Rode a Harley...

[pwjohn]

Been riding H-D for 40+ years. .....

Not the best handling, Not the best breaking. Not the most reliable. Not the the fastest. Not the most comfortable or ergonomic.

But the coolness factor is off the charts.......

I bought a new sportster back in 1972, kept it for 5 years & clocked 48 thousand miles on it during that time.

My only repairs were 2 batteries and a minor repair to the charging system. I considered chains, tires, sprockets, oil & filters maintenance issues

 

[DGS49]

I realize that the Hard Core of H-D owners don't consider a V-Rod to be a "real" Harley, but I have one question about that particular beast. Or maybe it's an observation:

When I see used V-Rods for sale, they always seem to have painfully-low mileage. It seems that people buy them but don't ride them.

Is this because they are uncomfortable? If that's it, I would think that Mustang of somebody would have a satisfactory replacement.

Why don't people actually ride their V-Rods?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Fwiw, I recall they need about $3k of service at 10,000 miles.

 

[pwjohn]

Been riding H-D for 40+ years. .....

Not the best handling, Not the best breaking. Not the most reliable. Not the the fastest. Not the most comfortable or ergonomic.

But the coolness factor is off the charts.......

I bought a new sportster back in 1972, kept it for 5 years & clocked 48 thousand miles on it during that time.

My only repairs were 2 batteries and a minor repair to the charging system. I considered chains, tires, sprockets, oil & filters maintenance issues

Well I thought of a few more things I had to replace, besides the things already mentioned during the five years I rode my 1972 Sportster.

A handful of spokes that got bent from when I dropped my bike while doing donuts on a paved parking lot. Along with a clutch lever, clutch cable, new pull back bars, kick start pedal, a new tear drop gas tank.

 

[pwjohn]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

 

[Jarlaxle]

Harleys have serious reliability problems NOW, due to the Twin Cam engine's many serious design flaws.

 

[yiostheoy]

Well, finally did it last Saturday: I rode a Harley. Dealer had an open house, wife was curious, so we went. She wanted to try one, the dealer invited me to ride one. I wound up on a Sportster, largely by default...most of the other people wanted to ride the big touring bikes. Well, worth a try, I suppose. It was a black 2013 with 3300 miles, and I put about 25 miles on it...it's a standard (1200 Custom, I think) model with the regular height seat, black cast wheels...had a solo seat with backrest (the "Signature" seat), a windshield, soft saddlebags, aftermarket foam grips, and Screaming Eagle slip-ons. Impressions follow...

First, the single most notable feature: the noise. The racket the pipes made was absolutely obnoxious, right from idle. It was far and away the loudest of the dozen or so bikes (one 883 Super Low and ~10 big twins), most of which had aftermarket pipes. (Even the others seemed surprised how loud it was at idle, one suggesting that whoever put the pipes on it punched out the baffles.)

Handling was better than I expected, though I didn't push an unfamiliar bike much. Ride wasn't anything impressive. One odd thing: a bump the front swallowed often sent a jolt through the back. (Rear travel is WAY too short.) Might have been the tires on this particular bike, but it seemed to like to follow grooves.

Brakes were...not bad. I was never in danger of doing a "stoppie", but also never felt any urge to pull a Fred Flintstone. (I do not recall if it had ABS.) I'm still not happy with a single front rotor (especially on a 550+lb bike), but it seemed adequate for the weight.

Power I'm honestly not sure about. Around-town was fine, but I didn't go much past 1/3 throttle, because that was about where the racket went from obnoxious to intolerable. (I honestly felt bad for anyone behind me.) Engine shook like it had Parkinson's, though it wasn't bad through the bars.

Controls were lousy. Mostly: forward controls. Don't understand the appeal, don't like them at all! (The only mid-control bike available had ape hangers.) Also, the forward controls had my knee and the air cleaner trying to occupy the same real estate pretty much the whole ride. Bars were OK, though I wished for a small (~2") pullback. Wind protection was pretty good, though I suspect weather protection in rain would be nil below the waist.

Heat from the engine was very noticeable; anytime I stopped, I was bathed in it. Not a problem when moving, but would be brutal in traffic!

Did your testicles, scrotum, and penis go numb from the vibration?

How about your hearing? Did you lose that from the muffler noise?

You can get carpul tunnel from the shaking handlebars too.

Riding a Harley is not something I would consider a memorable event. I would think it would be something to be avoided and if unavoidable then quickly forgotten.

I remember the thrill of riding my Honda 750 4-K superbike 150 mph on the open desert highway back in the 1970's when this was the first superbike in the world.

Anyone trying that on a Harley would end up bludgeoned to death by the vibration.

 

[yiostheoy]

Harleys have serious reliability problems NOW, due to the Twin Cam engine's many serious design flaws.

I heard that BMW's are crappy too same as Harleys.

 

[yiostheoy]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

How are your testicles, scrotum, and balls then? That constant vibration has got to hurt.

I am guessing that you are numb down there fore at least half an hour after you get off the bike.

Plus eardrums. Plus wrists.

 

[yiostheoy]

The pipes were way past loud...they were OBNOXIOUS. Honestly, the sound level bordered on pain.

Exactly.

I don't think anyone makes "real" mufflers for Harleys.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

97% of Harleys are still on the road....the other 3% made it home.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Harleys have serious reliability problems NOW, due to the Twin Cam engine's many serious design flaws.

I heard that BMW's are crappy too same as Harleys.

BMWs have final drive problems.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

How are your testicles, scrotum, and balls then? That constant vibration has got to hurt.

I am guessing that you are numb down there fore at least half an hour after you get off the bike.

Plus eardrums. Plus wrists.

On the later Sportsters, the vibration actually felt by the rider is minimal.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The pipes were way past loud...they were OBNOXIOUS. Honestly, the sound level bordered on pain.

Exactly.

I don't think anyone makes "real" mufflers for Harleys.

These had the baffles punched out. Stock pipes are not at all loud.

 

[Darkwind]

I rode a harley once.

She never really recovered......

 

[pwjohn]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

How are your testicles, scrotum, and balls then? That constant vibration has got to hurt.

I am guessing that you are numb down there fore at least half an hour after you get off the bike.

Plus eardrums. Plus wrists.

I experienced no vibrations on my Harley. Just a little shake is all. The rest of me was fine after riding to work, or back. About a hundred miles out or so was my longest ride.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

How are your testicles, scrotum, and balls then? That constant vibration has got to hurt.

I am guessing that you are numb down there fore at least half an hour after you get off the bike.

Plus eardrums. Plus wrists.

I experienced no vibrations on my Harley. Just a little shake is all. The rest of me was fine after riding to work, or back. About a hundred miles out or so was my longest ride.

100 miles?! That's not a long ride...that's a barbecue run!

If you cannot balance a quarter on the engine while it runs, it is not smooth enough.

 

[pwjohn]

I think that people who experienced serious reliability issues with their Harley's back in the day were those that let em rot for months & months between rides. I used my sportster for a daily driver, mostly to work & back and had very few problems with mine. I kept up with regularly scheduled maintanence of course

How are your testicles, scrotum, and balls then? That constant vibration has got to hurt.

I am guessing that you are numb down there fore at least half an hour after you get off the bike.

Plus eardrums. Plus wrists.

I experienced no vibrations on my Harley. Just a little shake is all. The rest of me was fine after riding to work, or back. About a hundred miles out or so was my longest ride.

100 miles?! That's not a long ride...that's a barbecue run!

If you cannot balance a quarter on the engine while it runs, it is not smooth enough.

Hey, a teardrop tank will get ya 75 miles on a good day. And If you wanna flip quarters, my old xlch was made for the job

 

[Jarlaxle]

Which is why peanut tanks suck rocks. Need at least 4 gallons.

 

[Ringel05]

97% of Harleys are still on the road....the other 3% made it home.