38,000 to 40,000 Road King that only returned to the shop for regular maintenance and tires.

I don't even own a HD, but I did ride one every day for 8 years....a HD FLHP (Road King) police bike. Not only ridden every day, but driven like I would never drive anything I spent my own money on. From sitting still, to cranking, hammering the throttle and transmission (sometimes hitting the rev limiter), 0 to 100-115 or so, then on the brakes, hit the kickstand, let it idle for 5 minutes or so ( so the battery doesn't die), hope back on, drive a mile....repeat for 4 to five hours a day. Or how about 100 degree heat, escorting a parade at 0-5 miles an hour and the air cooled engine getting so hot that it would chug to a complete stop, at which point all you thought was "Good! My nuts are about to spontaneously combust, maybe they will cool to a reasonable temperature before I fire this thing up in 60 seconds and drive on". I typically rode a new bike for 2 years, in a very harsh environment, replacing rear tires at 2000/3000 intervals because they were worn beyond being safe, and traded it in for a brand new one at somewhere around 38,000 to 40,000 miles. In 8 years I never had a bike that needed anything other than scheduled maintenance and tires or the occasional trip to HD Atlanta for a recall part. No oil drips, parts failing-falling off. Some mornings I would get on the bike when the outside air temp was in the teens, or destine to bust 100, and hope it would refuse to run so I could spend the day in a heated or cooled car. Never happened......not once.

I know some guys who ride police BMW's, Kawasaki's. They are tough as nails too and perform just as well as HD's (well considering they are ALOT faster...maybe better), although for police work I think their dry clutches and integrated braking systems are inferior to the HD wet clutch and non-intergrated braking system. Anyway, from my experience the internet chatter about HD's being inherently problematic is unfounded. Do some break, yep, but not at any level above what one sees in other manufactures. Just my opinion based on a few years sitting on one, as always YMMV.

Don, I get what you are saying and know what you speak is the truth. That said, what was the cost if ownership of the HD vs the Kawasaki and BMW motorcycles.

My bike would be in perfect running order too if the tax payer was picking up my maintenance.

 

[CQB27]

You get out of here with your first-hand knowledge and real world experience!

To be fair though, fleet maintained vehicles seem to always fair better than individually maintained ones do.

I agree. But fleet vehicles often suffer abuse that individually maintained vehicles don't. I would never buy a used fleet maintained police vehicle of any kind. We sell our retired HD's on govdeals.com. They usually go for 6,000 to 10,000 dollars, depending on the bidding. Even at 6,000 I always think the buyer is probably not getting the bike he thinks he is.

 

[NWSharpshooter]

I bought a HD and a ninja two weeks apart last year. The HD has had every bolt locktited twice in that time. The ninja has not.

Parts that have fallen off the HD.

1. Forward Controls (on the way home from buying it)
2. Kickstand assembly (last week)

Parts that have fallen off the ninja.

1. Nothing

I have also put 5 times the miles on the Ninja during this time.


People love the angry sewing machines. I just can't bring myself to understand the draw.

 

[CQB27]

Don, I get what you are saying and know what you speak is the truth. That said, what was the cost if ownership of the HD vs the Kawasaki and BMW motorcycles.

My bike would be in perfect running order too if the tax payer was picking up my maintenance.

Whatever the scheduled 5000 mile maintenance cost is. I don't remember the dollar amount, but it's standard based on model. The HD's require scheduled maintenance at a greater rate that the BMW's and Cow's..........but the cost of the HD per bike is quite a bit less then the Cow's, and lot less than the BMW's. We actually considered switching to the latest Kawasaki, but if I remember right the cost of the bike, even with the reduced maintenance schedule, was more in the long run than the Road King. One of the factors that drives the cost up of the BMW/Cow bikes is the necessary police equipment, lights, sirens, camera mounts, radio mounts, blah, blah cost more. I guess the HD's long history as a police motor has driven the accessory market along the lines of an AR vs HK rifle thing. There is a reason departments in the high income jurisdictions, like Sandy Springs, ride other than Harley. I would love to have ridden a BMW. We did a T&E on both the Cow and BMW for a few weeks. I loved them both! The first time I jumped on the BMW, I hammered the throttle and dumped the clutch like a Road King driver. My eyes must have looked like two white saucers when the front end jumped about 3 feet off the ground and I rode a wheelie for about 50 yards!!!!! Good thing I had some youth dirt bike riding skills to fall back on, LOL.

 

[CQB27]

I bought a HD and a ninja two weeks apart last year. The HD has had every bolt locktited twice in that time. The ninja has not.

Parts that have fallen off the HD.

1. Forward Controls (on the way home from buying it)
2. Kickstand assembly (last week)

Parts that have fallen off the ninja.

1. Nothing

I have also put 5 times the miles on the Ninja during this time.


People love the angry sewing machines. I just can't bring myself to understand the draw.

I use to carry extra kickstand springs in my saddle bag. The didn't fail, but I did knock more than a few off because I would lean the bike so far over the road would drag the off.

 

[Tazz]

I'll raise the 7 year old /4800 Japanese problem/maintenance free bike with a 2 year old/38,000 to 40,000 Road King that only returned to the shop for regular maintenance and tires.

I don't even own a HD, but I did ride one every day for 8 years....a HD FLHP (Road King) police bike. Not only ridden every day, but driven like I would never drive anything I spent my own money on. From sitting still, to cranking, hammering the throttle and transmission (sometimes hitting the rev limiter), 0 to 100-115 or so, then on the brakes, hit the kickstand, let it idle for 5 minutes or so ( so the battery doesn't die), hope back on, drive a mile....repeat for 4 to five hours a day. Or how about 100 degree heat, escorting a parade at 0-5 miles an hour and the air cooled engine getting so hot that it would chug to a complete stop, at which point all you thought was "Good! My nuts are about to spontaneously combust, maybe they will cool to a reasonable temperature before I fire this thing up in 60 seconds and drive on". I typically rode a new bike for 2 years, in a very harsh environment, replacing rear tires at 2000/3000 intervals because they were worn beyond being safe, and traded it in for a brand new one at somewhere around 38,000 to 40,000 miles. In 8 years I never had a bike that needed anything other than scheduled maintenance and tires or the occasional trip to HD Atlanta for a recall part. No oil drips, parts failing-falling off, some mornings I would get on the bike when the outside air temp was in the teens, or destine to bust 100, and hope it would refuse to run so I could spend the day in a heated or cooled car. Never happened......not once.

I know some guys who ride police BMW's, Kawasaki's. They are tough as nails too and perform just as well as HD's, although for police work I think their dry clutches and integrated braking systems are inferior to the HD wet clutch and non-intergrated braking system. Anyway, from my experience the internet chatter about HD's being inherently problematic is unfounded. Do some break, yep, but not at any level above what one sees in other manufactures. Just my opinion based on a few years sitting on one, as always YMMV.

Like I said, I'm not putting H-D owners down. I owned a Harley and had nothing but problems with it and the parts and labor were CRAZY expensive, my son is on his 2nd Harley and has had problems with the Street Glide, I don't remember him having any with his 1st one which was a 2011 Softtail Blackline. As far as running a bike hard and riding in parades, been there and done that. I still ride with the Patriot Guard when I can and that big V-Twin on mine gets hot as hell too but it's never shut off from getting too hot. I'm 57, I broke my leg in 4 places and shattered the top of my tibia last year, got myself a titanium plate and 7 big ass screws in there now. I don't run my bike very hard anymore now since that injury but I do get out on I-85 sometimes and blow it out a little. H-D's are very nice bikes for sure but mine is just as nice and just as fast with about the same size motor as the new ones at half the cost. The H-D's have the 103ci and mine has a 102ci motor. Oh by the way, my bike had 4800 miles on it when I bought it, it has 20k plus now, it would have more but I just can't ride all the time because of 5 injured discs, osteo-arthritis and degenerative disc disease in my back. Again, not bashing H-D owners, just telling mine & my son's experiences with H-D dealerships. If I won one or someone gave me a Harley I probably wouldn't get rid of it but I ain't going out and buy one. My bike cost less to buy and costs less to maintain and ride than a Harley. I'm glad you like em' and hope you continue to have good experiences with em'. What's kind of funny though is when I get around other bikers, I get Harley owners asking me what year my Harley is. Granted the Yamaha badges are only on the oil tank cover with the passenger footboards covering them, nothing on the tank and it does sound similar to a Harley but those folks are usually pretty surprised and impressed at how close it resembles and sounds like their Harleys. H-D actually stands for Hundreds of Dollars for anytime you go to a H-D dealership. Lol! J/K man, as long as you get your knees in the breeze I couldn't care less what you ride, just ride safe brother and have fun.

 

[NWSharpshooter]

Whatever the scheduled 5000 mile maintenance cost is. I don't remember the dollar amount, but it's standard based on model. The HD's require scheduled maintenance at a greater rate that the BMW's and Cow's..........but the cost of the HD per bike is quite a bit less then the Cow's, and lot less than the BMW's. We actually considered switching to the latest Kawasaki, but if I remember right the cost of the bike, even with the reduced maintenance schedule, was more in the long run than the Road King. One of the factors that drives the cost up of the BMW/Cow bikes is the necessary police equipment, lights, sirens, camera mounts, radio mounts, blah, blah cost more. I guess the HD's long history as a police motor has driven the accessory market along the lines of an AR vs HK rifle thing. There is a reason departments in the high income jurisdictions, like Sandy Springs, ride other than Harley. I would love to have ridden a BMW. We did a T&E on both the Cow and BMW for a few weeks. I loved them both! The first time I jumped on the BMW, I hammered the throttle and dumped the clutch like a Road King driver. My eyes must have looked like two white saucers when the front end jumped about 3 feet off the ground and I rode a wheelie for about 50 yards!!!!! Good thing I had some youth dirt bike riding skills to fall back on, LOL.

Dang. Never would have thought a roadking would be cheaper than a BMW or especially not a kwak.

 

[insulinboy]

Yep.. primary reason I do everything myself.. A lot of shops are shady that work on motorcycles.. There are good ones, but there are some REALLY bad ones too (I did used to work at a bike dealership as a tech and left because of some of the shady stuff that went on)

Its nice to have a bike lift and tire changer in your garage

 

[Tazz]

I use to carry extra kickstand springs in my saddle bag. The didn't fail, but I did knock more than a few off because I would lean the bike so far over the road would drag the off.

If I did ever buy another H-D it would definitely have to be a Road King. It's the closest thing to what I'm riding and I don't care too much for fairings even though I do like my windshield and I absolutely HATE radios & crap like that on a bike. When I ride I only want to hear my pipes and the wind, when I ride with my son he keeps his radio turned down so I don't have to hear it, radios defeat the purpose of riding a bike in my opinion. YMMV.....